The U.S. economy goes into a recession in 2022-2023 after previously experiencing one in 2014. This is followed by a jobless recovery in 2024. The current President is Democrat Andrew Cuomo (who was inaugurated January 20, 2017, succeeding Barack Obama). The unemployment rate on election day is 6.3%. The U.S. is not involved in any foreign wars and there are no foreign threats. The Democrats nominate New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who picks former Illinois Governor Lisa Madigan as his VP. The Republicans nominate Scott Brown (who was U.S. Senator 2010-2013 and Massachusetts Governor 2015-2023), who picks Wisconsin Senator Paul Ryan as his VP. Scott Brown flip-flops on gay marriage and abortion (though he still supports civil unions for gay couples) in order to increase his chances of winning the nomination and the Presidency. How does this election turn out? Discuss, with maps.
My map:
Brown/Ryan-323 EV-51.23% PV
Booker/Madigan-215 EV-47.64% PV
This map might be a little too generous to Cory Booker, but I figure that he's very charismatic, a good campaigner, and actually gets stuff done. In any case, Brown would win due to the poor economy and Democratic fatigue after 16 years of Democratic Presidents.
