President Kerry and on...

[SPC]

Very interesting result.

Is Steele meant to be the Schweitzer analogue?

The analogousness of the contenders to their IRL counterparts is much looser than earlier in the story, mostly due to lack of information to go by. Thus, I've largely supplemented their current analogues with qualities from about four other candidates from past cycles (I won't say who because that would ruin the suspense), with a little chaos thrown in the mix, and I will admit that my thumb is slightly on the scale in favor of the insurgent candidacies...

[Maxwell]

Eeeeexcellent!

[SPC]

Strange Bedfellows

Congress passed two bills in January, which made it the most productive month for Congress in six years. The first bill, the You Must Hate Children if You Don't Pass This Act (or something similarly titled), made operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana a federal crime, punishable by a minimum of 2 years in prison not including time served for other offenses, such as possession or intent to distribute. This passed both Houses of Congress by voice vote and was promptly signed by the President. The second act was the annual Farm Bill, which caused the usual partisan game of chicken for months prior before finally passing a bill with slightly fewer agricultural subsidies and food stamps than the Democrats originally would have liked. Fortunately, the bill was passed only a few weeks into the new year, narrowly sparing the American public of the catastrophic consequences of failing to give their money to rich farmers.

In the Republican primaries, Romney delivered a strong debate performance against Steele that is widely credited with helping turn his campaign around, stressing that focusing on "American optimism and ingenuity" would be a better path to take going into November than "trying to undo the results of the last eight years." The verdict of the caucuses was split, with Romney easily winning Nevada and Steele pulling an upset victory in Maine. The combined effect of Romney's debate performance and the endorsement of the entire Republican congressional delegation in South Carolina is believed to be responsible for Romney's win:

South Carolina GOP Results (100% Reporting)
Romney 48.3%
Steele 44.5%
Perry 7.2%

On the Democratic side, Booker held his own against his remaining opponents, with the only memorable moment from the debates being Warren's criticism of Booker for not having enough animosity toward the 1%. While Booker prevailed in Nevada over the split field, Brown was able to reprise his win in Maine. If Booker's enormous lead among blacks eagerly desiring the first black President was not enough to secure a win in South Carolina, his endorsement by Governor Elizabeth Colbert-Busch (D-SC) helped him secure many white liberal votes for his landslide victory. Aside from this, the fact that Obama was the only opponent to actually campaign in South Carolina may have also contributed to this.

South Carolina Dem Results (100% Reporting)
Booker 46.6%
Brown 16.3%
Obama 14.6%
Feingold 10.2%
Warren 7.5%
Cuomo 4.8%

Obama suspended his campaign after his failure to get delegates in the make-or-break contest. Brown, on the other hand, took a most unusual turn in his concession speech. Rather than congratulating Booker on his victory, he performed the wholly unorthodox move of unveiling his running mate:

National Dems (ABC/WaPo) Booker 43% Brown 39% Cuomo 8% Warren 3%	National GOP (ABC/WaPo) Romney 52% Steele 41% Perry 2%
Michigan Dems (PPP) Brown 46% Booker 37% Cuomo 7% Warren 1%	Michigan GOP (PPP) Romney 48% Steele 46% Perry 2%

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Interesting move on Browns part.

[NHLiberal]

So since this (awesome) timeline is in many ways paralleling real life politics with the parties reversed (i.e. 2010 Republican wave + unpopular Allen = 2010 Dem wave + unpopular Obama, inevitable Clinton = inevitable Romney), what Democrat is Michael Steele parallel to?

[Maxwell]

Interesting move on Browns part.

Makes me support his ticket even more, though I have to say, the Dem field this year is far better than the Rep field in terms of personal preference.

[SPC]

February 2016

The announcement of a Brown/Feingold unity ticket gave the campaign considerable momentum heading into the North Carolina primary the following Tuesday, with huge margins in the Research Triangle compensating for Booker's large advantage with African-Americans. This was accompanied by low turnout in the Republican primary, which along with Perry's withdrawal worked toward Romney's benefit.

