Decision 2008: Crossroads

[Cold War Liberal]

What if McCain dies en route to the convention?? President Palin would probably have the sympathy vote at the convention but whether or not it lasts till election day is uncertain...

[KaiserDave]

Matt

Matt Rhoades sat in the lobby of a nearby hotel to the Tampa Bay Times Center, he had a meeting with Governor Bill Haslam of Tennesse, a Romney backer, to plan for what they hoped could be the flipping of Tennessee's Palin delegates at the second ballot. Matt knew that they had vulnerabilities too, he had a meeting with Senator Blunt of Missouri, apparently there was a potential Palin coup among their delegates. He then saw Meg Whitman striding through the glass doors, furious.
"Meg?"
"Beth Myers just told me we picked Terry Branstad. What the hell Matt, I thought he was off the list. He's too ing boring." Meg clearly had the wrong idea.
"No no no. We were going with Portman. Or rather, we think we are, potentially. Or not, nobody knows.."
"Then why is Beth Myers telling me we're picking Branstad. And Matt, we are not going through this again. I'm gonna talk to Mitt, Mitt needs to know that picking Portman.....It's just too stale, it won't win in the convention and not in the general, or whatever. If you had to put up with these delegates, you would be losing your mind too." Matt motioned calmingly to Meg.
"Alright, alright. Let's not go through this now. I have a meeting with Bill Haslam, 2 minutes ago. So, I'll see you at Command Ops later." Matt walked up to the elevator, leaving the Hewlett Packard CEO in the lobby alone.

Glenn

ing RINOS. RINOS. That was all on Glenn Beck's mind as he left a meeting with the Missouri Delegation. They it seemed, had already been muscled into Romney's corner on the second ballot. Glenn had left FOX News, somewhat because they wanted him out. His anti-McCain raving undercut their message a lot. And to take a Communications Job in the Palin campaign. The Palin campaign was a raucous exercise. They sorta just buzzed about, the campaign totally revolved around Sarah. Even Governor Perry acted more like a staffer then part of the ticket. Although he didn't do much except produce gaffes on the campaign trail. Glenn entered the hotel suite where the Palin campaign was camping out.
"What's happenin'?" asked Howard Kaloogian, a Tea Party Express leader and campaign strategist.
"Missouri Delegates. They aren't going anywhere. And we've got a big problem with...we've got almost a hundred, maybe more. Shadow Paulites. We're gonna have a big problem on the second ballot. Where's Sarah, she needs to be rallying the troops or something, maybe speak early tomorrow."
"Well, we've got another problem, McCain is coming down to Tampa."
"Well crap. He better not ing do anything. Unless he wants to whole ing base to hate him more then they already do. We need to get our people on the stage tomorrow, get those RNC bigwigs to heel. I don't care how you do it. I want DeMint, Santorum, Brownback, even Joe Miller. I don't care, but If I see ing Kelly Ayotte up there I am gonna burst.....Howard, what are the Clinton polls like?"
Howard bit his lip. "Pretty bad. We're down in all the tossups, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia. And we're down badly. We're down in Missouri, Indiana-"
"Just stop." interrupted Glenn.

Things were bleak for the Palin campaign, they were facing a Paulite coup, an ascendant Romney campaign, and the great mystery of what McCain was going to do. They needed something to change, and fast....

[KaiserDave]

Chris

Chris Wallace took one last look at the convention floor, the raucous was ridiculous. Some chairs were being turned over, scattered chants echoed through the stadium, and screaming was the only thing heard, save the banging of the Chair's gavel to bring the hall to order. The first ballot had just been completed, no candidate had backed down. The convention was deadlocked. Chris turned to the camera, and prepared to deliver the news.
We're back at the convention hall of the RNC, and we can report that the first ballot is concluded. No candidate, not Vice President Palin, Secretary Romney, or Congressman Paul has secured the 1,117 delegates needed to win the nomination outright. The convention will proceed to a second ballot. But right now the hall is in chaos, there's rancor, lots of shouting, and the hall is very much in disorder. We're showing how each state voted right now, corresponding to the majority of the states delegate allegiance."

"However, keep in mind that on the second ballot. The majority of delegates can vote for whoever they please, this convention. It will be a brokered one. It's up to the delegates now."

