A More Perfect Union

[George W. Hobbes]

Here's the first installment of an ATL that I've come up with.  I'll be posting in a fashion similar to DanielX's with elections from 2004 all the back to my divergence point.

Have fun guessing what my POD is! (ILV doesn't get to guess!)

Election of 2004



Gov. Bill Watterson/Sen. Gary Nolan (Democratic)
Vice-President John F. Kennedy, Jr./Sen. Thomas McClintock (Republican)

The 2004 election was one of great political surprises, with Ohio Governor Bill Watterson upsetting Republican Vice-President John F. Kennedy, Jr.  The Democrats added ecological activism and anti-pollution measures, ostensibly to avoid the next ice age, to their libertarian rhetoric of the 1980’s and 1990’s and managed to score big in the Four Corners and the Midwest.

Kennedy, who ran on a platform of increasing America’s presence at the negotiating tables of the League of Democracy and increasing the national minimum income, was a favored candidate amongst the Christian conservatives.  The son of a Harvard professor, Kennedy also called for further financial expansion of the National Education Bank that had been set up during President du Pont’s first term.

Governor Watterson was a somewhat reclusive campaigner, he only sought the Democratic nomination because of a massive draft movement, but generally held firm to Democratic principles of isolationism, self-government over big-government, and added his stringent support for the environment.

Had the 2004 election been dominated by foreign affairs, like the crisis between Hindustan and North China four years earlier, it is likely the Republicans would have been elected…but as it was, the people wanted change, and the “New Way” Democratic platform of Bill Watterson was exactly what they were ready to explore. 

The GOP did find some solace, at least, in carrying Kansas, the home state of popular Democratic ex-President Bob Dole.

[George W. Hobbes]

Butterfly effect, Nolan moved further south.  He lives in Virginia. 

[George W. Hobbes]

Election of 2000



Sen. William J. Blythe, IV/Sen. John F. Kennedy, Jr. (Republican)
President Jack Kemp/Vice-President Al Gore, Jr. (Democratic)

President Kemp was in deep trouble at the onset of the 2000 election cycle.  His tax rebates, structured in such a manner as to offer more money to the wealthiest Americans, had done nothing to really improve the economy, which had been deteriorating throughout his term.  Considering that Kemp had been elected in 1996 on a promise of pulling the nation out of the recession, this was not a good foot to put forward.

The Republican nominee, Senator Willie Blythe of Arkansas, also heavily criticized the President for refusing to give a contract to Microsoft that would allow American stealth space planes to be operated via microprocessor.  The Republican line of modernizing America’s defenses turned out to be a winning issue after a coup in Hindustan overthrew the duly elected prime minister, and North China and Pakistan were implicated.  Kemp preferred to ask the League of Democracy for sanctions, but was overridden by public opinion, and was forced to accept the necessity of using League/U.S. peacekeeping forces to restore democratic government to Hindustan.  The loss of American lives in the skyfight over Delhi was significant, largely due to human error and obsolete equipment.  Kemp’s approval rating nosedived, and Blythe was swept into office.

However, despite the debacle at Delhi, the President could have been re-elected solely off of concerns for Senator Blythe’s health, had he not managed to telegenically and smoothly recover from a minor heart attack before the Republican convention in Boston, Massachusetts.  Indeed, Blythe’s health problems lead to a 2003 triple bypass operation which sidelined him from a possible re-election bid.

In the end, Blythe and Kennedy carried the day, and managed to further embarass the President with a victory in Kemp's native New York.