Bill Clinton's third term

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President Clinton's Approval Rating and other polls:

Clinton's Approval Rating:
Approve : 67%(+1%)
Disapprove : 31%(0%)

Opinion of Clinton's Prescription Drugs Plan

Approve : 45%(-6%)
Disapprove : 53%(+6%)

Opinion of the House Bill to reform Prescription Drug Converge

Approve: 78%
Disapprove : 21%

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Summary of GOP primaries :



Due to President Clinton's high approval rating , many prominent Republicans who were expected to run in 2000 decided not to run .This included Texas Governor George W Bush , who most pundits expected would run in 2000 , and likely would be the GOP nominee if he decided to run. Due to Governor Bush not running , the GOP field was wide open .Despite the field being wide open, by the  Iowa Caucuses it became clear that the GOP primary front runners were Senator Phil Graham and Senator John McCain, and the closeness of their primary rivaled the 1976 GOP primaries and with the same result . Like in 1976 the more centrist candidate would barely beat the more conservative candidate .


Here's the map between Senator McCain and Senator Graham

How is Bill Clinton able to run for a thrid term? Did they repeal the 22nd Amendment?

No there was no 22nd amendment


Eisenhower and Reagan decided not to run for a third term

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Great timeline!

Thanks

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NBC News releases Battleground map for 2002 Senate Elections:

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Senate Passes House Bill and President signs it:


NBC News Reporter: The Senate in a vote 62-38 passed the house bill to reform prescription drug coverage, and now we are waiting on the President to come and sign the bill. Ok here he comes



President Clinton : For 5 long years , the Congress and I have tried to pass a bill which allows our seniors to afford the prescription drugs they need, and for 5 years we failed. Over the past 10 weeks ,we came back to the bargaining table determined to finally solve this problem and thanks to congressman on both sides , we have finally solved the problem . Just a short time ago I signed a bill which makes prescription drugs affordable to seniors once again.  Now thanks to this bill , no longer will seniors have to put off visiting their grandchildren , so they can afford to pay for medicine . After working for more than 40 years , they have the right to do the things they wanted to do but didnt have time for when they were working: visiting different places, and spending time with their family. I want to thank once again both parties for coming together and making that a reality

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Breaking News: Congress approves use of force against Iraq , if they dont let inspectors back in Iraq and agree to follow all UN resolutions by November 10th

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Secretary of State Joe Lieberman announces sanctions on Syria:





Lieberman : Despite all of our warnings to the Syrian Government to stop their WMD program, renounce their ties to Hamas , and apologize to the Israelis for those ties , they have not done so . Due that we will impose an economic embargo on Syria, ban all imports from Syria, sanction  Syrian financial institutions ,   and impose an almost total ban on selling aircraft or repair parts to Syrian aviation companies. If the Syrian Government wants these sanctions lifted they must adhere to all our demands, or face even stricter sanctions in the future.

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NBC releases battle ground map for 2002 Governors races:

Light Blue= Republican Gain
Blue= Republican Hold
Pink = Democratic Gain
Red= Democratic Hold
Green = Tossup


Tim Russert: This battleground map is stunning, as this amount of potential turnover is unprecedented.

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So Syria instead of Iraq

Depends on if suddam complies with UN resolutions or not . If yes the focus will be more on Syria though it doesn't mean the first steps to deal with Syria will be an US led  invasion .

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Why did Bill Clinton pick one of his strongest critics within in the Democratic Party (Joe Lieberman) for one of the most important cabinet positions?

Bill Clinton in OTL did support Lieberman in the 06 primary: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-clinton-campaigns-for-lieberman/


Also Lieberman mainly criticized Clinton on his personal behavior , which many democrats criticized him for . Remember during Clinton's impeachment, many democrats were willing to vote to censure Clinton as long as the Republicans dropped the impeachment charges .(https://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/020699impeach.html).

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Tom Brokaw : We have some breaking news to report to you today, the Iraqi Government has just agreed to comply to UN resolutions .  Suddam Hussain while not wanting to do this realized he had no choice, as he realized that the UN was not bluffing they actually meant to go through with their threats. The reason he realized this, is that UN forces are building up an invasion force of up 750,000 troops in Kuwait .

