Life in Gotham: A Gotham City Municipal Election Series (2010).

[Bigby]

A Gotham Of Laughs, An Arkham Of Tears:

In a stark contrast to his first term, Falcone's second term has received substantially more positive reception. Falcone kept his promise of avoiding the return of old policies from the 1987 - 1991 period that failed, which provided for the biggest leap of improvement. As Mayor again, Falcone instead of focused on reform. The previously ignored education curriculum was finally updated to better reflect and match New Jersey's state demands and expectations, reviving test scores and graduation rates which were decreasing in the past two to three years. Taxes remained constant, but several loopholes left in the system were promptly excised, increasing the city's revenue while restoring trust in the government for those outside of the wealthy echelon. Finally, Falcone continued the Gotham tradition of tolerating Batman so as long as Batman refrains from excessive property damages and from harming innocents, which he has kept that end of the bargain. Batman's return since late 2016 has led to a diminishing of the various crime families ran by costumed and altered freaks, meaning that the city feels safer and the police feel less burdened. Gotham City feels good in the eyes of the majority of its citizenry.

Batman's seasonal hiatus led the vigilante to decide that he can no longer conduct his heroic activities alone. Should Batman leave again, whether voluntarily or not, a team must be assembled in order to prevent a similar catastrophe like the Nash-Sionis gang war, or from another team like the newly defunct Everymen from butting into Gotham without their approval or consent. And so the Batman has recruited two sidekicks to join him and to protect Gotham when he cannot. The first of these new sidekicks is the Penguin, who appears to be a young adult male. The Penguin wears a 14th century Plague doctor mask modified to alter his voice while the rest of the outfit is high-end but combat-friendly attire colored mostly black with white areas on the torso to look like, well, a penguin. He appears to fight similarly to the Batman. The other vigilante under Batman's apprenticeship is a young adult woman by the moniker of Black Canary, who wears a facemask that covers the upper half of her face along with a leather jacket, boots, and a one-peace center suit with fishnets coverings that has appalled many concerned mothers of Gotham. Black Canary has distinguished herself by using a blisteringly loud siren call to utilize sonic powers against thugs of all kinds. Even less information about the identity of these two new additions exist for speculation than for the Batman's, but the Penguin and Black Canary have likewise been welcomed by Gotham just as much as they welcome Batman.

Arkham Asylum has been plagued with scandal once again. Dr. Hugo Strange has always pondered about the Batman's true identity, but has never prodded in detail into the matter. However, President Luthor's friendship with Arkham Asylum had emboldened Strange. After years of calculation and hypothesizing, Strange believed to have come to the conclusion that Batman was none other than Alfred Pennyworth! According to Strange, Pennyworth formed the persona of Batman to give Bruce Wayne retribution for his lost parents and to later pass on the mantle to Bruce Wayne once he came of age. Strange influenced a Gotham judge to issue a warrant for Pennyworth's arrests despite protests from Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. The matter turned sour when Pennyworth died weeks into detainment when Strange's interrogation caused a critical malfunction in Pennyworth's pacemaker. The D.A.'s office prosecuted Strange for reckless murder among other charges that opened up after finding horrific evidence of Strange's other activities. Strange was convicted in a quick yet heated trial, all while public perception of Arkham Asylum crumbled. Even the new Director, Dr. Joan Leland, expressed a desire for reform. Unsurprisingly, Strange was more upset when his prediction proved incorrect. Sightings of the Batman actually increased during Pennyworth's detention and after his death, causing a quick discrediting of Strange's hypothesis.

This Arkham situation has become the forefront of debate within the next Gotham Mayoral Election. National issues such as President Luthor's sudden pile of scandals, his subsequent impeachment in the summer, the perceived failure of the ACA, poor economic development, and the numerous rebellions and ethnic wars in the Middle East were all on the backburner. Doubt was cast over Arkham Asylum's integrity and its ability to both remedy mental illness and house dangerous metahumans and vigilantes. Supervillains repeatedly escaped from the asylum, and the occasional addition from the even more powerful Metropolis metahumans like Brainiac and Professor Zoom caused more problems than they solved. (The Metahuman Civil Rights Act of 2010 helped remedy this last point to a degree when the law American metahumans re-earned constitutional rights while overturning Strange v. Isley.) Some called to reform Arkham itself, others called for a new institution to house the less dangerous inmates, and others called for an end to Arkham once and for all. The Arkham Question will decide the 2010 election before any other question would.

