Westman, Part II: The Rising

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Awesome stuff man. I wonder... Does Mattingly still smoke in the 80's? (tobacco of course. These aren't his Persian War days!) How's the 1988 election shaping up?

[Mechaman]

Mattingly is a big fan of the Tobaccy Wacky and is a functional alcoholic.  Same as about 25% of the male population of the United States.  Tobacco laws are very liberal, with some states having no minimum age laws for smoking (though those states have been heavily targeted by the Americans for Health Progress Association (AHPA).  In the state of Michigan there is a minimum age law of 14 to purchase cigarettes.  In the states of Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon there are none (though, smoking rates aren't radically higher than elsewhere).  While IRL 80's was pretty ignorant on the effects of tobacco, this one takes it to an extreme.  Smoking isn't considered to be "healthy", but studies that it causes cancer are played down to an absurd degree.
Alcohol laws are a bit stricter, with the highest age restrictions being 20 years old in Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, and Kansas.  In Montana, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin the minimum age to buy alcohol is 16.  The minimum age to consume it is 13, with the presence of an individual of legal buying age present.
However, one cannot join the army until they are 18 and in many states only people 21 years or older can vote.
So yeah.

[Mechaman]

Back on the Westman Estate:

Lawrence Coventry is having a drink with his former colleague Thad O'Connor.  He looks at Thad quizzically.
Coventry: This Westman fellow, he certainly confuses me.
O'Connor: OH, how so?
Coventry: Well, aside from his paradoxial politics?
O'Connor: He's from the West.  Things are quite different over there.  The Republican Party is failing out there because about twenty years ago or so we had a bunch of rich snob pricks move over there and take over the parties.
O'Connor takes out a pipe and puts some weed into it before lighting it.
O'Connor: Once in power they got pretty high and mighty about it.  Started doing some reform bullsh**t that belonged in the Progressive Era.  And not the kind of reforms that people out west take lightly to.  For instance, a lot of the alcohol laws enacted in Colorado, Nevada, and Montana made the locals go ape.
O'Connor offers the pipe to Coventry, who refuses.
O'Connor: Shame man, this is some good stuff.
Coventry: I don't come here to smoke weed or get "enlightened".  Frankly, I'm kind of shocked at Westman's messianic pretentiousness.
O'Connor: Yes, he does come off that way.
Coventry: And for the life of me, a lot of his record seems to be more in line with a lot of our dye-in-the-wool members.  I don't understand his drawing towards being a Democrat, a party that is more in line with ever increasing the scope of the state.
O'Connor laughs.
O'Connor: Then you obviously have been ignorant of the way politics work.
Coventry looks at him blankfaced.
O'Connor: You see, coalitions aren't exactly built on the issues.  They are built on sentimentality.  Think back Lawrence, do you know anybody in your family who is or was a Democrat?
Coventry has a pained look of concentration.  After thirty seconds he gives up.
Coventry: No, I don't.
O'Connor: As you surely know, views progress each generation.  It is quite natural for one to assume that their familial hierarchy is right and that those who fall outside are in the wrong.  I know many people in our New England who make this fallacy.  They don't take time to consider the historical narrative of other peoples to understand what drives them to rally behind the forces they do.
Coventry nods.
Coventry: Well, true enough I guess.  But, it could also be argued that some people are just naturally more inclined towards progressivism than others-
O'Connor:-one man's progressive is another man's regressive.  To you, what looks like the force of good appears to Westman to be the force of bad.  What appears to you to be the Party that stands for rights appears to Westman to be the party of wrongs.  What appears to you to be the Party of Civil Rights for all races appears to Westman to be the Party of the Rich Elite WASP oppressor-
Coventry: A coping mechanism that he uses likely to escape the disgrace of rampant racism, homophobia, bigotry amongst his cul-
O'Connor:-ture that is also an accepted practice by writers of American history textbooks.  Not to mention, the powerful forces of resentment.  Which is really the biggest thing keeping people like Scott Westman Democratic instead of Republican.  Why, after all, should he consider being a part of the party that threw rocks at his ancestors when they came off the boats, whether or not those ancestors called black people "ns"?
Coventry: That is ridiculous logic.  Not all Republicans were nativists!  The parties were very diverse whenever that was happening.  Surely, blaming the whole party for the actions of a few is unjust?
O'Connor: Yet, we've seen this same practice applied by our own party in regards to Civil Rights.  We treated every Democrat out there like they are gun toting anti-black racists when we know that's not true.  Not true by any damn sense of the word.  A Democrat from Boston isn't going to have the same views as one from Austin.  Neither should a Democrat from Missoula be expected to have the same views as one from Providence.
Coventry: Yet, despite his resentment, despite his obstinance, he coerces us down here?  So he can pretty much preach to the choir about DAA?
O'Connor laughs.
O'Connor: Well, the funny thing is, Scott Westman doesn't hate Republicans.  In fact, he shags the females.
Coventry laughs.
Coventry: Really?  So those stories about him and that Brisco woman?
O'Connor: Very true.  So really, he's more like a psych case than anything else.  If there is an Episcopalian congresswoman Westman has, well, he's shuffled her cards.
Coventry takes a drink.
Coventry: Fascinating.

[Mechaman]

Taimid Activities from January-October 1987:

