After 16 years of battling right wing populism the coastal elites thought a unity ticket would save their status. They put John Tyler on The William Henry Harrison ticket and were rewarded with the annexation of pro slavery Texas and giving the slave states the final upper hand until the civil war.
After 4 years of Civil war the northern elites felt a unity ticket would save the Union war efforts. They put Andrew Johnson on the ticket, who quickly re established the planter hierarchy in the south.
I’d argue Truman was a unity ticket, and I’d argue the Cold War was bad for America, but I don’t think a moderate democrat would agree.
regardless, these centrist types constantly amaze me in their unyielding love for a country they know nothing about.