Ron

It's Happening. Or at least that's what Ron Paul was thinking has he waved to the large crowd of supporters outside the Tampa Bay Times Center, thousands waving American Flags, and holding Ron Paul posters. Never before had he made such a credible effort for the nomination. On the second ballot, his efforts at the state conventions would pay off, he'd rocket into contention. Then on the third....well who knew. But he'd get either Romney or Palin to the table to get his libertarian platforms into the party one. The crowd was ecstatic, Ron had just left the convention hall. Where he was chatting with his delegates from Nebraska. Right now, the hall was a madhouse. Sam Brownback was trying to speak, but the hall would have none of it. And the TV cameras were catching it all. Ron continued to wave, and he moved to shack hands with the amassed crowd. His strategy? Keep doing this. Rally his base, and in the hall, when his coup d'tat took place. It would be masterful. Delegates would flip across the country, shocking the RNC, and the nation.

[Cold War Liberal]

Betting Paul would have better luck getting Palin to shift towards libertarianism rather than Romney; though McCain stepping in to try to save Romney could work. Excited to see who this convention sends to the general election to lose to Clinton/Obama.

[KaiserDave]

Betting Paul would have better luck getting Palin to shift towards libertarianism rather than Romney; though McCain stepping in to try to save Romney could work. Excited to see who this convention sends to the general election to lose to Clinton/Obama.

Or
Do I hear Attorney General Beck?

[KaiserDave]

Jim

Jim DeMint had had a busy day. He woke up, had a quick South Carolina toast breakfast, and then whisked out of his hotel to another hotel to meet with South Carolina delegates. He got them excited for the first ballot, spoke about "conservative values" and "an opportunity for 100%, unadulterated, conservative leadership." He got them psyched up about the culture wars and etcetera etcetera. Then he had a meeting with the Florida GOP office, he was going to meet with local party officials, and give a brief talk about "Ideal Conservative Tax Policy." After he gave said talk, he tuned in to the TV with the people there. Crap, a deadlock. Paul didn't drop out at the last second or anything. Humph. That would mean more meetings. He was scheduled to speak the next day. But he might be deployed today. He quickly left, off to a conference room known to the Palin command as ExCom, or Executive Command. As he strolled into the conference room, Newt Gingrich was on the phone with a Florida delegate. And Rick Santorum was chatting tensely with Sam Brownback. Glenn Beck was was scrolling on some kind of conservative blog. Jim DeMint gave a thought to how dumb Glenn was before turning to Newt.
"What happened in there?" Newt tucked the phone away from his ear and mouth.
"Sam just got shouted off, he could barely get a word in." Jim bit his lip. "And we're facing a rebellion in the west from Paulites."
"Where's the Vice President?" asked Jim. As she was nowhere to be seen.
"In Washington, she's actually got a policy lunch with Inhofe and Corker." Newt said, rushing the phone back to his ear.
"I thought Corker was here, he's rallying the troops for Romney." asked DeMint. To which Newt continued to talk into the phone.
"Excuse him." interrupted Howard Kaloogian. "We're aiming to offset our loses to Paul by picking up Florida delegates. And of course, McConnell is muscling the Kentucky delegation towards Mitt, and Rand is doing the same towards Paul, we may get shoved out of Kentucky." Jim shook his head.
"What's the floor like?"
"Chaos. The second ballot is supposed to be in a few hours. The campaigns are sending up representatives, interest group reps, poor guys. They're getting destroyed up there." Jim DeMint bit his lip again. This is when the nomination would be won...or lost.
 

Jesse

Jesse Benton, Chairman of the Ron Paul campaign was getting coffee with Ron Paul at the local coffee shop with Ron Paul impromptu stumbled in and got some coffee. Not many people recognized him, but he got a few looks. They quietly both got the coffee and got to a table. Ron Paul started with his croaking voice.
"Hi Jesse, what's going on?" ask Ron Paul added some sugar.
"Well, the second ballot starts in less than an hour. I thought you'd be there. We've got some delegates to round up, Rand is meeting with the Kentuckians" Ron Paul nodded silently, drank some coffee. "We need some surrogates up there. Amash has volunteered to speak before the second ballot. He thinks we might get some Michigan delegates."
"Alright, see ya around Jesse." And just like that Ron was out the door. Jesse checked his phone, sh*t. The second ballot already happened, what the  was Reince doing? Establishment crane.