Although given the pre-emptive nuclear attacks on Orlando and New York City, the Taimid Shaoran organization seemed to stay pretty quiet for several months after the 9/6 attacks.  The length of operational silence seems important of note and seems to suggest that there might've been an ulterior motive outside of "revenge on America" from the far left terrorist organization.  Most experts indicate that the wait was intentional, that the Taimid wanted millions of Americans to wallow in fear due to the inability of the intelligence community to find out who caused 9/6.
Conspiracy theorists, noting that it was half a year before the culprits were revealed, cry foul at not only the lack of a financial motive but have even taken to questioning whether it really was the Taimid Shaoran who committed the acts.  Many of these theorists speculate that Richard Callahan, Chicago billionaire and owner of Callahan Chemicals Inc., was the real orchestrator of the 9/6 attack and bribed Taimid members to plant the bombs to lay blame on the radical group to cover up the greatest financial con in American history.  With the blame on Taimid Shaoran, the Chicago businessman would benefit from a weakened New York market against his home Chicago market (which would boom from refuge Wall Street investors flocking to his native Chicago, where his underground criminal empire pretty much run things) and claim untold amounts of the American if not worldwide industrial chemical market.
However, with Taimid Sharoan not denying involvement in the attacks as well as increased terror acts against American troops in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Central Africa, Persia, Myanmar, and even in Canada, such skeptics are dismissed.  The case for a far left conspiracy to overthrow the world stock and commodities market (which would've been successful, if not for legislation that established a "backup Wall Street" in Chicago and Boston) is given more credence as Taimid attacks have become more and more bold.
So far, despite the far superior technological prowess and organization of the US Army, Taimid Shaoran shows no signs of defeat or even weakness.  Through a chain of guerrilla attacks specializing in the usage of improvised explosives (IEDs), biological warfare, corrosive materials warfare, and other means that violate all decent laws of the Geneva Convention the Taimids have proven their true viciousness.  With over 25,000 US Army casualties, over 1.2 million Americans ultimately dead from the 9/6 bombings (with hundreds of thousands more still stricken with severe radiation poisoning from New York to New Orleans), and untold casualties in other nations due to rampant Taimid terrorist activities (numbers are feared to be well over 100,000), Taimid Sharoan has proven itself to be worth as much fear and prosecution as the very worst of 20th century tyrannical regimes while remaining ghostlike in their tactics.  However, things haven't been all pleasant for the Taimids.
On August 18th, 1987, US forces launched a midnight raid on a significant Taimid Sharoan base of operations located on the shores of the Caspian in southern Russia.  In the operation the Taimids lost a captured oil rig (presumably used to fuel transportation vehicles in the eastern hemisphere) as well as a nearby command post.  In the battle, a US Tank division assisted by a force of 5,000 troops stormed the Taimid camp, killing about 1,345 Taimid soldiers, destroying 8 tanks, and capturing about 8,000 other troops who threw down their arms in surrender.  Though personnel losses for minimal for the Taimid, the capture of the key Caspian base and the seizure of the Taimid's oil operations is likely to have greatly weakened the Taimid's war resources.  Further victories in Siberia and Yugoslavia have also built up morale for Allied troops in the war against terrorism.
Finally, it seems like the US is taking the fight to the "Underground Empire".

[Mechaman]

Views of American Presidents:

During the mid-late 20th century the views of US Presidents were oft mired in controversy.  As most students of US History know the time period from 1933-1981 was a period of Democratic dominance in the White House.  There were only twelve years out of 48 years when a Democrat wasn't president and Democrats held congressional majorities in 30 out of 48 of those years as well.  As a result, both school textbooks and presidential ranking polls (taken by historians) are widely scrutinized by many as being "heavily biased" towards Democratic Presidents both in the 20th century and before.  Here's a presidential poll taken by Schlesinger Inc in May of 1984:

Rank the Presidents from best to worst:
(note, excludes Presidents William Harrison and James Garfield due to shortly lived presidencies)

1. Franklin D Roosevelt (Democratic) 1933-1945
2. Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) 1801-1809
3. George Washington (No Party) 1789-1797
4. Andrew Jackson (Democratic) 1829-1837
5. Abraham Lincoln (Republican/National Union) 1861-1865
6. Robert F. Kennedy (Democratic) 1969-1973
7. Estes Kefauver (Democratic) 1953-1961
8. Woodrow Wilson (Democratic) 1913-1921
9. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) 1901-1909
10. Harry S Truman (Democratic) 1945-1949
11. James Madison (Democratic Republican) 1809-1817
12. James Monroe (Democratic Republican) 1817-1825
13. James K Polk (Democratic) 1845-1849
14. John Adams (Federalist) 1797-1801
15. Ronald Reagan (Democratic) 1973-1981
16. Charles Percy (Republican) 1961-1963
17. Thurston Morton (Republican) 1963-1969
18. Grover Cleveland (Democratic) 1885-1889; 1893-1897
19. William McKinley (Republican) 1897-1901
20. John Q Adams (National Republican) 1825-1829
21. Thomas Dewey (Republican) 1949-1953
22. William H Taft (Republican) 1909-1913
23. Martin Van Buren (Democratic) 1837-1841
24. Chester Arthur (Republican) 1881-1885
25. Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) 1877-1881
26. Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) 1869-1877
27. Calvin Coolidge (Republican) 1923-1929
28. Benjamin Harrison (Republican) 1889-1893
29. Franklin Pierce (Democratic) 1853-1857
30. Andrew Johnson (National Union/Democratic) 1865-1869
31. Zachary Taylor (Whig) 1849-1850
32. Millard Fillmore (Whig) 1850-1853
33. John Tyler (Whig/Independent) 1841-1845
34. James Buchanan (Democratic) 1857-1861
35. Herbert Hoover (Republican) 1929-1933
36. Warren G. Harding (Republican) 1921-1923

Given his job performance so far, where would you place incumbent president Philip Crane?
Third quartile (#19-27)

Many critics of Presidential polls also contend that there is a very heavy bias towards modern presidents in the polls vs. the 19th century.  One particular critic, Joseph Banks, contends that the regularly high rankings of mid-late 20th century presidents who are otherwise considered "mediocre" at best have gotten higher marks than even some very well accomplished 19th century presidents.  He notes, for instance, that Charles Percy, who wasn't even president for two years and oversaw a largely inactive Congress, regularly ranks higher than William McKinley who brought American out of a period of economic panic and through the Spanish-American War.  Another example touted by many critics, noting the failure of presidential polling, is the high ranking of the widely despised Ronald Wilson Reagan, who set a record low level poll of 18% in March of 1979 in the midst of the Indian Crisis, as a better president than (again) William McKinley.

And the criticism doesn't stop at the polls.

A recent survey of the American history teachers found that a majority, 54%, believe that the textbooks they use in class lack objectivity.  A large segment believe that there is some partisan bias in how history is presented, especially in regards to successful presidents.  Many have noted, for example, that the forced movement of Native Americans under President Andrew Jackson is commented on minimally (on average, about a paragraph or so about the legislation) with little if not any mention of the infamous "Trail of Tears".  Meanwhile, the same textbooks, when on the subject of Lincoln, spend three pages on the effects of the Civil War draft during Lincoln's presidency, putting a particular emphasis on the New York draft riots and the "victims" thereof.  Dickinson Publishing, the publisher of the books in question, defend the material as "purely objective" and "organized for more efficient learning by American schoolchildren."

