Radical Changes Elections Timeline

[LLR]

I had a very strange dream last night that this timeline involved zombies. Thankfully, that is not the case.

That assumes Larry Craig isn't a zombie.

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I shall get back to this... sometime.

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TRAGEDY IN LONDON - BLAIR ASSASSINATED; AL-QAEDA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

A paramedic is seen at the site of the assassination of Prime Minister Tony Blair last night in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

February 15, 2003

Grief and astonishment overtook the world this morning as news spread of the apparent death of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, with the radical militant group al-Qaeda taking responsibility for the first assassination of a sitting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in almost 200 years. According to a press release issued by the House of Commons late last night, Prime Minister Blair was shot along with two members of his security detail while participating in an evening jog around his Chequers country home in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The Prime Minister was pronounced dead soon after paramedics arrived at the scene, with one member of his security detail being pronounced dead after arriving at Wycombe General Hospital and three others currently in critical but stable condition.

While the specific motives for the assassination remain unclear, a spokesman for the al-Qaeda terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, labeling Blair as a "gluttonous whoremonger deserving of the violent end to his life of sin and insatiable greed." A police manhunt for the suspected assassin was initiated almost immediately after news of the shooting began to spread, with authorities searching for a man described as dark-skinned, short-haired, and approximately 1.7 meters tall. Any information regarding the whereabouts of the alleged assassin should be reported immediately to Metropolitan Police Services authorities immediately.

Response to the assassination was swift and passionate, with Acting Prime Minister John Prescott calling the shooting a "terrible tragedy that will stay in the hearts and minds of the people of the United Kingdom for years to come," commemorating Prime Minister Blair as "a great man and a true leader who fought and died for the values and freedoms that define this blessed nation." President Al Gore called Prime Minister Blair "an exemplar of righteousness and courage who led his nation bravely in times of great struggle," pledging to work with United Kingdom officials to "bring the cowards responsible for this egregious attack to justice."

While Prime Minister Blair's death will likely serve as a major setback to President Gore's Iraq  War Resolution - the success of a potential invasion relies heavily upon cooperation with the British government - the assassination has lead to increased public support for the war, with today alone having seen a number of public figures come out in support of the IWR in response to Prime Minister Blair's death. In a joint statement released early this afternoon, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Harry Reid (D-NV), Tom Strickland (D-CO), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have all announced their support for the Resolution, joining former President Bill Clinton, Governors Jim McGreevey (D-NJ),Ed Rendell (D-PA) and Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), and twenty-one Democratic members of the House of Representatives in condemning the Prime Minister's assassination and calling for the invasion to proceed. In a passionate defense of the President's controversial proposed legislation, Senator Schumer claimed that "now is a more important time than ever to take immediate and hard-hitting action against the forces of terrorism that threaten the very well-being of our people and way of life," calling Prime Minister Blair's assassination "just another unfortunate yet glaring reason why we need to put a stop to the atrocities of the Hussein Administration once and for all."

Also having come out in support of the Iraq War earlier this week included Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Max Cleland (D-GA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Evan Bayh (D-IN), as well as Governors Judy Martz (R-MT and Ronnie Musgrove (D-MS). However, these announcements were countered by those of Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT), Suzanne Terrell (R-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL), each of whom announced their opposition to the proposed resolution. Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) meanwhile became the first Governor to specifically announce that she would not come out in support or opposition to the legislation.

The total number of Senators, Representatives, and Governors who have come out in favor of or in opposition to the Iraq War Resolution now stands as follows:

United States Senate - 31 Republicans For, 19 Democrats For, 10 Republicans Against, 20 Democrats Against. (80 Total Decided; 20 Undecided)

United States House of Representatives - 160 Republicans For, 104 Democrats For, 47 Republican Against, 104 Democrats Against (415 Total Decided; 20 Undecided)

United States Governorships - 11 Republicans For, 15 Democrats For, 1 Republicans Against, 8 Democrats Against, 1 Democrat Uncommitted (36 Total Decided; 14 Undecided)

United States Senate Map -

Green - Both For
Light Green - One For; One Undecided
Red - Both Against
Light Red - One Against; One Undecided
Blue - One For; One Against
Gray - Both Undecided

United States Governorships Map -

Green - For
Red - Against
Blue - Uncommitted
Gray - Undecided

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Please feel free to post any comments, questions, or concerns. Thank you!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Woah....PM Prescott. That will get ugly. I hope Labor for their own sake throws Brown into the leadership soon.

