Hail, Columbia! (The Election of 1884)

[Cranberry]

In one of the narrowest and most intense contests in the history of the Commonwealth, President Iglesias was able to cling onto his position, albeit at the cost of the Liberal majority in Congress (Congressional terms had been lengthened to four years in the 1850ies, resulting in a election to the Commons always being synchronised with Presidential elections). The "Chronographer-in-chief" as was his nickname (he had made himself a name in the Spanish provinces as a very popular writer and historian, with some of his works still today boasting relevance) now was at odds with Congress and had to face tough politicking and compromise-crafting.

Despite all odds, his sucesses in his "second" term were far from none: the Commonwealth navy was reorganised and modernised, with a major presence on the Pacific being built up in the port cities of Sacramento and California. Taking example from the succesful building of the Suez Canal in Egypt, plannings for the erection of a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the isthmus of Panama were considered, with Congress passing the "Panama Canal Grant" in 1883, allowing for the aquisition of the needed land from the government of Panama and the planning and erection of said canal within the next seventeen years (the plan was to finish the canal before the year 1900) to commence.

The President did not exclusively turn his attention to this measures, however. Repeated attempts to introduce a temperance bill were shattered by the Democratic-Whigish-Independent Labor majority coalition in Congress, but the year 1883 saw the passage of a milestone education reform bill, the "Strauss-Wilson-Campbell Public Education Act of 1883". The new act saw provisions to unify public education on the provinical level, allow public education and tutelage in one of five (English, Spanish, French, German, Cherokee) languages, as to be determined by the individual school districts - a measure included to appease Democrats sceptical of public education - and the installation of a provincially-led, publicly funded university, college and higher education system, awarding higher education solely on the base of merit and not on payment.

In 1884 finally, the centennial presidential election of the Commonwealth of North America drew nearer. The whole country was abuzz with celebrations and festivities, and in this atmosphere, a new presidential election boasting these three major candidates occured:

President José María Iglesias of Mexico [Commonwealth Liberal]
The President is running for reelection to a second full, and as he was ready to promise, final term. He campaigns on his succesful policies in the last years, wanting to continue the streak of Liberal victories. His main campaign planks include promises to keep the tariffs at the level they are, finally the passage of a Temperance bill and possibly even total prohibition of alcohol, and provisions againts electoral fraud.

Gouverneur Hector-Louis Langevin of Quebec [Democratic]
The Gouverneur of Quebec is the first francophone Democratic candidate, a constituency this party has seen tremendous success and large wins in the previous years. His policy planks are largely synonimous with the Democratic platform four years ago: increased supply of paper money, the institution of an income tax, and the creation of "Continental Depositories," or warehouses, where farmers can store their excess yields.

Senator Gerald Joyce Campbell of Kansas [Whig]
Senator Campbell, rising to prominence among Franklin City circles for his tireless conicliatory and compromise-building work for the milestone education bill of 1883, is a novelty among presidential candidates in that he his half Native American, his mother being a member of the Wichita tribe. He is one of few western Whigs, and tries to increase the appeal of the Whig party among the western farmer constituency. His main policy points are a mixture of traditional Whig-ish politics and more modern sets of policies, geared towards the Democratic party, such as supporting an income tax, while still boasting the three old principles of the Whig party: free trade, cheap land and an honest administration.

3 days


Fig. 25.1 The Public Education Act of 1883 established that the language of public education was to be determined by the individual school districts; the above figure shows the language instructed in a majority of a given province's school districts

Blue - English
Orange - Spanish
Green - German
Red - French
Purple - Cherokee

[Cranberry]

We've gotten hundred years so far! Yay! Since interest is still there, I think I can speak for us both in that we are pretty pumped to continue for the next hundred years!

Also, a note from us, as you might have noticed, Harry and I have started to include fictional personas as candidates since last election. That does not mean we will not bring no more RL people in anymore, just that from now on, fictional personas may appear more or less often.

[PPT Spiral]

Reelect the President.

[Boston Bread]

What's the light blue in the map? A plurality?

I'm undecided right now, though I will vote later.

[Cranberry]

What's the light blue in the map? A plurality?

I'm undecided right now, though I will vote later.

No, that's me being too stupid to properly colour in the Pacific Northwest It's supposed to be all English.

[Goldwater]

Like usual, Whig>Democrat>Liberal.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

You made my state French!?

[Maxwell]

Anti-Prohibition. Anyone but Iglesius! Voted Campbell to shake it up

[Intell]

Iglesias.

[Mr. Smith]

Re-elect the President...though I'm open to the Democrat if more details are released.

[Kingpoleon]

As usual, narrowly Democratic>Whig>Liberal.

[Cranberry]

You made my state French!?

The province of Huron still has a prominent English-speaking minority, but in the last years, it has been a magnet of immigration from both Quebec and continental France, so the francophone majority is increasing steadily, monsieur. You have any problems with that?

[Kingpoleon]

Is gold/silver/bimetallism going to become a major factor in this?

[bagelman]

Why is francophone Louisiana Spanish?

[Cranberry]

Is gold/silver/bimetallism going to become a major factor in this?

The democratic platform is slightly going in that direction, so it's up to you - if you elect Democrats, maybe.

Why is francophone Louisiana Spanish?

Louisiana is pretty much split between Francophones and Spaniards, but recent migration to the New Orleans area, especially from Mexico and Texas, have made it increasingly Spanish-speaking and less so francophone. This map just shows what the most widespread language of public instruction is at that time, with that going after the language most people speak in a respective school district, so it does by no means mean that Louisiana is exclusively Spanish nowadays - the breakdown is at about 40% Spanish, 40% French and 20% other.

[NeverAgain]

Strangely I'm going Whig this year. He seems like a good guy.

[bagelman]

Campbell

[Cranberry]

A bit more than a day left here, these results so far seem very fun

[Cranberry]

Voting is closed, round 2 should be up in a minute.