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AH Run-downs, summaries and general gubbins

Smallest brain: the Democrats and Republicans have always had their same ideologies since time immemorial
Slightly less small brain: the Democrats and Republicans switched in 1964!
Bigger brain: the ideological relationship between the Democrats and Republicans has always been the result of complex economic trends, compromises, patronage, and political alliances of convenience, see if you look at this chart of the urbanization rate of the South---
Galaxy brain: shut up nerd, try writing a TL about something other than elections or wars for once

Hey a timeline with a complex storyline or plot might get confused for publishable literature.
 
I just remembered that AM radio talk show I heard in rural Colorado which argued that Kanye West would lead a mass exodus of African-American voters back into the fold of the Party of Lincoln. It’s also the only place I’ve ever heard seriously talk about Spygate other than Donald Trump himself.

I have to assume it’s an open question whether either host had ever talked to a black person.

I'm getting real pre-midterm 2018 vibes from this post.
 
Speaking of which, I’m really getting reminded here of the way people often talk about Nixon elected in 1960 on the other site: “Nixon elected in 1960 wouldn’t be a crook at all, oh and he’d overthrow Castro easily and do civil rights easier”.

Kim Newman's Dark Future: Route 666 full novel has this amazing section on the wonderful, utopian Solid Sixties under President Nixon, as the documentary remembers how great it was that Nixon overthrow Mad Castro so easily, sorted out civil rights with the [checks notes] Seperate But Equal Act, got rid of those silly laws holding back industry that definitely isn't why most of America is a big desert now...
 
Be The Change You Wish To Sea

May 1, 2052 - American Party Rundown
"The Big Two"
Republican:
America's "Natural Party of Governance" is finally experiencing some growing pains, huh? Decades of fascistic rhetoric finally coming home to roost, huh? Gonna have their first brokered convention since 1976, huh?
- Ben Shapiro: The President has completely shat the bed this year, despite all those columnists saying his re-election chances were pretty secure. He literally had to do something on climate policy but he still cocked that up. Good luck, Ben. You deserve this.
- Nick Fuentes: Last night's rally featured a lovely return to the old "Jews will not replace us" chant. The Senator swears he'll disavow the chant soon, which is very weird because that's something that he should do now instead of putting it off for a rainy day.
Democratic: The inept group that's probably about to make Nick Fuentes president.
- Ziad Ahmed: The brilliant mind behind Manhattan's sea wall can't seem to figure out why everyone hates him and his ideas.
- Julia Salazar: Which of us hasn't had a good laugh at that National Review piece calling her "the real anti-semite in this race"
- Anthony Fantano: no
- Cameron Kasky: Probably the Ying to Ahmed's Yang. Surprisingly popular and with shitty polling compared to surprisingly unpopular and with good polling.
- Natalie Wynn: Really more of a flash in the pan candidate at this point but she's hanging in there.

"Third Parties"
Democratic Socialists of America:
Alright technically not an "official" third party - at least it hasn't been in nearly two decades - but if you counted up all of their members of congress they would easily be #3. Anyway, they've been pretty clear recently that they will not be backing Ahmed if he's the candidate.
Sunrise-Green New Deal: Neither are these guys. They've gone as far as to call the sea walls a "capitulation" in the Climate War. Which, I mean, is fair.
America First: Just about ready to announce the triumph of Fuentes' will or some shit
Moderate: Guess who's a fan of the sea walls?
American Workers: red-brown pact as flailing as usual
Libertarian: Probably just gonna endorse the Republican again

Other Entities
Amazon:
Still dealing with the flack from having their striking engineers mowed down by dronefire
Young Americans League: Fuentes Youth might start getting prosecuted soon if they keep killing counter-protesters. There's only so many deaths you can claim happened "by accident"
Free State of Jefferson: If you'll recall from last week Shapiro and Fuentes almost came to blows at their debate over these guys
Earth Warriors: Eco-terrorists coming out hard for Voluntary Human Extinction. More at 11
Social: Zuckerberg has been seen dining with Shapiro again, uh oh
Right Front: Fuentes' adult militants are lacking the extravagance and media savvy of their young counterparts
Wide Awakes: Seen guarding select undercard Democrats recently, much to the joy of the "ACW2" punditry
 