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It's like if you put my history teacher in charge of things, but made him hate Lincoln and TR.

[Mechaman]

"Off The Record", a Collection of Rare Quotes from the Widely Known
By Allen Jackson:

"Senator, what was your opinion of President Coolidge?  In hindsight?:?
"Well I firmly believe, given the up and down cycles of the mid-late 1920s that ole Silent Cal gets too much unfair blame for the way things have turned out so far in the 1930's.  Far from the perception of pure boom historians are now giving it, those of us old enough to remember surely know there were economic downturns, quite natural, in the 1920's.  I for one were one of many Democrats who pointed this out, due to my chagrin at the Republican ignorance of the impact of unsustainable trade tariffs and their effect on the economy at large.  The congressional results of 1922 and 1926, which were at the very worst moderate increases for the party, should be damning indicators about how the 1920's really went.  Which isn't to say that it was all bad, as the rapid growth and affluence of many of our nation's urban areas could attest."
"Well, what about speculation?  And the unregulated practices of Wall Street?"
"I am not making excuses for the former Republican, emphasis, President here. . . . . but such blame should be directed where it needs to be: on Hoover.  The Great Depression started on his watch and he had the whole of four years to effectively do something, anything, to relieve the suffering.  Coolidge, AS PRESIDENT, oversaw periods of bust followed quickly by booms.  The inherent flaws of unregulated stock markets hadn't revealed themselves, nor should've they, when he was President.  Ultimately, a man should be judged by how his term went, not what happened before or afterwards that were clearly in the realm of responsibility of others."-Senator William Westman, Interview with Arthur Schlesinger March 9th, 1939

"Speaking of which, your opinion of the former President Hoover?"
"Many people say that Herbert Hoover was a good man.  Well, back in 1928 this so-called "good man" allowed his party to run one of the most vitirolic and bigoted presidential campaigns in history against me and others who follow the Roman Catholic faith.  This "good man", despite enjoying a few drinks at the Belgian Embassy in Washington, stood by and endorsed the continuation of the godawful Prohibition laws in place at the time.  Also this "good man", in the middle of the worst economic panic in living memory, signed into play the abominable Smoot-Hawley Act, which raised ad valorem tariffs to the godawful level of 48% on many items and sparked off one of the worst trade wars in history.  The Great Humanitarian, putting petty partisan issues first, decided he'd rather many working Americans starve and pinch pennies rather than being humble enough to allow cheap goods, whether foreign or domestic made, into the US market.  For me that is beyond reprehensible.  He is the full visage of the effects of Republican economics on the people of this nation.  That in my mind is far from good.  So yes, I guess before the attainment of power Herbert Hoover was a good man, and arguably even after.  I even heard he and his wife spent many years in the field helping the world's poor and gave away many dollars to those who asked of them.  However, the Herbert Hoover I saw in the five years between 1928 and 1933, the guy who relied on Anti-Catholicism to win an election, the man who raised tariffs at a time when we could ill afford to, and the man whose General MacArthur put down the Bonus Army, was no good man.  It is my opinion, very noble one, that Herbert Hoover will go down in history as the worst president of this modern era if not a leading contender, with James Buchanan, for the worst of all time."-Same Interview

[Mechaman]

May 8th, 1988
Augusta, Maine:

Thad O'Connor is backstage ready to make his speech when he sees Carl Herschelwitz, Scott's main advisor and his right hand man.  The short socially awkward prematurely balding MIT graduate approaches O'Connor.
Herschelwitz: Hey man, you cool?
O'Connor: Of course I am, what would make you think I'm not?
Herschelwitz laughs.
Herschelwitz: Well, besides the cocaine sweats?  Thad, you're sweating more than a Siberian Tiger in the middle of the Sahara.
O'Connor: What?
Herschelwitz: Oh nevermind.
O'Connor: Well, it's just when I was running for the US House seat this was nothing.  But this?  Wow, governorship?
Herschelwitz nods.
Herschelwitz: Hey man, I couldn't do what you're doing.  If it makes you feel better.
Herschelwitz makes an awkward movement, glancing around to see if anybody is watching them.
Herschelwitz: People like you and me, we're not really cut out for this.  Yet, for some reason Scott Westman thinks you can do this.  If Scott Westman thinks you can do this man, so do I.  And I hold degrees from Harvard and MIT!
O'Connor: Well if you say so man.
Herschelwitz: Look man, this race is extremely important to us.  Scott told me to resign from my position to devote my time full time to your campaign.  I did it, despite reservations.  I'm your campaign manager damn it.  Don't think I let that fact escape me.
O'Connor: I appreciate it Carl.  You truly are one of the best advisors I've ever worked with.  But, it's just so damn scary.  All those people, expecting some truly great speech-
Herschelwitz: You lost the right to be scared when you hired a registered Democrat to be your campaign manager.  Personally, I believe you underestimate your abilities by a lot.  Just go out there and give them hell.  Do what you're best at which is telling the truth.  You're a truthful principled man Thad, that should go far this year.  People in your state are looking for a real alternative, and it's not the establishment hacks that reside in Augusta!  You really think Olympia Snowe can beat you?  She's only gotten this far because she's married to the former Governor!  You got this far on real political skill!  And Kilkenny, if he survives the Democratic Primary, will have a hell of a fight to win!
O'Connor: Well, his laborite views are outside of the mainstream I guess. . . . . .
Herschelwitz: Yes, he's governing the state of Maine like it was Massachusetts.  Needless to say, his hackery on economics is likely to cost him a lot of votes.  Quite a shame though, he seemed to have voiced decent views on privacy rights the other week.  Luckily, Roman's religious conservatism will help us out with the gay community and pro-choice advocacy groups.
O'Connor: But. . . . . . I'm pro-life . . . .
Herschelwitz: Something they don't have to know about frankly.  Compared to Roman's vicious attacks of Planned Parenthood's Portland and Augusta operations you might as well be a screaming feminist.  Believe me, going on the "Separation of Church and State" route will help you win big with the secularists.  Just focus on Roman's tendencies to let his religious views dictate policy and that should help you win the natural libertarian crowd that populate this state.  This is Maine, damn it, not Boston.
O'Connor ponders for a moment.
Herschelwitz: The momentum is completely against this guy.  He got elected by two points in a freaking wave year.  You win this primary you can go to sleep until November.
O'Connor: But what if I don't win the Primary?
Herschelwitz: Well then God be with the Maine Republican Party.