And...it was still deadlocked.

[erſatz-york]

Loving this TL

[America Needs R'hllor]

Awesome! Rooting for Paul rn, so that we have extra chaos

[RedPrometheus]

Loving this TL

[KaiserDave]

Kelly

Cindy and John sat together in two regular seats in Air Force One. Not in the special presidential suite, just looking out the window together. John had just got out of a security briefing, something was going on in Iran or something. The plane was inbound for Tampa in an hour or two. Cindy could feel John's heavy breathing as they lay her head on his shoulder. The presidency was indeed a great stress. John had always wanted this job, and for him it was close to the pinnacle service, save serving in the frontlines for the United States. But it was like he had aged many years. His back was worse, his wrists were problematic. And his heart was still under great stress. But John was a real fighter, he always was. He never missed a briefing, he never hesitated to fly to Berlin or Brussels for a conference, especially security ones. He had taken more trips to active US troop sites than Bush in his first four years. He was always deep in the policy weeds with his advisors, and never hesitated to meet with Senators. Especially young and upward ones like Kelly Ayotte, Marco Rubio, Rob Portman, Terry Goddard. Though not Rand, John did not like Rand. But as his term winded down, political jockeying and muscling was last thing John wanted to do, Cindy knew that. But this is was he felt he had to do, he felt he had a duty to right his wrongs. Which he felt a drag on him each day. John's breathing continued its slow pace interrupted by brief stops. Cindy closed her eyes, but then John spoke.

"Cindy."
"Yes John?"
"Cindy get the doctor Cindy."
"John what's going on???"
"Cindy get the doctor."
"John? John? Doctor Doctor Doctor!!!"

[Cold War Liberal]

OMG!!!

Loving this TL

[KaiserDave]

Sarah

Sarah Palin strolled out of the car, waving to the huge crowd outside the hotel. The third ballot was imminent, and she was here to fight. The crowd cheered her name, and soon a chant of "DUMP ROMNEY" spread through the crowd. And Sarah pumped her fist in the air, replicating the chant. She knew that he was just a liberal, a lieberal as Glenn said. Glenn Beck had just called her, saying he was 100% sure that Palin was going to flip the south and midwest on the third ballot. He said that he was gathering large crowds outside the RNC. Sarah knew she was gonna do it. It was time for conservatism, time to fight for the troops, and to give the Democrats a good teeth kicking. She walked into the lobby, where she expected to get to up to her room. All of a sudden, her secret servant agents turned around abruptly. A few of them took out their handguns.
"What's going on?" Sarah looked around as more secret service agents rushed towards her. "Jim what's happening?"
"Get in the car Madam Vice President, get in the car. Get in the car." Surrounded by secret service agents, she was rushed back into the car, while the crowd watched in confusion. The car drove off.
"What the heck is going on Jim? What the heck, what the?" The secret service agent she was addressing turned back.
"Madam Vice President, the President has suffered a heart attack in mid air. His plane is about to land in Jacksonville. He's going into surgery immediately. You are now acting President." Sarah was shocked.
"What's that? Is he okay? What's going on? Where are we-"
"We're heading to a secure site in the Tampa area. We're gonna set up a mobile command center."
"What's going on? I got stuff to do."
"Madam Vice President, there's an urgent matter of national security. Iran has just tested a long range ballistic missile, fired over Iraq and exploding in Syrian airspace. We're setting up a secure call line with Tel Aviv, Berlin, London, Paris, Rome-"
"What about the ballot? Jim, I've got business to attend to." Sarah wanted more then anything to be in the fight on the floor. She didn't want to talk to Angela what's her face, and whoever the Italians and the French were led by. She frustratingly looked out the window, she took out her phone. She was going to call Glenn. Jim took her phone.
"I'm very sorry Ma'am, but I have to take your phone." Sarah was going to say something, but she didn't. She car stopped

Joe

Joe was terrified. He was informed, alongside other people in the line of succession, including Secretary Romney of the heart attack as soon as it occurred. Additionally, President Pro Temper Patrick Leahy was also informed. Joe was on holiday in the Keys as it happened when the RNC was occurring. As Secretary of State, he couldn't be involved in RNC politics. Though in private he supported Romney, though more privately he knew that if Palin was nominated, he'd be voting for Hillary enthusiastically. As soon as he was informed of the Iranian test, and the President's incapacitation he immediately got to a plane and off to Tampa. Now his car put the Tampa airport in the distance. He was headed straight to the command center, at a Department of Defense building near Tampa. He was as anti-Iran as any Republican, but he knew that Palin she could....she might, try to press the button. He consoled himself, she wouldn't, she couldn't. But she could. So Joe was off.

