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Sec. of State Superique
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« Reply #125 on: January 05, 2014, 06:17:12 PM »

Considering that those who would vote for Ed Clark were basically a bunch of young liberals, some libertarian guys and some progressive people, would this travestite be a problem anyway?

It is still 1980, they were hoping for some support from the right as well thanks to the "Disraeli faction" that might fall through, and all-around it isn't exactly good press, especially in this era.

The paleolibertarian will go Mad. Rothbard will anounce a new party! Tongue
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #126 on: January 05, 2014, 09:44:47 PM »

Great job so far, Cathcon.  I need to get back to work on mine. Smiley 

And BTW, Malcolm Wilson was pro-life?  I could've sworn that he would be pro-choice, being a Republican from New York in the 70s.
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« Reply #127 on: January 06, 2014, 10:21:50 AM »

Great job so far, Cathcon.  I need to get back to work on mine. Smiley 

And BTW, Malcolm Wilson was pro-life?  I could've sworn that he would be pro-choice, being a Republican from New York in the 70s.

Thanks.

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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #128 on: January 06, 2014, 11:52:51 AM »

Great job so far, Cathcon.  I need to get back to work on mine. Smiley 

And BTW, Malcolm Wilson was pro-life?  I could've sworn that he would be pro-choice, being a Republican from New York in the 70s.

Thanks.

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Sounds a lot like me, or how I suspect I would've been at that time. Smiley
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« Reply #129 on: January 28, 2014, 02:25:06 PM »
« Edited: March 30, 2014, 01:38:30 PM by Cathcon »

Towards the Finish Line

The drama of third parties aside, the 1980 race would be primarily between two candidates throughout; disregarding the various "Let Ed Debate" protests that Dole's and Brewer's guards would have to wade through. Though a two-way race it may have been, it was hardly even. Coming out of the conventions, the Dole/Holton ticket led heavily until the end, something that would be a frequent cause of angst for Democratic staffers. A young and furious Pat Cadell who'd been a leading pollster for the party 1972, would be known to furiously remark on occasion "No one has faced a campaign this futile since Goldwater in '64!" The 'wiz-kid' that had helped lead Kennedy to victory twice was losing it. In a more rational voice, he would explain "Industrial workers are at their lowest point of confidence in the Democratic party since, oh, before we even made these polls!? Meanwhile, the youth vote, which was absolutely crucial for us in our last two victories, where are they? They don't give a damn, that's what! We could only use the draft for so long, and any hope of regaining them after what Bobby did will have to wait until well after the election. The South is the only place where there's a ray of light, and that's just in comparison to the past couple of performances, for God's sake! Finally, we have the coast. The pissed off 'Reagan Democrats' in places like California aren't ready to return to the party just yet, and we only have tepid backing of higher-income liberals. When it comes time to face facts, we are f#cked!"

Post-Convention Polling for President

Blue - Strong Republican
Light Blue - Lean Republican
Gray - Tossup
Light Red - Lean Democratic
Red - Democratic

While Democrats scrambled to gather together their formerly successful coalition, the Dole team was riding high. Pat Buchanan's behind-the-scenes successful organizing of a coalition of conservative and union Democrats (not always easy bed mates) had turned into a relevant "Democrats for Dole" group that opposed what it referred to as "the weak foreign policy and apathetic stance towards the working man that has prevailed in government these last eight years." Meanwhile, more liberal surrogates were hard at work to bring on board "Kennedy Republicans" and fiscally moderate liberals that had supported the Democratic presidential candidate in the last two elections. It would be Lowell Weicker, hoping to gain the favor of the nominee, who devoted a large amount of time to bringing those voters back. "I've head people comment, and this is from my own campaign as well, that the types of primary voters who supported Rockefeller, Evans, and Meskill don't have a home in the Republican party anymore. I'll tell you this: you have a friend in Bob Dole. While the Democrats are busy placating Southern and union interests, the Republicans have maintained their focus on good governance, national strength, and honest reform." It was very important, of course, that these two different outreach groups never totally intersect.

Among those few that did pay attention to "The Dole Scheme" as he called it, was reporter and former Pitkin County Sheriff Hunter S. Thompson. "All in all, it seems that the former Nixon hatchet man is fast at work assembling some strange fascist coalition of Republican dominance that will stand as a Fourth Reich of far-right government. ... From Wall Street traders in Connecticut, to the old Goldwater-Wallace bunch in the Deep South, and union men in the 'rust belt', this campaign has been utterly and sociopathically brilliant at electioneering. For any honest Democrat or liberal these days, it will be a truly scary time ahead." Thompson would later refer to Dole as "The President Nixon wished he'd been."

While Brewer had hoped that the debates would be his chance to make his case to the American people, such was not the case. While Dole himself had been seen as "green" and unready during the 1976 Vice Presidential debate with Brewer, he'd had an entire four years to ready himself for a rematch. One major issue would be over the inclusion of Ed Clark. While the Dole campaign had good reason to favor his inclusion--"Clark is the perfect guy to eat away at young, urban liberal voters that Kennedy relied on", said Buchanan--Brewer insisted that the Libertarian candidate not be allowed. Dole, at last, favoring a direct confrontation with Brewer than a move to humiliate him in a potential Dole-Clark debate, agreed to Brewer's terms. The League of Women Voters would sponsor two presidential debates, one on domestic and one on foreign policy, and one Vice Presidential debate. While Vice President Inouye would be seen as the superior debater against former Governor Holton, Dole managed to dominate the two presidential debates, securing an even larger lead than previously. Unrest in Iran, which had been an undercurrent of Middle East geopolitics since 1977, was once again flaring up against the Shah and Dole used that to his advantage. "The fact that our allies are again so threatened by agents of the Soviet Union is a clear sign of decreasing American stature across the globe thanks to the disaster of a foreign policy that the Democrats have led with these past eight years." Brewer, for his part, was caught in a bind. While not responsible for Kennedy's policies and while having to disown his predecessor's corrupt actions in other areas, in order to make the case for a full term, he would have to defend said policies to the death. Brewer would later write in his memoirs that for nights on end in the campaign he'd wished he'd come to power by any other way.