North Carolina Results (100% Reporting)

Booker 45.9% Brown 42.7% Cuomo 8.8% Warren 2.6%

Romney 56.5% Steele 43.5%

Suddenly, the upcoming contests in Arizona and Michigan assumed a pivotal role in the race. Brown's momentum slowly came to a halt with Booker receiving endorsements from most of both states' Democratic congressional delegations, as well as Governors Goddard (D-AZ) and Bernero (D-MI). The debate between the two leading candidates was mostly seen as a draw, with each side arguing over whether Newark or Oakland is a bigger sh**thole, albeit not in so many words. On the Republican side, Steele made history by being the first Republican in nearly 50 years to campaign in inner Detroit, a controversial strategy that few believed would be fruitful. As it turns out, Steele's unconventional campaign had major ramifications on the outcome of both parties' primaries:

Michigan Results (100% Reporting)

Steele 54.5% Romney 45.5%

Brown 47.7% Booker 40.0% Cuomo 10.3% Warren 2.0%

Arizona Results (100% Reporting)

Romney 55.6% Steele 44.4%

Booker 44.2% Brown 43.4% Cuomo 8.1% Warren 4.3%

Exit polls showed that pre-primary polling was actually quite accurate in determining the white vote. However, the Michigan Republican primary had a historically unprecedented 6-8% turnout among blacks, which enabled Steele to pull off a landslide win over native son Romney.

GOP National (CNN) Romney 50% Steele 43%

Dems National (CNN) Booker 48% Brown 34% Cuomo 7% Warren 4%

General Election Head-to-Heads (CNN) Booker 44% Romney 43% Steele 44% Booker 40% Romney 42% Brown 41% Steele 42% Brown 42%

[SPC]

And Now For Something Completely Different...

At first, the Supreme Court appeared poised to side with the federal government in Brown v. Wiley, in an unconventional case in which the more originalist justices appeared poised to side with the state of California, and the more liberal justices with the administration, the reverse scenario of how the same case fared in the district and appellate courts. However, Justice John Paul Stevens suffered a fatal aneurysm just prior to the decision. This led the Court to a 4-4 ruling, thus upholding the decision of the Ninth Circuit in favor of the state of California. Stevens' demise vindicated those liberal columnists who opined that the Justice should have retired while President Kerry was still in office, which the more astute observers may correctly attribute to an unintentional oversight. President Allen has nominated former Solicitor General Paul Clement as his nominee to for Stevens's seat. Freshman Senator Beau Biden (D-DE) gave a rough interrogation of Clement's past stances, bringing his wife to the point of tears. Majority Leader Reid launched a filibuster against the nomination of Clement, arguing that given the proximity to the election, the American people should be allowed to make the decision of who the next Supreme Court Justice should be. While the filibuster succeeded by a 42-58 vote, the move was lambasted by members of both sides of the aisle, including both parties' presidential frontrunners. Governor Booker denounced Reid as "not only saddling the Supreme Court with ten months of unnecessary vacancy, but threatening the very idea of judicial independence from electoral politics." Three weeks of Senatorial inaction and a myriad of poor poll numbers for Democrats later, the Senate voted for cloture on the nomination. The final vote on Clement's confirmation was 50-50, with Senators Breaux (D-LA), Heitkamp (D-ND), Manchin (D-WV), and Mongiardo (D-KY) crossing party lines in favor of the nominee. The tied vote forced the Senate to wait several days for Vice-President McCain to return from his unannounced trip to Geneva in order to cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of Clement.

Super Tuesday
Superdelegate counts not included

Booker 955
Brown 828
Others 84

Romney 758
Steele 255

Super Tuesday's contests highlighted the difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties' complex rules for delegate allocation. On the Democrats side, while Brown lost most of the major contests to Booker, including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and Massachusetts, the system of proportional representation along with Brown's caucus wins kept his campaign in contention for the nomination with deficit of only about a hundred delegates. Many analysts have noted that the current President's primary campaign faced a similar delegate deficit against Romney eight years ago. With their respective losses in Florida and Massachusetts, Cuomo and Warren withdrew from the race, declining to endorse either candidate.

For the Republicans, Steele similarly lost most of the major contests to Romney, with an upset in Georgia being Steele's only substantial victory. Unlike Brown, however, the Republicans' provision granting states winner-take-all status if a candidate wins a majority of the vote in that state gave Romney a virtually insurmountable advantage in the delegate count. Despite this, Steele has vowed to continue his campaign until one candidate has won a majority of delegates, clarifying that "I didn't start this race fifty points behind just to quit now."