[Mechaman]

May 8th, 1966
Shankill Road
Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Aidan Lynch, proud dockworker and Catholic, watched from his place at the local tavern the local landmarks.  Once and twice or more he would witness a most strange appearance: portrayals of sh*tty American Presidents on the sides of buildilngs.  Boasting their Ulster heritage.
What a bunch of bullsh*t.
Lynch, like many others, refused the rule of what he believed to be a tyrannic oppressor regime in London.  It was the fact of life that he, like many other true Irishman and Irishwoman, were the slaves of the monarchistic British and their Cromwellian plantation "Ulster" servants.  It was not opinion, but fact that the majority Protestant (see "invader") population were not "Irish" in the slightest, but merely Scottish Presbies who were brought over by that great evil lord Cromwell and his "parliamentary" hordes.
That no longer mattered now.  Why?
Because now the reign of terror was coming to an end.
In order to make for a one Irish nation, Lynch and his compatriots knew there was only one solution: total war.  No more child's gloves.  No more talk.  No more peace.  Peace had gotten them nowhere except estranged from their rightful brothers and sisters who so bravely resisted in the South.  The brave Southerners, who shook off the oppressive capitalists of the UK and their cronies in the West.
"This is nothing, therefore nothing must end."
Seeing a munitions truck past by, Lynch saw his opportunity.  Grabbing the Vodka bottle left open at his table he took the rag out of his back pocket, stuck it in the bottle, and proceeded to light it.  As shocked onlookers witnessed, he made a daring throw of the bottle.  Hitting an oil tank in the back of the canvassed truck in front of him, the tank exploded causing a chain reaction that eviscerated the truck and spread a fiery conflagration that would end up consuming several business and churches along Shankill Road before the fire department would arrive.
Two died.

[Mechaman]

Meanwhile, in London
The Office of the Prime Minister:

BBC Radio: BBC Belfast has just reported most alarming news.  A series of improvised bombings and explosives set out throughout the city, causing business to come to a standstill and religious institutions to close down, has caused mass panic.  The actions seem to be a concerted effort of Republican extremists-
Prime Minister George Brown: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!  Why couldn't this happen under a Conservative government?!
Press Minister Lynbrook Claymoore: Well, we're not really at a disadvantage are we?
Brown: Are you f***ing serious mate?  Do you have any idea how feckin weak we seem now?
Claymoore: Well, at least the people can be assured we will take a pragmatic approach as opposed to Conservative rule.
Brown opens up a cabinet and takes a bottle of Whiskey and mixes it with a ginger ale.
Brown: Looks like I'll be burying myself now.  Hopefully the opposition press doesn't catch a photo of us swimming up to our eyeballs in Bushmills and Seagrams.
BBC Radio: -estimated 11 deaths in the day's attacks.  23 were taken to local medical facilities for treatment of severe burns.
Brown mixes a drink for himself and toasts Claymoore.
Brown: God be with us and the Labour Party, for he wasn't fortunate enough to curse a Conservative with this.  Very well, let's contact Washington.
Claymoore: What for?
Brown: Need to bloody well tell Morton this.  Heaven knows what American influence could do in this event.

A Few Minutes Later
Washington D.C.:

President Thruston Morton: Ya don't say!
Prime Minister Brown: Yah, we fear this might've been the big catalyst.  It looks organized enough and they sure as hell sent a message.
Morton takes a drag on his cigar.
Morton: Do you suspect possible KGB involvement?
There is silence on the other end.
Brown: Always a consideration.  But unlikely.  Something tells me that Ireland isn't exactly on the USSR's list of strategic goals and spread of international communism.
Morton: Always a possibility good sir.  This war in Persia is going nowhere for either side.  And even if Uncle Red does win it leaves them in still a bit of a foxhole.
Damn Americans with their damn strangle expressions of speech!
Brown: What?
Morton: Well. . . . . according to some in our intelligence community the Soviets have really been pulling the wool over the world's eyes in regards to their national statistics.  According to this, the Soviet Union military budget is currently 400% of their budget.  It's unsustainable.  What's more?  There is intelligence that there are a score of revolt movements cracking underneath the surface of the Iron Curtain.
Brown: Surely, we must all know the KGB trend towards deception-
Morton:-towards convincing others of their own superiority.  Moscow gains nothing by underplaying their card.  They do, however, gain much by convincing us that they are a much bigger threat or at least rally third world nations willing to go along.  Surely, at this stage, a last minute conflict of desperation could pay off for them.
Brown: In what way?
Brown hears nervous laughter on the other end.
Morton: Well let me put it this way: Past few decades or so has been a relative time of peace for Ireland.  As such, given the minimal level of interference given to it by the Warsaw Pact, we have benefitted much from a neutral Irish nation.  The lack of conflict between our shores has given us a massive advantage over the North Atlantic.  If a Moscow backed coup is behind these recent terrorist acts, why it could unravel the trade and have repercussions throughout NATO Europe.  A battleground Ireland is the last thing these western nations need at the moment.  And any British action against it would most likely arouse much sympathy, not just from socialists and communists in Europe, but from millions of citizens over on these shores much sympathetic to Republicanism.
George, nip this thing in the butt.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

This is pretty sweet. A retrospective history of how the USSR dissolved in the alternate tl. Seeing President Morton reappear made me think about who I would've voted for in past elections, and the usual difference between me now and "me then".

Gonna have to hearken back to this: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=119018.msg2927693#msg2927693

Just guessing here...
1948: Governor Thomas Dewey (R-NY)/Governor Earl Warren (R-CA)
1952: President Thomas Dewey (R-NY)/Vice President Earl Warren (R-CA)
1956: Former Governor Harold Stassen (R-MN)/Congressman Hugh Scott (R-PA)
1960: Senator Charles Percy (R-IL)/Senator Thruston B. Morton (R-KY)
1964: Senator Mike Monroney (D-OK)/Former Governor John Burroughs (D-NM)
1968: Governor George Romney (R-MI)/Congressman George H.W. Bush (R-CT)
1972: Governor Spiro T. Agnew (R-MD)/Former Governor John Rhodes (R-OH)
1976: President Ronald Reagan (D-CA)/Vice President Jimmy Carter (D-GA)
1980: Congressman Phil Crane (C-IL)/Senator Jesse Helms (C-NC)
1984: President Phil Crane (C-IL)/Vice President Ray Hutchinson (C-TX)

Really, any one of these are tossups before the 80's. I like how ideologies and parties are so much more muddled throughout the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I placed my vote for Agnew only due to the fact that you portrayed the election as the rising conservative movement vs. the Establishment New Dealers, though a Kennedy vote in both of his elections would've definitely been considered.