Election Results
Running on a platform of a renewed and revitalized arms race with the Soviet Union in the name of defending America's national interests, reduced tax rates, social conservatism, and a balanced budget, Robert Joseph Dole was elected to be the 40th President of the United States of America. The landslide Republican victory would sweep all parts of the nation, though Dole's highest totals would come from the "farm belt", where not only was he its favorite son, but it would profit the most from Dole's proposal to re-establish grain sales to the U.S.S.R. The ticket nevertheless, would suffer at certain points. While Republicans made significant inroads into the Democratic-leaning "rust belt", the national popular vote totals would be reflected at dis-proportionally low levels in New England, the South, and the West. New England was an area that Republicans had been losing ground in since the days of FDR. In this case, while Vermont and New Hampshire both gave Dole majorities, the other states he would either lose or gain only by plurarlity. This was seen largely as a result of socially moderate-to-liberal and more affluent voters favoring the Clark/Westman ticket despite the efforts of Dole surrogates in the region. The same could be said for the opposite end of the country, where Westerners of all stripes had given a significant amount of support to the Libertarian ticket relative to its national totals. Political scientists would credit this with the fact that "movement conservatives" and Disraeli supporters were disaffected by Dole's much more "middle America" oriented brand of conservatism, that moderates in states such as California had gone for the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" ticket, and anti-war activists and former McGovern supporters had preferred Clark immensely over the other two. Dole's lackluster performance in the South relative to Connally's was largely the fact that Dole's campaign had worked mainly to build a coalition of the industrial North and had abandoned some more Nixonian race-baiting tactics, and, obviously the region was where from the incumbent Brewer hailed. Nevertheless, Dole had won not only an electoral majority, but a popular mandate to govern, and with the Senate remaining in Republican hands, it seemed there was little stopping him.

Senator Robert J. Dole (Republican-Kansas)/Former Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (Republican-Virginia) 475 electoral votes, 53.6% of the popular vote
President Albert Brewer (Democrat-Alabama)/Vice President Daniel Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) 63 electoral votes, 40.3% of the popular vote
Attorney Edward E. Clark (Libertarian-California)/Senator Scott Westman (Libertarian-Montana) 0 electoral votes, 5.7% of the popular vote
Former Congressman John Rarick (American Independent-Louisiana)/Ms. Eileen Knowland Shearer (American Independent-California) 0 electoral votes, .3% of the popular vote
Others: 0 electoral votes, .1% of the popular vote

Kansas Senator Bob Dole would win a resounding electoral victory in the 1980 presidential election, giving what many thought was the Republican Party a mandate to govern as they saw fit.
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« Reply #130 on: January 28, 2014, 02:31:43 PM »

I've had to wait six pages to do this.

List of Presidents of the United States of America
37. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican-New York) January 20th, 1969-January 20th, 1973
38. Robert Francis Kennedy (Democrat-New York) January 20th, 1973-October 9th, 1978
39. Albert Preston Brewer (Democrat-Alabama) October 9th, 1978-January 20th, 1981
40. Robert Joseph Dole (Republican-Kansas) January 20th, 1981-Present

List of Vice Presidents of the United States of America
39. Spiro Theodore Agnew (Republican-Maryland) January 20th, 1969-January 20th, 1973
40. Albert Preston Brewer (Democrat-Alabama) January 20th, 1973-October 9th, 1978
Vacant: October 9th, 1978-January 8th, 1979
41. Daniel Ken Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) January 8th, 1979-January 20th, 1981
42. Abner Linwood Holton, Jr. (Republican-Virginia) January 20th, 1981-Present
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #131 on: January 31, 2014, 08:51:05 AM »


Election Results
Running on a platform of a renewed and revitalized arms race with the Soviet Union in the name of defending America's national interests, reduced tax rates, social conservatism, and a balanced budget, Robert Joseph Dole was elected to be the 40th President of the United States of America. The landslide Republican victory would sweep all parts of the nation, though Dole's highest totals would come from the "farm belt", where not only was he its favorite son, but it would profit the most from Dole's proposal to re-establish grain sales to the U.S.S.R. The ticket nevertheless, would suffer at certain points. While Republicans made significant inroads into the Democratic-leaning "rust belt", the national popular vote totals would be reflected at dis-proportionally low levels in New England, the South, and the West. New England was an area that Republicans had been losing ground in since the days of FDR. In this case, while Vermont and New Hampshire both gave Dole majorities, the other states he would either lose or gain only by plurarlity. This was seen largely as a result of socially moderate-to-liberal and more affluent voters favoring the Clark/Westman ticket despite the efforts of Dole surrogates in the region. The same could be said for the opposite end of the country, where Westerners of all stripes had given a significant amount of support to the Libertarian ticket relative to its national totals. Political scientists would credit this with the fact that "movement conservatives" and Disraeli supporters were disaffected by Dole's much more "middle America" oriented brand of conservatism, that moderates in states such as California had gone for the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" ticket, and anti-war activists and former McGovern supporters had preferred Clark immensely over the other two. Dole's lackluster performance in the South relative to Connally's was largely the fact that Dole's campaign had worked mainly to build a coalition of the industrial North and had abandoned some more Nixonian race-baiting tactics, and, obviously the region was where from the incumbent Brewer hailed. Nevertheless, Dole had won not only an electoral majority, but a popular mandate to govern, and with the Senate remaining in Republican hands, it seemed there was little stopping him.

Senator Robert J. Dole (Republican-Kansas)/Former Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (Republican-Virginia) 475 electoral votes, 53.6% of the popular vote
President Albert Brewer (Democrat-Alabama)/Vice President Daniel Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) 40.3% of the popular vote
Attorney Edward E. Clark (Libertarian-California)/Senator Scott Westman (Libertarian-Montana) 0 electoral votes, 5.7% of the popular vote
Former Congressman John Rarick (American Independent-Louisiana)/Ms. Eileen Knowland Shearer (American Independent-California) 0 electoral votes, .3% of the popular vote
Others: 0 electoral votes, .1% of the popular vote

Alternate history indeed. Smiley  Nixon never used "race-baiting" in real life; he campaigned as a centrist opposed to the racism of George Wallace and the cultural liberalism of Hubert Humphrey.
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« Reply #132 on: January 31, 2014, 09:39:29 AM »


