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Alternate Wikibox Thread

What I was planning was that Sturgeon resigns as SNP leader after the 2019 election, is acting leader through to the leadership election, and then Cherry wins the leadership election while in the HoC and becomes First Minister. Sturgeon then resigns her seat which allows Cherry to enter Holyrood, while in the meantime Swinney leads the party there. This by-election is delayed by the coronavirus, and I have half a mind to make it December 12th.
hyped for the two main positions of the scottish national party
1. Independence and Freedom for all Scots.
2. WOMYN HAVE A CERVIX
 
What I was planning was that Sturgeon resigns as SNP leader after the 2019 election, is acting leader through to the leadership election, and then Cherry wins the leadership election while in the HoC and becomes First Minister. Sturgeon then resigns her seat which allows Cherry to enter Holyrood, while in the meantime Swinney leads the party there. This by-election is delayed by the coronavirus, and I have half a mind to make it December 12th.
I would've sprung for someone like Humza Yousaf but I like yours a lot better, it feels a lot more realistic to have all this good shit happen and then have one turd in the punch bowl
 
THE FOOTITE CONSENSUS

If you told someone in 1981 that Michael Foot would win the 1983 Election in a landslide, they would call you crazy. However, events transpired in a way so cataclysmic for the Conservatives that it ended up making Michael Foot the longest serving Prime Minister of the 21st Century. The failure of the Conservative government to take back the Falklands, the persistence of Prime Minister Thatcher to call a general election four years into the term, when an election could have been called as late as 1984, and the manifesto pledge from Foot in the election to return the Falklands to British stewardship all mixed to create a cocktail of mortal proportions for the chances of the Conservatives winning the election. That, and the Labour Party, which once seemed destined to splinter, stayed completely together.

In the end, Michael Foot won over four hundred seats, the first time this had occured since the 1930s, and won the largest popular vote percentage since the 1951 election. The popular vote total was a new record. For the first time in history, the sitting Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, lost her Finchley seat to the Labour candidate, Lawrence Spiegel. Several Conservative frontbenchers and backbenchers alike were felled in the landslide, including several potential leadership contenders. Margaret Thatcher had a shocked look on her face when she realised that she had lost her seat, and the country, by such a large margin. Thatcher made one last speech in front of the press at Downing Street, before heading into the Prime Ministerial car, with a tear in her eye, to hand in her resignation to the Queen and recommend her to send for Michael Foot. Naturally, the Queen accepted Thatcher's resignation, and she then invited Michael Foot to form a new government, which he accepted.

The new Prime Minister then headed to Downing Street where he made a speech thanking the public for their strong vote of confidence in him, and then headed off inside, with his wife Jill by her side. The oldest Prime Minister since Winston Churchill; he turned 70 next month, started forming his new cabinet, which was almost entirely the same as the Shadow Cabinet. Peter Shore was made Chancellor of the Exchequer. Roy Hattersley was made Home Secretary. Denis Healey was made Foreign Secretary. John Silkin was made Defence Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, John Smith was made Secretary of State for Energy, while Neil Kinnock was made Science and Education Secretary. Left wing firebrand Tony Benn was made Minister without Portfolio, though rumours were that he was to be given a promotion to the Foreign Office soon enough. Whatever the matters, the government had a strong mandate to fulfill their manifesto, and shape Britain in their image.


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If you told someone in 1981 that Michael Foot would win the 1983 Election in a landslide, they would call you crazy. However, events transpired in a way so cataclysmic for the Conservatives that it ended up making Michael Foot the longest serving Prime Minister of the 21st Century. The failure of the Conservative government to take back the Falklands, the persistence of Prime Minister Thatcher to call a general election four years into the term, when an election could have been called as late as 1984, and the manifesto pledge from Foot in the election to return the Falklands to British stewardship all mixed to create a cocktail of mortal proportions for the chances of the Conservatives winning the election. That, and the Labour Party, which once seemed destined to splinter, stayed completely together.
It's gotta be Major '97 next lol
 
It's gotta be Major '97 next lol
Well about that...
"And as Big Ben strikes ten, the polls close, and we can give you the results of our exit poll. We've spoken to fourteen thousand people in two hundred constituencies tonight, and, er, we hope they've been telling us the truth."

