One Hell of a Decade-a political TL

[feeblepizza]

Hopefully he'll [Romney] die

This sounds disturbing even in context.

Why does it sound disturbing? It would be a gift IMO.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Well, you're wishing for someone to die. Jindal CAN get elected, you know.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

ELECTION NIGHT 2012


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47KIyoQLtXA-listen to this whilst you read.

MATTHEWS: Good evening, and welcome to MSNBC's election night
coverage. Of course there's the presidential race, but there are also
gubernatorial, House, and Senate races. It is 7:00 here in New York, and
polls are closing in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, South
Carolina, Georgia, and Vermont. First off, we have some projections to
make-President Obama has taken the state of Vermont-3 electoral votes,
while Governor Romney has won Kentucky's 8 electoral votes. All other
states are, at this hour, too close to call. The first pickup of the night-former
senator Evan Bayh has beaten Mike Pence in the race to replace governor Mitch
Daniels. If we can go to the map, it's looking like:

OLBERMANN: It is now 7:30 on the East Coast, and polls are closing in
the states of Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia-no projections yet
in any of those races.

O'DONNELL: It's 8 on the hour here in New York, and here's the big one-
polls are closing in 16 states, with several others seeing some precincts
closing up. We can call the states of Maryland, New Jersey, Maine,
Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, the District of Columbia, and Mitt
Romney's home state of Massachusetts for President Obama, while
Romney has taken the states of Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
That gives Obama a lead of 75 electoral votes to Romney's 49.

MATTHEWS: Now it's 9:00, and we have more projections to make.
Obama has taken Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and New Mexico,
while Romney has come back with victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Kansas,
Wyoming, and South Dakota. All in all, that gives Obama 159 electoral votes
to Romney's 86. No surprises yet; we're still waiting for swing states all
the way in the East Coast.

OLBERMANN: It's 10:00, and we're still moving west. Romney has
unsurprisingly captured the state of Utah...and that's it for now.
Any opinions right now, Chris?

MATTHEWS: At this point, I can't see how Romney can pull this off.
He's lost Virginia and Colorado, he's under-performing in Iowa and
Florida, and Ohio is looking to be-

MADDOW: Sorry to cut you off there Chris, but we have critical news-
Obama has won in Ohio. Unless he can pull off a surprise victory in the
West Coast, Obama's getting another term.

O'DONNELL: What Rachel said earlier seems to be true, and we can
project that with victories in California, Washington, and Oregon,
Obama has pushed past the 270 mark, and will remain President for
another four years. The question now-by how much?

Next up: post-election coverage.

[Niemeyerite]

I hope obama wins every state that's now too close to call. he would pick up georgia, arizona, montana and missouri from his 2008 results =)

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

FINAL RESULTS OF THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

Pres. Barack Obama (D-IL)/VP Joe Biden (D-DE)-51.7%, 374 EV
Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)/Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)-46.8%, 164 EV

Close states:

Within 5 points:

   * Indiana, 0.4%
    * Georgia, 0.7%
   * North Carolina, 1.1%
    * Missouri, 1.7%
    * Florida, 2.1%
    * Ohio, 2.6%
    * Montana, 3.5%
   * Nevada, 4.7%
   * Arizona, 4.8%

Within 10 points:

   * Virginia, 5.7%
   * South Carolina, 6.4%
    * Iowa, 6.5%
    * North Dakota, 6.9%
    * Colorado, 7.1%
   * Michigan, 7.4%
    * New Hampshire, 8.3%
   * Wisconsin, 8.5%
    * South Dakota, 8.8%
   * Pennsylvania, 9.3%
    * Texas, 9.6%
   * West Virginia, 9.8%

Light Blue=states which trended towards the Democrats from 2008
Pink=states which trended Republican from 2008

SENATE ELECTION RESULTS:

Democrats: 55 seats (+4, -1)
Republicans: 44 seats (-4, +1)
Independent (non-caucusing): 1 (+1)