Ohio Dems (Marist) Brown 44% Booker 43%

Ohio GOP (Marist) Romney 51% Steele 47%

[SPC]

The Ides of March

Booker 1383 (+428)
Brown 1123 (+295)
Others 84

Although Brown/Feingold got the win they desired in the Ohio primary, Booker's overwhelming wins in the other primaries weakened any momentum the insurgent ticket may have acquired from Ohio. Increasingly, it looks like the only possibility to circumvent Booker's nomination would be a massive repudiation on the part of the superdelegates, which despite leaked reports of covert lobbying for such an outcome by 2012 nominee Hillary Clinton, appears to be a remote possibility. While Brown appears determined to campaign in the remaining primary states, Booker has increasingly geared his campaign for a general election, emphasizing his centrist stands on education and deficit reduction.

On the Republican side, Romney's win in Ohio eliminated any remaining hope for Steele's campaign. Steele gave a passionate endorsement of Romney after a massive loss in the Puerto Rico primary gave Romney a majority in the delegate count. Romney has notably attempted to distance himself from the White House, criticizing Allen for failing to take substantive action against Chinese currency manipulation and intellectual property violations as well as being half-heartedly dedicated to pro-growth policies. Many pundits have noted the Romney campaign's increased emphasis on his private sector experience rather than his tenure as Secretary of State, perhaps owing to the multitude of foreign policy crises that have erupted after he left the State department. Nevertheless, the aforementioned congressional standoff regarding the Clement nomination has allowed Romney to reclaim the general election advantage he lost earlier in the campaign.

Romney 297
Booker 134

National (NBC/WSJ) Romney 49% Booker 41%

Ohio President (Quinnipiac) Romney 46% Booker 40%

Ohio Senate (Quinnipiac) Fisher 46% Taylor 40%

[SPC]

April 2016: I'm All Ears

The highest court of the land upheld the constitutionality of the NSA's warrantless surveillance program 5-4, with Justices Scalia, Breyer, Cruz, and Thomas dissenting. The majority opinion, authored by Justice Ginsberg, held that the internet was a public space, and thus surveillance of individuals' activities therein did not constitute a violation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The decision outraged civil libertarians on both sides of the aisle, both for rubber-stamping the NSA's activities and for declaring the concept of online privacy to be fictitious. Despite this, neither major party candidate has called for ending the program, although Booker has made implementing reforms to the program to protect innocent peoples' privacy a key component of his platform.

In campaign news, Brown suspended active campaigning after a disappointing finish in Wisconsin. Both Brown and Feingold endorsed Booker later in April.

Meanwhile, Booker encountered controversy when attending a lunch with Senator Bruce Braley (D-IA), considered by many to be a top name on his VP shortlist. However, when confronted by a man asking questions related to farm policy, Booker quickly fled the restaurant as Braley proceeded to answer the question "in terms a farmer like yourself can understand." Pundits criticized Booker for failing to condemn Braley's comments, and stated that his actions were wholly unpresidential in his handling of the incident. Rush Limbaugh griped, "Is he just going to get up and leave when Putin says something objectionable?" Romney sought to take advantage of the controversy by touting the necessity of ethanol subsidies.

In foreign affairs, Putin imposed an embargo on all food products originating from the United States. Secretary Rice is expected to negotiate with Russia over this declaration of a trade war, and the Russians are expected to not yield anything of significance.

[SPC]

So since this (awesome) timeline is in many ways paralleling real life politics with the parties reversed (i.e. 2010 Republican wave + unpopular Allen = 2010 Dem wave + unpopular Obama, inevitable Clinton = inevitable Romney), what Democrat is Michael Steele parallel to?

As I said earlier, the parallelisms get weaker in the post-2014 timeline, although they do incorporate qualities from other past candidates. I suspect we haven't heard the last of Michael Steele though...

[SPC]

May 2016: Ivory Tower

The White House experienced embarrassment in Afghanistan as Taliban-affiliated groups captured several southern cities despite the presence of a large residual force of American troops for security. Internal sources have revealed that entire contingents of the Afghan National Army defected as the Taliban captured the cities. President Allen ordered airstrikes against the Taliban-captured territories and delivered an address ensuring that liberation of the cities under Taliban control was imminent, whether it be accomplished by loyal ANA soldiers or American ground forces. Bill Kristol has argued that the recent Taliban offensive vindicates Allen's decision to keep forces in Afghanistan, as the American presence may have prevented Taliban forces from seizing control of the whole country. However, many critics claim that the ease with which years worth of American gains in the country were reversed without resistance by the Afghans illustrates the futility of the remaining military presence in Afghanistan.