Big Ben strikes ten.

"There it is, ten o'clock, and we say John Major is to remain Prime Minister and a majority is possible but not certain. And reaction from Huntingdon already up there on the right in the Conservative club, all applauding there. Labour Party headquarters, rather more sombre scenes. So, here are the details, John Major is to remain Prime Minister and this is why: Conservatives 40%, Labour 34% according to our exit poll, that would be around the same vote that they got five years ago in 1992, and possibly even worse. The Liberal Democrats on 20 percent, that's an increase of a couple percent from the last election, others on 6."
View attachment 23469
 
The Red Book of Appin

“What’s this about, Mitch? I’ve been hearing—“

“I know what you’ve been hearing, Senator, and I know you’re the only holdout we have left.”

“C’mon, you’re not seriously following through with this?! Matt and the new lady doing that is enough political theatre for one day.”

“It’s within the interest of the party that we pursue this action.”

“Well I’m not gonna have any part of it. Now if you don’t mind, you’re in my office.”

“Yes, this office which I worked to get you, Senator. We had to sweep all sorts of things under the rug in order to grant you the privilege of joining us here in congress. I have people who’d be more than glad to shake a few things out form under there.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I absolutely will, you milquetoast stick-in-the-mud! You *will* fall in line or by Monday morning the Salt Lake Tribune editor is going to find carbon copies detailing your little ’timeshares’ on their front desk.”

“…I—“

“I trust you’ll do right by the country, Senator.”

“…Yes Mitch.”

“Excuse me?”

“I-I mean, yes, of course, sir. Yes sir.”

- private conversation in the Senate Office of Mitt Romney (R-UT)

PENCE: Do any members of either chamber object to the final count?
GAETZ: Mister Vice President, I object to the validity of these counts from the states of Pennsylvania and Arizona.
PENCE: The Gentleman from Florida objects. Does anyone from the Senate second this?
GRAHAM: Mister Vice President, I second it.
PENCE: The gentleman from South Carolina seconds this objection. Both houses will now proceed to deliberate on these objections.
LEE: Mister Vice President, point of order?
PENCE: Debate is not in order.
LEE: Mister Vice President, I object to the validity of these—
PENCE: Debate is not in order.
LEE: Mister V—
PENCE: Debate is not in order. The gentlewoman from California will suspend.
GREEN: Mister Vice President, point of order?
PENCE: Debate is not in order. The gentleman—
GREEN: An objection must be signed by both a rep—
PENCE: Debate is not in order. The gentleman from Texas will suspend.
GREEN: The objection was signed—
PENCE: The gentleman from Texas will be removed from the chamber by the Sargent at Arms.
- extract from CSPAN, Joint session of congress on electoral college ballot certification

Can they do that? Answer: Yes! Academics weigh in on Electoral Collage Swindle!
- CNN

9 killed, 43 injured during Electoral Certification protests
- MSNBC

“I don’t know why ANTIFA are getting their soy boy knickers in a twist! Trump hasn’t done anything remotely CLOSE to a coup! All this is gonna result in is both houses of congress deliberating on whether or not these objections are solid. It’s just theatre. Stop being so triggered!
- Conservative commentator and “comedian” Steven Crowder

There’s no way they’re gonna do this. It’s too stupid.
- anonymous board poster

Senate rejects Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania electors by majority vote
- MSNBC

House majority unanimously rejects objection to vote counts
- Fox News

Supreme Court remains silent on EC rejection
- the Daily Beast

"As Mike Pence still presides as Vice President and therefore President of the United States Senate, he can technically decide on exemptions to any rules involving the proceedings. So this means he can outright reject the House's standing on the electoral collage and instead proceed with the ruling set by the Senate."
- extract from Vox article.