Nevada:

Fmr. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV)-57.1%
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)-39.8%

Arizona:

Fmr. Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ)-52.6%
Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ)-44.3%

New Jersey (special)

Mayor Cory Booker (D-NJ)-55.4%
Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ)-42.3%

Maine:

Sen. Olympia Snowe (I-ME)-47.3%
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)-26.9%
Fmr. State Sen. Chandler Woodcock (R-ME)-25.8%

Massachusetts:

Attorney Vicki Kennedy (D-MA)-55.8%
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)-40.6%

Nebraska:

Gov. Dave Heineman (R-NE)-54.4%
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)-40.4%


Other notable senate elections included:

    * Pennsylvania, where incumbent senator Bob Casey defeated former senator Rick Santorum by a 59-41 margin.
    * New Jersey, where incumbent Bob Menendez took advantage of the Republican vote being split between Republican Gerald Cardinale and independent Lou Dobbs.
    * Wisconsin, where in the biggest progressive victory of the night, former Senator Russ Feingold defeated the supposed rising star congressman Paul Ryan to replace Herb Kohl.
    * Maine (already mentioned), where, using her overall popularity to her advantage, Olympia Snowe bounced back from losing her primary to win as an independent, who, unlike re-elected Bernie Sanders and defeated Joe Lieberman, refused to caucus with either party.
    * Virginia, where former representative Tom Perriello rode on the reborn Obama wave to beat former senator George Allen by a margin of only 0.9 points.

Other than the president's re-election, however, the biggest news was
that the Democrats had narrowly retaken the House of Representatives,
taking 36 seats (many of which they had lost in 2010) for a total of 230
seats in the House. The question now-should they keep Hoyer?

[feeblepizza]

Sadness

[Niemeyerite]

happyness =)

[Psychic Octopus]

Great TL, although how did Obama manage to win more states in 2012 when his margin of victory is lower then his margin of victory in 2008?

(Btw, I am Blackwater_NiK over at the Alternate History Discussion Board. I've already read this before. )

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Great TL, although how did Obama manage to win more states in 2012 when his margin of victory is lower then his margin of victory in 2008?

(Btw, I am Blackwater_NiK over at the Alternate History Discussion Board. I've already read this before. )

Note the vote changes. Romney improved over McCain in Northern states like PA and especially MI (his dad was governor), and of course did better in the Mountain West (Mormons) but even with Jindal, Obama used a strong get out the vote campaign to undermine Romney's southern support and take Georgia in a surprise result.

BTW, I did change a couple things from the original at AH-mostly for clarity, but I reconsidered a few things and tweaked them. And I used a couple different pictures when I couldn't find their source. Nothing too big, though.

[Psychic Octopus]

Great TL, although how did Obama manage to win more states in 2012 when his margin of victory is lower then his margin of victory in 2008?

(Btw, I am Blackwater_NiK over at the Alternate History Discussion Board. I've already read this before. )

Note the vote changes. Romney improved over McCain in Northern states like PA and especially MI (his dad was governor), and of course did better in the Mountain West (Mormons) but even with Jindal, Obama used a strong get out the vote campaign to undermine Romney's southern support and take Georgia in a surprise result.

BTW, I did change a couple things from the original at AH-mostly for clarity, but I reconsidered a few things and tweaked them. And I used a couple different pictures when I couldn't find their source. Nothing too big, though.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the explanation. I'm curious to see the next update. Keep it up.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The first decision of the new Congress-Hoyer becomes Speaker. Though
to the right of most of the House Democrats (especially many of the new
progressives), he provided a moderate voice which connected surprisingly
well to the average voter.



Meanwhile, the new Senate had the chance to create a more liberal
supreme court. Antonin Scalia, the longest-serving Justice, suffered
a heart attack on December 12th, 2012. Though he survived, the
possibility of further complications led him to make the decision to
retire from the Supreme Court in February 2013.