The car arrived at the building, which was surrounded by secret service and soldiers with assault rifles. Joe got out, and a navy officer approached him.  
"Mr. Secretary, we've got a situation, the Vice President just got off the phone with Prime Minister Netanyahu." Joe nodded as he rushed down the hallway to main room. He got in, to buzz of phones and a screen showing tanks and soldiers moving in a desert landscape. Sarah was by the table, over a suitcase.
"Is that the nuclear ing football?" exclaimed the Secretary of State as he entered.

[Cold War Liberal]

¡A Dios mío!

[Anti-Bothsidesism]

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[KaiserDave]

Reince

Reince sat at the luxury sears up high in the Tampa Bay Times Arena, sinking into his chair. At the commencement of the third ballot, there was still no winner. And both Palin and Paul had advanced.

It seemed that the Republicans be stuck with a crazy off the walls conservative, or a the libertarian William Jennings Bryan. To make matters worse, the President was totally off the grid. He had told Reince that he would be there to "smooth things over" in the convention. As in to save them for his Vice President. But the White House kept telling Reince that he was in the air, and Air Force One told him they were on the ground, but nothing more. He watched as furious delegates jeered at the current speaker, Representative and failed Senate candidate Pat Toomey. He was backing Palin, and rumor had it he and Santorum had muscled everything into flipping some of their delegates. God this was a mess. Reince quietly sipped some water out of a plastic cup when Ed Gillespie walked up, someone who had held this job before.
"Ed, you're not supposed to be here?" said Reince as he got up to shake his hand. Ed nodded but with a somber face. "You see what we've got going on, the President-wait, what's going on with the President? Nobody's taking my calls...." Ed struggled to say it.
"Reince, the President is in surgery, Palin is acting President. I've been instructed to tell you in confidence."
"Holy sh*t."

Chuck

Chuck scurried into the room where everything was going down. He had been appointed and confirmed in winter 2011, at Robert Gates's long awaited retirement. He right now, was terrified. He was at the Pentagon when he was informed, when he quite literally dropped everything and got to a plane. He opened the door, where Joe Lieberman was having a loud argument with the...Acting President.
"I don't want to a see a ing mushroom cloud over Jerusalem!"
"Which Joe, which Joe, should make you support me, support America Joe!"
"Alright!" said Chuck Hagel in a close to shouting voice. "What's going on?"
"Mr. Secretary," Four-Star General Lloyd Austin, who had served commanding all forces in Iraq, and now Vice Chief of the Staff for the Army Department approached the Secretary. "I'm sure you've been briefed."
"Yes General, thank you." Chuck turned to the acting President, Sarah Palin. "Madam Vi-Madam Acting President, what course of action are you pursuing?" Sarah collected herself, clearly annoyed.
"Chuck, we're trying to stand by Israel-" Joe scoffed. "And teach these Muslim terrorists a lesson. You can't mess with America, you know I've got 12 planes on standby, we are going to do it. We are going to bomb Iran." Chuck turned to the close nuclear football being held by an attache.
"With that?!" Joe shook his head and calmed down a bit.
"That was mandatory to show her the football, she wants to use conventional weapons." Chuck put his hands on the table on which Sarah was sitting behind, looking down at her.
"Madam Vice President, I extremely recommend, I mean, you-you can't bomb Iran. That could start World War Three. You could provoke a nuclear response, or a chemical response, that could target Israel, or US troops." Chuck was bottling up his anger. "I will resign if you fire Madam Acting President, I will resign. This could ignite a nuclear exchange." Sarah clearly wasn't listening.
"What's our status Lloyd?" The General turned around from a computer.
"We are at 12 minutes before we have our planes in the air."
"Where are we launching from?" asked Chuck, gauging his time.
"King Khalid Airbase in the Kingdom of Saud sir." Chuck nodded, as Sarah was arguing with Lieberman again. Chuck nodded and put his hand by his mouth as he thought. "Yeah and what are we targeting?"
"Several Iranian airbases, the missile launch site, and the newly constructed Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran." Chuck was shocked.
"A nuclear plant? You get that missile wrong and we could have another Chernobyl on our hands, what the hell?" Sarah turned around to respond with another officer spoke.
"4 minutes to launch."