BREAKING: PENCE DECLARES 'INVALID' ELECTORAL VOTES FOR TRUMP, DEMOCRATS WALK OUT OF CONGRESS
- CNN

"CIVIL WAR IMMINENT!!!!!"
- @Timcast

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“The sixteen-year long regime of "Landslide" Lyndon Johnson is often described as one of the most transformative eras in American history, serving as the nation’s longest-reigning leader with his legacy still being disputed amongst historians to this day. Beginning his career as little more than a volunteer schoolteacher-turned-political aide, it was no secret that Lyndon Johnson had higher ambitions early in his career, planning to use his political connections to possibly run for Congress in his home state of Texas. However, these ambitions for higher office would be cut short following the March on Washington and the arrest of President Roosevelt during the White House Putsch. The subsequent rise of the Legion Party and Secretary-General Butler had plunged Johnson into the world of military politics, after his political patron, John Nance Garner, voiced his support for the Legion.

Following the Putsch, Johnson took advantage of his political connections to President Garner to be appointed as a reserve commander of the US Army. During this same period, opposition to the Legion had begun a violent and chaotic phase in American history known as “The Pacification” in which a myriad of resistance groups attempted to rebel against the authority of Washington. Throughout the Pacification, Johnson would command a series of political re-education camps across the American Southwest, which often housed participants of worker-led rebellions from the Steel Belt. While the inhuman exploitation of these prisoners remains well-known to this day, Johnson’s efficient labor management and political reliability had earned him a great deal of praise from higher-ranking members of the military brass. However, his position as America’s most powerful prison warden would slowly begin to lose its influence following the official end of the five-year-long Pacification.

Eventually, the tides began to turn in Johnson’s favor, as the death of Butler would make way for a new American caudillo whose brash, hard-driving personality earned him adoration from the American people. With the support of the party, the army, and President Prescott Bush himself, General George Patton would be sworn in as the next Secretary-General of America and quickly went to work appointing a new cabinet. Johnson himself would be appointed as Administrator of Veterans Affairs, a position which nominally held little influence other than organizing government programs that would ensure the well-being of American veterans. However, the Legion itself had also been originally founded to ensure the well-being of American veterans and would often turn to Johnson as their unofficial ambassador to the President. In turn, Patton, who had little interest and almost no understanding of party politics would task Johnson to ensure that the Legion would fall in line with his own plans for America.

Often using his imposing height and grandiose mannerisms to his advantage, Johnson became known as Patton’s “browbeater-in-chief”, commanding an incredible level of influence in the smoke-filled rooms of Legion politics. His job of ensuring cooperation between the Party and the President would prove to be incredibly crucial throughout the Pacific War, when Japan launched its fatal invasion of the Philippines. Johnson’s role in organizing the war effort would allow him to push for the mobilization of veterans, the participation of women in the workforce, and increased influence for government-backed trade unions. During this time, it was rumored that Patton’s personal distrust for “career politicians” had been a major factor in his decision to grant Johnson a greater level of influence in organizing the war effort than President Bush himself. A decision that would later spell Patton’s doom.

Eventually, the Japanese war machine would be brought to its knees after Operation Morning Star, a massive nuclear attack against the Japanese mainland. Following the surrender of the Emperor and the American occupation, public attention turned to post-war reconstruction on the domestic front. As Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Johnson began to take a more public approach in matters of governance, becoming America’s chief advocate for Pacific War veterans. Johnson would eagerly translate massive popularity amongst the American public into support for his 1948 Presidential campaign to replace the outgoing President Bush. As Patton’s greatest protégé was nominated by the Party and voted into power without any opposing candidates, it seemed that Johnson had reached his absolute zenith of power. However, this perception would soon change when Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a Medal of Honor recipient and prominent advocate for civil rights was lynched to death by the Klan in a horrific act witnessed by dozens.

While the perpetrators of the murder were later acquitted by an all-white jury, President Patton was unwilling to stomach an act of terror against a decorated war hero. This would all come to a head when Patton, once apathetic on the issue of civil rights, began to spell out his plans for the desegregation of the Armed Forces. And the public, who had already grown weary of America’s sluggish post-war economic recovery began to riot in the streets, seeing Patton’s proposal as an attack on their American values. As the fears of a Second March on Washington became all too clear, Johnson quickly moved to dismiss Patton as Secretary-General. This was considered an unprecedented move, for even though a sitting President could dismiss members of his cabinet, the dismissal of a Secretary-General, had never occurred throughout the Legion’s two decades in power. In fact, history had proven the opposite to be true, if Huey Long’s resignation was anything to go by.