This also brings me to another point: With Republicans out of power for eight years by 1976, what administration was Elliot Richardson part of? Was he pulling a Jon Huntsman-type thing, or had he not served as Ambassador to the UN since the late 60's?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nevermind on 1972. With ethnic attacks like those used by the GOP in that year, I'd probably have to vote for RFK, as much as abandoning "The Movement" might pain me.

[Mechaman]

Nevermind on 1972. With ethnic attacks like those used by the GOP in that year, I'd probably have to vote for RFK, as much as abandoning "The Movement" might pain me.

I thought that was the Constitution Party ticket.  I thought the impression I gave was that the GOP bombed that year because Spiro had (much like IRL) some controversy relating to speculation or something like that.

[Mechaman]

Gonna have to hearken back to this: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=119018.msg2927693#msg2927693

 brings me to another point: With Republicans out of power for eight years by 1976, what administration was Elliot Richardson part of? Was he pulling a Jon Huntsman-type thing, or had he not served as Ambassador to the UN since the late 60's?

Elliot Richardson was kind of, yeah you said it, a Jon Huntsman like figure in the GOP.  Only much more successful.  During the sixties he served as Attorney General under the Morton Admin from January 1965-1969.  It was then that Robert Kennedy appointed him as an Ambassador to the UK for a year before giving him an ambassadorship in the Netherlands.  He held the position for only six months, as he would accept RFK's nomination to be Secretary of Commerce after Robert O'Sullivan resigned in protest of the President's handling of "the Great Troubles".  While heading the Commerce department Richardson carried the brunt of the blame for what many liberals considered the "corporate takeover" of the Kennedy administration.  He held Commerce Secretary until Reagan became President, when he was asked to take up the post of UN Ambassador.  Not liking Reagan, this was easier done than said.  Richardson held the post until August 1975, when he announced his bid for the Presidency.
Richardson ran as a moderate Republican, though a bit more conservative than would be expected.  Some of his stand out policies were getting rid of the ban on homosexual participation in the military (many people still considered homosexuality to be a psychiatric disease), beefing up border security with Mexico (a position that Democrats, naturally, used to portray Richardson as a Know Nothing), streamlining the pathway to citizenship so people don't spend years if not decades in line, the Equal Rights Amendment, slashing President Reagan's government expansion programs, reciprocal trade agreements with Mexico and Latin American countries, lowering income and corporate taxes (pro-growth), get rid of oil and gas subsidies and invest in "alternative fuels", support of a national gun registry and mental health background checks, oppose the infamous ruling Jeters V Beck (1972) in that it infringes on a woman's right over her body.

Just to give you an idea of how he ran.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nevermind on 1972. With ethnic attacks like those used by the GOP in that year, I'd probably have to vote for RFK, as much as abandoning "The Movement" might pain me.

I thought that was the Constitution Party ticket.  I thought the impression I gave was that the GOP bombed that year because Spiro had (much like IRL) some controversy relating to speculation or something like that.

Ah, I see it now. Never mind again I guess. Interesting Ruchardson bio. Not totally sure who I would've voted for.

[Dr. Cynic]

Since he hasn't been mentioned in awhile, I'm curious as to what ol' Senator Watson is up to?

[Mechaman]

Since he hasn't been mentioned in awhile, I'm curious as to what ol' Senator Watson is up to?

Around this time (1987-mid 1988) he's campaigning for Mo Udall in the Democratic Primaries.  Udall is running on a DAA (Defend America Act) skeptic platform as well as a more pro-environment and socially liberal than the frontrunner Daniel Moynihan.  Udall, like several western Democrats, opposed the anti-privacy implications of DAA (imagine the Patriot Act in the 1980's), a bill that was championed by the New York Senator.  Moynihan, though more socially liberal than the average Democrat (he's pro-choice, in favor of gun regulations, voted for several "gender equality" bills, against state funding for treating homosexuality (on the grounds that homosexuality is a natural choice and not a disorder), pro-AA), is positioning himself as the traditional blue collar Democrat and a darling for the labor faction.  Udall is positioning himself as the "principled liberal" opposition to Moynihan, specifically attacking Moynihan on Constitutional issues, civil liberties, drugs (Moynihan is a Drug Warrior, Udall is pro-marijuana legalization), and his lackluster environmental record.  Though Udall is pretty popular with unions, Moynihan has a natural advantage due to machine support (rival Philadelphia machine has backed Moynihan).  To counter the influence Watson steps up as an Udall advocate in the Midwest (as a result pressuring the bosses in Pittsburgh to back Udall), given his rockstar charisma with union members and non-white minorities.
There are miscellaneous candidates also running outside these two.  I should have an update on the Democratic Primaries sometime soon.

[Dr. Cynic]

Man the primary should be a good one.

[Mechaman]

The 1988 Democratic Primary Candidates:

New York Senator Daniel Moynihan: Though gaining and years and often known for his brash and not so charismatic style, Moynihan has emerged (mostly through popular decree) as the likely front runner of the pack.  The 9/6 attacks have brought about a massive change in the man and have given him an enormous amount of sympathy and identity with others who have lost relatives and close friends in the attacks.  Moynihan's proposal of the Defend America Act, whilst wearing a black armband for the dead of New York City, brought about a side of Moynihan few saw before.  The silver haired Irishman known for his expertly detalied synopses of foreign politics as well as a critic of what he calls "the politics of benign neglect", has suddenly found himself thrust into the presidential spotlight that few thought he would be at just months before.  With the exception of his dramatic speech on September 7th, nothing has really changed stylistically about Moynihan.  In fact, the man has taken an exuberrance in playing himself up as the pragmatic liberal opposition to what he terms "the politics of failiure" being enforced by the Crane Administration.
In light of the congressional election results of 1986 (where Democrats made very strong (18 seats) gains in the Senate, bringing them from a very weak minority position to being in control of the Senate, as well as just a few seats away from a House majority), Moynihan was reluctant at first to put his hat forward.  It was 1986 after all, many candidates wait until about a year and a half before a general to making an announcement.  Well that, and Moynihan had personal doubts about his own success in a race.  Pushing age 60 Moynihan is on the higher end of the age scale of presidential candidates.  If he were to be elected to the traditional two terms he would (if he starts serving in 1989) be a couple months shy of his 70th birthday.  There have been several presidents that have gone into their sixties while in office, but an even smaller amount have gone into office past the age of sixty.  To date Andrew Jackson has held the spot of oldest President, having 11 days to his 70th birthday when he left office on March 4th, 1837.  Ronald Reagan is the second closest, being 17 days to his 70th birthday when he left office on January 20th, 1981.  William Henry Harrison is to date the oldest person to be elected and then sworn in as president, 67 when elected and 68 when sworn in before dying a month later.  Sadly, Moynihan if elected to two terms won't beat these records.  In addition to concerns about his age, Moynihan himself stated that he wouldn't be a likable President: "I'm a bureaucrat, not a figurehead."
However over the past few months (March-June 1987) Moynihan has come forward with establishment support.  Running on his strong domestic and foreign policy credentials, as well as a voting record that would appeal to liberal Republicans (Moynihan has a pro-choice and pro-gun control voting record), Moynihan is positioning himself also as a darling of organized labor and other blue collar interests.  With this wide umbrella coalition he hopes to sweep the White House and help the Democrats gain seats in the House and Senate enough to form a full majority to revoke the Crane Agenda.  As strategic and wide appealing as Moynihan's platform is though, there is a growing group of Democratic voters that have outright rejected his candidacy.  A group of Democrats, basing their resistance out of support for civil liberties instead of the usual economic debates found in Primaries. . . . .

Which brings us to:

Senator Morris "Mo" Udall of Arizona: A proclaimed liberal champion for several decades since he took his late brother's House seat in 1961, Mo Udall has become more known for his civil libertarianism and environmentalism over the past decade since becoming a US Senator.  Exhibiting a legendary wit and a well known "father" to several younger liberal Democratic Senators, Udall has respect in the halls of Congress unequal by many.  Although there were many calls for him to run in 1980 and 1984 he has so far refrained, citing a "need" to reach out to a "future generation of Democrats".  Instead, in 1980 he spent the majority of his efforts towards the Pennsylvania US Senate race where he helped his protege Lawrence Watson win the Democratic nomination before helping him defeat the favored Republican challenger Arlen Specter.  And then in 1984 he campaigned in favor of Fred Harris, the former Oklahoma Senator, who ran a grass roots left wing crusade against the Crane Administration.  Many were beginning to wonder if the liberal hero, now approaching his mid sixties, would ever make the bid they were all waiting for.
That time came, in March of 1987.
Udall, before a session of the United States Senate, went into a speech (to be posted later) of his disappointment of the previous session that went into passing several "unconsciable" bills.  Condemning what he saw as "the politics of fear" he announced that, given the lack of action in the Senate, he would run for the Democratic nomination to steer the nation back on track.  "If my lone vote here can't do much good. . . .well maybe my veto in that office can."  His announcement was greeted with impassioned applause from several Democrats in the Senate, some slight applause on the Republican side, and virtual silence from most everyone else.
Being the only real prominent Democrat to have stepped forward at the time, many pundits began to openly wonder when "a pragmatist such as Moynihan will jump into the fray?"  Ironically, Moynihan jumped into the race in response the the polling of a candidate who jumped into the race (before anyone else) in opposition mostly to legislation he authored.  For the first several months, it was just Udall, railing against his own party's establishment and the Crane Administration, who was the only major player in the Democratic race.  Though considered to be less electable than Moynihan, Udall has strong support in a region that has since become a Conservative Republican bastion: the West.  In head to head matches with various Republicans, Udall carries California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada by decisive margins (over 5%).  The Coalition beats Moynihan in all of these state except for New Mexico.
There is much to overcome for a Udall candidacy, but if he is successful it will make for one hell of a political story.  So far this decade (first with Watson Senate Election and then helping Harris get the Democratic nomination in '84) he has been able to beat the odds.  Maybe luck will be with him in the future.

More to come.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

1988 here we come! Moynihan looks like a strong candidate, and Udall (geographically) could be the perfect foil. Wondering whether the GOP and Conservatives will merge or whether 1988 will be a three (or more) way race.

[Dr. Cynic]

Go Mo!

[Mechaman]

Mo Candidates:

Governor Randle Delaney of Texas:

The incumbent Governor of Texas would join in the race in August as a means to get his name out.  The first Catholic Governor in the history of the state, Delaney is known for governing as a moderate Governor in the recent tradition of many Texas Democrats.  It is on this moderate record that Delaney is hoping to run on to get scores of disaffected Republicans and Conservatives to switch over to the Democratic ticket come November 1988.  Boasting about cutting taxes without cutting spending, job growth, and signing a ban on the death penalty, Delaney is hoping to undercut the liberal candidates in the election by carrying a strong majority of Southern states and taking wins in other states with divided liberal votes.  He's the youngest of the Democratic candidates (36) and if elected in November of '88 would become the youngest person elected President (beating Charles Percy's age of 41 on Election Day '60).  Experts consider this both an advantage and a disadvantage.  The advantage here is that, especially compared to Moynihan (61 years old when sworn in) and Udall (66 years old when sworn in) who are considerably older and less active than the young dark haired boy Governor.  However, such youth could come at the expense of a lack of political knowledge and handling, which Delaney's other opponents seem to have in spades.  Another potential disadvantage is Delaney's bachelor status.  At the moment he is currently dating Maria Jovina Fernandez, a beautician in Austin, TX.  One wonders if Miss Fernandez can put up with the pressure of dating not just a state Governor, but a future President?

Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware:

"Come on fellas, we all got ideas on how to make this work out!  However, I'm the only one who at the end of the day can say "what the Hell?  Let's get a bud and settle it out!"  Not really campaigning on the issues at all or his political positioning, the establishment Democrat from Delaware is positioning himself as the Democratic President you'd like to have a beer with.  Citing a need for the process to go fluidly and for people to just get along, Biden promises not to be a Crane clone while also avoiding the pitfalls of partisanship.  While supporters have been very enthusiastic to see Joe's style in the White House, critics have been much less praiseful.  Noting how similar Biden's rhetoric sounds to British Labour Party speeches and how similar his overall platform seems to Daniel Moynihans, it seems that Biden needs to answer the fundamental question facing all presidential candidates: "Why?"