After his second inauguration, Obama set his eye on one major thing: lowering unemployment as much as possible.



He felt that with the campaign over, he could once
again focus on improving the still-shaky economy. Now that
both Houses were under Democratic control, he could focus on
infrastructure investments-even, in the back of his head, a follow-up
to the 2009 stimulus. That would certainly give the progressives
a bone to chew on for a while.

Afghanistan was another high priority. The last few years had seen
little change; the Taliban was weak but alive in remote areas of
Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan government was still shaky
and corrupt, and, as anticipated, the 2011 exit date had came and
went. Iraq seemed somewhat more stable, and military advisors
had drafted a plan to pull out of Iraq to a greater extent, saving
money and sharpening the focus on taking out the Taliban
and Al-Qaeda.



Meanwhile, Obama had nominated Diane Wood, justice on the 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals, as the replacement for retiring Antonin Scalia. A
shortlister for both of Obama's previous SCOTUS nominations, Wood had
another advantage; she would be the only Protestant on the court,
as all the other justices were either Catholic or Jewish, even though
Protestants made up about half of the US population.



Compared to Sotomayor and Kagan, Wood was confirmed rather easily.
A rather liberal judge, the Republicans were of course reluctant to support
her, though eventually a few were wooed. All Democrats voted to confirm her,
as well as independent Olympia Snowe and Republicans Mark Kirk,
Lindsay Graham, and Susan Collins. Notably, this was now the most
demographically accurate Supreme Court in history; 4 women and 5 men,
with 3 different religious groups and 4 different racial groups (including
Jews).



The new Supreme Court faced a new case which would surely be a
landmark decision; Perry v. Schwarzenegger. First decided by a district
judge in 2010, the ruling originally suggested that California's ban on
same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The ruling had been appealed
by both sides, eventually reaching the SCOTUS by 2013, weeks
after Wood took her seat. If the Court ruled that Proposition 8
was indeed unconstitutional, it would effectively repeal the Defense of
Marriage Act and legalize same-sex marriage in the entire nation.


Meanwhile, crisis was brewing in Korea-again. There had been several
scuffles and skirmishes periodically since 2010 with the sinking of the
Cheonan, but no major war-yet. However, with rumors leaking that
Kim Jong-il was on his deathbed, his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, seemed
to be taking the helm. Not known to the United States or South Korea,
the new Dear Leader, in a desperate attempt to distract from a mild
famine, was preparing what many officers believed was a foolproof
strategy for uniting Korea in weeks. It was now or never.

JUNE 11. 21:09

ARTILLERY STRIKES FROM NORTH OF DMZ---FIRES BREAKING OUT IN
SEOUL---CAMP HUMPHREYS DAMAGED---SKIRMISHES SOUTH OF DMZ
---US SHIPPING ATTACKED IN YELLOW SEA

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The next day, an emergency session of Congress unanimously approved
military intervention in Korea, while the UN voted to tighten sanctions
and cut off all aid to the DPRK. China mobilized forces along the Sino-Korean
border, hoping to stem the inevitable flow of refugees.
Australia agreed to send troops to fight in Korea, while most of the
developed world cut off all trade with North Korea.

"Last night, without warning, the regime in North Korea attacked
the South Korean people, as well as US forces, with a massive
wave of artillery. Seoul has taken heavy damage, and already the first
reports are coming in of North Korean troops pouring over the DMZ.
We are already at war, but I ask that Congress symbolically authorize
the intervention." -President Obama to Congress


The Second Korean War had begun.

By June 13th, North Korean soldiers poured into South Korea by the hundreds
of thousands, as US reinforcements only started to arrive. Seoul had, fortunately,
not been destroyed, but the artillery on the city caused severe
fires, killing at least 150. North Korea seemed to use a simple strategy;
throw the first punch as hard as you can and hope that it's enough. Given
the suddenness of the attack, it seemed to be working better than the US
had expected. The North Koreans had also taken drastic measures to make
up for their inferior training and equipment; for instance, aircraft
that was shot down was advised to try to crash into enemy forces
to kill as many as possible before inevitable death.