The Candidates:

Business Tycoon Max Shreck - "We Need Arkham."

Doubts about Shreck's character continue to exist thanks to the Gotham Daily Planet's influence, but no criminal charges for the kidnapping of Selina Kyle ever materialized for Shreck. He failed to win in 2006, but his 20% margin against Falcone convinced him to try once more. Shreck believes that Arkham Asylum merely needs physical upgrades for reinforcements and extra reforms to prevent administrations like Arkham's or Strange's. Shreck appears to give Arkham Asylum far more credit than the general public, which many voters strongly disagree with. After President Luthor's impeachment, many questioned Shreck if he also bribed Luthor like many other corporate donors had to gain favor in the 2005 stimulus bill. However, the FBI and the DOJ joint probes found nothing. A new cat-themed vigilante by the name of Catwoman also claims to be Selina Kyle, so many consider her a specter haunting Shreck's campaign.

CEO Theodore Cobblepot - "Gotham Does Not Need Arkham."

A jovial elderly man with a widely-loved image and an archaic fashion sense, Theodore Cobblepot has finally put his name into the candidate roster for Mayor. As someone who proudly opted out of Fmr. President Luthor's stimulus program even though his business declined to a moderate degree, Cobblepot is largely running to prevent a Shreck Mayoralship. Cobblepot enjoys the advantage of an honest image, as well as a lack of allegations against him by the media or the government. Cobblepot proposes an entire shutdown of Arkham Asylum in favor of two new institutions: one for the mentally ill and the other for the freakshows. Shreck has lambasted this initiative as ludicrously expensive, but Dr. Leland and the overwhelming majority of the public support this sort of move as necessary to avoid another Jeremiah Arkham or Hugo Strange.

Mayor Carmine Falcone.

Technically, Mayor Falcone has abided by his promise to not run for a third term. However, some of his supporters have begun a "Draft Falcone" write-in movement based on his superior performance this time around. Falcone refuses to actively campaign, but has answered questions on the issues for this election as well as saying that he has not ruled out accepting another term should he be re-elected. If he wins the election but declines to serve again, his Deputy Mayor Renee Montoya II would automatically be sworn in instead. Falcone has expressed a desire to begin a new institution for the non-dangerous mentally ill patients, but wants to keep Arkham open for the freakshows. This compromise has been speculated to save money, which sounds odd to many as Cobblepot demands a new second institution despite being normally more fiscally conservative than Falcone. Still, the public largely prefers this position compared to Shreck's. Montoya and her mother, former Congresswoman Renee Montoya I have endorsed Falcone.

You have 48 hours to vote, as always. Voting ends Wednesday around 4:15 Eastern.

[White Trash]

Draft Falcone!

[Antonio the Sixth]

Draft Falcone!

[Goldwater]

Cobblepot, actually.

[Bigby]

US Presidential Election, 2008:

President Alexander "Lex" Luthor, Jr. (D - DE)/Vice President Michael R. Bloomberg (D - NY): 277 EVs, 48.8% PV
Senator John Huntsman, Jr. (R - UT)/Fmr. Secretary of Energy Henry Allen (R - MO): 261 EVs, 49.3% PV

Income inequality, poor economic development, the explosion of general calamity in the Middle East, particularly with the U.S. allies of Jordan, Anbar, and Saudi Arabia, fear of outsourcing of U.S. jobs, and the troubles at the Mexican border continued to dominate national headlines. The ACA (Luthorcare) proved initially popular, and the economy began to experience around 2% growth at the start of the election year, so things did not seem hopeless for President Luthor. Indeed, Luthor earned renomination, especially since all of his challengers were non-unified favorite sons. On the Republican side, Senator Jon Huntsman became the favored nominee after strong victories in New Hampshire and Nevada against his main opponent Fmr. WI Governor Tommy Thompson. Huntsman positioned himself as more moderate than Hunter while remaining a conservative zeal bolstered with a technocratic, future-oriented twist akin to Luthor. Luthor ran on the same platform, touting his successes as the way to continue forward.