Be The Change You Wish To Sea

May 1, 2052 - American Party Rundown
"The Big Two"
Republican:
America's "Natural Party of Governance" is finally experiencing some growing pains, huh? Decades of fascistic rhetoric finally coming home to roost, huh? Gonna have their first brokered convention since 1976, huh?
- Ben Shapiro: The President has completely shat the bed this year, despite all those columnists saying his re-election chances were pretty secure. He literally had to do something on climate policy but he still cocked that up. Good luck, Ben. You deserve this.
- Nick Fuentes: Last night's rally featured a lovely return to the old "Jews will not replace us" chant. The Senator swears he'll disavow the chant soon, which is very weird because that's something that he should do now instead of putting it off for a rainy day.
Democratic: The inept group that's probably about to make Nick Fuentes president.
- Ziad Ahmed: The brilliant mind behind Manhattan's sea wall can't seem to figure out why everyone hates him and his ideas.
- Julia Salazar: Which of us hasn't had a good laugh at that National Review piece calling her "the real anti-semite in this race"
- Anthony Fantano: no
- Cameron Kasky: Probably the Ying to Ahmed's Yang. Surprisingly popular and with shitty polling compared to surprisingly unpopular and with good polling.
- Natalie Wynn: Really more of a flash in the pan candidate at this point but she's hanging in there.

"Third Parties"
Democratic Socialists of America:
Alright technically not an "official" third party - at least it hasn't been in nearly two decades - but if you counted up all of their members of congress they would easily be #3. Anyway, they've been pretty clear recently that they will not be backing Ahmed if he's the candidate.
Sunrise-Green New Deal: Neither are these guys. They've gone as far as to call the sea walls a "capitulation" in the Climate War. Which, I mean, is fair.
America First: Just about ready to announce the triumph of Fuentes' will or some shit
Moderate: Guess who's a fan of the sea walls?
American Workers: red-brown pact as flailing as usual
Libertarian: Probably just gonna endorse the Republican again

Other Entities
Amazon:
Still dealing with the flack from having their striking engineers mowed down by dronefire
Young Americans League: Fuentes Youth might start getting prosecuted soon if they keep killing counter-protesters. There's only so many deaths you can claim happened "by accident"
Free State of Jefferson: If you'll recall from last week Shapiro and Fuentes almost came to blows at their debate over these guys
Earth Warriors: Eco-terrorists coming out hard for Voluntary Human Extinction. More at 11
Social: Zuckerberg has been seen dining with Shapiro again, uh oh
Right Front: Fuentes' adult militants are lacking the extravagance and media savvy of their young counterparts
Wide Awakes: Seen guarding select undercard Democrats recently, much to the joy of the "ACW2" punditry



The horror
 
Republican: America's "Natural Party of Governance" is finally experiencing some growing pains, huh? Decades of fascistic rhetoric finally coming home to roost, huh? Gonna have their first brokered convention since 1976, huh?
- Ben Shapiro: The President has completely shat the bed this year, despite all those columnists saying his re-election chances were pretty secure. He literally had to do something on climate policy but he still cocked that up. Good luck, Ben. You deserve this.
- Nick Fuentes: Last night's rally featured a lovely return to the old "Jews will not replace us" chant. The Senator swears he'll disavow the chant soon, which is very weird because that's something that he should do now instead of putting it off for a rainy day.

I think the Democratic field needs a Carter.
 
Down the Clynes: Election 52'

It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. Why it's election season, will the titan of Bevan beat the Giant of Eden, will the Radical Liberals manage to right there ship now that Acland's fucked off, will the Liberals be able to convincing explain Hayek's idea of Monetarism to people and what exactly do the Communists have in store..? Find here and more in our election rundown.

The Conservative Party: The Government at the moment with a Majority of 20, Eden and Lord Woolton have been keeping a tight ship here. Supporting the Welfare State (in a way) despite what the backbenchers lead by Ralph Assheton moan about overspending and how the Government should be Denationalising and all that, ignoring the fact that A).The Nationalisation and Welfare projects are popular with the Public and B). We've just come out of messy War and Depression and the Economy is now in full swing because of these policies. Doesn't matter though the Liberals are taking the Hayek ball and the Tories can see the result of that after the election.