Pictured: F-22 Raptors in action.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

North Korean forces reached their deepest point by June 17th, only
8 miles from Seoul, before halted by US reinforcements. Meanwhile, the
US had mostly gained air superiority over all of South Korea and North
Korea almost to Pyongyang, also leading to the North Koreans' grind
to a halt.

Kim Jong-un also resorted to symbolic actions. Just as Saddam had attacked
neutral Israel as a symbolic gesture and as a propaganda victory during the
Gulf War, SCUD missiles were launched at US bases in both Okinawa and
mainland Japan, as well as at cities on Japan's west coast, including the city
of Obama. In response, the Diet proposed a constitutional amendment to abolish
Article 9 and allow military intervention for reasons other than self-defense. South
Korean opinions of Japan were at an all-time high, and soon the Japanese Self-Defense
Force was engaging in combat with North Korean ships and planes in the Sea of Japan.
On another note, the outbreak of war and the national unity succeeding it led to Obama's
approval rating spiking to 71%.



By the end of the month, things were starting to look better for the US, ROK,
Japanese, and Australian forces. The North Korean juggernaut had been
halted early, and now it was a matter of holding the front line until the
North Korean waves started to crumble. Then would come the counterattack.
At the same time, US commandos made assaults on several coastal towns
in North Korea with Japanese naval assistance; Japan seemed to be
poised to abolish Article 9.

July marked the major turning point of the war. After a grinding stalemate,
by July 7th the US-ROK army rolled back over the DMZ and into North
Korea itself. Mass desertions and even switching sides was reported from
thousands of North Korean soldiers. By July 13th, Coalition forces
were at the gates of Pyongyang; Kim Jong-un fled to a bunker in northern
North Korea, while after a 2-day battle, Pyongyang fell, and the North
Korean military began to fall apart. Early casualty reports suggested
that 8 North Korean soldiers died for every one US soldier, though these
were only estimates.



By August, only small pockets of resistance remained, and Kim
Jong-un was still MIA. As resistance was mopped up, UN peacekeepers
arrived, witnessing firsthand the horrors of both war and of the
hell that North Korea was even before June. Russia and China both
reluctantly opened up large refugee camps under pressure.

Early KIA reports for Coalition forces were as follows:

United States:

Military: 2,784
Civilian: N/A

South Korea:

Military: 7,559
Civilian: 3,238

Australia:

Military: 2
Civilian: N/A

Japan:

Military: 130
Civilian: 6

The war was over. President Obama's decisive victory gave him
an all-time high approval rating of 88%. North Korea was under
US-ROK occupation, and was in the process of rebuilding and aid;
NGOs rushed into the country to witness firsthand the disarray.
Refugees in China and Russia mostly stayed in the camps, but a
few came back despite a low-level insurgency in northwest North
Korea.

With that, the president could turn his attention to domestic issues-
including a biggie. Just months after Wood's confirmation, Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, a Supreme Court veteran and noted liberal, was diagnosed
with terminal pancreatic cancer. After a solemn meeting with the
president, she decided to stay on the court long enough to deliver
what would be her last decision-the key case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The turn of events so far after the election is exciting.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The smaller, pre-election midterms meant little, if not for the New
Jersey pickup, in which the well-known governor Chris Christie lost
his reelection bid to Richard Codey. In a side note, with Anthony
Weiner's victory in the New York mayoral race, Democrats held
the mayor's chair for the first time in 20 years.

US ELECTIONS, 2013:

New Jersey Governor:

State Sen. Richard Codey (D)-49.7%
Gov. Chris Christie (R)-46.1%

Virginia Governor:

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R)-57.5%
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D)-43.5%

New York City Mayor:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D)-55.1%
Businessman Richard Parsons (R)-40.4%



Rep. Weiner gives his victory speech, November 6th.