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New Polls on Clinton's Approval (8/12/02) and other polls:

Clinton's Approval


Approve : 74%
Disapprove : 24%

New Senate Map:

pink = Democratic Pick Up

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President Clinton and Prime Minister  Blair Give Joint Press Conference :






Tony Blair: I want to start of this press conference by thanking the President for inviting me to the white house.

Clinton: Honor is mine Mr. Prime Minister

Blair: I also want to let the people of both our countries knows that the UK stands behind the US in their war on terror , and our government will also impose sanctions on Syria

Reporter: What sanctions will you impose

Blair : The same one the US imposed

Reporter: Mr . President there are many people who believe this type of action will make war more inevitable not less. How do you respond to that


Clinton: The fact is these sanctions will make the Syrian government weaker to a point that if they try to invade their neighboring countries, they will fail to do so. Appeasement is a failed policy, and we will not make those same mistakes.

Reporter: The Iraqi sanctions failed , why will these one work

Clinton: The Iraqi sanctions did indeed succeed , as we weakened Suddam's Millitary capabilities with those sanctions, and now we are trying to do this with Syria so we can make their military weaker as we. Thank you and that that will be all the questions

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Breaking News: August's jobs numbers shows little improvement , unemployment rate still at 5.7% and Commerce Secretary Mineta to give a reaction to the news



 Secretary Mineta: The fact is that the unemployment rate has gone down since peaking a few months ago at 6%, showing that the economic policies of this administration have indeed worked. The fact is that within a year  , unemployment will be blow 5% again.

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President Clinton campaign schedule:


October 1st : Manchester, NH campaigning for senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen

October 3rd: Campaigning in Little Rock,AK for Senate Candidate Mark Pyror ,and  Gubernatorial Candidate Jimmie Fisher

October 4th : Campaigning in Atlanta, GA for Senator Max Cleland and Governor Roy Barnes

October 10th: Campaigning in Detroit , MI for Senator Carl Levin and Gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm

October 12th: Campaigning in St.Paul, MN for Senator Paul Wellstone

October 20th: Campaigning in Denver, CO for Tom Strickland

October 21st : Campaigning in Rapid City, SD for Senator Tim Johnson

October 23rd : Campaigning in Hillsboro, OR for Senate candidate Bill Bradbury and   Gubernatorial candidate  Ted Kulongoski



Campaign Schedule after this date will depend on polling data after October 24th

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Congress gives President Clinton more powers to deal with Syria




Summary:

- Allows the administration to impose any sanction they want on the Syrian Government

- Gives the administration power to stop sending foreign aid to countries  which remains allied with the  Syrian Government

- Gives the administration the authority to launch airstrikes to destroy Syrian WMD sites, destroy lines of communication between the Syrian Government and Hamas .

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Secretary of Defense Sam Nunn on Meet The Press




Tim Russert: Now Joining us will be Secretary Nunn who is here to discuss the issue of Syria today. Thank you Senator Nunn for coming , as you already know congress passed a bill yesterday which gives the President broad powers to deal with Syria. Isnt that bill essentially a declaration of war on the Syrian Government


Nunn: It is not a declaration of war , as it was not an authorization to conduct regime change in Syria

Russert: It allows the president to launch airstrikes against the Syrian Government though, how is that not war

Nunn: It only allows us to launch airstrikes at Syrian facilities creating and keeping Weapons of Mass Destruction , and lines of communication between the Syrian Government and Hamas. It does not allow us to launch airstrikes at other government and military sites, so what this authority gives us is to enforce our sanctions on Syria.

Russert: Airstrikes is still a war


Nunn: Maybe a small scale war like Operation Desert Fox back in 1998 but not a full scale one

Russert: Moving on to Afghanistan , what are the time tables for holding an national election there

Nunn: We are hoping to hold elections there by this time next year , but our main  objectives right now is to continue to help rebuild their country after two decades of civil war , while at the same time clearing out pockets of resistance from the Taliban . 

Russert: How's the training of the Afghanistan military going

Nunn: So far its going well, and in fact they are now fighting along with our troops on anti insurgency missions , and hopefully soon , we will be able to send them on missions all by themselves.

Russert: Ok lastly , in a month there is a Senate and Gubernatorial election in your home state, will you go out to campaign with Max Cleland  and  Roy Barnes

Nunn: I do plan to do a couple campaign rallies with them in the last week of the campaign .