The Labour Party: Nye Bevan is control now and he looks like the man who will bring some fire and zeal back into the Labour Party after the limpness that was Alexander's final years as leader. Preaching a mixture of Workers Democracy, Democratic Socialism and preaching whole heatedly the ideas of Co-Operatives (which makes sense given how the support of the CoOp Party and the CoOperative Group is what allowed him to win the 48 Leadership election against Morrison)the double breasted figure of Nye certainly inspires the Left now more than ever (though his support of the more Socially Liberal aspects of the Left like supporting the decriminalisation of Homosexuality, a pet project of Lord Attlee have got more Conservative voices up in arms). Will his radical ideas such as a National Health Service win or scare off voters? We will have to see

The Radical Liberals: Acland's inability it seems to work with Labour cost the Radicals big, they went from 35 seats and being coalition partners with Labour, to 24 due to Acland leaving the coalition. Now the weird Christian Socialist Liberal has been turfed,a committee lead by William Bevridge and Vernon Bartlett have created the all new Progressive Manifesto that the Rad-Libs will preach and there leader Honour Balfour has gone up and done the country as the Radical Liberal Prophet presenting a new Progressive Welfare State...hmm I think the Christian Socialist thinking hasn’t gone away.

The Liberals: Gwilym Lloyd George is in a tricky situation, he’s desperately trying to avoid the last vestiges of true Liberalism being swallowed whole by Labour, Tories and the bastard offspring the Rad-Libs. So he’s trying a new tactic, let’s revisit classic Liberalism. He’s got Fredrick Hayek to help draw up an all new Liberal vision of Capitalism for the future that will come. The only problem is no one really understands it fully and Lloyd-George fumbles around with some elements of it too. Not a good start.

Communist Party of Great Britain: So in an environment where Labour is offering Democratic Socialism and the Radical Liberals are preaching the closest thing to a Progressive Style Social Democracy they can muster, so what can the Communists do? If it’s send out War Hero John Peck to preach Marxist-Leninism in Nottingham South and cross your fingers that people don’t start asking about the USSR then yes, that’s the plan.

The Commonwealth Party: Originally a mixture of Christian Socialists, Libertarian Socialists, Intellectual Socialists and Disillusioned Former Communists who tried to position themselves to the Left of Alexander’s Labour Party in the hope that they would suck up all the Soldier Socialists and Small C communists after the War. It worked in 1942 and 47 but now there leading stars Denis Healy and Ernest Millington are planning to leave to the ILP/Socialists League dominated Labour and in there wake all they’ll have left is Leila Berg, Geoffrey Trease and Rose Cohen who aren’t as inspiring.

British Fascist Party: They keep on saying there not Nazi’s and not funded by Mussolini. They keep on ruining this by getting into street battles with Communists, Jewish shop owners and the various ethnic minorities that live in the cities across Britain, seen parading as members of the Fascist International and the fact that the accounts are full of funding irregularities. William Joyce is still the leader but this aging Fascist demagogue in the making is looking rather precarious compared to there only MP Andrew Fountaine a defector from the Conservatives, who is somehow worse.

Social Credit Party: Despite the fact that no one really understands Social Credit and Mr Douglas’s ideas, Mosley claims he does. The Party is considered by many to be the ‘Thinking Man’s Fascist Party’ due to it’s habits to invoke Nationalist and Anti-Semitic elements but unlike the Fascists they don’t go around beating up folks and Mosley is a charismatic lunatic. Popular with Farmers it seems.
 
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I Just Wanted A Stalinist Upper Peninsula And This Is What I Got, Or, Parliamentary America May 2020:


The Government:

The Federalist Party (297 seats): I agree misogyny played a major part in all the shit Ann Wagner have had to take internally, but she did pretty much murder Mitt Romney in broad daylight. At least no one asks them about Borneo any more (it's still on fire, btw).