Election Results
Running on a platform of a renewed and revitalized arms race with the Soviet Union in the name of defending America's national interests, reduced tax rates, social conservatism, and a balanced budget, Robert Joseph Dole was elected to be the 40th President of the United States of America. The landslide Republican victory would sweep all parts of the nation, though Dole's highest totals would come from the "farm belt", where not only was he its favorite son, but it would profit the most from Dole's proposal to re-establish grain sales to the U.S.S.R. The ticket nevertheless, would suffer at certain points. While Republicans made significant inroads into the Democratic-leaning "rust belt", the national popular vote totals would be reflected at dis-proportionally low levels in New England, the South, and the West. New England was an area that Republicans had been losing ground in since the days of FDR. In this case, while Vermont and New Hampshire both gave Dole majorities, the other states he would either lose or gain only by plurarlity. This was seen largely as a result of socially moderate-to-liberal and more affluent voters favoring the Clark/Westman ticket despite the efforts of Dole surrogates in the region. The same could be said for the opposite end of the country, where Westerners of all stripes had given a significant amount of support to the Libertarian ticket relative to its national totals. Political scientists would credit this with the fact that "movement conservatives" and Disraeli supporters were disaffected by Dole's much more "middle America" oriented brand of conservatism, that moderates in states such as California had gone for the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" ticket, and anti-war activists and former McGovern supporters had preferred Clark immensely over the other two. Dole's lackluster performance in the South relative to Connally's was largely the fact that Dole's campaign had worked mainly to build a coalition of the industrial North and had abandoned some more Nixonian race-baiting tactics, and, obviously the region was where from the incumbent Brewer hailed. Nevertheless, Dole had won not only an electoral majority, but a popular mandate to govern, and with the Senate remaining in Republican hands, it seemed there was little stopping him.

Senator Robert J. Dole (Republican-Kansas)/Former Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (Republican-Virginia) 475 electoral votes, 53.6% of the popular vote
President Albert Brewer (Democrat-Alabama)/Vice President Daniel Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) 40.3% of the popular vote
Attorney Edward E. Clark (Libertarian-California)/Senator Scott Westman (Libertarian-Montana) 0 electoral votes, 5.7% of the popular vote
Former Congressman John Rarick (American Independent-Louisiana)/Ms. Eileen Knowland Shearer (American Independent-California) 0 electoral votes, .3% of the popular vote
Others: 0 electoral votes, .1% of the popular vote

Alternate history indeed. Smiley  Nixon never used "race-baiting" in real life; he campaigned as a centrist opposed to the racism of George Wallace and the cultural liberalism of Hubert Humphrey.

This is patently false.

And good TL, Cath.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #133 on: January 31, 2014, 03:32:08 PM »


Election Results
Running on a platform of a renewed and revitalized arms race with the Soviet Union in the name of defending America's national interests, reduced tax rates, social conservatism, and a balanced budget, Robert Joseph Dole was elected to be the 40th President of the United States of America. The landslide Republican victory would sweep all parts of the nation, though Dole's highest totals would come from the "farm belt", where not only was he its favorite son, but it would profit the most from Dole's proposal to re-establish grain sales to the U.S.S.R. The ticket nevertheless, would suffer at certain points. While Republicans made significant inroads into the Democratic-leaning "rust belt", the national popular vote totals would be reflected at dis-proportionally low levels in New England, the South, and the West. New England was an area that Republicans had been losing ground in since the days of FDR. In this case, while Vermont and New Hampshire both gave Dole majorities, the other states he would either lose or gain only by plurarlity. This was seen largely as a result of socially moderate-to-liberal and more affluent voters favoring the Clark/Westman ticket despite the efforts of Dole surrogates in the region. The same could be said for the opposite end of the country, where Westerners of all stripes had given a significant amount of support to the Libertarian ticket relative to its national totals. Political scientists would credit this with the fact that "movement conservatives" and Disraeli supporters were disaffected by Dole's much more "middle America" oriented brand of conservatism, that moderates in states such as California had gone for the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" ticket, and anti-war activists and former McGovern supporters had preferred Clark immensely over the other two. Dole's lackluster performance in the South relative to Connally's was largely the fact that Dole's campaign had worked mainly to build a coalition of the industrial North and had abandoned some more Nixonian race-baiting tactics, and, obviously the region was where from the incumbent Brewer hailed. Nevertheless, Dole had won not only an electoral majority, but a popular mandate to govern, and with the Senate remaining in Republican hands, it seemed there was little stopping him.

Senator Robert J. Dole (Republican-Kansas)/Former Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (Republican-Virginia) 475 electoral votes, 53.6% of the popular vote
President Albert Brewer (Democrat-Alabama)/Vice President Daniel Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) 40.3% of the popular vote
Attorney Edward E. Clark (Libertarian-California)/Senator Scott Westman (Libertarian-Montana) 0 electoral votes, 5.7% of the popular vote
Former Congressman John Rarick (American Independent-Louisiana)/Ms. Eileen Knowland Shearer (American Independent-California) 0 electoral votes, .3% of the popular vote
Others: 0 electoral votes, .1% of the popular vote

Alternate history indeed. Smiley  Nixon never used "race-baiting" in real life; he campaigned as a centrist opposed to the racism of George Wallace and the cultural liberalism of Hubert Humphrey.

This is patently false.

And good TL, Cath.
No it's patently true.  Nixon voiced such strong support for civil rights as president that i would have made no sense to pander to bigots.
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MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
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« Reply #134 on: February 03, 2014, 08:27:11 AM »

Oldies, racism doesn't necessarily have to be open. In case you didn't know, there's a thing called "coded racism".

If you really don't have anything of substance to say, please stop spamming Cathcon's thread. He's working hard on his story and deserved some real feedback.
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« Reply #135 on: February 03, 2014, 01:01:48 PM »

Thank you for the comments, y'all. Whenever I update next will concern the Dole cabinet and the 1980 Senate results.
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« Reply #136 on: February 03, 2014, 03:58:17 PM »

I wonder what is Brewer going to do on retirement, beside collecting his pension and getting aroused by being called "Mistah President" Tongue
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« Reply #137 on: February 22, 2014, 08:20:41 PM »

Not to mention that George Wallace's candidacy made it pointless for Nixon to run a racist campaign.
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« Reply #138 on: March 03, 2014, 10:30:23 PM »
« Edited: March 06, 2014, 12:56:01 PM by Cathcon »

The Dole Administration's First Days

Coming into office, the Dole team, while ecstatic with its victory and the increased Republican majority in the House, was careful. Several Republican strategists that would soon be operating within the White House gave advice of caution. "We can not our enthusiasm and possible resulting hubris destroy what we hope to be a new Republican majority," one said. As such, in assembling a cabinet and the first pieces of legislation to be put forward come January 20th, there was an emphasis on creating bi-partisan consensus and legislation that would withstand pressures from the liberal House.