Russert: Nice talking to you Secretary Nunn

Nunn: Always nice to come on here Tim

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NBC Releases October 24th election polls:

Governors

 Senate

Blue  = Republican Hold
Light Blue = Republican Pick Up
Red = Democratic Hold
Pink = Democratic Pick Up
Green = Tossup

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I imagine that under these circumstances, the 2002 midterms would be at least neutral to Dems. Interesting, since Dems lost during FDR's third term.

Great work overall, written with passion. This is definitely among my top timelines here.

I am happy that you have liked it so far, and thank you for the compliments .


In my opinion the Democrats lost in 1942 because of how large their majorities were going in to that election(they held 267 house seats and 65 senate seats heading into that election) so the potential for loses were much larger then and I believe that without WW2(if the dems won in 1940) they  lose the house in 1942.

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Breaking News: Senator Paul Wellstone dies in a plane crash






Tom Brokaw : We have some very sad news to report to you today, Senator Paul Wellstone who was on his way to Eveleth , Minnesota to attend a funeral has died in a plane crash. On behalf of NBC I would like to send our condolences to Senator Wellstone family and friends .



The President Releases Statement:


Clinton: Senator Paul Wellstone death was a tragic loss for his family who we all give our prayers out to today, and the country as a whole. His commitment to stand by what he believed was right for the people no matter what the political consequences , and he would lead by example at showcasing that. Today I hope that we follow by his example to honor him memory ,and continue do so in the future .

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Former Vice President Walter Mondale to replace the late senator Paul Wellstone on the ballot this November

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NBC News releases their final battle ground map:


Senate:

Governors :

Blue= Republican Hold
Light Blue = Republican Pick Up
Red = Democratic Hold
Pink = Democratic Pick Up
Green = Tossup

House of Representatives:

Republicans : 211
Democrats: 208
Tossup : 16

Tim Russert: The main reason for the election going from being another 1998 for the Democrats to likely being their version of 1990 where the incumbent party suffers mild losses , is  due to fact that the state of the economy started to become discussed more over the passed few months which moved the polls more in the direction of the Republicans.

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I think Cleland would win reelection tbh.

It was a 7 point win for the GOP OTL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2002

I dont think even with Clinton he holds on in 2002, remember Clinton lost that state in 1996 and 2000(in this timeline) and his approval rating has dropped from what it was in August of 2002 .

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Bill Clinton's Approval on election day

Approve : 65%
Disapprove : 33%


How do you approve of Clinton's Handling of Foreign policy:

Approve: 85%
Disapprove : 14%

How do you approve of Clinton's Handling of  Economic Policy:

Approve: 46%
Disapprove : 52%

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NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour one):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c


Tom Brokaw: Welcome , I am Tom Brokaw and tonight from beginning to end NBC news will cover the results of this year's midterm elections which will determine which party will control congress for the next two years , along with who will be the governors elected tonight in which is shaping up to be a historic night there. NBC news is now ready .

We can project that in

Kentucky - Mitch McConnell will be reelected in a landslide  

in Virginia - John Warner who didnt even have a democratic challenger will also win in a landslide

in South Carolina - Congressman Lindsey Graham will be elected

In New Hampshire- we project it is currently to close to call

Here's the map so far

Democrats 36
Republicans 33


For the governors we can project that in

Florida- Former Vice Presidential Candidate and current governor Jeb Bush will be reelected by a conformable margin

and in New Hampshire - the Republican candidate Craig Benson will be elected in a landslide

in Georgia, Vermont ,and South Carolina it is currently too close to call

Tim Russert: So far the results arent that surprising and the exit polls too closely reflect what the polls have been saying to this point.


7:30


Tom Brokaw: Polls have closed in 3 more states and we are ready to make more projections in both the senate and governors race

We can project that Elizabeth Dole wife of former Senator and former Presidential Candidate Bob Dole as been elected as Senator of North Carolina

and in West Virginia- Jay Rockerfeller has been reelected in a landslide

and In the Governors race we are ready to project that Bob Taft as been reelected as Governor of Ohio


Russert: So far there have been no surprises , and so far in both Georgia races the Republicans are leading

Brokaw: That is true , but the democratic states havent come up yet so democrats shouldnt get worried yet

Russert: Of course not as the results are reflecting the pre election polls so far, and lets show the map now

Senate :

Democrats : 37
Republicans : 34

Governors :