While Luthor's popularity waned, Huntsman's Mormon faith, less conservative than normal for a GOP candidate's views, and egghead image ensured that if Huntsman won, it would never become a landslide. Both Huntsman and Luthor repeatedly switched status as the frontrunner, with neither candidate able to maintain it long. Both candidates even went as far as tying in every Presidential debate, though Allen crushed Bloomberg in the Vice Presidential debate. Both candidates performed well in their expected base areas while performing poorly in the other party's. Ohio, the closest state, decided the election. Though Huntsman won the national PV, Ohio's slim 3,255 margin in favor of Luthor earned him reelection. Evidence surfaced of voter fraud in Ohio and Nevada, and arrests were also made against officials, though neither candidate could be traced to these incidents. A recount in Ohio flipped exactly 2008 votes to Huntsman from Luthor, setting a record but still securing Luthor's victory. Huntsman would become the fourth PV winner to lose the EV count while also becoming the first Republican to do so. On a brighter note for the GOP, they regained the House with around 230 seats while gaining a 51 seat majority in the Senate. Luthor won the election, but by a thread with the added drawback of the Democrats crumbling in Congress.

Though not supported by Senator Huntsman or by the majority of Republican party bosses, many protests against Luthor's popular vote loss but electoral vote win sparked nationwide.

Trials and Tribulations:

Of course, Luthor's second term became a far more notorious time in American history than the 2008 election by far. While the economy rose to a 3% growth on average each quarter from 2009 to 2010, Luthor's actions from his first term became even more unpopular among the public. While Luthorcare was popular for expanding the age of parental insurance to 26 and removing pre-existing conditions, its Medicare expansion and government-supervised coverage system spiked premium costs, increased wait times, and depressed incomes in the healthcare industry. Luthor's zealous hatred of metahumans has led to more metahuman calamity, not less, with his treatment of the Tamaranians being viewed the most negatively. For example, one Tamaranian-American went insane BECAUSE of Arkham Asylum and came to believe that humans were morally inferior to Tamaranians and thus required a forced acceptance of Tamaranian culture, becoming a notorious global terrorist named "The Supremacist."

Luthor's response to the Arabian Red Spring also proved unpopular. Rather than declare full war anywhere, Luthor opted to send equipment, expertise, and small amounts of troops and units for limited involvement instead. This strategy worked in Egypt, Jordan, and Anbar, but largely failed elsewhere. The Everymen became involved in missions that would have otherwise been domain of the Navy Seals, but their performance gradually worsened. Gas prices rose as the League either conquered or destroyed oil refineries, and constant attempts on the lives of League officials were met with minimal if any success. Luthor's strategy did expand the wealth of the military-industrial complex, though ethics questions began to arise when whistle-blowers and informants revealed that Luthor's corporation, LexCorp, was one of the top profiteers. Public outcry flamed the highest after a failed mission by the Everymen to assassinate Ra's al-Ghul caused the capture of Everymen leader Cisco Ramone and the death of Norman Fries. In general, the United States was failing in its efforts to quash the League of Assassins and their operations in the Middle East.

The world began to crumble completely for President Luthor on March 15th, 2010, when the League of Assassins leaked a video of Cisco Ramone being experimented on by Ra's al-Ghul himself. Ramone had been stripped of his Flash suit, which everyone considered to be his source of his speed powers. However, after enough torture, Ramone revealed to the world that he ran even without his technology! President Luthor lied to the American people about the Flash's powers, hiding his metahuman status! While this incident led to a downfall of Luthor's approval ratings, whistle-blowers financed by an unknown organization that opposes both the League of Assassins and Luthor's administration found evidence of various crimes committed by Luthor and for Luthor's advantage during the month of May. Bribes from corporate backers to gain favor during the 2005 business stimulus, dirty dealings for the enrichment of LexCorp, tampering with evidence to hide crimes committed by the Everymen, and even involvement with the tampering of both the initial vote and the recount process in Ohio, all of these sins with Luthor's involvement became public knowledge. No one knows where this "shadow of truth for the American people" came from, but it was clear that Luthor would not last long in office. The remaining Everymen were arrested, several Cabinet members resigned in fear and/or disgust, and the new Republican Speaker began not only congressional hearings for these various crimes, but an impeachment process that was already gaining bipartisan support.