After Patton agreed to peacefully leave office, Johnson’s advisors began to suggest names such as Edgar Hoover, Pierre du Pont, or Alfred Sloan as possible replacements for Patton. However, Johnson refused all of them and declared that he would appoint no one but himself as Secretary-General. The American people remained relatively supportive of this action, thanks to Johnson’s support for state’s rights and populist economic reforms. The army, led by the anti-Semitic and deeply nativist George Van Horn Moseley was happy to put a champion of veteran’s rights and opponent of desegregation into power. And the Legion figured that after all the infighting that occurred between Patton and Bush, with Butler and Long quarreling before that, perhaps the system of two leaders needed to die. With the support of America behind him, President-Secretary-General Johnson quickly announced his grandiose plans for a “Great Society”, providing education, health, and welfare to the people of America.

Another feature of the Johnson administration was how the election of 1952, had become the freest in Legion history. For the first time, voters had could choose from a myriad of liberal, socialist, progressive, and fascist parties. However, the political opposition had little time to organize against the popular incumbent that led America to victory, leading to Johnson’s re-election, with 74.9% of the popular vote. During his second term, Johnson would begin to marginalize the oligarchs who benefited off of the Legion’s corporatist policies from politics in favor of his redistributionist policies. Despite plans from the “economic royalists” to oust Johnson, the President’s stranglehold over party politics ensured his unanimous re-nomination and re-election as 65.4% of voters cast their ballots for the Legion. As America began to transfer to a semi-democratic system of government, Johnson’s use of political patronage and populist mannerisms ensured his own popularity amongst the voters throughout his early years.

The level of massive turnout in favor of Johnson had earned the President the moniker “Landslide Lyndon” amongst American voters as every single state would cast their ballots for the Legion in the elections of 1952 and 1956. And while opposition to the Legion had gained some prominence throughout the 50s, factions that stood against the Legion were crippled by infighting and immense pro-Johnson media bias. The greatest of Landslide Lyndon’s detractors would be anti-Indochina War activist and Liberal Party chairman, Barry Goldwater, who criticized the nuclear destruction of Haiphong as, “American imperialism enforced by tyranny and hellfire.” However, Goldwater’s attempts at forming a United Opposition were hampered by the rising popularity of progressive leaders such as Ronald Reagan, who were alienated by Goldwater’s pro-corporate views. Despite Goldwater’s political failures, he would remain a free man throughout his entire life, unlike other opposition members who were detained as "risks to internal security" or in the case of Thomas Dewey, mysteriously disappeared.

Eventually, the new decade had come around and the people of America were all too eager to re-elect the man who had built the Great Society for a fourth term. Despite this, Johnson had grown weary of governance and had already accomplished his plans to bring prosperity to the American people. While Johnson had originally planned for Vice President Richard Nixon to replace him, Nixon had been assassinated by a communist demonstrator during a diplomatic visit to Peru. And with no other candidates popular, capable, or loyal enough to succeed Landslide Lyndon, the President would be re-elected with 61.2% of the vote in an election marred by allegations of fraud. During the first half of his fourth term, Johnson would begin a series of minor reforms, granting independence for the Philippines, abolishing the Department for Genetic Hygiene, and desegregating of the armed forces which, ironically enough, faced little opposition.

As Johnson began to take a more hands-off approach to governance he would delegate power to entrusted cabinet members such as John Connally, Abe Fortas, Walter Jenkins, and Malcolm Wallace. Known as the Texan Mafia by political detractors, the group would later include the First Lady herself, Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, a senior executive at Columbia Broadcasting Systems. During the early Johnson years, Lady Bird’s sway over the media would be seen as a major cause of solidifying her husband’s power and delegitimizing opposition to the Legion, making her the true force behind Lyndon’s Landslides. Soon, Lady Bird’s public image would transform as the Johnson years creaked on, transforming from the dutiful First Lady to a Lady Macbeth who ran America from behind closed doors, keeping her philandering husband busy with legions of secretaries. Johnson’s popularity would take yet another blow after the fall of Fascist Italy while shockwaves of the subsequent global recession began to reach America.