With that in mind, the Dole administration would reflect some of the bi-partisan tendencies of Robert F. Kennedy's. In a personal snub to the Brewer administration and signaling a much more resolute direction of foreign policy, Washing Senator and "Cold War Liberal" Henry M. Jackson, one of the outgoing president's primary opponents, would be chosen for Secretary of State. Years later, Buchanan, who had worked closely with the incoming administration, would regret his then-stated support for the Jackson appointment. “It was through him that all these, well I don’t want to say it, all these types like Wolfowitz and Abrams got their grip on the American foreign policy apparatus. I was far too short-sighted when backing that pick in 1980. Hell, at the time, I was more surprised that Jackson was willing to do it!”

Aside from Jackson, there would be a number of other bi-partisan picks. A fellow enemy of liberal Democrats out of Washington State, outgoing Governor Dixy Lee Ray, would be chosen for Secretary of Energy. “At a time when America faces soaring fuel prices that have affected every facet of life here, this country needs to be willing to tread down paths new and old to find solutions to the problems we face.” In this case, it would be Ray’s support for the pursuit of nuclear energy. That, combined with Dole’s foreign policy and the reversal of a few RFK-era energy regulations, was intended to properly do battle with OPEC and the oil shocks that America had received over the past eight years. The other Democrat of note appointed to the administration would be prosecutor Leon Jarwoski who, in 1977 and 1978, had been among the chief pursuers of the Kennedy administration’s various improprieties.

Secretary of State: Henry M. Jackson (D-WA)
Secretary of the Treasury: William E. Simon (R-NJ)
Secretary of Defense: John B. Connally (R-TX)
Attorney General: Leon Jarwoski (D-TX)
Secretary of the Interior: Stanley K. Hathaway (R-WY)
Secretary of Agriculture: Christopher S. “Kit” Bond (R-MO)
Secretary of Commerce: Donald T. Regan (R-NJ)
Secretary of Labor: Peter J. Brennan (I-NY)
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Winfield Dunn (R-TN)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Jack F. Kemp (R-NY)
Secretary of Transportation: Norbert Tiemann (R-NE)
Secretary of Environment and Energy: Dixy Lee Ray (D-WA)

Ambassador to the United Nations: Jacob D. Beam
National Security Adviser: Donald Rumsfeld (R-IL)
Press Secretary: Robert F. Bennett (R-KS)


The appointment of Connally to the position of Defense was largely a decision based on appearances and appeasement. Connally was a former nominee who Dole owed a large amount to and had an impressive enough portfolio for the job. However, at that point in his career, Connally was uninterested in the specifics of managing the Pentagon. Instead, the tasks of Secretary would fall largely to Dole’s crafty National Security Adviser, Donald Rumsfeld. Despite a shallow level of previous involvement in foreign policy due to what he termed “the Nixon administration’s premature end”, since 1973 he had done his time in both the private sector and a number of conservative think tanks. Serving briefly as an adviser to his former protege Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld had signed onto the Dole campaign early, being familiar with the man from the Nixon days. Weaseling and maneuvering his way up the ladder, he was thoroughly satisfied when offered the low key position of National Security Adviser. “Kissinger could’ve gone far in this position if Bobby Kennedy hadn’t been able to nudge around a few votes in Illinois.” he was fond of commenting up through his first few months in the position.


Above: Donald Rumsfeld, the Dole administration's cunning inaugural National Security Adviser. While Defense Secretary Connally would function as a hand's off manager, Rumsfeld would be all too willing to get his hands dirty in the Pentagon's specifics.

Jack Kemp was a different flavor of Republican than the typical Dole administration appointee, or in general. Representing Buffalo, the former football player displayed throughout his ten year Congressional career strong support for Laffer-esque tax cuts as well as urban issues. Referred to by a few as a “compassionate conservative”, Kemp--who had riled a number of feathers when he criticized the Dole tax plan--was nevertheless appointed to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Intending to forge a path between arch-conservatives and “tax-and-spend liberals”, Kemp sought to use the office to lead the way in 1980’s urban policy.

Though legislation enacting much of the Dole agenda would have to wait on bargaining with Congress, within the first week of Dole’s inauguration--in which he promised comprehensive reform of the tax system, a stronger foreign policy, and a revitalized American economy--he lifted the embargo on grain sales to the Soviet Union. This was important on both a diplomatic and economic level as it shored up support from his long time farm belt constituents as well as taking the “fight” in the Cold War away from the Soviet people and towards their government, an important rhetorical distinction for the administration.
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« Reply #139 on: March 05, 2014, 01:18:21 PM »

October 19th, 1999

Mattingly coughed as he stepped in front of the crowded conference room. The men in it, what a century ago might have been called leaders of the American economy, looked sleepless, weak, and as if the life had been drained out of them. A decade of a Wall Street- and technology-driven economy, combined with free "trade" had decimated the industries he so loved. However, if someone wasn't willing to step up to the plate, who would?

"Since the, eh, so-called 'Atari Democrats' took over, what have we seen? Styling themselves as centrists and post-liberal Democrats, they proceeded to do what liberals have done best: force progress upon the American people. And what did we, America, do about it? We accepted these changes as for the better, necessary, and especially as lucrative. Why wouldn't we? With the technology explosion in '94 and the stock boom following, it seemed the only rational thing was to buy into it. However, the toryhood of change was not to last.

Let us start from the beginning. As opposed to traditional Democratic policies favoring unions or somesuch, in an attempt to prove just how progressive the administration was, it wished not only to push the typical things you'll find from any run-of-the-mill left-of-center administration, but as well to radically push the American economy itself forward. Ironically, we've seen some similar policies pushed by the Conservative party in Thatcherite Britain. In both cases, the government in power accelerated the push away from an industrial economy to one more centered around emerging technology and stock trading. While some might simply shrug this off as 'what had to happen' or something like that, I object. With federal funds funneled towards Silicon Valley and the nation caught up in the mania of easy money, little did any of us see the approaching crash. Meanwhile, the Democrats opened the gates to foreign investment. At the same time, we unleashed a tide of overseas manufacturing from both Asia and Europe into our country, which promoted outsourcing and lowered labor costs. Soon, we had full computer labs and empty factories. Now, I can tell you that each and every one of us in this room is a proud capitalist. However, we are industrial, American capitalists. While the old Democratic party would have sought to destroy our companies and divide the spoils among the workers and welfare recipients, the "New Democrats" since the days of Bobby Kennedy accomplished the same goal by merely lowering tariffs. Instead, of unions, the party in power sees fit to divide our companies among the Japanese and Germans.

