Can't Ebb The Webb - A Webb Presidency

[Maxwell]

Republicans win first Presidential election in 20 years!

Senator Jim Webb (R-VA)/Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) - 53.5%, 382 EV's
Vice President Bob Graham (D-FL)/Congressman Barack Obama (D-IL) - 44.9%, 156 EV's

After nearly two decades of Democratic leadership in the White House, the American people have taken a stark turn on the party. The economic crash in 2008 caused by the housing crisis and automobile industry collapse has put a lot of damage on to the party brand. Republicans, even coming into 2007, didn't exactly have the strongest brand either - Even with all of the cards in their hand in the 2004 election, they still pulled off a loss against fairly ineffective President Al Gore.

They required a new kind of nominee - and Senator Jim Webb represented that new kind of leader. Webb was elected after Senator John Warner was appointed to be Defense Secretary in the Gore administration, and has since carved out an image of a serious player on military issues and an intraparty moderate who could reach out to blue collar whites that have voted for Clinton and Gore. Webb was very reluctant to run, knowing the level of scrutiny the role brings, but took the opportunity as an excuse to leave the Senate. During the primary, he faced strong opposition, both from the social conservative wing who doubted Webb's credibility on religious issues, and from the fiscal conservative wing who know about Webb's votes on Gore's education initiatives and certain statements about taxes ("Supply side economics is a bunch of bunk and the Republicans need to adopt a new strategy"). From the socons, he faced off Jim DeMint and Mike Huckabee, with DeMint being easily the stronger contender before falling apart later on. From the ficons, he faced off against Mitt Romney, whose own record was obviously dubious, but being the leathery friend he is, jelled easily as opposition to Webb. And of course, Ron Paul, who definitely made it known he was running for President. Despite witch trials on each end of the conservative spectrum, the need for a winning nominee trumped everything, and ultimately the very electable Webb was picked to be the nominee.

But even in 2007, Webb trailed the Democratic Frontrunner, Vice President Bob Graham. Democrats were very hesitant to go with Graham - they had a lot of younger talent like Congressman Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards, Senator John Kerry, that they could tap into and let shine. But Graham had made his ambitions known, and Democratic insiders felt Graham could save the party from the "do nothing" brand that President Gore had put upon them. Graham faced relatively minimal opposition - save for an ambitious run for Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean - and cruised to the nomination with little candidate vetting. This proved to be a mistake.

Graham lost for very simple reasons - the economy's collapse, President Gore's low approval ratings, and 16 years of Democratic leadership. But his own weaknesses as a candidate began to show. He showed little prowess - he got outshined in the Democratic Nationial Convention by his VP, Congressman Barack Obama. During the first debate, the weary and old Graham was unceremoniously crushed by an energetic Webb, and Grahams performances didn't get better from there. He was remarkably stubborn - sticking with strategies that don't work.

Additionially, Webb began to finally shake the image of the scary Republican. Failed nominee George W. Bush in 2000 gave Republicans a real scare with his disastrous campaign going up in flames. Newt Gingrich's speakership proved to be deadly for the image of Republican Governance. John McCain couldn't overcome either image thanks to his strongly conservative voting record. Webb's mission was clear - give people the message of a compassionate Republican. Webb was also very stubborn, like Graham, but forced himself to go from his straight talking tell it like it is style which nearly caused him to lose in 2002, to a more sensitive and understanding tone. Throughout the campaign he became human.

With Webb's victory, we see a huge change for the electorate, huge gains for the Republican Party, and a new era in American politics. Now we get to see how Jim Webb handles the mandate he's been given.

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

Oh dude this looks sick! Nice tl! Can't ebb the webb

[Maxwell]

PAST POST - How'd we get here? Part 1



"We made a huge mistake" - An anonymous George W. Bush advisor

Vice President Al Gore (D-TN)/Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) - 52.3%, 392 EV's
Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)/Congressman J.C. Watts (R-OK) - 44.9%, 146 EV's

This night could not have been more bitter. Bitter for Republican activists, bitter for Republicans in congress who lost their senate majority, bitter for party leaders, and even more bitter for the Bush campaign. Tonight resembled an ultimate loss - a loss bigger than his fathers, and bigger than Bob Dole's. A complete thumbs up to the Bill Clinton agenda. And it was all thanks to Father's big disappointment.

George W. Bush during the summer months saw big crowds, and an even bigger lead on Vice President Al Gore. Gore, Clinton's Vice President, faced an unenthusiastic electorate who saw him as too moderate, too establishment, and too boring. George W. amped up his party with a message that crossed the lines from the party grassroots and the party leadership. With double digit leads in every poll, it was hard to imagine the kind of blowout happening in anything but Bush's direction.

This was the summer W. and his team decided to go bold with their pick for Vice President. Paint with bold colors, not pale pastels as Ronald Reagan had once said. So W. obviously laughed off Dick Cheney's suggestion of himself as VP after search efforts. Instead, W. took a look at who could be the next Vice President, and who would open up voters previously not receptive to the GOP. W. had a stronger message for hispanics, but still failed to reach Women and African Americans. Four people in the GOP fit W's criteria as qualified people in both categories - New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Former Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, Congressman J.C. Watts, and Former Kansas City Fed Chairman Herman Cain. Cain was an obvious no go - very interested in the role, but offered nothing beyond pizza jokes during the vetting. Dole was not very inspiring of a choice during the primary despite her gender bending, and her vetting did not help. Christine Todd Whitman, on the outset, was the only choice, but her vetting proved to be problematic and her tenure in New Jersey showed low approval ratings - not exactly what people look for in leaders. Watts got the bare amount of vetting, but gave Bush an impassioned speech on why he should be picked. Watts, thanks to that, rose to the job.

Maybe they should've gone with Cheney.

Vice Presidential nominee J.C. Watts proved to be a historic flop. The highlight was his speech at the RNC, giving firey attacks towards Bill Clinton and defended George W. Bush as a "uniter not a divider". Thanks to Watts, Bush's lead rose to a level where it almost seemed like he could not fall. But fall it did - Watts' post choice interviews proved to be a disaster, lacking basic knowledge on certain issues and coming across as off-putting for a lot of voters after a while due to his discomfort with questions. Watts' financial background was released, and he was implicated in the EthicsOk investigation where he was caught using his state credit card for lavish purchases. Finally, his Vice Presidential debate with Senator Bob Graham showed how out of depth he was - Graham, an old school politico, knew the issues like the back of his hand - and it made Watts look even worse than he already did.And this added on to George W.'s own inadequate debate performances, and the stories of his previous drunk driving.

But even then, things didn't look so bad. Al Gore had crawled to a fairly narrow lead in the polls, and Gore had a penchant for under-performing when times got tough. Or at least that was the history... As the results show, lower turnout benefited Gore as millions of Republicans stayed home.

Three big losses in a row has to make the GOP wonder - what are we doing wrong...

[Maxwell]

btw the idea for this TL started from a game of The Campaign Trail where I played as Al Gore.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Nice TL.

[GLPman]

Off to a great start.