New Millennium Democratic Partnership (7 seats): You know what, I'm glad Marshall Tuck demanded seats in the cabinet in exchange for his support. Sure, he's planning to do for teacher's what the government's already doing for the Dayaks, but at least he looks happy doing it which is more than I can say about his Federalist colleagues.


The Coalition

Labor Party (170 seats): John Kasich managed to get himself photographed with some Stonewall Socialist Society activists at the Chicago May Day rally without anyone involved looking actively repulsed. Good for him.

People's Party (39 seats): With how happy Presley is about the Jackson by-election you'd think they actually won it and will sweep the black belt come 2022. They didn't and they won't, but I guess everyone needs something to celebrate from time to time.

Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party (5 seats): Fuck you, we're not just a local affiliate of Labor trying to be special. No, we won't explain how.

Non-Partisan Cooperative Alliance (4 seats): Rumors going around that they're planning to merge with the populists, which could mean interesting things for politics on the high plains if a) we hadn't gotten those rumors quarterly for the last century and b) anyone outside political nerd twitter gave a shit.

Ernie Chambers (Ernie Chambers): Still suing twitter for banning him, which is unfortunate since it distracts from the actually very relevant questions he asked the Foreign Secretary about President Sutarmidji.


The Rest of the Opposition

Independent Federalists (26 seats): Starring: Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney's family and Mitt Romney's fan club. Not starring: any real hope of a political future.

Republican Party (22 seats): If we could harness the energy generated by how angry not being invited into the government makes Jim Davies we'd be carbon neutral by next week. And then the Republicans would be useful for once, too!

The Lone Star (10 seats): Not gonna lie, I didn't expect them to go in the "having Opinions about 5G" direction but I'm here for it.

Western Liberty Project (7 seats): Another state legislator got caught Asking Questions about the holocaust so I guess they should be glad Bob Bird decided to do his "no law passed since 1979 is actually legal" routine again.

Raza Unida (5 seats): If they do manage to cut a deal with Labor for the next election that would pretty much kill any chances the Arizona Labor Party have to rebuild at the federal level. Oh no how sad etc etc.

Revolutionary Communist League (3 seats): The protracted people's war is going great! If by "protracted people's war" you mean "electoral politics in the deep south" and if by "great" you mean "barely holding of the populists in Jackson". Mao would be proud.

Ecology (2 seats): California's bracing itself for spending the next half year being literally on fire so the electoral wing of the American environmentalist movement decided to spend the week complaining about "gender ideology". That makes sense.

Communist Party USA (1 seat): No, we still don't have any voters outside the UP and Appalachia. No, that's not likely to change. No, we won't stop thinking Stalin was cool. No, the reason we hate the RCL isn't that they're 95% black. Please stop asking that.

Left Unity (1 seat): Matt Gonzales held a town hall in a homeless camp which at least played well on twitter. Oh, you wanted to know what they're doing outside the Bay area? Ha.
 
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Galactic Republic-Sanctioned Force Orders

Je’daii Order: The Je’Daii are the original Force Order, having been founded nearly 11,000 years before the Galactic Republic on the Deep Core planet of Tython. While Closely associated with the Galactic Republic, the Je’Daii still maintain their independence from Coruscant, and a rivalry with the more martial-minded Sith. They mostly focus on the Galactic North, striking a balance between the Guardians’ Defensive monasticism and the Sith’s Aggressive militarism.

Knights of Sith: The Sith originated from the chaos of the Tionese War, when a group of warriors, skilled in the Force held off the Tionese while the Republic was floundering without a fleet. A Sith-backed All-Hands Flotilla turned back the Tionese at the Battle of Alsakan, buying the Republic’s shipyards enough time to fully dedicate themselves to the war effort. The Sith were granted suzerainty over the Tion Cluster after the war, and in the millennia since, the Sith have expanded their influence throughout the Galactic East. Unrest has begun to grow within the ranks of the Sith, with many feeling the increasing dividends of Guild Contracts has distracted the Leadership from their supposed Honor.

Guardians of the Whills: The Guardians of the Whills were founded as the Mid Rim’s answer to the Je’Daii, centered on the NaJedha System. From their desert moon headquarters, the Guardians oversee a network of Monasteries, Hospitals, and Peacekeepers across the Galactic South. They are inherently tied to the colonization of the Mid and Outer Rim, and more often than not, when someone threatens your frontier settlement, you call the Guardians. The Je’Daii are too concerned with the more settled world of the Core, and the Sith too concerned with their Guild clientele.