In 1896, William McKinley was elected running on a platform of industry and sound currency. His opponent, William Jennings Bryan, sought to drag the country backwards into the world of agrarianism. Now, the Democrats have finally had the gall to leap forward and we have seen where that has left America. The Republican party must be an anchor. Industry has supported America for a century and recent attempts to abandon it in favor of futuristim and half-baked pipe dreams have paid off in economic catastrophe. The reason for my candidacy has been to save the America that I have seen thrive, that I have seen prosper. I grew up the son of a UAW worker and have, through hard work, persistence, good luck, and free market policies, managed to rise to the top. In the America of the Democratic party, a party torn between 'Artari', labor, and Luddites, such would be impossible. This isn't for political power or party numbers, this is for the country we love."

As Mattingly stepped aside he could already hear the cash register sounds as these weakened titans of industry pulled it together to give their country one last shot. While outsourcing had become prevalent over the last ten years, these people had held on. He would not betray them.
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« Reply #140 on: March 06, 2014, 12:53:00 PM »
« Edited: June 27, 2015, 07:48:37 PM by Cathcon »

1980 Senate Results
The Senate results delivered Republicans a super-majority in the U.S. Senate, giving Howard Baker another two years as Senate Majority Leader. However, the party failed again to win a majority in the House of Representatives. Nevertheless, it was the closest they'd come to it in a long time. That wasn't saying much. Despite the power Baker wielded in the Senate come January 3rd, 1981, it was clear that compromise would still need to be made between the Republicans and their Democratic counterparts.

Republicans: 62 (+9)
Democrats: 37 (-9)
Independents: 1

The Rigors of Recovery

The first meeting between Dole and Baker as President and Senate Majority Leader was congenial. The two had known each other as Senate colleagues since the 1960's. Had Baker not been tied up with his leadership duties, the two men might be meeting at opposite ends of the table after the 1980 election. While the Tennessee Senator had built his career on his ability to reach across the aisle, in this case, his greatest challenge would be in restraining the base.

Above: Howard Baker and Bob Dole, 1979. Within two years, it would be Dole who was Baker's boss, not the other way around. Despite their power shifts, the two would remain close allies.

Dole was of a different breed than several of the "Republican young-bloods" that had begun to inhabit the party. Jack Kemp was perhaps the greatest representative of these up-and-comers. Vigorously in favor of tax-cuts, free trade, and adherents to economist Arthur Laffer, Kemp and his crew differed significantly from the old-fashioned monetarist Republicans that had dominated the party's fiscal views for years. Going back to the days of Eisenhower, even Goldwater himself had only favored tax cuts that didn't affect the deficit. The "supply-siders" cared little about the deficit and favored economic growth instead. Despite the urging of Jack Kemp and others, Dole and his monetarist Treasury Secretary William Simon were determined not to enact a wholly radical economic bill.

The Republicans' conservative wing drew up the Humphrey-Crane Economic Recovery Act, slashing taxes in all brackets brutally and nearly decimating the welfare state. Gordon J. Humphrey and Phil Crane, the two architects of the plan, saw little problem in doing so. Dole, however, in speaking with his administration, was wholly against it. "This will throw the economy into a damned tailspin!" he barked. The difference was much more of practicality than of principle. Such a grand deviation from the set way of things would, it was agreed, have far-reaching and unintended consequences. "Even if this was the administration's goal," Simon stated, "it would be well beyond foolish to attempt it all at once. We can look at Great Britain for an example of that." At that time in history, Margaret Thatcher-led Britain was mired in recession and the government was being pressured to take a "U-Turn".

It was obvious to the administration that such a bill would not pass muster and that an alternative would have to be crafted. Instead of something reflecting the liberals in either the Democratic or Republican camps, the resulting package of bills would be representative more of a shift in the Republican party toward northern industrial centers. Senator H. John Heinz, III of Pennsylvania, whose roots lay in Pittsburgh, and Representative Carl Pursell of Michigan, who previously had been Wayne County Commissioner, were the main sponsors of what was dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Reform Act (CERA, or Heinz-Pursell) of 1981. A shift away from "the politics of slashing" as employed by Crane and his allies, CERA would nonetheless cut both taxes and spending but by less than the conservative ERA. As well, the cuts in spending intentionally outweighed the tax decreases, allowing for saved money to be redirected towards urban investment. Unexpected from Republicans since the 1920's, tariffs would also be raised. These increases were reflective of the two sponsors' bases, as, while several industrial products were given new protection, automobiles and steel would see some of the largest duty raises.

Above: John Heinz, co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Economic Reform Act of 1981, was able to draw Democratic support to his recovery bill. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, would be one of the first to come to its aid following the CERA's unveiling.

The bill took much longer to cobble together than Humphrey-Crane, as it consisted of input from legislators across the board. As critics railed against the administration for seeming inaction on the economy--though a number of smaller bills that would eventually act in accordance with the CERA were passed in the meantime--in April, Heinz and Pursell presented their plan. With the arch-conservative plan having failed in two different votes and a number of both Southern and industrial Democrats consenting to voting for the new bill, it passed easily. On April 17th, 1981, the Comprehensive Economic Reform Act was signed into law by President Dole.

Taxing and spending would hardly be the only focuses of the CERA, however. With entitlement programs receiving cuts, job training programs would replace a number of them. One part of the bill would mandate greater training for functioning in the free market: tax preparation, housing, accounting, and so on. While a small and largely unnoticed section, the requirements, to be phased in for the 1982-1983 school year, would have a subtle yet important effect on the nation's future.
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« Reply #141 on: December 17, 2014, 09:49:17 PM »

Wonderful!  I love it!
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« Reply #142 on: December 18, 2014, 10:02:23 PM »

If Dole was such a "moderate" (as the Tea Partiers suggest), then why would he be popular in the South?

And BTW, Weicker was in Independent when he served as CT governor.  Does he stay a Republican in this timeline?
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« Reply #143 on: December 18, 2014, 10:50:23 PM »

If Dole was such a "moderate" (as the Tea Partiers suggest), then why would he be popular in the South?

And BTW, Weicker was in Independent when he served as CT governor.  Does he stay a Republican in this timeline?