Former Secretary of State Robert O'Sullivan of Massachusetts:

An accomplished politician who has had a career going back to his days in the National Security Administration, Robert O'Sullivan is running as "the man of executive experience": "I've seen the rough and tumble world of the Presidency.  For two and a half years I was Reagan's call man.  Let me tell you, it wasn't easy."  An experienced bureaucrat, O'Sullivan is not selling his candidacy on ideas, but on his ability to act compared to the other candidates.  "America needs a level head, not a level platform."  An open and admitted drinker, he believes that what America needs is an active thinker.  "A wasted mind is like wasted liquor."  Hell, sometimes, what America needs is a kick in the ass!  "America, it's time to wake the hell up!"

US Senator Gary Hart of Colorado:

A "New Democrat", Gary Hart is hoping to run on a platform he called "New Liberalism" that he says will bring "the Democratic Party into the 21st century."  Among key points on his policy plank are support for federal subsidies to go towards improving the nation's infrastructure and communication systems.   Senator Hart envisions a future where virtually all American families have access to personal computer and information databases and a highly functioning railway system stretching the nation to reduce personal reliance on automobiles.  He does get flack though, from Moynihan and others, for his insistence on keeping the tax structure low on upper class income earners, preferring to raise it at most to 40% instead of the commonly agreed on 60% tax level proposed by many Democratic candidates.  Further, he faces the possibility of losing a good deal of his support to Mo Udall, who is also a westerner who is running on a platform that focuses on green energy and civil liberties.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Better get my O'Sullivan gear together. In all seriousness though, looks like its four Catholics and a Mormon.

[Mechaman]

A Tale of Four Cities:



"Billings, Butte, Helena, Missoula.  Four realms, so insignificant on the national playground.  Yet here, in this sparsely populated land that is Montana, these are where the Gods of Politics reside.  Billings, the realm of the commercial businessman.  Butte, the land of organized labor and borderline socialists.  Helena, the Great Gig in the Big Sky Country.  And finally, Missoula, the bleedingheart of Westman Liberalism."-So spake a historian.

One of the particulars of Montana politics is the dominance of urban areas in state wide politics to the point that those urban areas have come to be associated with tenets of Montana politics.  Four urban areas, Billings, Butte, Helena, and Missoula are credited with shaping the political forces that have shaped modern Montana.

Billings, population est. 225,860:

Located in the eastern part of the state, Billings is by far the biggest city in the state.  Home to a prosperous ranching industry as well as the headquarters of Montana's oil producers, there is a brand of economic conservatism in the city that is most uncommon to many urban areas.  The dwellers, many of them socially tolerant from decades of inter-cultural business exchanges, exhibit a degree of social libertarianism that puts them at odds with fellow Republicans in the surrounding rural areas.  However, once again they are highly conscious of the impact of expansive government and it's negative impact on the individual and therefore look down highly on expensive tax laden government works projects like Green Montana.  Usually anti-Democratic, the city gave Democratic Scott Westman a 41.2% plurality in 1984 (due mostly to Conservative and Republican infighting).  Highly resentful of first the labor influence of Butte Democrats, Billings now is the center of opposition to the growing influence of Missoula liberalism that has expanded since the election of Scott Westman in November of 1984.  In a landslide election for Westman, Yellowstone County would be the last urban county to go Democratic.

Butte, population est. 58,910:

Long the center of labor and socialist forces not just in Montana but in the Rocky Mountain West, the New Deal liberalism of Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped the heavily Catholic mining community of Butte to become a power player in state wide politics.  Playing upon the success of national government works programs in the state as well as the "GI Tax Credit" legislation that brought thousands of World War II veterans over to the area, politicians from the Silverbow and Deer Lodge counties greatly expanded their influence over (relatively) nearby Helena.  At the head of this takeover was Governor Brendan McGuinness, who was leader of the Miners Union based in Butte.  Embracing an agenda that stressed high progressive ideals such as a "living wage" (minimum wage indexed to inflation), the establishment of a "Union Bill of Rights" (that protected many union members from getting fired during strikes and prevented businesses from preventing the establishment of employee formed unions by requiring police protection at union meetings), and expansive Affirmative Action benefits for Native Americans and other non-white minorities, McGuinness established what was for several decades the most dominant political alignment in Montana history.  In stark contrast to the libertarian sympathies of Billings, the overwhelmingly Democratic populace of Butte embraces a certain radical populist spirit that combines the extreme or socialist economics with traditionalist morality reflective of the white ethnic Catholic population that the city is well known for.  The first city west of the Mississippi to have nationalized it's utilities as well as to have the most liberal alcohol consumption laws in North America, it's also known for it's bans on homosexuals from participating in it's annual St. Patricks Day Parade, as well as preventing gay union members from leadership positions.  As well as city ordinances that banned the sale and production of contraceptives and birth control pills, Butte proves itself as the antithesis of the "live and let live" ethos of the state's largest urban area Billings.  And in recent years, the leaders of Butte have found themselves in an ideological struggle with the forces of Missoula liberalism for the heart and soul of the state's dominant Democratic Party.

Helena, population est. 32,140:

Known only as "the Hill", Helena is the capital city of Montana.  Though one would never guess, given how little influence the city actually emanates.  Rather, Helena greatest significance is that it acts as the "throne" for Montana political dominance amongst it's three politically dominant urban areas of Billings, Butte, and Missoula.  However, it is not without complete irrelevance, as the city's overwhelming rejection of Richard Peters in 1980 during the high tide of Montana Republicanism showed.  Rather, Helena is thought of nowdays as where "East meets West".  Due to longtime Democratic dominance, there is a slight liberal bias to the city that has some business sympathies for the cattle and oilmen of the east.  For instance, while there is a strong union presence in the city, the city government allows businesses in the city to take credits on dues from business endorsed unions for deductions on yearly tax returns.  As well, the city is known for it's gun culture, having 98% ownership amongst it's adult population.
Still though, compared to the massive influence of the "Big Three", Helena has been relegated merely to the realm of "Kingholder" amongst the factions of Montana politics.