From June to August, Congress coordinate the impeachment process quickly followed by a trial. The Speaker allowed Congressman Peter Grogan (R - NJ) to file the resolution to impeach President Luthor on charges of corruption, the acceptance of bribery, and voter fraud. Every present Republican voted Yea on impeachment, with around 70 Democrats joining them. After mere weeks of discussion, the trial proceeded to the Senate. Luthor hoped that the two-thirds majority requirement in the Senate would acquit him as it did for Andrew Johnson, but no such luck came to pass. A whopping 76-seat majority of the Senate voted to convict, once again unanimous for the Republicans with around half of Democrats joining their ranks. The President abdicated quickly, but gave one last address that can basically be summed up as a borderline incoherent tirade against metahumans, Congress, and "the patriarchal, racist order that always blamed [Luthor] rather than themselves for creating the mass that [Luthor] worked so hard to undo!" Luthor quickly went into hiding, taking as many assets with him as possible and disappearing from public life. According to leaked League of Assassins and League of Shadows dossiers on the former President, Luthor has taken to international crime and was responsible for the prison break for the three remaining Everymen while becoming their leader. Bloomberg's administration refuses to disclose any potential information on this matter, but psychologists have predicted that Luthor's ego was seriously crushed by becoming the first successfully impeached President in U.S. History.

Vice President Michael R. Bloomberg (D - NY) was sworn in on August 5th, 2010 after Luthor's conviction by the Senate. Bloomberg is now responsible for repairing the American public's shattered faith in the executive branch.

[Kingpoleon]

Cobblepot, actually.

[Bigby]

You have around 23 hours from this point or so starting now. I'm glad I was able to find an election combination that is more reasonable and less of a drastic landslide. Those were too hilarious.

[Bigby]

Voting closes in four hours. I will most likely be able to post the epilogue to this election tonight, but 2014 will likely wait until tomorrow.

[bagelman]

that gives me an hour left to vote

[Bigby]

And the winner is Falcone, but Cobblepot managed to pull it close! Sadly though, he did not pull Falcone under the 50% needed to trigger a runoff. Hey, I am just pleased to see an election not ending in a gross landslide. The epilogue is being finalized while 2014 will likely come tomorrow, but I may sneak it in tonight. We'll see, as it depends on how much of my studying I get done.

[Bigby]

Four More Years Indeed:

The election of 2010 proved to be a rather dull one. Shreck's support in the polls barely rose above 10%, as his stance on Arkham Asylum and his refusal to renounce Luthorite politics kept him from expanding beyond that ceiling. Even worse, evidence around the attempted murder of Selina Kyle surfaced through the Daily Gotham Planet thanks to Kyle's old journalist partner, Vicki Vale. While the grand jury had not yet come to a verdict on Shreck's indictment, public opinion for Shreck tanked further. Allegations of involvement with bribery and corruption for the business stimulus from former President Luthor continued to stew around, but Shreck evaded the law in that regard. However, the Selina Kyle question was all that was needed to sink Shreck as viable.

Like Thomas Wayne's 1986 run, Cobblepot's run ended in defeat without sullying or lessening his favorable view in the eyes of Gotham City's denizens. The projections for the cost of a new metahuman and vigilante penitentiary was apparently miscalculated by Gotham economists. In fact, the plan would cost over twice as much. This soured the public on Cobblepot's total closure of Arkham position, though he continued to insist on a matter of principle. Naturally, voters felt uneasy. The more damning event for Cobblepot was a fall on the debate stage with Shreck that twisted Cobblepot's ankle. Cobbepot recovered in time for the campaign to resume, but his serious bruising and intense pain issues borne of the injury led many to question Cobblepot's ability to govern should he be elected. The people of Gotham continued to admire Cobblepot, but the fear of him dying or leaving office because of health reasons outweighed this admiration. While this led to his loss, Cobblepot was given some consolation in that he did not lose to Falcone in a landslide loss, and almost clinched a runoff between him and the Mayor.