GUBERNATORIAL STATS:

States with Democratic governor (21)
States with Republican governor (28)
States with Independent governor (1)

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that California's
Proposition 8 was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, and
therefore all laws prohibiting same-sex couples from marriage were
unconstitutional. The United States would be the sixteenth country
to legalize same-sex marriage. Progressives cheered, millions proposed,
and polls immediately showed a polarization; 51% of Americans supported
allowing same-sex couples to marry with 44% against. This would also
be the last decision of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before her retirement.


The situation in Korea was currently more stable than expected. Though
small pockets of resistance remained in remote northern areas,
Kim Jong-un had been captured on November 18th and was expected
to be tried for war crimes by the ICJ. Along with US, ROK, Japanese,
and Australian forces, UN forces remained in the former country,
with a special zone to be run by the Chinese government to settle
worries of US forces on the Sino-Korean border. The two Koreas were
already forming a loose confederation while the North rebuilt and
developed. A United Korea team, using the flag of the Korean peninsula,
competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, with both North and
South Korean athletes winning at least some medals.



Though the blue states cheered as same-sex marriage was legalized,
there was another pressing issue in the courts; replacing Ginsburg.
Though this time Obama had a rather tough time choosing a nominee,
he eventually settled with Harold Hongju Koh, legal adviser to the State
Department. If confirmed, he would be the first Asian-American
Supreme Court Justice.



Another issue: the upcoming midterm elections. Most House and Senate
polls showed that there would be little swing either way-expected.
However, it also looked as if the Democrats would make significant
gains in the governors' mansions-even Alabama was looking competitive,
with former representative Bobby Bright, a classic Blue Dog, up against
the incumbent Republican Robert Bentley.





Another scary race for the Republicans: Texas. The traditional red
state stronghold, Texas, though certain to re-elect Senator Cornyn,
was iffy about Rick Perry, the incumbent governor. He hadn't been
popular in years, only surviving 2010 due to the fact that it was
a Republican wave year. The likely Democratic nominee was
Julian Castro, the young and popular mayor of San Antonio.
Running on a socially moderate and economically populist and
pro-immigration platform, Castro, who would also turn out
the powerful Hispanic vote, was narrowly leading Perry in
statewide polls.



No surprises-again, Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Harold Hongju Koh, was
confirmed, with all Democrats as well as 4 Republicans and Independent Olympia
Snowe voting to confirm him-the first Asian-American Justice. With a solid 5-3
liberal majority (as well as swing vote Kennedy), the SCOTUS was ready to take
on one of its most controversial decisions-Citizens United vs. Federal Election
Commission. They just had to wait for a case to come up.



Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was in trouble.
Like Tom Daschle in 2004 and Harry Reid in 2010, he was up for
reelection-and it was looking tough. Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor,
Daniel Mongiardo (D-KY) had won the Democratic primaries running
under a socially conservative and economically pro-labor platform.
With McConnell becoming somewhat senile as well as unpopular due
to his growingly visible connections with lobbyists, he now had one
of the lowest approval ratings in the Senate. However, due to massive
amounts of cash flowing into the state for McConnell, polling showed a statistical tie.



A major boost to Democratic prospects in the midterms was the end of
the Afghan War. US objectives had not been fully completed; Osama bin
Laden was still on the run, while the Afghan government was still riddled
with corruption. However, several Taliban leaders had been captured since
the height of resistance in 2009-2010, and resistance had been reduced to
small pockets in remote regions of the country.

[Niemeyerite]

will conservative texas vote for Julian Castro, with that surname? jaja I hope so

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It seems like after Obama's re-election, you have this great swing back towards the Left, with even Republicans in Kentucky and Texas being in trouble.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Not quite. The House will stay more or less stagnant, and Begich and Landrieu are also in
trouble. Also, Perry and McConnell are exceptionally unpopular.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Not quite. The House will stay more or less stagnant, and Begich and Landrieu are also in
trouble. Also, Perry and McConnell are exceptionally unpopular.