The recession of 1962 would be seen as the beginning of The Aggression as economic downturn fuelled anti-establishment terrorism, crime waves, and racial strife within the heart of America. During this period, Johnson would begin a series of major reforms, culminating in the New Frontiers Imitative, dedicated to amending race relations and providing economic rights to American citizens. Much like Patton before him, Johnson’s sudden reforms had alienated backers of the ruling coalition, who plotted for his removal. While a military coup or impeachment was certainly out of the question, the men in those smoke-filled rooms began a movement to draft a candidate of their own as President, New York Senator William F. Buckley. To oppose Buckley, Johnson would back the Presidential campaign of John Connally, only for the Senator from New York to clinch the nomination in the very end.

Personal accounts describe how Johnson was filled with dread upon realizing he had lost control over the Legion and feared that a President Buckley would worsen the Aggression simply to benefit the economic royalists. However, Buckley would face a major challenge during the election in the form of Elliott Roosevelt, a fortunate son of the deposed President whose ties to the Hearst Corporation had protected him from the Pacification. Popular amongst progressive and liberal groups, Roosevelt’s independent campaign for President had united America under the message of restoring American democracy. The election was fierce, with Buckley’s personal charisma, backing from corporate leaders, and sharp political attacks buoying his standing amongst voters. But with a public fatigued after thirty-five years of Legion rule combined with the support of labor unions and the CBS media empire, a Roosevelt would enter the White House once more on March 4th, 1969, after winning 52.4% of voters.

Four years after conceding power to the President-elect, the last of the American caudillos would die from a heart attack surrounded by his family and loved ones. While despised by both the people and his own benefactors during the end of his term, Johnson's dedication to a peaceful transition of power and his campaigns against poverty and segregation would earn praise from all sides of the political aisle. The political gridlock and corruption of the Roosevelt administration would later cause many influential political leaders such as Scoop Jackson, Chuck Robb, and James E. Jones to use Landslide Lyndon's post-mortem popularity to their advantage. Though many criticized him as an egotist who cared only for his basest desires of sex and power, Johnson's desire to improve the life of the American common man remained clear throughout his entire reign. A man fraught with feelings of ambition, emptiness, spite, and later remorse, Lyndon Johnson remains one of the most fascinating and influential characters in all of American history.

-The Life and Legacy of Landslide Lyndon, by David Petraeus
 
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The 2019 United States Supreme Court election in the 9th district happened on November 5, 2019. Incumbent Justice Jacqueline Nyugen of California received 72.54% of the vote, with her nearest challenger Mark Recktenwald receiving 19.52%. The remaining 7.94% went to write-ins and spoiled ballots.

As with previous judicial elections in the 9th district, turnout is among the lowest due to California's overwhelming dominance in the electoral college compared to neighboring states. 27.84% of voters voted in 2019, the highest in district history, with more than double of 13.63% in 2014, which was the previous highest turnout.

Despite both candidates being officially nonpartisan, as is tradition for Supreme Court candidates, Nguyen received the informal backing of the Democratic Party and various progressive organizations, and Recktenwald received both the informal and formal support of the Republican Party, the latter being the first time a party or sitting US President endorsed a justice for election. Recktenwald refused any official partisan support, stating that "anyone is free to support or endorse me, but I am no one person or party's nominee."

The next election is scheduled for 2024, assuming no resignation, impeachment and removal of office, or criminal conviction. Justice Nguyen has not stated whether she will run again, but has stated if she does she would not run in 2029.
 
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One Burr elector casts his vote appropriately in 1800, sparing us a dramatic contingent election and causing the Twelfth Amendment to be put on the backburner (~~where it will eventually die~~). Because of butterflies, the Federalists' strongest leader is alive to take the mantle, and they do much better than IOTL but still don't come super close to winning because of Hamilton's scandals and Jefferson's popularity. Because it's much more difficult to corral electors (particularly when it comes to VPs), the electoral vote for 'Vice Presidential' candidates is quite scattered, and John Breckenridge (not the OTL VP) sweeps the South giving him the advantage and the nation's second highest seat.