[BigVic]

Tony Blair assassinated by Al-Qaeda. Didn't see this coming. Can't wait to see how President Gore and other world leaders respond to this tragedy. Conspiracy theorists will be out in force in the coming days and weeks.

[msnmllr]

Is there any reason for Arizona's shade of grey being different than all the other states on the governorship maps? Or was that just an error? And I'm interested in seeing if Gore sees challenges from Democratic Party in addition to the Republican Party for the next election as well.

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Is there any reason for Arizona's shade of grey being different than all the other states on the governorship maps? Or was that just an error? And I'm interested in seeing if Gore sees challenges from Democratic Party in addition to the Republican Party for the next election as well.

Sorry, Arizona is supposed to be blue. Governor Napolitano has announced specifically that she will remain uncommitted and neither support nor oppose the IWR, while the lighter grey color is meant to indicate that the governor of the state in question has simply made no relevant announcement yet.

The 2004 election will certainly be interesting, to say the least.

[msnmllr]

Is there any reason for Arizona's shade of grey being different than all the other states on the governorship maps? Or was that just an error? And I'm interested in seeing if Gore sees challenges from Democratic Party in addition to the Republican Party for the next election as well.

Sorry, Arizona is supposed to be blue. Governor Napolitano has announced specifically that she will remain uncommitted and neither support nor oppose the IWR, while the lighter grey color is meant to indicate that the governor of the state in question has simply made no relevant announcement yet.

The 2004 election will certainly be interesting, to say the least.

Yeah, I wasn't necessarily sure, but I didn't feel comfortable enough with jumping to conclusions. Thank you

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RADICAL CHANGES - 2000 TO 2056 ELECTORAL TIMELINE

Season 4 - Let the Changes Begin

Episode 8 - The Empire Strikes Back

February 16 to March 3, 2003

Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) becomes the fifty-eighth member of the United States Senate to endorse President Gore's Iraq War Resolution in a passionate speech delivered outside the Senate chamber on February 23.

Six. Just six. Six was the magical number.

Six was the number that would decide the fate of millions of lives across the world - the number that would determine the course of history for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Six was the number that an anxious world would lose sleep over, a world that could wait no longer to see if its sons and daughters would live or die.

And President Al Gore was determined to get those six votes.

On Monday, a meeting with Bill Nelson and Bob Graham. On Tuesday, out to lunch with Chris Dodd. On Wednesday, a barbecue with Tom Harkin's family certainly couldn't hurt. And on Thursday, a conference with Ron Wyden and Jon Corzine was on the schedule.

The shock surrounding Prime Minister Blair's assassination certainly would not damage the popularity of a War on Terror - in fact, just last Sunday, President Gore managed to capture the fifty-first, fifty-second, fifty-third, and fifty-fourth votes for the IWR in gaining the endorsements of Ben Campbell, George Voinovich, Tom Carper, and even Herb Kohl. But fifty-four was still six too few.

Finally, on Friday, the President's gamble paid off. Maria Cantwell, Brad Owen, and Bill Nelson down. Three to go.

Sunday saw Joe Biden and Tom Harkin hop on board. Good. Just one left. President Gore could feel the suspense begin to dwindle down.

And just as quickly as the fight to begin the War on Terror began seventeen dreadful months ago when two airplanes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, it was over.

It would one day go down in history as a great irony that the senior Senator from California ended the struggle that the junior Senator from California began. That dreary, misty morning, when Dianne Feinstein stepped outside the doors of her Senate office to announce that the President had, in fact, finally garnered enough votes to override the Senate filibuster, part of America celebrated. Fireworks leapt into the sky with the strength and passion only America could offer, grills were set ablaze in preparation for a celebration that was never to be forgotten, and part of America cheered as it finally became clear that the widely-anticipated War on Terror was to begin.