[new_patomic]

Oh.

Oh my this escalated.

[KaiserDave]

Still here FYI

[RedPrometheus]

Looking forward to an update

[erſatz-york]

Is this TL dead?

[KaiserDave]

No
Just busy

[KaiserDave]

Note:
Hi!

Chuck

Chuck passed, and passed, watching on the TV screens the planes getting into order to launch. Israeli jets were preparing for a supporting strike against the Iranian navy. He knew he was the only one who could stop this, Joe didn't have the authority, John would be under for several more hours. He then looked at the monitor again. Camp Speicher. Wait, Track Palin was at Camp Speicher, the premier Iraqi air force base. If there was an Iranian retaliation, it would start there. Chuck could convince her...convince her that. He couldn't. He looked at the timer, just over a minute. He turned to General Austin. Austin looked back, was he aware of what Chuck was going to do? In any case, Chuck had to do it.
"Madam President. I've just received urgent intelligence."
"Yeah Chuck?" Said Sarah, looking up from her iPhone, where she was tweeting about Jon Huntsman of all people.
"Your son is being personally targeted at his base by Iranian sleeper cells in Iraq for retaliation against any American strike." Sarah looked up, for real this time. Joe looked at Chuck, he knew exactly what he was doing.
"Track? The Ayatollah knows about Track?" Austin looked at Hagel slowly, and nodded at Palin.
"Yes Madam President, his base will be a prime target if this assault goes through."
"We gotta bomb them, we gotta bomb Iran till it's freakin' green I tell ya!" Sarah banged the table with her hand. "The great leaders never back down, we fight, we fight. Churchill, Reagan, they fight!"
"Madam President, this is an extraordinary situation. I recommend you cancel the strike, take stock of the situation. Talk to your son, send out a statement, tell the Israelis..." Sarah sat down. Sweating slightly.
"Okay Lloyd, cancel the bombers." Joe let out a huge breath. Austin relayed the order to the adjutant working the phones, and Chuck watched as the planes on the monitors relaxed. Hey, at least it would scare them. But they had avoided the worst.

Newt

Newt was shook. John was in surgery, Palin almost...he heard...nuked Iran? He rocked back in forth in his non-rocking chair. He listened to the TV chatter about the convention, the fourth ballot was soon. Hillary Clinton was receiving ecstatic crowds in North Dakota. North Dakota. He looked at the latest polls, Palin down 15 against Hillary. he supported Palin yes. Romney was a flip flopping opportunist. And Newt, Newt was furious about the Supreme Court picks from McCain. Weak kneed centrism. But, as he read the reports given to him by an unnamed insider. He was shook. Jim DeMint was on the phone with wavering North Carolina delegates. More Paulites? Newt wondered. That would be awful, but Paul was gathering steam. Rand just delivered a thundering endorsement of his father on the floor, bringing libertarians to their feet everywhere. Newt rocked. He shook. He got up, he was going to talk to Mitt.

[erſatz-york]

Ask and you shall receive it seems.


I hope I didn't rush the update!

[KaiserDave]

Mitt

Mitt sat with the Romney grandkids with Josh in the hotel. Pizza sprawled on the table, his mind was on the crisis that had just occurred. He couldn't focus on anything else. She had the codes, she had the codes. Apparently somebody in the cabinet had defused the situation. She couldn't become President, Hillary was better than her. He simply couldn't allow it. He knew Hillary would stomp her, but it was his mission in this to stop her. Stop that madwoman from sniffing power. She would go crazy.

