Election of 2012: Looking Forward

[Jerseyrules]

Yes!

[Indy Prez]

With Paul out of the GOP race, Romney and Gingrich fight for his delegates and the remaining undecideds. Heading to the convention the party is contentiously divided, with DRAFT DANIELS and DRAFT CHRISTIE movements popping up all over the place.

27/08/12 Tampa Bay, Florida

As Occupy protesters fill the streets, Romney and Gingrich battle it out inside the Times Forum. In the end, the deadlock leads to a smoke-filled room, where party bosses will pick a nominee.
 Meanwhile, Gary Johnson will drop his libertrian party bid and endorse Ron Paul.

[Indy Prez]

After a month of political infighting between the moderate Romney and conservative Gingrich camps, the Republican Party will nominate a centre-right candidate in Mitch Daniels, the popular Indiana governor, with neocon Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire as his running mate. Gingrich and Romney tepidly endorse the ticket, with the former giving the neoconservative Republican equivalent to Teddy Kennedy's 'Dream Will Never Die" speech at the 1980 Dem convention - a firey rhetorical boot to the gonads of Obamacracy, in which he alludes to foreseeable conflicts in the Middle East to which the President (and by name, candidate Paul) won't be able to commit. He quotes Ronald Reagan: "Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the Pharoahs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the Patriots have thrown down their guns to never fire the shot heard around the world?" However, the speech's focus is also on ObamaCare and the domestic policies of the administration, with phrases like "An End of Dependency" earning the rank of title in certain publications. In the end, he reiterates party unity as his foremost priority.
 Outside, Occupy protestors rub up against Tea Partiers, shouting slogans at each other and being pricks. However, the biggest prick of them all, Officer Alan Edouard of the TBPD maces a young Occupy Protestor sparking what the media dubs a riot.

[Indy Prez]

Officer Edouard --name may change later -- becomes a hero to law-and-order Teabaggers. Along with Sam the Plumber's Assistant Wurzelbacher of Ohio, he will become a right-wing darling and Fox News correspondent overnight. It turns out he only threatened to spray mace in the face of a foul-mouthed protestor and that was that. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says that President Obama "takes unwarranted acts of aggression like this seriously" after early reports come in and the administration is subsequently lampooned on the late nigt shows.
 Meanwhile polls are still favouring a comfortable margin of victory for Obama and Dave Leip has Virginia and Ohio in the red with Florida and New Hampshire in the pink.

[Jerseyrules]

Uh oh...

[Indy Prez]

Governor Daniels' speech at the convention is again tepidly received by the audience. He proves an undynamic speaker but his themes unite Republicans. Notable highlights include a lame joke comparing the event to his hosting of the Superbowl in Indianapolis earlier in the year; the assumed Obama admin's juking of new labor stats and his neocon-rousing support of carpet-bombing Iran. Kelly Ayotte, another awkward speaker, still manages to raise a few cheers from the far right-wingers and some moderates who like this MSNBC-dubbed 'Palin with a brain'.
 The Libertarian Party formally endorses Ron Paul for President and he addresses them at the Las Vegas convention: "My fellow libertarians, this is an election where Americans, not Democrats and not Republicans will decide the future of our country. As you know, I recently dropped my bid for the Republican nomination to run independently. Many in that party have called me a traitor and have accused me of handing over the election to Obama. This is so wrong -I will hand this election over to the American people and they will decide who the best proponent for peace, freedom and democracy is." Polls have Paul running nationally at 21%?
 Mitch Daniels watches the speech on a TV monitor backstage at the Times Forum and turns to his aides, saying "Guys, I think I know how we can win this thing."

[Indy Prez]

Daniels makes the Balanced Budget and Iran his campaign platform, and uses his own Syrian ancestry as a pretext for intervention in the war-torn nation.
 Paul demands the withdrawal fo all troops from the region an d a strict policy of non-interventionism.
 President Obama hopes the US can rely on allies in the region as well as the UN to "secure a lasting peace" for the nation, deriding Daniels idea of picking a leader for them.
 "What allies? They need our help!" demands Daniels.

Up next: the first 3-way Presidential Debate since 92. With High-pitched Texan Included

[Jerseyrules]

So pissed Ronny didnt win last night!

[Indy Prez]

So pissed Ronny didnt win last night!

Aye, twas a pisser like.

So Mitch, Ron and Barry battle it out on stage in Dayton, Ohio. The Obama re-election team led by Comm Director David Pfeiffer and former Deputy Ops, current 2012 camp manager Jim Messina draft a new playbook after resignedly throwing out the old Romney one. It requires more imagination, as Daniels' experience and squeaky-clean conservatism-with-results reputation proves difficult to tarnish. In the end, they decide to go for an easy point-scorer and attack his crazy lady running mate. "If it ain't broke..." says Pfeiffer. They also decide to focus on domestic issues more with the still-decreasing unemployment rate and the Consumer Protection Act, hoping to win the independents and tie his deregulatory plans to Paul's in order to split the Conservative vote more decisively.

"Good evening I'm Jim Lehrer and welcome to the 1st 2012 Presidential Debate from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio... "

President Obama opens with a defense of his healthcare reform legislation and consumer protections as succesful, "necessary regulations to ensure American financial security". He stresses his "belief that govenment has a role in creating jobs, and a constitutionally-decreed duty to promote the general welfare of the American people".