But another part of America was nowhere near as euphoric. Alone in his barracks, an American soldier deployed abroad crumpled to the floor as the shrill voice of a CNN news anchor confirmed that his Great Unknown was all but certain, that he would likely never see the smiling faces of his wife and children again. A tear rolled down the eye of an Air Force pilot sitting alone in his solitary home on the countryside as he heard the news, praying that he would not once more have to lead the men in his squadron to their deaths at the hands of a foreign enemy.

And in her cold, near-empty office overlooking the Capitol Building, the moment that Barbara Boxer had feared for days was finally upon her. The movement that she had started only a few mere months ago had come to an abrupt and painful end, strangled to death at the hands of the woman that she once considered her closest political ally.

America was divided. But the majority had spoken - a war was to begin. And this was no ordinary war.

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Woah....PM Prescott. That will get ugly. I hope Labor for their own sake throws Brown into the leadership soon.

Prescott will probably be able to hold on until at least 2005 simply due to the circumstances he's found himself in, but I don't think an eventual leadership challenge from Brown is quite out of the question.

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About to get back to this. Thoughts on the IWR?

[BigVic]

Will be interesting to see how New British PM Prescott respond to the Iraq War resolution

[Mike Thick]

Great timeline! If you don't mind my asking, who are some potential 2004 challengers to President Gore?

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RADICAL CHANGES - 2000 TO 2056 ELECTORAL TIMELINE

Season 4 - Let the Changes Begin

Episode 9 - A House Divided

March 7, 2003

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) introduces the Iraq War Resolution for a final roll call vote on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.

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"Have all members voted? Does any member wish to change their vote?"

The floor of the most powerful deliberative body in the world was silent. An eerie sensation crept throughout the chamber, the cool atmosphere serving only as a testament to the sentiment within. Congressmen and congresswomen looked nervously at one another - not making a sound - and waited for the final verdict.

Those few seconds seemed like hours to some, and like days to others. So much was at stake - perhaps more than at any moment in the history of the United States since the Second World War - and it all relied on one small slip of paper resting in the Speaker's hand.

Dennis Hastert adjusted his glasses and looked down at the folded piece of parchment that had just been handed to him. He sighed. Whether it passed or not, this bill would likely one day turn out to be the deciding moment of his legacy. The Speaker shivered at his podium, not knowing whether to blame the cool temperature of the chamber or the paradox of inevitability and uncertainty that he felt within. He cleared his throat and unfolded the slip.

"On this vote, the Ayes are two hundred and seventy-five, the Nays are one hundred and sixty. The motion is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table."

A surge of warmth suddenly filled the chamber, reaching and overwhelming all within its grasp. For some, this was the proudest moment of their political careers - they would be able to go back to their families, their donors, and their constituents, and brag about what was sure to be one of the most glorious successes in the history of the United States House. Across the floor, two hundred and seventy-five souls leapt.

But for another one hundred and sixty members, the warmth that had filled the chamber was of quite a different nature. This warmth was one of shock, of heartache - of anger. For many, all the future seemed to hold was cruel, cruel defeat - the inevitable meetings with disappointed constituents had just become hundreds of time more real, the tears in the eyes of the mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters who were about to see their loved ones shipped off to a place unknown had just become hundreds of times clearer. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones crumpled to the ground, unable to accept the tenacity of her defeat - all to well did she know that across America, hundreds were doing the same.

But it was done. No more fight, no more uncertainty. Confirmation in the Senate was essentially given at this point, and even those most passionately opposed to the war knew that nothing could be done to convince President Gore to change his mind.

And a mere one hour after Speaker Hastert had announced the result of the roll call vote, the House Chamber was silent once more. Not silent with the nervousness and the bated breath of its members, but with utter and complete abandonment. The room in which the fate of the world had been decided was empty.

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FINAL HOUSE ROLL CALL VOTE ON THE IRAQ WAR RESOLUTION: Two hundred and seventy-five Ayes, one hundred and sixty Nays. One hundred and sixty-seven Republicans and one hundred and eight Democrats voting for, fifty-two Republicans and one hundred and eight Democrats voting against.