Oddly enough, Falcone won with as minimal campaigning as one could run for. Fiscal conservatives ironically flocked to Falcone as Shreck was simply intolerable to them and Cobblepot's disdain for Arkham period meant too much of a drain on Gotham's pocketbook. Falcone continued to tread cautiously with his governmental powers, and this satisfied the citizens of Gotham City. Surprisingly enough, even the police force liked him. Falcone kept James Gordon on as Commissioner despite concerns on if Sarah Gordon had acted nepotistic-ally as Mayor when she appointed him, but Gordon's superb performance has silenced the majority of critics. Falcone and Dent worked well together despite Dent's less than stellar memories of his father Truman, especially while Truman Dent was Falcone's previous Deputy Mayor, but the District Attorney's office running smoothly meant that Falcone's Mayoral office ran smoothly likewise. Even Cobblepot had only good things to say about Falcone's second term. With Shreck defeated because of the Selina Kyle case and Cobblepot's injuries, Falcone found himself reelected when he never even intended to run again. If one had said back in 1991, or even 2005, that Falcone would become Mayor again and perform well, no one in Gotham would believe such a claim, and yet it is now true.

The 2010 United States Midterms In General:

That the Democrats faced substantial rebellion to assist the Republican effort to impeach President Luthor did little to aid Democratic chances in retaking Congress, or even doing well enough to survive mostly intact. Some Democratic legislators indeed saved their skin because of their dissent, but many of them either won by the skin of their teeth or were from super-liberal states/districts anyway. In 2004, Luthor's landslide victory meant a blowout for Democrats in several Republican and swing states. Here, those same Democrats often met their electoral demise, once again because of Lex Luthor. This was particularly exemplified with the defeats of Democrats John Edwards of North Carolina and Berry Castor in Florida. (Note though that Edwards also faced a landslide defeat thanks to sex scandal. Castor lost with less than 5% difference in the margin while Edwards lost with less than 40% of the vote.) In the House, Republicans won around 25 seats to an estimate of a 255 seat majority while winning eight seats in the Senate, for a total of 59 seats. Just like under the Schwarzkopf years, Republicans got to overextend basically thanks to internal Democratic misfortune.

Republican House leadership changed across the board. The previous Speaker retired due to old age, allowing the relatively young but experienced Jim DeMint (R - SC) to assume Speakership. Many Democrats feared such a strong conservative assuming the Speakership, but Republicans enjoyed a wide enough lead in the House to safely elect DeMint to the Speakership. (However, DeMint's later years have seen him moderate to an extent while Majority Leader.) In the Senate, John Huntsman became Senate Majority Leader, replacing the early retirement of Mitch McConnell. Huntsman seems to enjoy his new position, meaning that he likely won't run again for President. However, the conservative faction of the GOP is already eyeing Senator Hal Jordan, who turned down Majority Whip, in his stead. While the conservative wing of the GOP is the more powerful one, many moderates who are willing to work with President Bloomberg's stances were elected. This landslide was deemed as a Republican one rather than a conservative one necessarily.

The world scene remains largely unchanged from when the midterm elections began. However, American metahumans were given back their constitutional rights thanks to the Metahuman Civil Rights Act, which was quickly signed into law by President Bloomberg. After the midterm election, the incumbent Congress passed another bill that changed how America treated their new heroes, the Superhero Control and Approval Act. Under the SCAA, new superhero teams created by the federal government must be first approved by Congress, with individuals seeking to join these teams requiring confirmation by the Senate. Furthermore, these vigilantes or metahumans in these government teams must be or become members of the United States military, with control of all superhero teams going to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the Middle East, ethnic and religious strife has calmed down, but the Arabian peninsula remains highly contested as Ra's al-Ghul now battles his rebellious daughter and the League of Shadows, who are hellbent on destroying the Assassins. Republicans in Congress are once again demanding full war, but President Bloomberg has currently convinced the public that the United States has no causus belli that permits such an invasion. There also exists the question of who exactly America would be helping.