Magisters of Jal Shey: The Jal Shey are not a Force Order in the Traditional Sense, but are rather a collective of Places of Education, specializing in studying The Force from a purely academic viewpoint. They were founded by the Galactic Republic to be a secular equivalent of the Je’daii. One of their number recently claimed to have discovered a type of microbe that “Creates Force-Sensitivity” and was promptly laughed out of the Conference.
 
April 16, 2020 - pol/us/frontpage

Pan-Gold Alliance: You may think it's dumb that our political system is so oriented around trilateral relations that the entire spectrum of Pacificist parties compete to field one (1) presidential candidate. I think it's worth it to see Dino Rossi realize, on live television in the middle of a debate, that a) Tulsi Gabbard is for real b) Tulsi Gabbard is really running c) Tulsi Gabbard will probably win the nomination d) Tulsi Gabbard might well win the election e) he's likely going to have to vote to take down the dams on the Columbia River if he doesn't want to lose access to all that sweet, sweet, zaibatsu money.
New Whig Party: President Bush is definitely not running for a fifth term. Definitely not. ...Unless...​
Progressive Ecology Party: Korean sweatshops and mining penal colonies, but woke. One of their State Reps flew down from Alaska to protest the Neches River Intermodal Terminal and got in the news for passing out due to heatstroke, while the Governor of the party is literally evicting First Nations to New Industrial City Zones so it looks like they're not just a massive scam. Priorities!​
National Liberal Party: Allen West doesn't know what all these Anglo conservatives are doing joining his party, but he sure isn't happy about it. I suppose entryism is a valid concern, but also, where else are they really going to go? Although admittedly most of the new members seem to be doing this out of a sense of "I swear to God I'm not racist".​

Pan-Red Alliance: Stop trying to make the National Confederation of Trade Unions joining the CIO happen, it's not going to happen. Definitely stop talking about the General Strike of 2004, which the NCTU sees as "that time all those Moscow people shut down our jobsites for something we didn't even want to be involved in".
National Labor Party: Socialism for people who don't really care about politics. Everybody is just sort of hoping that Aiken can mouth the right words about "working-class values" for long enough that he can be the next Reagan. Good luck with that?​
Social Democratic Party: Socialism for people who care about politics. Cory Booker, what are you doing here? It would make a lot more sense if you were just trying to run for President, but no, you're just continuing to talk about housing issues, as one does. Good for you.​
Communist Party of the United States of America: Socialism for people who really, really care about politics. It's weirder to think about them having actual power in a state than to think about that being in a coalition with the Pan-Goldists of all the people.​
National Youth Alliance: Platform items! Nothing about foreign policy! Just the job guarantee! They sure do know their audience.​

"Outsider Parties":
National Values Party: Half of their Board of Executives went to Italy and praised both Mussolinis, which would very possibly sink a normal party. After the "our Presidential nominee is a secret member of the Silver Shirts" thing from last time, though, I don't especially think anyone cares.​
Republican Party: The last holdout of the Party of Hoover, Rockefeller, and Romney. Pretty proud of the last one, which is why they're probably never leaving the Jello Belt. Senator Huntsman is becoming increasingly visibly uncomfortable with being in a caucus with Trent Lott and Alan Keyes, which is probably a lot more entertaining than it is significant.​
Democratic Party: Still chugging along, pumping out gerontocratic mayors in East Coast cities. Their contingent on the Philadelphia City Council has started holding independent meetings since new Mayor Krasner said "we should do reforms somewhat", which means that they both get to do what they do best: the reformists get to run around looking lost and fumble new initiatives into somehow passing, and the Democrats get to sit around in community centers and glare at passing teenagers for existing.​
Non-Partisan League: The "The Other Moscow" joke is getting a little old by this point. Not that running things from a college town in Idaho was really a good idea to begin with for an ostensibly international party. Though it sure beats that creepy goat costume from 2010.​
National Action: Alan Keyes is not a thing, even if he did manage to win a congressional election by, like, half a point.​
Solutions Party: Winning votes from garage dads who listen to border blasters and drink craft beer since 2002.​
 