Missoula, population est. 109,300:

Known since inception as a center for liberal thought, Missoula differs greatly from it's fellow cities in the state in it's unique ideology.  Though long regarded as a place where civil libertarianism, environmentalism, and pacifism meet, it wasn't until the era of the controversial war in Persia and American involvement in Ireland that Missoula became known as the mating ground for left wingers and libertarians.  Long overshadowed by nearby Butte, the anti-war and state skeptic liberals of Missoula started to branch out in the early seventies through the influence of Congressman Edward Finnegan, Governor Gerald Schumacher, and their eccentric longtime Mayor Reginald Brown.  It would prove a very trying time, as Governor Schumacher would be at odds with many of his own party's Butte dominated establishment to pass reform minded legislation to curb "union bossism" in state government.  Elected in 1972, Schumacher would reside over eight years of great controversy as his principled stand to root out corruption "no matter what party" would create many enemies within the unions that controlled the state party of the time.  Barely winning the 1976 Primary by the skin of his teeth, Schumacher would go onto win the general comfortably (at the time, many pundits called it "merely a formality" given the dominance of the Democratic Party at the gubernatorial level at the time) before going over the hardest four years of his life and arguably the hardest four years of post World War II Montana.  Continually being sidelined by fellow Democrats determined as hell to destroy Schumacher as an effective political force and lay the blame of economic woes, drought, and inefficiency on him, the Democratic Party of Montana fell into a state of widely acknowledged anarchy by the midterms of 1978.  In it's wake was a greatly weakened party, on the brink of certain armageddon due to the bloody civil war between Butte laborists and Missoula liberalists.  In the Election of 1980, the party was forever shamed as the first Republican Governor in nearly three decades was elected merely on a platform that promised "less bloodshed" than the Democrats.
However, there has arisen a new hope: Scott Westman.  The enigmatic current Governor of Montana who has based his coalition on a combination of left wingers and libertarians has so far overwhelmed the traditional socialist sympathizers of Butte and the corporatist masters of Billings.  Successfully passing the Green Montana with a mandate, he looks poised on making Missoula the new kingmaster of Montana Politics.
And so, a new era begins.  That of Westman liberalism.

EDIT: Changed some of the details of Billings to better fit with already done election map.

[Mechaman]

May 29th, 1956
St. Louis, Missouri
A Factory:

Delmar Jenkins had just gotten off of shift.  As a union rep for the black communities of the north side he had a lot of sway over the support of the community in regards to elections.  Recently over the past few decades he and others had put a lot of support behind the New Dealism of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman's Democratic Party.  A party that looked to be staying the path with President Estes Kefauver, who personally promised Jenkins and other black leaders in the city that a Civil Rights bill would be passed through Congress sometime this Summer.
Damn bravest Democrat I ever knew, thinking he can get the Civil Rights bill passed.  Sure, he also admitted that doing so would cause heavy losses in the South.  Though really, I'm not as scared as those crazy yahoos screeching about "States Rights" as I am the m-
Boss Dundee McAlester: Delmar, Delmar. . . . . you're off of work in a hurry.
Damn it!  I knew I would be face to face with this motherfu-
McAlester: Look (extends hands to both of Jenkis arms) I don't want to overwhelm you at a time like this.  However (sick grin on face), there is a union vote up tomorrow.  Surely you know the ramifications of it?
Jenkins, suddenly finding his stride, speaks up:
Jenkins: This isn't your neighborhood McAlester.
McAlester laughs.
McAlester: Maybe not, but bossism carries quite an influence, doesn't?  Though of course, you people wouldn't know anything about that.
Jenkins: You got a lot of balls coming around here mick, especially after the sh*t you pulled in Feb.
McAlester laughs.
McAlester: Oh come on, everyone knows that was an accident.  Industrial accidents happen all the time!  Just last week a poor sap lost his middle finger in a steel press!  Can you imagine that!?  His middle finger!  Such a valuable appendage!
From behind McAlester one of Delmar's coworkers, Declan Highsmith, shows up.
Highsmith: What is this criminal doing here?  This is our district, asshole, you better clear out.
McAlester turns around, chuckling.
McAlester: Mr. Highsmith, I regret your tendency towards ingratitude.  After all, this machine has been very gracious towards this district.
Highsmith: If you consider keeping the raids on our neighborhoods down as being very gracious, yeah I guess.
Suddenly as if on cue, McAlester's face turns a shade of menace.
McAlester: You sound ungrateful, Declan.  You seem to forget that it's been this machine that has kept some of the combustible elements from razing this community left and right.  Hell, on some nights you can even go to Brian McGuinness for a drink!
Highsmith: Stop with this pretend progressive bullsh*t, Dundee.  We know the games you play.  You keep your paisans out of here by giving them a cut off your shady business dealings.  Dealings that have cost this community a lot more than just money.
McAlester: What?  Am I supposed to baby you guys now?  Are there no entreprenuers amongst you now?  You see business, you grasp it.  Something that seems lost on your kind.
Highsmith punches McAlester full force in the face.
Highsmith: You motherf***er!  You don't give a damn about turning my people into animals!  You don't care about the young lives you've destroyed with your demon drugs!  Oh if only your predecessors were here to see this great evil you're doing.  As much disagreement as I had with Conlon, the gangs he sent in to terrorise us on Election Day, at least he never had the evil in him to stuff our kids full of drugs!
McAlester looks up at him.
McAlester: My business is entirely legal.  You must be mistaking my honest dealings for the misdeeds of one else?
Jenkins: Oh yeah?
McAlester: It seems I caught you both in kind of an uppity mood.  You surely don't mean the personal slights thrown my way.  Therefore, I'll send one of my associates to talk it over with you over dinner.  He'll be at your house at seven.  I hope your wife has made some decent meatloaf.
Jenkins, feeling a sudden sense of alarm, runs after McAlester as he's headed towards the elevator.
Jenkins: NO WAIT!  WE CAN TALK NOW!
McAlester, feeling his task done, smiled.
McAlester: Great, great.  As you well know, Congressman Casey is running in the Primaries.  The election isn't over for a few months, but we believe that an early endorsement from such a prominent St. Louis leader as yourself would be excellent for his chances against Symington.  Also, I could maybe swing a few votes your way on the Healthcare Compensation vote.  You sure you don't want to talk over dinner?  I'm starving and could really use a pint.
Jenkins: No man, I'm good.  Actually, I kind of lost my appetite.