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Great timeline! If you don't mind my asking, who are some potential 2004 challengers to President Gore?

Thanks!

That's not something I can fully reveal yet, but I'll float the names Elizabeth Dole, John Hoeven, and Bob Taft.

[Mike Thick]

Great timeline! If you don't mind my asking, who are some potential 2004 challengers to President Gore?

Thanks!

That's not something I can fully reveal yet, but I'll float the names Elizabeth Dole, John Hoeven, and Bob Taft.

Exciting!

[rpryor03]

Great timeline! If you don't mind my asking, who are some potential 2004 challengers to President Gore?

Thanks!

That's not something I can fully reveal yet, but I'll float the names Elizabeth Dole, John Hoeven, and Bob Taft.

Ugh, Bob Taft. Ohio hated him.

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RADICAL CHANGES - 2000 TO 2056 ELECTORAL TIMELINE

Season 4 - Let the Changes Begin

Episode 10 - The Verdict Awaits

March 8, 2003

FINAL SENATE ROLL CALL VOTE ON THE IRAQ WAR RESOLUTION: Sixty-seven Ayes, thirty-three Nays. Thirty-six Republicans and thirty-one Democrats voting for, twelve Republicans and twenty-one Democrats voting against.

Senators Voting in the Affirmative - Baucus, Bayh, Bennett, Biden, Bond, Breaux, Bunning, Campbell, Cantwell, Carnahan, Carper, Cleland, Clinton, Cochran, Collins, Conrad, Corzine, Crapo, Daschle, DeWine, Dodd, Dole, Domenici, Dorgan, Edwards, Ensign, Enzi, Feinstein, Fitzgerald, Graham of Florida, Graham of South Carolina, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Harkin, Hatch, Hollings, Hutchinson of Arkansas, Hutchinson of Texas, Kohl, Kyl, Lincoln, Lott, Lugar, McCain, McConnell, Miller, Murkowski, Nelson of Florida, Nelson of Nebraska, Owen, Reid, Roberts, Rockefeller, Schumer, Shaheen, Shelby, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Strickland, Thompson, Thune, Voinovich, Warner, Wyden

Senators Voting in the Negative - Akaka, Allen, Bingaman, Boxer, Brownback, Burns, Byrd, Chafee, Craig, Dayton, Durbin, Feingold, Frank, Frist, Gejdenson, Gramm, Inhofe, Inouye, Jeffords, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Markey, Mikulski, Nickles, Reed, Santorum, Sarbanes, Sessions, Stabenow, Terrell, Thomas, Wellstone

Support and Opposition for the Iraq War Resolution by State

United States Senate

Green - Both For
Red - Both Against
Blue - One For; One Against

United States House of Representatives

Green - Majority of Delegation For
Red - Majority of Delegation Against
Blue - Delegation Tied

United States State Governorships

Green - For
Red - Against
Blue - Uncommitted

[Kingpoleon]

Christine Todd Whitman!

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I think I've decided to wrap up Season 4 here; Season 5 will start shortly. Expect more on the 2004 presidential race, international politics, and the eventual conclusion of what was for sure a rough start to the Iraq War. If anyone has any other questions or comments, I'd love to take them now!

I'm also thinking of maybe starting Season 5 in a new thread because OCD.

[Mike Thick]

WE WANT CHAFEE IN 2004!

Looking forward to an exciting cycle, with or without the Chafster!lol

[NOT gonna be banned soon]

Will there be an anti-Iraq war Primary Challenge for Gore in 2004?

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Will there be an anti-Iraq war Primary Challenge for Gore in 2004?

It really depends on how the war goes.

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Bump

Thanks! The first post for Season 5 should be up shortly.

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Radical Changes Electoral Timeline - Season 5

Table of Contents

Episode 1: The Iraq War - Part I
Episode 2: An Update on Domestic Affairs
Episode 3: An Early Look - Election '04
Episode 4: Terror Strikes
Episode 5: And So It Begins
Episode 6: A New Era
Episode 7: Election '04 - Part 4
Episode 8: Election '04 - Part 5
Episode 9: A Final Chance
Episode 10: The Reveal