Jackson-Natchez by-election, April 16 2020
Turnout:13.2% (-52.9%)

Kizzi Asante (Revolutionary Communist League)
37.1 % (-8.2%)

Imari Lumumba kept the RCL's vote in southwest Mississippi artificially large by working very hard massaging the more conservative counties outside Jackson, and regularly won a surprising slice of the white vote. Ms. Asante, a Jackson City Councillor, have not managed (and if my sources are to be trusted, tried) to replicate that so the district is reverting to its natural state, where the communists have to rely on their base in Jackson. There are also rumors of internal issues within the local RCL chapter, and Asante appears to have ruffled a few feather's by beating Lumumba's son in the selection process. She will probably be reselected in two years, but depending on polling and internal politics that could very well change.

Kenneth Banks (People's Party)
35.2% (+23.8%)

As I said above we shouldn't read too much into the Populist's surge, but Rev. Banks was still a solid recruitment who ran a proper, if quiet campaign which managed to win over a lot of the soft left black evangelical vote that have been reliably communist for decades. If I ran the RCL in Mississippi I'd look over my religious outreach operation and if I ran the populist's I'd put up Banks for a state lege seat next year.

Michelle Jackson (Federalist Party)
22.6% (+0.2%)

State Representative Jackson is a trooper. Not only have she held down a seat in the state lege that normally wouldn't give a Fed the time of day since the 1980's, but this is the seventh time she contests this seat. The personal vote she have built up in that time is quite impressive, and I don't expect the Federalists to retain it or her seat once she retires.

Robinson Stewart (Republican)
3.7% (-15.1%)

The Republicans have had a solid presence in the district since the majority of its residences got the vote so you'll see a lot of post-election commentary wondering what happened and what the hell's wrong with Robinson Stewart. The answer is that the Republican vote here was a Haley MacMahon vote, and got spread with the same wind that spread his ashes last year. Stewart is by all accounts a perfectly nice man and have done a good job at United Way, but in a district's that's mostly black, poor, religious and left-wing there isn't much room for cookie cutter white middle-class liberalism.

W.S.A. Harmon (Independent)
1.1% (n/a)

His campaign material emphasized how he was the only candidate who wasn't black or in favor of abortion, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it takes you roughly five minutes of googling on a bad connection to tie him to the KKK.

Michael White (Independent)
0.2% (+0.1%)

A perennial presence, Mr. White's literature identifies him as a member of the Worker's Front, a one-man outfit that haven't been registered with any official body as of yet. Does not appear to be entirely well so I won't go into any details, but definitely A Character.
 
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Meet Columbia, my own little idea for an alternate, parliamentary non-US America. I'm still developing the concept and the list of First-Citizens but this is an overview of the party system in the late 19th century. But the general idea was to give it an American feel without having it become some sort of Canada-in-the-US either.

On the borders, the western border is the Missouri River, the southern border is the Mason–Dixon line extended westwards until reaching the Missouri (still looking for a good justification for this).

Columbian Political Parties (1869)

National Party: After 25 years of uninterrupted government and 13 of peace, the National Party has both a lot and little to celebrate on its governmental silver jubilee. The untimely death of Fenton in 1866 casts a long shadow that Cox hasn't quite managed to occupy despite being on his third year as First-Citizen. The party has spent the better part of the last five years wrecked by divisions.

If the Morgan years saw the end of the war, the defeat of the Federal insurgency, the reform of the country and the implementation of the National vision of a strong, centralised government; the party has seen an explosion of internal cleavages over all other issues that have been laid to rest during most of the Morgan government. Fenton's election by the party conference in 1863 drove many restrictionists away, many of whom abandoned the National ship to run as 'Independent Nationals' or 'Restrictionist Nationals'. And again, just before last year's general election, the Nationals suffered, yet again, more defections. This time from economic liberals who stood at odds with the economic nationalism expressed in the manifesto. The liberal rebels formed the Democratic Party - abandoning the National brand altogether.