Romney encountered castigation for remarks he delivered intending to relate to the common man in which he claimed that he has "been unemployed for the last four years too." Romney's comments backfired, with many critics noting that they just made the Republican nominee seem even more out-of-touch in the court of public opinion. The Booker campaign has also criticized Romney for failing to release his tax records for the previous ten years, which many speculate could reveal that Romney made far more in speaking fees and capital gains than he chooses to disclose. While some progressive activists have called Romney a "vulture capitalist," Booker has distanced himself from such criticisms, calling such attacks on his opponent "nauseating."

Booker has faced media controversy as well. Analysts on both sides of the aisle have condemned his statement that temporary tax hikes across the board may be necessary to reverse the deficit and restore fiscal sanity to Washington, with Jon Stewart specifically retorting that "Booker is copying the well-renowned victory strategy of Walter Mondale." Additionally, Romney has hammered Booker on his foreign policy inexperience, claiming that the situation in Afghanistan necessitates a commander-in-chief that will not need "on the job training."

National (Fox News) Romney 47% Booker 46%

Iowa President (PPP) Romney 50% Booker 44%

Iowa Senate (PPP) Jacobs 45% Hatch 42%

[SPC]

June 2016: Run Through the Jungle

Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) fanned the flames of the controversy over Romney's tax returns, claiming that Romney has not paid his taxes in ten years, as revealed by an anonymous source. Romney has dismissed Reid's remarks as "asinine" and insisted that he paid roughly a 15% rate over the last ten years. Some partisans have also accused Romney of negligence in his failure to provide additional security to the diplomatic mission in Benghazi four years ago, although focus group testing has shown that most Americans lack the attention span to know or care about what happened at Benghazi.

Democrats received electoral embarrassment in the California primaries, where a wide open race to replace retiring Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was narrowed down to two. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) finished slightly ahead of the rest of the field. However, the race for second place was more contentious, as Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach held on to a 3,000 vote lead over Attorney General Kamala Harris subsequent to a weeks-long statewide recount. National Democrats criticized the presence of several strong Democratic candidates in the race, including Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, former Mayor Antorio Villaraigosa, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Matt Damon. The certain Republican pickup in California only puts the Republicans closer to their goal of retaking the Senate, with competitive races in over a dozen other Democratic-held seats.

Democrats held their National Convention toward the end of the month in Columbus, Ohio, making it the earliest DNC since 1936. Governor Elizabeth Colbert-Busch (D-SC) delivered the keynote address, stressing the nation's need for change and unity in the aftermath of eight years of mismanagement by the right-wing status quo. Other featured speakers included Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Alison Grimes (D-KY), Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), state Senator Wendy Davis (D-TX), former Congressman Harold Ford (D-TN), and Governor Virg Bernero (D-MI). Booker's strategy of withholding his running mate until the last day of the convention was greatly successful, as viewership for the convention set record highs. Booker's choice of Senator Feingold shocked many, given the contentious race for the nomination just a few months ago. However, Feingold stressed the need for party unity in this coming election, warning that another Republican administration would bring more surveillance, more chaos in the Middle East, and more erosion of the middle class. Booker's acceptance speech was mostly biographically focused and concluded with a pledge to renew America the same way he renewed Newark and New Jersey.

Booker 280
Romney 156

National (Bloomberg) Booker 48% Romney 39%

Florida President (Mason-Dixon) Booker 50% Romney 41%

Florida Senate (Mason-Dixon) Sink 53% Mack 39%

[OnlyAlb]

Romney looks like he's blowing it.

[SPC]

Romney looks like he's blowing it.

While Romney is certainly in a much weaker position than before the primary, at least part of his current deficit is a consequence of a particularly large convention bounce for the Democrats.

[SPC]

July 2016: Checkmate

A wide-eyed attempt by former Presidents Carter and Kerry to bring peace to the Middle East ended in disaster when the two statesmen were captured and detained by Israeli Defense Forces when attempting unauthorized entry into the Palestinian territories. While privately, Prime Minister Netanyahu had hoped to use the release of the former Presidents as a bargaining chip in greater Middle East policy, the State Department delineated their plans to secure their release after dealing with more pressing matters, such as negotiating an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and shaking hands with various obscure leaders of Caribbean nations.