How is Perry unpopular? Isn't he like the Nelson Rockefeller of Texas (as in a more than two term career Governor)?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Not quite. The House will stay more or less stagnant, and Begich and Landrieu are also in
trouble. Also, Perry and McConnell are exceptionally unpopular.

How is Perry unpopular? Isn't he like the Nelson Rockefeller of Texas (as in a more than two term career Governor)?

From what I can find, he's unpopular and mostly survived this year because he was a Republican, barely doing better than McCain in 2008.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

2014 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Senate:

Democrats: 54 seats (-1)
Republicans: 45 seats (+1)
Independents: 1 seat (0)

Alaska:

Sean Parnell, 52.7%
Mark Begich, 46.4%

Kentucky:

Daniel Mongiardo, 49.4%
Mitch McConnell, 46.1%

Louisiana:
Neil Riser, 51.0%
Mary Landrieu, 46.9%
____________________

House:

Democrats: 224 (-6)
Republicans: 211 (+6)
_____________________

Governors:

Democrats: 26 (+5)
Republicans: 23 (-5)
Independents: 1 (0)

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Like 2008, 2016 was an open field, and there was no clear frontrunner.
By January, the fight was on to be the 45th president. The first major
candidate was the runner-up in the 2012 Republican primaries and
current author/conservative PAC leader Tim Pawlenty, former
governor of Minnesota. The Republicans had traditionally run on
the presumed heir getting the nomination, but this year there
were two possible candidates for that title.



The other was Bobby Jindal. Narrowly leading Governor Pawlenty in
most polls, the Louisiana governor and former vice presidential candidate
was clearly interested in a 2016 presidential bid. However, busy in Louisiana,
he decided to wait to scan the field before making his move.



Meanwhile, the 2014 midterms had boosted another potential
candidate-John Cornyn, the new Senate Minority Leader from
Texas. Now that McConnell had been defeated, Cornyn took his
place, having won re-election with relative ease. However, he
remained silent about a presidential bid, claiming that his focus was
on the Senate.



The Democratic field was somewhat more active. President Obama
had a decent approval rating-53%-and the Democratic establishment
was hoping that they could do what the Republicans did in '88-get
one of theirs in the White House a third time in a row. But they
had a problem-where was their frontrunner? So far, the only
candidates to announce bids were New York governor Andrew
Cuomo and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. The former was
a rather standard liberal, while Merkley, who was only narrowly
elected in 2008 but survived without too much trouble in 2014,
would be the progressive candidate. Of course, more were
soon to come.






For the Republicans, three more threw their hats into the ring in
February. The first was John Thune, an expected candidate. A
senator from South Dakota, he already had the experience of
a presidential run. He intended to run his campaign like Pawlenty's-
pull out the blue-collar vote with a half-populist, half-generic
Republican campaign.

One of the less thrown-around names was also one who felt he
could come from behind. John Hoeven, former governor and
senator of North Dakota, would notably be the first mustachioed
president in over a century. That wouldn't help him, though.
What would come in handy was his bipartisan and strong record
as governor, and more recently as a "maverick" senator-what McCain
once was. He had among the highest approval ratings of any senator,
with even a majority of North Dakotan Democrats supporting him.
Sure, he had a re-election campaign to worry about in the Senate,
but there was no one to seriously oppose him.



And then there was Bobby. He spent the month scanning the field,
and felt that the time to strike was now. On February 22nd, he
announced his candidacy on the steps of the governors' mansion
in Baton Rouge, pushing the need for "real reform in Washington".
He knew his strategy: use social conservative support to take
out Pawlenty in Iowa, sacrifice New Hampshire to Pawlenty or Hoeven,
and sweep South Carolina with his southern charm and hopefully
an endorsement from governor Nikki Haley, who had endorsed Romney
in the last primary; Romney was the one who bolstered her campaign
in 2010 with quite a bit of cash.



