NOTE: FOR CONVENIENCE'S SAKE, I AM USING CURRENT EV NUMBERS.
Nobody would have expected this ticket two years ago, yet here they were.
After the midterms, Republicans ruled Washington once again. Bill Clinton seemed like easy pickings. Anyone could win, so, naturally, many had thought about running, especially after Ross Perot, whom GOP insiders almost unanimously saw as a spoiler, had declined to run again. However, everyone had expected one of their respected leaders, Bob Dole, to enter the race and be coronated the nominee. So they declined their own ambitions out of a sense of respect. But, to the shock of everybody, Dole declined, citing age as a concern. The eventual nominee could not fault him. Bob was a good friend, but he was much more effective as a legislator; a skilled unifier respected by even the most extremes of both parties. Trent was not. He was needed to bring bipartisanship back to Washington.
But this had left a problem. The presumptive frontrunner would then be Pat Buchanan, and the Republican Party would surely lose with such an extremist at its helm. He had half-seriously toyed with the idea of entering himself, but now, he actively felt a calling to save his party.
The primaries were rough. Nobody took him seriously. An also-ran. Too moderate. Can't possibly win.
In what seemed to be a move against better judgment, he persevered, raising money like nobody else and campaigning across the States with all of his heart and soul. And then the unthinkable happened.
He won New Hampshire. Everyone had expected it to go to Buchanan that night. Indeed, the candidate had a concession/dropout speech ready to go at a moment's notice. Not that night.
And from there a came a domino effect. Delaware, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, California, Nevada, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, New Jersey. Slowly but surely, the unlikely GOP candidate was the official nominee, and with him came a transformation of the party.
The running mate selection was simple. His first choice was Olympia Snowe, a new Senate colleague and fellow centrist, but she had declined, saying a lack of experience in the Senate made her unfit to be its President. Afterward, his second choice was obvious. His good friend, Dick Lugar, who had also ran but dropped out before his own late entry, happily accepted the VP slot. Their ideologies could not have been closer.
Come the general, Clinton gained a resurgence of strength. The once DOA President was back in his natural habitat of campaigning, and had managed to dishonestly connect the unpopularity of Newt Gingrich to the entire GOP. Come election night, thanks to strong debate performances by the Republican duo, it was neck-and-neck.
The nominee sat quietly in a hotel room, but his mind could be anything but calm, despite outward appearances. It was anybody's game. The nominee was strong enough to have held on to the newly Republican MAG trio, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as old reliable Virginia. His appeal to Blue Collar workers won him Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin; just barely losing Michigan, and his moderation lead to Independents and some Democrats flocking in droves to vote for him, recapturing, all of Maine, New Hampshire, and Oregon for the Republicans. He enlisted his friend Mike Castle to fight to Hell and back to win him Delaware, which also paid off. Every little bit counted.
The President's Native Son status in the South was paying off. He swept the MIMAL States in addition to Kentucky and Tennessee, surely a result of the GOP nominee's moderation, and his good-ol' boy charm that was so critical to his success in the South managed to pick off rural parts of Washington, New Mexico, and Nevada, therefore carrying the States as a whole. The newly partisan California helped, too.
Both men's eyes were glued to the television screen.
"Right now, it is a dead heat. Truly, any man's game. The slightest shift in voter trends could determine the leader of the free world. Right now the standing is 263 for the Democrats, 260 for the Republicans. Blue is for the challenging party; red is for the incumbent, in this case, the Republicans and Democrats, respectively. Let us remind those at home that it takes 270 Electoral Votes to be elected President, and neither candidate will experience a comfortable victory here tonight. The President is ahead by the slimmest of margins in the popular vote, but the winner of the Electoral College, which could be anyone, will almost certainly also win the popular vote as well when all votes are counted. It will all come down to North Carolina, the big variable, the crossroad where the appeals of both man intersect. Will the Southern charm of the President hold out, or will the region's developing Republican tilt win the day for the GOP?" said Dan Rather.
"Why didn't I campaign there more?" both nominees thought to themselves.
"Virginia is solidly in my column. The votes will bleed down into North Carolina," thought the GOP nominee.
"I am the son of the South. I'm fine," thought President Clinton.
Hours passed. It was 12:48 in the morning now.
"Stand by. We have a major projection to make," said Rather.
Both men stood up. Gore and Lugar, who had since fallen asleep, also both sprung out of bed.
"CBS News is now ready to project the State of North Carolina for..." Rather said. In his normal eccentric ways, he was enjoying the suspense.
With that, the map updated, concurrent with Rather's next words.
275263"Senator Arlen Specter."Within that one second, Specter was frozen in disbelief, a childish smile forming around his normally stern, snarling face. His entire world has just changed. The gentlemanly Lugar, right next to him, was speechless.
In the White House, so were the President and Vice-President. They had been defeated. Hillary, in particular, was seething with rage.
"Dick, we did it!" yelped the Senator, jumping up to triumphantly hug his friend and soon-to-be partner. A boy-like joy, one that hadn't been felt since the War ended over 50 years ago, engrossed the two men.
Rather spoke again. What had seemed like hours to the men was now only seconds.
We repeat, Arlen Specter, the Senator from Pennsylvania and assistant counselor of the Warren Commission, a man who nobody thought would make it, has been elected the 43rd President of the United States of America.There was so much to be done! Transitions, cabinets, and the fundamental transformation of the Republican Party that had just occurred. But that could all wait for now.
This was their night of victory, and they intended to enjoy every moment of it.
Poll
