Ted has been a Senate hero. Deserves all that credit. This was his first run. Reagan didn’t do so well his first time: most thought he was a joke. I’m sure Ted has learned a lot and will be back.
Yep. Reagan first ran for President in 1968, but did not do well in the early primaries and withdrew early and endorsed eventual winner Richard Nixon in 1968.
In 1976, battled incumbent Gerald Ford all the way to the convention and forced a brokered convention - neither winning the majority of delegates to secure the nomination. Eventually lost to the incumbent President Ford on the second ballot of the 1976 Republican Convention.
The third time was the charm - finally secured both the GOP nomination and the Presidency in 1980 at the young age of 69 after a vicious, hard fought primary campaign against George H.W. Bush!!!
Only down side is there may not be a country to come back to in 4 or 8 years.