2012 Election (The Hearse at Monticello)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The future of the nation hangs in the balance as Americans head to the polls in 2012. Facing an unusually wide field of credible candidates, the electorate is divided, the collapse of the Fifth Party System in the latter half of Russ Feingold's second term having severed old alliances and thrown the political process into disarray. Carrying the standard for the newborn Reform Party is Vice President Bernie Sanders, an obscure Vermont Congressman turned left-wing firebrand who has called for the legalization of gay marriage, tighter regulation of the financial sector, and increased benefits for working mothers and the urban poor. Sander's left-wing competitors, the Farmer-Labor Party, has rallied around Brian Schweitzer. Rejecting the "urban liberalism" of the vice president, Schweitzer has been called a latter-day James B. Weaver, and his platform consists of a combination of new farm subsidies, an expansion of the NHS, and opposition to the EPA and gun control. On the right flank, Senator Olympia Snowe has formed a unity ticket with her primary rival, Paul Ryan, and stands as the first presidential nominee of the new center-right National Party. Calling herself a "compassionate conservative" in the vein of George Romney and Richard Lugar, Snowe has promised to keep government small and efficient, cut taxes for small business, and approach sensitive social issues like gay marriage with "understanding and compassion for both sides." Snowe's attempt to unite the right against President Feingold has been hampered by the presence of Libertarian nominee Ron Paul, who is running an anti-establishment campaign quite popular with young voters.

This is your last shot, America - make it count.

[Intell]

Schweitzer to keep the party going.

[Kingpoleon]

I clicked Sanders, meant Snowe.

[YaBoyNY]

Sanders/Sinema.

Reform is the best shot this country has, people.

[Mr. Smith]

Since this is ending and I want to end this with a bang....SCHWEITZER!

EDIT: Pity Donald Trump wasn't a running mate.

[Maxwell]

The radicals have taken over the reform party. Farmer Labor is the only way! Schweitzer 2012!

[Türkisblau]

Schweitz-man, he will root all of the hypocritical gays out of government with his magnificent gaydar!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Since Ron Paul sold out by picking Bonham, I guess I have no choice except to vote for Schweitzer

[NeverAgain]

Bernie, take us home.

[ScottieF]

Bernie, take us home.

[Goldwater]

Snowe.

[DavidB.]

Undecided, because I really dislike Snowe. I'll vote tactically, either for Snowe or for Schweitzer.

[Maxwell]

Are you continuing into 2016? I want to see how Sanders holds on.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Paul

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

2012 Presidential Election

Vice President Bernie Sanders (Independent, Reform-Vermont)/ Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (Reform-Arizona): 235 Electoral Votes; 34.0% popular votes
Fmr. Congressman Ron Paul (Libertarian-Texas)/ Mr. Rupert Bonham (Libertarian-Indiana): 115 Electoral Votes; 24.5% popular votes
Senator Olympia Snowe (National-Maine)/ Congressman Paul Ryan (National-Wisconsin): 106 Electoral Votes; 22.6% popular votes
Governor Brian Schweitzer (Farmer Labor-Montana)/ Governor Jim Hood (Farmer Labor-Mississippi): 82 Electoral Votes; 18.9% popular votes

In retrospect, the Election of 2012 would bear several telling similarities to the presidential campaign of 1824, a fact that would be much remarked upon when the results of the electoral college became known. As in 1824, the 2012 campaign saw four strong candidates contest the presidency in the aftermath of the collapse of a decades-old party system. The result was an electoral college deadlock, with the front-runner - Vice President Bernie Sanders of the Reform Party - falling 35 electoral vote short of a majority. Pundits would attribute the deadlock to the candidates' failure to appeal to voters outside their own electoral coalitions, while internal divisions prevented the left and right from capitalizing on the weaknesses of their opponents. As a result, the election would be thrown to the House of Representatives for the second time in the still-young century, placing the fate of the country once more in the hands of the Washington elites.