But in exchange for suffering the loss of influential congressmen, the National Party is finally a cohesive force and one with a healthy congressional majority. Economically interventionist, militantly anti-clodhopper and moderate on immigration, it seemed just a few months ago that the situation was good. But now, the country is coming to terms with its first post-war economic panic. At least there will be no elections until 1872.

Besides relief measures, there is not a lot the government can do, as Cox and his government are coming to terms with the situation, and seem, frankly, quite lost. Luckily for them, with the exception of the Democrats, it is not like the opposition has much clearer ideas about what to do - and the Democratic answer of not doing anything is worse even.

Meanwhile, the situation in the West is becoming a hot potato for the government. Westerners and new immigrants illegally cross the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to join the clodhopper republics or to simply and freely settle wherever they may please. Others, are squatting on Indian land. The Dakota have reacted - with brutal efficiency - and killed or expelled white settlers. This has put the military in the odd position of having to join forces with the Indians to enforce the lands awarded under the 1860 Indian Relations Act to fight white settlers. And only two years after Philadelphia finally declared the clodhopper insurgency over. And frankly, seeing a National government killing whites to defend Indians is the kind of ammunition the Populists can only dream of - if they weren't just as lost as the governing party.


People's Party: The Populists, led by Lucius French, managed to make inroads in western Columbia in last year election, winning a majority of rural seats west of the Ohio and even making inroads in the Allegheny Basin. They even gained a seat in the Upper Hudson thanks to Timothy Wright's role in the manorial revolt against the patroons. And although the prospects of the party have improved, especially with the wave of bankruptcies caused by the panic, the Populists are incredibly divided.

"Frontists" and "realists" agree on most issues: the west is the land of God and Whites, not the Indians, that autonomy - federalism would not be a political smart word to use - is the only right way to organise the country, that immigrants should vote and that tariffs should be kept low to facilitate exports of agricultural products. But they are divided on how to spread that message and on the question of what to do with the clodhoppers, often former Federalists themselves, that keep moving into the Oregon Country and stirring trouble with Columbian troops in the Missouri border and worse, with Britain.

The stain of fundamentally standing for a watered down version of the old Federalist platform makes the party toxic in much of the country. Many Populists - the so-called realists to be precise - fear that French & co.'s use of the hyperbolic and aggressive messages can lead the party down the same path as the Federalists, except they lack the option of forming a party militia. They also worry - rightly - that it will alienate the many voters they would need to win an election and govern, as they say, branding the Nationals the enemies of Whites and God alike is not good (enough).

But if they think that, for now, the party of the West can win an election by appealing to recent arrivals (who in any case are disenfranchised since 1859), Catholics and westerners, regardless of the language, they are not much more sophisticated than the frontists.


Democratic Party: The group of liberals led by Edwin Conrad that form the Democratic Party are the inverse of the Populists. They have a clear program, but they lack voters.

The party advocated laissez-faire economics, free trade and hard currency and as little public debt as possible. Conrad's group - some 35 congressmen - abandoned the National ship over differences on economic policy after the epic showdown of 1868. Although many in the party think that their promise of low tariffs and a hard currency can attract western farmers and eastern industrialists alike, it seems they will please no one. To boot, Conrad's group is still perceived - and frankly it is - as just as elitist and Yankee as the National Party by western farmers. Ultimately their mix of economic policies have limited appeal outside of affluent neighbourhoods in Boston, Philadelphia or New York City, where trade with Britain and a stable currency are seen as their economic lifeline.

And then there is the fact that the Democrats are not so democratic when it comes to the franchise, as they advocate for increasing the poll tax from the current $5 to $25, which would disenfranchise a good proportion of Columbia's working class - east and west.


"Restrictionist National" Group: In 1859, the Nationals passed the Suffrage and Elections Acts. At the time, the compromise where political participation was restricted but not immigration itself had pleased the party but not one of the party's key constituencies - North-Eastern native workers. As the waves of poor Europeans, often Irish, often Catholic, came to Columbia to work in the growing factories, Yankee workers resented the unfair competition for jobs as the new arrivals were willing to work for lower salaries. And so, it would only take a year or so before nativist grumbling in the party started again. But the election of Fenton in 1863 as National Party leader ended hopes of the party moving towards a restrictionist, nativist position.