Vice Presidential electoral vote scatter:

Senator John Breckenridge: 76 EVs
Fmr. Minister Charles C. Pinckney: 58 EVs
Governor George Clinton: 16 EVs
Fmr. Senator William Maclay: 14 EVs
Vice President Aaron Burr: 8 Evs
Postmaster General Gideon Granger: 3 EVs
Senator Rufus King: 1 EV
 
Some years ago, I did a timeline called For Want of a Texan, where Ted Cruz never enters the US Senate owing to Kay Bailey Hutchison running again in 2012. That ultimately leads to a Rand Paul/Nikki Haley ticket winning in 2016. I did a follow-up where Paul/Haley beats a split Democratic field, but in the wake of recent events (along with some political shifts because when I wrote those I was fairly favorable towards Rand Paul), I have decided to revisit and reevaluate this world...
For Want of a Texan, Revisited

If you went back to early 2018 and told people that President Rand Paul would not only lose reelection, but lose in a landslide, most people would have looked at you as though you were crazy. Sure, President Paul was a bit out there. He staffed his administration with ideologues like John Allison and Mark Spitznagel, attempted to privatize Amtrak (a move that allegedly was what pushed former Vice President Joe Biden to resolve to enter the 2020 primaries) and talked about a flat tax. But he had enough moments of bipartisanship with criminal justice reform, challenging the surveillance state and restraining American foreign policy that one could be forgiven for thinking his hard-right views on so many issues wouldn’t weigh him down in 2020. 2018 did deal Paul some major blows—the nomination and withdrawal of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court greatly dampened enthusiasm among Republican faithful enough that the Democrats swept the midterms, holding contested seats in Indiana, Florida, Montana and Missouri while picking up seats in Arizona, Texas and, in a shocking upset, Mississippi. Paul seemed content to work with the new Congress on areas of common ground while vetoing anything he objected. The government shut down twice in the course of 2019 over Paul vetoes, which dampened his popularity heading into the 2020 election. But there was reason to view Paul as slightly favored—the president had solid approval ratings, the economy was doing well and the 2020 Democratic primaries looked to be a long, bloody slog between Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren (the heir to the out-of-the-running Bernie Sanders who was forced to drop out following a massive heart attack that, while he survived, risked complications) and several other candidates.

And then the pandemic hit. Covid-19 was the big game changer of 2020. On the Democratic side, it proved the spark needed to get the Democrats to rally behind the man promising to be a steady, proven leader—the party largely consolidated behind Biden by Super Tuesday despite Warren staying in for another three weeks. But the bigger damage was caused to the GOP by Paul’s response, which was labeled by critics as downright criminal. Citing his libertarian beliefs, Paul refused to encourage people to wear masks, sought to discourage state and local governments from implementing lockdowns and refused to pass a stimulus bill despite it passing Congress with bipartisan support. His quixotic primary challenger, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, managed to crack 10% in some states by hammering Paul on neglecting this virus, along with his moves away from more traditional Republican foreign policy stances. By the summer of 2020, nearly 300,000 Americans had died and many more were struggling from the loss of jobs and lack of food. Paul’s approval ratings dropped to a low of 37% over that summer, a rating achieved both from this and managing to alienate both sides of the debate surrounding Black Lives Matter by denouncing police brutality publicly but also accusing the BLM movement of Marxism. President Paul missed the first presidential debate due to being stricken with covid-19—while his case proved to be mild, it only solidified the impression many had of Paul as a failure in regards to handling the pandemic. The economy, a perceived strength of Paul’s early in his term, now had shattered.