The Romney campaign has heightened their attacks against Booker with a series of advertisements in swing states targeting Booker's supposed weakness in dealing with various criminals and inexperience in foreign policy. While the advertisement campaign has shown surprisingly effective in rebounding Romney's poll numbers, many analysts have noted the irony in that many of the clips of foreign crises depicted ominously in the commercials occurred during Romney's tenure at the State Department. While criticizing the Feingold pick as illustrating Booker's lack of concern for the safety of the United States (ostensibly due to Feingold's opposition to the PATRIOT Act), the Romney campaign leaked their own VP shortlist, with Senator Talent, former Governor Bob Beauprez (R-CO), Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Governor Bill Haslam (R-TN) topping the list. Romney is expected to announce his pick in early August, shortly before the Republican National Convention.

National (Reuters-Ipsos) Romney 46% Booker 42%

PA President (Franklin & Marshall) Booker 47% Romney 46%

PA Senate (Franklin & Marshall) Wagner 46% Smith 38%

[GLPman]

Interesting update. Looking forward to seeing who Romney selects as his running mate.

[SPC]

August 2016: All the World's a Stage

The Summer Olympics in Rio De Janiero occupied the news coverage for most of the month. For the first time since 1992, Russia won the overall medal count. Coincidentally, many of the American athletes have since shown large amounts of Polonium-210 in blood samples.

Israel released former Presidents Carter and Kerry from captivity after finding the two former national leaders too insufferable to justify keeping. Among returning to the United States, both men took credit for successfully negotiating the release of two American hostages from the "apartheid state".

Romney selected Ryan as his running mate, which most analysts believe was calculated to give the ticket a combination of youth and legislative experience. Democratic-affiliated organizations were quick to pan the pick, calling Ryan's budget proposal an attempt to "end Medicare as we know it."

The National Convention was held shortly afterward in Cleveland, Ohio, featuring speakers such as Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX), Senate Minority Whip DeMint, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Governor Bill Haslam (R-TN), Governor Phil English (R-PA), and Senator Chris Shays (R-CT). Neither President Allen nor Vice-President McCain were present at the Convention, which Allen attributed to a "bad toenail infection" and not at all related to his mid-30s approval rating. Attacks on Booker's opportunism and inexperience on the world stage were prominent in most speeches. While Congresswoman and Senate candidate Mia Love (R-UT) delivered the keynote address, the most remembered speech from the convention was the one delivered by Senator Steele just before Ryan's acceptance speech, in which the runner-up for the nomination thanked Romney for the spirited challenge and stressed the vital importance of this election in presenting a choice between a free country and a country where the government has assumed control of the people's private lives. While Romney and Ryan's pledge to "get this country working again" also had a warm reception, some fearing that Steele's speech may have overshadowed the nominees'.

Romney/Ryan 273
Booker/Feingold 146

National (Rasmussen) Romney/Ryan 51% Booker/Feingold 40%

Wisconsin President (Marquette) Romney/Ryan 53% Booker/Feingold 41%

Wisconsin Senate (Marquette) Gard 50% Kind 41%

[SPC]

September 2016: Extreme Makeover

A leaked tape of Romney discussing the 47% of Americans who are net welfare recipients created controversy, with many pundits accusing Romney of dismissing the concerns of half of the electorate. However, the comments do not appear to have caused an appreciable shift in poll numbers. Romney has also been criticized for proposing "self-deportation" as the solution to illegal immigration, in opposition to the amnesty plan President Allen signed three years ago. At the same time, the Romney campaign's attempt to replicate the Lee Atwater strategy against Booker's proposals to overhaul the criminal justice system have not resonated with voters, for whom being "tough on crime" is a minor issue at best. Attack ads have also been run against Booker pointing out his proclivities for midnight pedicures, which some see as resorting to innuendo to defame Booker's character.

A $500 million aid package to Azerbaijan passed both Houses of Congress with strong bipartisan support, although a few dissenters on both sides of the aisle refused, citing either the risks of getting involved in a complex post-Soviet conflict without a side that is clearly in the right, or the predominant religion of Azerbaijan. Notably, Senator Feingold voted in favor of the measure, which advisers see as a step toward moderating his stance in order to counter perceptions that the Democratic ticket is weak on international affairs.