Mitt chatted with Josh and the kids, when the door-knocked. Mitt got up and opened it, it was Matt.
"Matt! What's going on!" Matt was giddy.
"We got em!..." He jumped and saw Mitt's confusion. "Turn on the dang TV sir!" Mitt smiled and turned to everyone, "we're winners!" The kids cheered as they turned on the television. Ann was just coming in. Wolf Blitzer was just finishing his sentence.
"So Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee, shockingly coming from behind.." the map showed on the TV.

Mitt sat down with a thud on the couch as Ann hugged him and Josh too. They had done it. They had the delegates they needed. Precisely 1,196, carrying majority delegations from all concerns of the nation.
"Let's get the whole team in here!" said Mitt. Soon Meg, Matt, the whole team, and Senator Ayotte gathered in the room. Mitt spoke. "I want to thank everyone. For making this happen, this is so important to our whole team. And I think we all say, for the country." Everyone thought about Palin. "But this we all know, is just beginning. We need to start by picking our Veep, I believe Matt said, right now. We all thought we'd have weeks to decide, but we have minutes." Everyone looked at Mitt, and there was a pause.

Marco

"and....so my friends. We must look to the future. For every American living paycheck to paycheck. Every American without a job, every small business owner struggling to makes ends meet, and yes every man women and children who says. Yes, I want to be an American!" The hall let lose a great cheer. "It's time to believe in America, it's time to believe in a prosperous, strong, and uniquely American future! I believe in America! Do we believe in America!" The crowd screamed a resounding yes. "So do I! And that's why I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America!" The cheers echoed through the halls. "Let's fight for every American, from every corner of this great country, regardless of race, gender, or living standard. Let's believe in the American free market, let's make the 21st century, the American century! Thank you and God Bless you all!"

The convention was in one great cheer. At last, at long last the RNC was unified. Mostly....


Romney picked Rubio, who accepted happily. The pick won over conservatives wary of Romney, and though Ron Paul still led his delegates out of the hall, and Palin's speech was a quiet, obviously reluctant endorsement of Romney. The RNC was salvaged best it could. Newt Gingrich quietly met with Mitt. They talked over how he swung the south, and then went separate ways. Most of the party was endorsing Romney, with the exception of Glenn Beck, who was trying to gather support for a Palin independent bid, but was widely mocked for it. John was recovered, out of surgery. His speech would leave the media starved for context, and the country would be extremely confused. But every detail of the acting presidency was classified. And McCain's surgery was labeled as a "minor cardiovascular issue." But now, it was Romney/Rubio to election day. The election was on.

The Republican Ticket

[OSR stands with Israel]

I would obviously support Romney, but after 12 years of Republican Control of the WH with much of the era being tumultuous, this election will be won by the Democrats.

[KaiserDave]

PRESIDENT McCAIN

DNC a Success!

The DNC was held in the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte North Carolina over three days. It was star studded with speeches from actress Scarlet Johansen, Senator Mark Warner and Evan Bayh, Governors Ted Strickland, Brian Schweitzer, Alex Sink and more. Each day was punctuated with a denunciation of the Bush years, of Cheneyism, and Sarah was Palin was frequently denounced and almost mocked. Senator Obama delivered an eloquent, powerful speech, bringing the entire hall to its feet, and several minutes of constant applause. President Clinton brought the convention to it's feet with his support for his wife, and Senator Feingold brought progressives home with a ringing endorsement of Senator Clinton and a call for progressive reforms. Governor Bredesen got the blue dogs to their feet with a strong primetime endorsement, and although Donald Trump delegates tried some shenanigans to block Clinton, it was totally futile. Donald Trump gave a 1 minute speech, calling Clinton "sad, crooked, so sad." And said Feingold "hates gays, I mean I love the gays." He called Romney, "a pathetic excuse for a candidate. I mean c'mon. I'm so much richer then him, he's pathetic."

Clinton gave a long speech emphasizing the historic nature of her campaign and called for major reforms in healthcare, taxes, and the economy. She also brought progressives to their feet with the line "and on Day one, every soldier HOME from Libya."

The Democrats march united into November, the race is on.



Presidential Job Approval
Approve: 44%
Disapprove: 44%

Vice Presidential Job Approval
Approve: 36%
Disapprove: 57%

US Unemployment Rate
8.7% ↓

RCP Polling Average
Clinton +8 (49, 41)