Governor Daniels expresses his regret at the President's lack of intervention in the ongoing Syrian conflict and wants to know what the President means by "our allies in the region?" He continues to use his Syrian heritage as a pretext for foreign policy expertise. He complains of rife military inaction during Obama's term and the President's questionable courage to go to war in the event of a military atttack.

Congressman Paul blames both parties for causing the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis and pledges to withdraw troops from abroad. He offers himself as the only candidate who can and will pay down the debt, end the wars and his usual libertarian mantra.

The debate begins...

[Jerseyrules]

How's the annointed one doing in polls?

[Indy Prez]

Obama 45%
Daniels 37%
Paul 18%

[Indy Prez]

Daniels and Obama use Paul as a stick to batter each other with but the president still comes off as Presidential. This the cornerstone of each of their strategies. A poll released after the debate indicates that the American public still prefer the President, still unfamiliar with Daniels and either bored or scared of Paul's isolationist non-interventionism.

Daniels responds to this by releasing a 'Life Story' ad showing him throwing an American football around with his kids, riding a Harley davison a la Huntsman and laughing in a construction hat. It works mildly with dumbass voters.

Obama will eventually go ahead with bombings in Syria to cripple the al-Assad regime upon realising the neccessity of intervention to secure his re-election bid. This will take much of the neocon vote from the GOP.

[Indy Prez]

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus lets slip the fun fact that "It ain't 1920 anymore" in his attempt to explain why the electorate needs at least a year to familiarise themselves with the candidate. Prominent GOPer Karl Rove calls for Priebus to stand down.
 Romney and Gingrich campaign for Mitch Daniels in New Hampshire and North Carolina, respectively. They are hated equally by the tea Party and moderate wings of the party for presumptively delivering the election to Obama and dividing the convention.

[Jerseyrules]

Keep going!

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

Keep going!

[Indy Prez]

Biden, Ayotte and Johnson go head-to-head in the only Vice Presidential Debate. Democrats sweat it out as they believe Palin 2.0 will own Joe like in 2008.
 One notable moment occurs when Ayotte talks of her family's military heritage to the point of tears and Biden offers a tissue and consoling pat on the back.
 Johnson's coolness and lack of any discernible accent do little to sway prospective Paulites and his years out of office are evident in his relaxed demeanour, healthy tan and wet voice, unused to the rigours of debate.
 Joe Biden is said to have further sealed the President's re-election bid and Democratic strategists let out a sigh of relief when he doesn't mispronounce his own name. "That's forbidden", he jokes in private.

[Indy Prez]

As election day nears, the lagging candidacy of Governor Daniels resorts to wild aspersions such as a presupposed Obama admin lifting of the Cuban Embargo while capaigning in South Florida. It energizes the Cuban-American community but loses him the cigar buff vote to Obama.
 Paul continues to rail against the administration and it's healthcare industry-meddling with his son Rand in Nevada. His son hesitantly speaks for him, probably due to fears of it derailing a potential GOP run of his own in 2016.
 President Obama tentatively opens negotiations with Iran, in order to put an end to the escalating Syrian conflict...

[Indy Prez]

*Syrian Civil War
Ron Paul refuses to release his tax returns without any of the usual BS. A croaky voice barks "NO!" at reporters. In the end, Paul will turn out to be in serious doo-doo with the IRS...

[Indy Prez]

06/11/12

ELECTION NIGHT



Boy, the past four years have just flown by!

[Indy Prez]

National polls have Obama comfortably in the lead and Paul, who has already downed the GOP ticket, is himself sinking fast. A last minute money bang in New England and the Intramontane West is what the Doc ordered. But the Obama landslide is evident by 12pm EST



Obama-Biden 51% PV
Daniels-Ayotte 34% PV
Paul-Johnson 14% PV

President Barack H Obama (D-IL)/Vice President Joseph R Biden (D-DE) 379 EV
Governor Mitchell E Daniels (R-IN)/Senator Kelly A Ayotte (R-NH) 151 EV
Congressman Ronald E Paul (I-TX)/Fmr Governor Gary E Johnson (I-NM) 8 EV

[Jerseyrules]

((((((((((

[Indy Prez]

Notable House & Senate results:

Ohio 9: Wurzelbacher (TPR) > Kaptur (D)
Massachusetts 4: Kennedy (D) > Childs (R)
Texas 14: Lampson (D) > Stockman (R)

MISSOURI Akin > McCaskill
OHIO Mandel > Brown
NEVADA Heller (R) > Berkley (D)

[Jerseyrules]

Notable House & Senate results:

Ohio 9: Wurzelbacher (TPR) > Kaptur (D)
Massachusetts 4: Kennedy (D) > Childs (R)
Texas 14: Lampson (D) > Stockman (R)

MISSOURI Akin > McCaskill
OHIO Mandel > Brown
NEVADA Heller (R) > Berkley (D)

What does that mean?

[Indy Prez]

> =defeated
Bold =incumbent

MASSACHUSETTS Elizabeth Warren (D) > Scott Brown (R)

[Jerseyrules]

> =defeated
Bold =incumbent

MASSACHUSETTS Elizabeth Warren (D) > Scott Brown (R)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  So is the GOP in control of Congress?