The result was that several congressmen from Massachussets Bay and the Connecticut provinces that were considered particularly close to workers and anti-Catholic middle class activists formed their own Restrictionist National ticket ahead of the 1864 election, and again in 1868.

All in all, Eliphalet Banks' and Hugh Hoppin's collection of Yankee nativists and anti-Catholic hardliners don't differ that much from the position of the official National Party besides immigration. On immigration, they don't just want to guarantee that non-native-born can't run for office or that the naturalisation process takes longer, but to cut down very significantly on immigration, particularly from the wrong places - Ireland, Italy, Canada and other such places. Even Nordics and Germans aren't that well-perceived unless they continue on their merry way to the West.

But their single issue might yet prove a vote-winner for them. As factories close down, workers lose their jobs, farmers their land and families their homes, the Restrictionists offer a simple solution - to stop immigration altogether.
 
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Credit to @Wolfram for sharing the original article on The Other Place.

State of the Primary Field, 2nd November 2019

Democratic
  • Frmr. Vice President Chet Edwards:
    • Still trading heavily on liberal nostalgia for Sharpton's time as President, and somehow the implied association with TaxGate hasn't caught up yet. Or his gun control record. Or his civil rights record. At this rate it's possible that bullets just bounce off him and directly into his competitors.
  • EMILY's List President Teresa Vilmain:
    • With her polling numbers starting to dip and a lacklustre performance in the last debate, Vilmain has decided that now is the time to go all-in on the subject of voting rights. This is your daily reminder that the average Iowan thinks that "gerrymandering" is that guy who hosted that late-night chat show on CBS.
  • Governor Robert Kerr III:
    • Starting to flag now that Edwards is poaching his rural moderate son-of-the-soil schtick. Given that he's just offering the same stuff as Edwards minus energy policy and the mental health focus, he's probably just still here for a Cabinet position.
  • Frmr. Secretary of Health & Human Services Alan Wheat:
    • Trying to make a pitch as the left-wing candidate now that everyone assumes Vilmain is spiralling. Probably should have thought about doing this a few months ago, but better late than never. Plus, once Vilmain's campaigning reflexes kick in again she can remind everyone what else he's been doing for the past 8 years--don't think those college activists like lobbyists for Pfizer.
  • Senator Donna Brazile:
    • Still here and still running, for reasons only God knows. Given how competitive her seat is, she should have dropped out to contest it, but apparently the fragile Democratic Senate majority means far, far less than the approval of 7% of Iowans.
Republican
  • Governor John Rowland:
    • Still managing to be all things to all people--the conservatives like his law-and-order policies, the centrists like his city regeneration measures, the remaining liberals likes his child rights stuff, the hawks like his NATO promises. The only problem is some bullshit the New York Daily News are spinning about his vacation home, but that'll blow over in a week.
  • Frmr. Governor Patrick Nolan:
    • Going extremely heavy on the Jesus now that Hutchinson's dropped out and the evangelical vote is up for grabs. Apparently racketeering charges which don't stick are just God's way of telling you to burn some hippies rediscover your inner strength.
  • Special Advisor Mari Will:
    • Won't stop talking about how much confidence President Walker put in her, which, I mean, you wrote his speeches, you're not exactly Clark Clifford. Also, Walker is possibly the first man in American history to have a negative personal vote, so no-one really cares. How is someone who masterminded so many great campaigns so bad at their own?
  • Secretary of the Interior Scott McInnis:
    • His campaign ads have mentioned national parks so often I now visualise McInnis's face whenever my wife talks about a road trip. Sure Scott, play on your wildlife preservation. If there's one thing Republican voters love, it's the environment.
  • Frmr. Chair of the Federal Reserve Elise Schoux:
    • From her performance in last week's debate, it's pretty obvious that she'd really rather be sitting in a nice meeting-room in Zurich discussing fiscal policy, rather than holding speeches in Bumsex, Missouri so that she can come one, rather than two, places beneath a speechwriter with an ego problem. Treasury Secretary can't be worth all this.
 
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