Camelot Anew, Chapter Three: The Downeast Democrat

[MAINEiac4434]

Camelot Anew
Chapter Three
The Downeast Democrat

Coming Soon

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

O:

[Cold War Liberal]

YESSS

[Sestak]

Muskie/Glenn 1980??

[MycroftCZ]

YESSS

[Duke of York]

Can't wait to see how this plays out. I truly with this was our reality.

[MAINEiac4434]

Part I: The Primary Fields

“When Ed called me and asked me to manage his campaign, I said yes, but I said in no uncertain terms that I was not confident in his victory. I had been out of politics since Bobby left office. I was rusty.”
Excerpt from an interview with Harris Wofford, September 10, 2014

“I mean, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just an old State Department staffer.”
Madeline Albright at the Muskie Centennial Celebration, November 16, 2014

“What drew me to him was his integrity, but no one actually thought he stood a chance against Teddy and Jerry Brown. Ed didn’t, either. He just wanted to make sure environmental issues were at the forefront of the campaign.”
Excerpt from a lecture by Mark Shields at the Kennedy School of Government, January 18, 2015

[MAINEiac4434]

President Reagan has been a disaster for our country. He has gotten us into an unwinnable war, has tanked the economy with reckless cuts and defense spending, ended detente with the Russians and weakened our standing abroad. Our country must do better. That's why I'm running for President of the United States!

We all want to return, one final time, to Camelot. Our country needs it. Which is why I'm officially announcing my candidacy for President of the United States!

When you walk around the streets of our country, when you look at our country, you know that this is not where we should be. You know we need change in Washington. We need an outsider, someone with a fresh look at things. We don't need another Senator or cabinet member, and we certainly don't need four more years of Reagan. We need a whole new direction. I will provide that direction, if I'm lucky enough to be elected President.

There is too much bickering and anger and divisiveness and just plain meanness coming out of Washington today. We need someone who can unite this country, who knows what its like to make sure poor farmers and rich businessmen work together for the betterment of all. That's why I'm running for President of the United States.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Brown/Carter or Carter/Brown would be my preferred Democratic tickets, though, of course, such is not the arc of history in our case.

I'm curious, what makes you think I'm a fan of Hatfield in this case?

[MillennialModerate]

I like Muskie, hope he chooses Teddy to be VP.

[MAINEiac4434]

Brown/Carter or Carter/Brown would be my preferred Democratic tickets, though, of course, such is not the arc of history in our case.

I'm curious, what makes you think I'm a fan of Hatfield in this case?

Hmm, I always thought you were a fan of moderate, non-interventionist Republicans.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Yay! I'd be rooting for Brown or Muskie here, hope that's the ticket! Also, who's the first guy?
Preference would probably be:
1. Brown
2. Muskie
3. Carter
4. Teddy

[Cold War Liberal]

My preferences would be:
Teddy
Muskie
Carter
Brown

But I'd enthusiastically support any of them in the general

[MillennialModerate]

Yuck, no carter

Teddy and Muskie can’t go wrong with either.

Brown is a good choice as well.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Brown/Carter or Carter/Brown would be my preferred Democratic tickets, though, of course, such is not the arc of history in our case.

I'm curious, what makes you think I'm a fan of Hatfield in this case?

Hmm, I always thought you were a fan of moderate, non-interventionist Republicans.

I've purposefully bucked the libertarian label for a few years now, though I will probably always have a soft spot for Hatfield (in the same vein as Silvio Conte, for that matter) that I don't have for other types of "liberal Republicans". My voting record might deceive you, though (Kasich, McMullin). In all seriousness, I'm weird enough that my ideology is somewhere between Mark Hatfield and Henry Jackson.

[MAINEiac4434]

“Ed did have one big advantage over the rest of the primary field: a real connection to Robert Kennedy politically. Carter and Brown were Governors, and lacked any real connection to Bobby, Teddy was of course Bobby’s brother but McGovern was really Bobby’s voice in the Senate. Teddy also had the problem of Chappaquiddick. A lot of people thought Jerry Brown was at least a little crazy, too, and no one knew who Jimmy Carter was. We really should’ve been better prepared for victory.”

“In hindsight, Ed should’ve been the favorite, even with Ted Kennedy and Brown in the race. His experience in foreign policy made him just the right person to take over the Iran War, and to recommit to detente with the Russians. None of the other Democrats could hold a candle to that.”

[MAINEiac4434]

Just so everyone’s caught up, here’s a link to the previous chapter: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=276890.0

[Mr. Smith]

My prefs:

Muskie
Carter
Brown
Teddy

But I'd enthusiastically support any of them in the general

[MAINEiac4434]

"President Reagan was not doing a good job. That's why I ran. It was the last gasp of liberal Republicanism. But I think I helped weaken the conservative movement in the country."

"Hatfield's challenge to Reagan was a godsend to the Democrats. We knew that the GOP wouldn't be united behind their candidate, and while Democrats certainly had strong preferences, they generally liked all of their choices."

"Brown was the oddball in the race. He had this reputation of being kind of crazy, eccentric, and he didn't represent a traditional Democratic base of support. He had a lot of yuppie support. Ted had a lot of Catholic support, despite Muskie also being Catholic. Muskie represented the workers, the environmentalists and the pacifists. He kind of got a lot of Bobby's old primary support, despite Bobby's brother being in the race! Muskie sounded a lot like Bobby. Not as eloquent, brasher, more willing to work with the GOP, but they talked about a lot of the same things. When Bobby announced his neutrality in the primary, that was a huge blow for Teddy. It gave his most diehard supporters permission to seek other options."

"It's a shame about Ted, I guess. His pursuits of the presidency never worked out like his brothers'."

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Oof

[MillennialModerate]

Can anyone imagine Bobby not wholeheartedly endorsing his brother?

[MAINEiac4434]

Can anyone imagine Bobby not wholeheartedly endorsing his brother?

I needed to make Ted lose somehow.

[Sestak]

Can anyone imagine Bobby not wholeheartedly endorsing his brother?

I needed to make Ted lose somehow.

Just have him do another Chappaquiddick. Problem solved, everyone sees Ted hasn't reformed himself and has now gotten two young girls killed.

[MAINEiac4434]

Can anyone imagine Bobby not wholeheartedly endorsing his brother?

I needed to make Ted lose somehow.

Just have him do another Chappaquiddick. Problem solved, everyone sees Ted hasn't reformed himself and has now gotten two young girls killed.

But I still wanted him to be a respected member of the Senate!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Can anyone imagine Bobby not wholeheartedly endorsing his brother?

I needed to make Ted lose somehow.

It makes sense to me. RFK wanted to be neutral in order to allow a proper process in the Dem primary and so that people don't claim the Kennedys are entitled and get what they want thanks to their family.