As for the Democrats, the fight for the nomination was on again.
On February 2nd, Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey announced his
bid for the presidency, intending to represent the socially moderate
and fiscally populist wing of the Democratic party, especially
union workers. Still, he knew that his pro-life views would harm
him in the Democratic primary, so he needed to walk the line.



The final wing of the Democratic party, the center-left New Democrats,
was taken on February 19th by former Virginia governor and DNC chairman
Tim Kaine. A hero of the New Democratic Coalition, Kaine felt that
he could be the next Bill Clinton; a Southern Democrat, social moderate,
and fiscal moderate. He also knew that he had the unofficial
but not-so-secret support from President Obama, but due to
support from Clinton and Obama would have to fight through likely
attacks of being just another establishment hack.



CNN Polling: Of the current candidates, who do you support to be the
next President?

Republicans:

Bobby Jindal-31%
Tim Pawlenty-24%
John Hoeven-20%
John Thune-17%
Other/Undecided-8%

Democrats:

Andrew Cuomo-27%
Tim Kaine-26%
Jeff Merkley-19%
Bob Casey-18%
Other/Undecided-10%

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

For the Democrats, I'd want Kaine or Casey. For the Republicans, I'd accept Pawlenty or Jindal, though I've already seen the 2016 GOP ticket.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Jindal of course was ecstatic, but Cuomo was more cautiously optimistic.
He was at the top, sure, but barely outside the margin of error.
He needed to step up his game, especially in the Midwest and Southwest,
if he wanted to secure the presidency. Kaine, on the other hand,
felt that he could take either Iowa or New Hampshire-didn't matter
which-and sweep South Carolina for a comeback.



Governor Kaine hosts a rally in San Diego, March 12th.



Governor Cuomo in Baltimore, April 7th.



Senator Casey interviewed in Cleveland, April 3rd.



Senator Merkley speaks with reporters after meeting supporters in
Milwaukee, March 25th.



Governor Jindal in Houston, April 4th.



Senator Hoeven rallies supporters in Portsmouth, April 7th.



Senator Thune in Des Moines, March 19th.


Governor Pawlenty in Columbia, March 8th.

The field continued to open up among both parties. It was still early
on, and several newcomers hoped to at least get some recognition.
The first for the Republicans was Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
A noted fiscal hawk and creator of the Roadmap for America, he gained
some attention for his Senate bid in 2012, eventually losing to Russ Feingold.



Another new Republican candidate was Pennsylvania governor
Tom Corbett. Managing to take advantage of the economic
recovery, he had been narrowly reelected in 2014 and was,
like Thune and Pawlenty, hoping to run as the "average"
conservative. Polls had him losing in every state, including
Pennsylvania, where Pawlenty was still ahead.


Corbett wasn't the only Pennsylvanian Republican running
for the Oval Office. Rick Santorum, former senator who had
twice been defeated by incumbent senator and 2016
presidential candidate Bob Casey, decided to jump into
the race, hoping that he could take a dark horse candidacy
by gaining support from the religious right and from the
now-dying Tea Party.



A newcomer on the scene for the Democrats was former
Maryland governor Martin O' Malley. However, few expected
his campaign to go far, with policies similar to those of Tim
Kaine and hailing from the same region of the country.
Still, he was useful for the Cuomo campaign as a potential
vote-splitter for the DLC camp. Many wondered if he was
actually running for enough attention to warrant a VP selection.



A rather unpopular figure among the Democrats would also be
running-West Virginia Senator and former Governor Joe Manchin.
Though pro-labor, he was relatively socially conservative and,
like most West Virginians, a staunch opponent of cap-and-trade.
Still, he found support among more populist coal miners in
Appalachian states, as well as Blue Dog Democrats in the
South.

[Progressive]

This is "one hell of a " great TL! Keep it up