First off, as 1980 suggests, by 2000, there's already been a male candidate for President with the last name Dole. I doubt anyone would call him a "belle". Wink Secondly, as for Weicker, it remains to be seen. The parties are going to be looking slightly different in this timeline than in real life.
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« Reply #144 on: December 19, 2014, 09:38:27 AM »

If Dole was such a "moderate" (as the Tea Partiers suggest), then why would he be popular in the South?

And BTW, Weicker was in Independent when he served as CT governor.  Does he stay a Republican in this timeline?

First off, as 1980 suggests, by 2000, there's already been a male candidate for President with the last name Dole. I doubt anyone would call him a "belle". Wink Secondly, as for Weicker, it remains to be seen. The parties are going to be looking slightly different in this timeline than in real life.
Ah, so you're talking about Liddy?
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« Reply #145 on: January 11, 2015, 02:54:05 PM »
« Edited: June 27, 2015, 07:49:45 PM by Cathcon »

In Coldest War

Dole Administration Foreign Policy: 1981-1983
With a cabinet comprised of a variety of both hawks and realists, the Dole administration was determined to reignite the arms race, whatever the cost. In taking a line from Jack Kennedy's 1960 campaign, the Dole foreign policy team's motto for the earliest years of his presidency was that there could be no price tag placed on national defense. Many in the President's Office of Budget and Management protested that this ran counter to their aims of reducing  the federal deficit, but the administration nevertheless pressed forward.

The first major policy decision would be Dole agreeing to continue the Brewer-era policy of arming rebels in Afghanistan. Both Robert Kennedy and Brewer had managed to maintain an America-friendly government in Iran, and Dole was determined that the U.S. not cede Afghanistan under his watch. Other actions by the White House would be more public: the signing of a budget for 1982 that significantly increased defense spending, including the development of a number of "Pentagon boondoggles" that had been quietly moved to the back-burner over the past twelve years. While Brewer had consented to modest defense increases, America's construction of nuclear arms had been slowed, and few in the defense and foreign policy apparatuses saw any reason not to support an arms buildup.

The administration has its fair share of critics, to be sure. While Republicans would, by-and-large, fall in line to support Dole's new defense plans, Lowell Weicker and Mark Hatfield would be chief among the President's party in the Senate to oppose his foreign policy. Together with a band of liberal- and libertarian-leaning fellow Republican legislators, they would form a small caucus in both houses of congress known informally as "the Mavericks". Thaddeus O'Connor of Maine would be their leader in the House of Representatives. Outside of Dole's party, a good number of Democrats had little problem trying to stall the administration's foreign policy agenda. Scott Westman became Dole's most vocal critic from the left, along with Senators Christopher Garrett of Vermont and Frank Church of Idaho. However, many in the Democratic Senate Minority spurned Westman as well, who had run for Vice President on the Libertarian line in 1980 and seemed to hold views counter to that of the base on economic and taxation issues.

Within Washington's central intelligence apparatus, a number of significant moves would be taken. Under Director of Central Intelligence Elliot Abrams, "Team B" would be set up. Supported by a number of Jackson's State Department neoconservatives, the idea had come into vogue that, in recent years (especially the eight years of Kennedy-Brewer), the nation had become too optimistic in regards to its foreign policy position. As such, it was Team B's responsibility to re-examine intelligence issues. History would show that it functioned essentially to produce the most pessimistic results, spurring greater funding for covert intelligence operations as well as defense spending in general. Abrams would also preside over CIA activities in Latin America.

The CIA would not be the only point of renovation in intelligence policy. Within the Defense Intelligence Agency, Project Socrates was begun in 1983 to investigate not only American military, but economic competitiveness and prevent the flow of superior technology to military adversaries. Headed by physicist and intelligence officer Michael Sekora, the "bird's eye view" it took would investigate the decline of America's industry and economy on an international level and seek to develop solutions to it. Following the Dole administration, Socrates would be labeled an "industrial policy" and defunded. Similar concepts in in trade and military policy would be brought back in the 21st century, however.

1982 Mid-Term Elections
The mid-term elections showed mixed results. While the economy was failing to recover as fast as Republicans would have liked, and it was obvious that they would fail to maintain their filibuster-proof Senate majority, there were some positive signs for President Dole. In Connecticut, Senator Lowell Weicker, long an enemy of activist conservatives within his own party, would face probably the greatest hurdle of his career. While just two years before he had been one of the leading candidates for his party's nomination, and still possessed a loyal following of Republican liberals, the tide was turning. Prescott Bush, Jr., son of the late Connecticut legislator Prescott Bush and brother to Texas' junior senator, had decided to seek the nomination for Senate that year. In March, Bush resoundingly won a caucus in Fairfield, CT, stunning observers. While Prescott was himself far from a "movement conservative", he received both public and private support from the party's right wing, and was seen as more favorable to them than Weicker. Bush briefly considered, out of party unity, dropping out of the race. However, a call from Patrick Buchanan--then the White House Communications Director--as well as overt endorsements from Prescott's brother George H.W. Bush, the Buckley brothers, and former Governor Ronald Reagan, kept Bush in the race. In the August primary, Bush triumphed with a comfortable victory of 54% over his liberal opponent.

As well, in Wyoming, Senator Beauregard D'Israeli would face a similar fate. While he had been but another loser of the 1980 Republican primaries, following the November elections, revelations began pouring out as former members of his campaign staff reported that D'Israeli, who had always publicly shied away from questions of his personal religion, was an avowed Satanist. Among his small corps of support, many had believed him agnostic or, perhaps, like his brother Congressman Mendelik D'Israeli of Montana, a generic Christian. While D'Israeli scoffed at the accusations, more upper-level campaign members began speaking to the media. The Senator had expected to cruise to re-election due to his state's Republican leanings, however, the rumors paired with his already anti-establishment ideology and abrasive way of doing business prompted one-term Wyoming Governor Alan Simpson to challenge D'Israeli in the primaries. While Simpson was no doctrinaire conservative, he was preferred by liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike to the wiley D'Israeli, and garnered significant funding from national donors, unseating D'Israeli with over 60% of the vote. D'Israeli, angered by the defeat, announced his bid as an independent, "freeing myself and my votes from the confines of the oppressive, collectivist, and moralizing two party system that so seeks to hold us all at the mercy of unions and big religion."