With the race seen as a hopeless stalemate, both sides have invested much of the last week of September preparing for the debates, using former Congressman J.C. Watts (R-OK) and recently-freed former President John Kerry as their respective stand-ins.

National (PPP) Romney/Ryan 49% Booker/Feingold 47%

Arizona President (PPP) Romney/Ryan 56% Booker/Feingold 38%

Arizona Senate (PPP) Jones 49% Napolitano 40%

[Jerseyrules]

So as in otl 2012, it all comes down to the debates?

TBH I'd be happy with either candidate; and this matchup would be awesome to see in real life.  Keep up the awesome work SPC!

[SPC]

So as in otl 2012, it all comes down to the debates?

TBH I'd be happy with either candidate; and this matchup would be awesome to see in real life.  Keep up the awesome work SPC!

Thank you for your input! We shall see what October has in store for the campaign...

[Maxwell]

For some reason I could definitely see myself voting for Booker/Feingold.

[NHLiberal]

For some reason I could definitely see myself voting for Booker/Feingold.

Well, by 2016 Booker and Rand Paul will probably be married, so based on your signature I'm guessing any chance to get Rand in the White House works for you?

[Maxwell]

For some reason I could definitely see myself voting for Booker/Feingold.

Well, by 2016 Booker and Rand Paul will probably be married, so based on your signature I'm guessing any chance to get Rand in the White House works for you?

ahaha almost

But seriously - I despise Romney, and I think Booker is kind of centrist fiscally (probably for the similar bad reasons as Romney is 'conservative' fiscally, but still) and is great on social issues I care about, and Feingold is a hero for a good chunk of his votes. Ryan would help out a little bit for the Republican ticket, but still, he's not great either.

[SPC]

October 2016: Chekhov's Gun

The anticipated event of October was the series of debates between the main candidates. Booker was largely perceived to have won the first debate, focused on foreign policy, by criticizing Romney's record in the previous administration and attempts to distance himself from that record. Aside from an argument over the utility of domestic surveillance and the extent to which the program needs to be reformed, there appeared to be little substantive difference between the two candidate. Booker was mainly helped by low expectations in the debate against the former Secretary of State. The vice-presidential debate, marketed by ABC as the "Battle of the Cheeseheads," came across to live viewers as a draw, with both soothing Midwesterners appearing rather underwhelming. Likewise, the second debate regarding the economy also failed to bestow an advantage on either nominee. Romney delivered a better performance, with economic policy clearly being the field in which he possessed a greater degree of specialty than foreign affairs. However, Booker was able to avoid a defeat by pointing to his record of fiscal compromise and success in his mayoral and gubernatorial roles.

In the ensuing time, the testimony of former Governor Jerry Kilgore (R-VA) in his bribery prosecution uncovered that President Allen may have had a much greater role in the Star Scientific scandal than originally revealed, with the President having received thousands of dollars in contributions for both his Senate re-election campaign and Presidential run from various fictitious names serving as aliases for Star Scientific executives. Moreover, Allen was also implicated in potentially under-provisioning the Justice Department investigation into the scandal. With Allen's current office serving as an impediment to the possibility of an indictment, Speaker Pelosi has floated the idea of impeachment, suggesting that a vote could occur as early as next week.

Democrats initially received a modest boost from the allegations against the President. However, many likely voters also disapprove of the impeachment effort, with a plurality seeing it as overkill to begin impeachment proceedings against Allen a mere three months before he leaves office.

The final debate, styled in a townhall format, provided Booker with an additional boost. Romney emphasized the need for strong and experienced leadership in this time of national crisis, but gave the perception of being too invested in specific policy prescriptions rather than a broad empathy for the problems facing the average man, most exemplified by his declaration that he had "binders full" of qualified women ready to assume leadership roles in his administration. Booker focused on his standing as a Washington outsider as evidence of his ability to provide meaningful change for a public weary of international confligration and domestic uncertainty.

Romney 239
Booker 170

National (Gallup) Romney 50% Booker 46%

Colorado President (Marist) Romney 51% Booker 45%

Colorado Senate (Marist) Buck 49% Hickenlooper 47%