Parties ran multiple candidates again

[skybridge]

What would happen nowadays if one or both major parties ran multiple candidates for president like the Whig party in 1936? Either one party would feel so sure they would win no matter what they nominate more than one candidate, or a party becomes too divided (or some mixture of both).

Somebody take it from here.

[King]

I assume you mean the 1836 election as the Whigs were gone by 1936.

[skybridge]

I assume you mean the 1836 election as the Whigs were gone by 1936.

D'oh!

Yes, I do! Silly typo.

[George W. Hobbes]

2004

New England
Gov. Howard Dean/Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
Gov. Mitt Romney/Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (R)

Dean wins VT, NY, MA (narrowly).  ME, NH, CT, RI (narrowly), PA for Romney.

Midwest
Sen. Evan Bayh/Sen. Russ Feingold (D)
Rep. Denny Hastert/Rep. Jack Hoodengyk (R)

Bayh wins IN, IL, IA, WI, DE, MD, DC.  GOP wins OH, MI.

South
Sen. John Edwards/Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
Pres. George W. Bush/Sen. Zell Miller (R)

Edwards wins TN, AR, LA, NC.  Bush wins KY, VA, WV, MO (narrowly), SC, AL, MS, GA, FL.

Mountain West
Sen. Harry Reid/Gov. Bill Schweitzer (D)
Sen. John McCain/VP Dick Cheney (R)

McCain wins WY, ND, SD, NV, AZ, NM, CO, UT, MT, ID, NE, KS, OK.  Reid is shut out.

Pacific Coast
Sen. Diane Feinstein/Sen. Ron Wyden (D)
Sec. Richard Riordan/Sen. Ted Stevens (R)

Feinstein wins CA, WA, OR, HI.  Riordan wins AK.

[George W. Hobbes]

For simplicity's sake.

GOP 280, Democrats 258.

Which ticket wins in the House and Senate?

[King]

Which ticket wins in the House and Senate?

Hastert in the House and it depends on the Senate.  Do they still use the filibuster for this type of vote?  If so, Chafee becomes VP.  If not, Stevens is the VP.

[Erc]

Note that, of course, the party that wins a majority of electoral votes can tell the electors in no uncertain terms who to vote for come November 3.

More interesting would be if one party did this, and the other party didn't...a la 1836, again.

[skybridge]

2004

New England
Gov. Howard Dean/Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
Gov. Mitt Romney/Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (R)

Dean wins VT, NY, MA (narrowly).  ME, NH, CT, RI (narrowly), PA for Romney.

Midwest
Sen. Evan Bayh/Sen. Russ Feingold (D)
Rep. Denny Hastert/Rep. Jack Hoodengyk (R)

Bayh wins IN, IL, IA, WI, DE, MD, DC.  GOP wins OH, MI.

South
Sen. John Edwards/Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
Pres. George W. Bush/Sen. Zell Miller (R)

Edwards wins TN, AR, LA, NC.  Bush wins KY, VA, WV, MO (narrowly), SC, AL, MS, GA, FL.

Mountain West
Sen. Harry Reid/Gov. Bill Schweitzer (D)
Sen. John McCain/VP Dick Cheney (R)

McCain wins WY, ND, SD, NV, AZ, NM, CO, UT, MT, ID, NE, KS, OK.  Reid is shut out.

Pacific Coast
Sen. Diane Feinstein/Sen. Ron Wyden (D)
Sec. Richard Riordan/Sen. Ted Stevens (R)

Feinstein wins CA, WA, OR, HI.  Riordan wins AK.

Sorry, I'm too lazy. Who wins the presidency?

Note that, of course, the party that wins a majority of electoral votes can tell the electors in no uncertain terms who to vote for come November 3.

More interesting would be if one party did this, and the other party didn't...a la 1836, again.

Sounds good too. If you can cough up a somewhat plausible scenario, go for it!

[George W. Hobbes]

So, (switching NH back blue, on the map it's red and giving TX to Bush in the South), we have...

1. George W. Bush-134 electoral votes
2. Diane Feinstein-77 electoral votes
3. John McCain-68 electoral votes
4. Evan Bayh-65 electoral votes
5. Howard Dean 46 electoral votes
6. John Edwards-41 electoral votes
7. Mitt Romney-40 electoral votes
8. Denny Hastert-37 electoral votes
9. Richard Riordan-3 electoral votes
10. Harry Reid-0 electoral votes

In the Senate we have the top two Vice-Presidents going at it, so we have Zell Miller for the GOP and Ron Wyden for the Democrats.  No contest, Miller becomes the next Vice-President of the United States.

Now, in the House, we have a bizarre situation.  McCain is perfectly positioned to play third wheel, cause a deadlock and soak the votes to him.  So we'd might well end up with President McCain and VP Miller as our new administration.