Meanwhile, in Montana, Senator Scott Westman was one of the Democrats that found himself under attack from his own party. Having alienated not only economic progressives, but members of the rank-and-file with his choice to run on the Libertarian ticket two years prior, he was besieged on all sides. However, Westman benefited from a far less organized political opposition than his contemporaries in the Republicans. Garnering 47% of the primary vote, Westman gathered a strange coalition comprised of left-wing anti-war and social issues activists, economic moderates, and "reform"-minded centrists who were impressed with his "taking on of big government and big business alike". Meanwhile, labor, liberals, hawks, and social moderates were split between four different candidates.

While the Democrats would gain five seats, two Republican pickups would put the Senate at a fifty-nine to forty-one seat balance, retaining Howard Baker as the majority leader of a near-fiibuster-proof majority. The Republican caucus would also become more unified as a result of the purging of Weicker and D'Israeli. While Simpson and Bush developed reputations as moderates, their voting records would be far more in line with their party than either of their predecessors.


Republicans: 60 (-3)
Democrats: 40 (+4)
Independents: 0 (-1)

Other initiatives that the Dole administration accomplished in its first two years would be the expansion of nuclear energy to combat rising oil prices and the signing of the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982. Despite President Dole signing legislation that cut federal spending, thus drawing opposition form anti-poverty advocates, the Republican president would nonetheless maintain good relations with urban and minority advocates due to bolstering of funds for minority-owned small businesses. Much of the reductions in Democratic anti-poverty programs would be re-directed towards this and similar efforts.
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« Reply #146 on: February 21, 2015, 10:05:50 PM »
« Edited: June 16, 2016, 08:57:51 PM by Cathcon »

"It Ain't the Wedding of the Century, But It'll Do."

Christian Mattingly married Kate McNamara on January 16th, 1981, after they had been dating a little over a year. Shortly after Christmas 1979, their relationship began by attending a friend's New Year's party heading into 1980. It was the most intensely positive feeling the small businessman had felt in a while, and he was loath to see it get away. Kate's cheerful optimism provided a comfortable balance to Mattingly's habitual cynicism in a way that strangely worked, and they were both incredibly sarcastic. While their families were happy for them, few people thought of it as a good decision. The economy, especially the auto industry in which they both made their living, was still in turmoil. While Huron Automotive was getting off the ground with its radical (critics alternated between calling it "predatory" and "parasitic") business policy of buying up closed down "Big Three" factories, there was little guarantee that it would see success. "I like Chris, but Kate's tying herself to ruin. The man's crazy." some tended to say. Meanwhile, Kate's career was by no means secure. General Motors was only a few years off of asking the federal government for a massive loan, and layoffs and restructuring were still frequent. Rumors would start a year later that it was due to the fact that Kate birthed their first child seven months into the marriage. Bryan Patrick Mattingly was born on August 18th, 1981.

Despite the wedding taking place at Shrine of the Little Flower Church on 12 Mile and Woodward in Royal Oak, MI, the ceremony was a humble one due to the couple's lack of finances. The reception was largely BYOB for the same reasons, and there was no grand honeymoon for the newlyweds. An extended weekend in a cottage on Lake Michigan would have to do, given their busy work schedules.

Huron Automotive's business design was based in large part on the hard-working engineering team led by Mattingly's childhood friend Chuck Hurley. While questions were raised as to the wisdom of hiring a group of engineers who were available only through massive layoffs by Detroit's "Big Three", Mattingly would point out in his memoirs that his team had already made what he called "corporate sh#t lists" for designs that were viewed as "too experimental". "The reason America's main automotive corporations were failing was because of the ugly, awful, cheap-yet-expensive, and inefficient designs that they began pioneering in the last third of the 1970's. The team that Chuck put together of corporate rejects was the most competent group of automotive professionals I've ever had the pleasure of working with." Fuel-efficient designs benefited from the oil shocks that Kennedy and his contemporaries had been unable to forestall, and while oil prices began to decline in early 1983, the aesthetic appeal of Huron's designs was able to prevent revenue losses.

However, Mattingly's greatest benefit was the inspiration triggered by his devotion to the company. "Do you seriously think that the lethargic and pessimistic American workforce of the Kennedy recessions was going to act like they did without that bastard at the helm? Well into the late '80's, the company was still paying delayed overtime. Only a leader willing to foresake so much in favor of his company was going to get the type of work out of his employees that allowed the company to succeed." Accusations during his first presidential campaign that he was a neglectful father and husband would come to haunt him. The fact that Kate had to leave the auto industry to become a mother was another source of personal angst for Mattingly. While these would be regrets that he lived with for much of his life, he would continue to rationalize that any children he fathered would have had nowhere near the opportunity that he had afforded them without the sacrifices he made. The press would not be the only source of criticism over his frequent absence during his first-born's formative years. "You think I didn't want to be there, you little sh#t!? Did you want to be raised in a focking trailer park with a laid-off factory worker sh#t dad? Your mother already had to give up her career to raise you, how about we be on welfare like every other person that didn't have the drive to haul themselves up? I scratched to survive since you grandfather died, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be shamed for granting you chances I never had!"

Needless to say, the early 1980's were an incredibly stressful period for the newly formed Mattingly family. Nevertheless, by 1984, with a stabilizing economy and solid growth for Huron Automotive in the wake of reduced foreign competition and the Big Three struggling to catch up, the family was on firmer financial footing. It was with the interests of himself, his family, and his business that he proudly cast a vote to re-elect President Bob Dole.
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« Reply #147 on: February 21, 2015, 11:18:10 PM »

The Blessings of Tippecanoe

The economic recovery of the 1980's was to occur during the second part of Dole's first term. While there were continual pressures from moderates in the party to enact more Keynesian policies to boost the economy, especially given Republican losses in the mid-terms (while Republicans were able maintain a strong majority in the Senate, their near-majority in the House of Representatives had been massively set back), Treasury Secretary William E. Simon led the resistance to such efforts. "The administration's policies have been enacted for long-term recovery. What liberals are pushing for would not only disrupt the recovery we have worked hard to orchestrate through reversing our policies, it would confuse the market, making us worse-off than when we started."

However, whatever push-back the Dole administration received from its opponents going into the 1984 Presidential Election would soon be put to rest. On June 20th, 1983, while leaving a Heritage Institute convocation held to discuss the course of "conservative internationalism" in the wake of the Tories' victory in UK's June 1983 parliamentary elections, President Dole was shot three times. El Salvadorian radicals, in protest to the administration's anti-communist policies in Latin America, had attempted to kill the President. The assailants were quickly apprehended, and Dole was rushed to the hospital. Released six days later, the President showed that "communist lead" wouldn't keep him from leading the nation.

Above: President Dole emerged from the hospital with a renewed sense of confidence and vision that would fuel legislative and political success for both him and the Republican party.

The nation's confidence was rejuvenated with Dole's recovery, and it would affect the market. Despite a June 20th dive in stocks, they soared with Dole's release from the hospital. Scholars would debate for years after whether Dole might have fared nearly as well without the assassination attempt. However, that question mattered little to the Grand Old Party at the time. It was with these high spirits that the Republican party entered the year of 1984.

The last six months prior to the election year, the President and Congress saw as productive session. A personal goal of the President was the comprehensive Disabled and Elderly Americans Act, which received wide-ranging support. Not only would prohibitions based on disability be outlawed in a vein similar to 1960's civil rights act, but voting facilities for federal elections would be required to accommodate for handicapped and aging citizens. Bills regarding social security, cable deregulation, and nuclear energy would also be signed into law. In a nod to the administration's ally Barry Goldwater, the Goldwater Defense Reorganization Act would be pushed through Congress, stream-lining the military chain of command. In the wake of an attempted presidential assassination and heightened Cold War tensions, this was seen as particularly paramount to continued United States military success.

The 1984 Democratic Field
The landslide loss in 1980 had prompted serious conversation for change within the Democratic ranks. Senators Paul Tsongas and Gary Hart had become the most prominent crusaders for "New Democrats", promoting centrist, technocratic, and often quirky policies that were hoped to appeal to swing voters, but alienated the Democratic grassroots base. While President Robert F. Kennedy had managed to hold the Democrats together through his brother's popular legacy and straddling the gap between young left-wing voters and moderates, this new breed of centrist lacked the last name necessary for his degree of electoral success. With the monumental losses the party had suffered in 1978 and 1980 and the divisive primary battle President Brewer faced, the party was coming undone. With Senator Tsongas declining to run for re-election due to medical problems, Gary Hart was the obvious choice for the New Democrats.

Above: Senator Gary Hart (D-CO) would be hailed by the media as the most promising contender in the fight between Democrats to unseat Bob Dole. However, his previous association with the Robert F. Kennedy administration would serve to hinder him among voters who wanted a clean break from the 1970's.

However, Hart was hardly a clean candidate. Despite nearly ten years in the Senate, his political ties traced back to his years in the Kennedy administration. While he had nothing to do with later scandals, he suffered from media speculation regarding their association. Meanwhile, the party's left-wing was hardly satisfied. While Robert F. Kennedy had built his political career on the Democrats' activist base, he had upheld few of their aims following his first one hundred days in office. As such, left-wingers were aching for a nominee of their own. The 1980 primary battle had been one last disappointment for their champion, George McGovern. His failed re-election to the Senate in 1974, dismissal as Secretary of State, and what he viewed as a betrayal of values by Democratic primary voters, and the former South Dakota Senator refused another attempt at the presidency.

This left the claim to the title of liberal stalwart in the hands of Senator Christopher Garrett of Vermont. A pioneer for the party in the once solidly Republican Vermont, Garrett had built his career on uphill political battles, rising from the leader of a small Democratic caucus in the Vermont State Senate, to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Vermont Governor's mansion, and finally the U.S. Senate. It was hoped by some that, in a manner similar to George McGovern, he might be positioned to peel off liberal Republicans and fight for voters in rural conservative states.

The third large "big" candidate in the 1984 Democratic primaries would be Reubin Askew, the former Governor of Florida. Dubbed a "candidate without a party", Askew's progressive record on civil rights was, to many liberals, outweighed by his opposition to abortion and to nuclear freeze proposals. An ally of President Brewer, Askew's association with Southern conservative Democrats to many spelled his doom. However, with his perceived ability to fight for votes in the South, Republican states, and Catholic constituencies was seen as a strength by some insiders, and his surprising second place finishes in the first few nationally-observed primary races put him in contention for the nomination.
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« Reply #148 on: February 26, 2015, 11:52:06 AM »
« Edited: February 28, 2015, 10:17:20 PM by Cathcon »

The 1984 Democratic Primaries, Part I

The field the Democratic party assembled to go up against Dole was far from at par. While a number of high-profile Democratic Senators including Ernest Hollings and John Glenn considered runs, the assassination attempt against the President in June, 1983, quickly deterred several strong challengers from being willing to challenge the President. While progressives were clamoring him to run, former Vice Presdient Inouye, intent on avoiding the pitfalls of the Brewer administration, was looking instead to rejoin the Senate, and declined to even explore a candidacy.

It would be fitting that the three most high-profile candidates served as critics of recent Democratic administrations. Christopher Garrett had long stood to the left of Kennedy and Brewer, claiming they were "Republican-lite" and "Dixiecrat-lite", respectively, despite previous support for Kennedy; Reuben Askew, if nominated, would be the most hawkish Democratic nominee since at least Johnson; and Gary Hart was a clear turn from the old "New Deal Coalition" politics, even acting critical of organized labor in a number of cases, something few national Democrats would have dared in the past.

Aside from those three would be a litany of candidates that, at the end of the day, went largely unnoticed. While Reverend Jesse Jackson at first ignited support from black voters, attack ads citing controversial statements, and Garrett's lifelong support for civil rights dating back to the 1950's served to undercut that. The idiosyncratic campaign style of Bruce Babbit, the populist James Traficant, and the feminist former Senator Bella Abzug would fall by the wayside in favor of more appealing candidates.

In Iowa, where the Democratic party was defined by labor, anti-war activists, and rural interests, Christopher Garrett was a perfect fit. In a surprise, former Governor Reuben O'Donovan Askew was able to take second place due to the state's Catholic population, blue collar workers dissatisfied with cultural liberalism, and his appeal to rural voters due to his Southern roots. While Gary Hart was polling well nationally, he would take fourth place due to his choice to not focus on the caucus and the hard work that Congressman Dick Gephardt had put into the state. However, in New Hampshire, the reform-minded Hart bounced back with a large margin of victory despite Garrett coming from the neighboring state of Vermont. On the March 13th round of primaries, each candidate would showcase their regional strength, but it would ultimately prove a draw.


Green - Senator Christopher Garrett of Vermont
Blue - Senator Gary Hart of Colorado
Red - Former Governor Reuben O. Askew of Florida
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« Reply #149 on: February 26, 2015, 08:58:11 PM »

It's back, and in full force. Grin
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