Paul also had started airing a more ugly side to his beliefs during this time as well. He accused states expanding access to vote by mail of laying the groundwork for fraud and accused a media conspiracy of trying to overhype the threat of the virus. These claims did not save him come Election Night. Paul’s more unorthodox positions on foreign and drug policy had already alienated contingents of the traditional Republican voter base and some of these Republicans who had forgiven these deviations in 2016 were not willing to do so anymore now that the economy was in shambles and a plague was ravaging the country. The modest yet notable gains Paul had made in 2016 among Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and younger generations in general likewise evaporated as all four demographics’ support for the Paul/Haley ticket collapsed to even below Mitt Romney’s performance in 2012. Despite some outlier polls indicating it would take a while to call many key states, Pennsylvania and Florida were both called for Biden on Election Night. Paul would not concede until the next day as Biden overtook Paul in many states. Biden became the first Democrat in decades to win Texas along with many other states. Paul would deliver a concession speech at 1 AM in the morning on November 4th. A number of his stalwart supporters would express the belief the election had been rigged and Paul in post-election media appearances has claimed without evidence there was likely widespread fraud (albeit belied by his admittance that said fraud probably didn’t change the overall outcome) and blamed his defeat on ‘leftist propaganda.’ Paul’s failure in this regard also was catastrophic for Republicans downballot—Democrats flipped seats in Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and, in a pair of upsets, Texas and South Carolina (the latter owing to Jaime Harrison reaching 45% of the vote amidst a split right-wing vote thanks to incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham running a write-in campaign after narrowly losing the primary to the more Paul-aligned Bob Conley). The rattled GOP has no choice but to look ahead to 2024 as the Democrats eye Georgia’s special election as a chance to expand their already-considerable majority…

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2020 was praised as the election that "got rid of Trump." Suburban moms went back to brunching, poorer neighbourhood residents went back out of sight, and politics became boring again. Imagine how annoyed they were four years later, when the President they 'got rid of' was reelected with plurality.

Truth be told the Biden years weren't all that sunny. Nine seperate impeachment attempts from a Republican-majority congress since 2022, two seperate recessions that didn't help the post-COVID economy, major scandals involving ENRON, chemical waste deposits and insider trading, nationwide flooding and crop blight, and periodic government shutdowns. All the while there was Trump, campaigning since he left on Marine One for an inauguration-day rally outside his beloved Mar-a-Lago, and having attack ads run 24/7 once he brought up Herring Networks Inc. with what little money was leftover from the millions he was pumping into a counter-lawsuit towards the Supreme Court of New York. He ranted, raved and preformed his usual schtick all the way to inauguration day, and kept doing that for the rest of his nonconsecutive term. Even when he (begrudgingly) didn't run for a third term and endorsed his new Vice President, many were confused who exactly the rally was supporting, as Trump never truely left the stage, or let VP Noem talk. I think even she was relieved when he was found non-responsive on a Mar-a-Lago toilet, like Elvis.

The Democrats across the aisle had spent the last four years passive-aggressively trying to work with Republicans, who had said many times that they'd first resign before be captured on C-Span so much as conferring with a socialist, or a communist, or a marxist, or anything the Democrats actually weren't. The progressive wing of the party had spent that last four years fuming, enraged by Pelosi's magnanimity and the conservative-majority SCOTUS bankrolling any repeals Trump wanted (healthcare, Roe V. Wade, basic human rights). Come their bout against Noem, the primaries were stacked with the most predictable back catalogue of middle-road candidates; former Transport Secretary Buttegieg, Governors Newsom and Whitmer, Senators Booker, Castro and Gillibrand back for more punishment, and Stacey Abrams, who was, well, Stacey Abrahams. Another returner was Andrew Yang, who did a lot better than last time. As Bernie Sanders didn't run due to his declining age, as well as Warren for being Bernie's Judas and AOC for being so absolutely fed up with the DNC, Yang was quickly made the presumptive nominee thanks to an angry progressive base. Didn't want to combat automation? Shove it. Rather not think about the kids in cages? Fuck round and find out. Want to keep the private option for healthcare? You're gonna catch these hands.

Even the chuffed radlibs who were happy the Republican ticket was all-female couldn't stop the Socialist Surge that hit polling stations. The pandemic coupled with time to shuffle out the old guard voters and usher in a new rash of millennial/Gen Z voters who'd been radicalised many years prior. The ultimate blend of Yang Gang and Tulsi Stans.
 
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2020 was praised as the election that "got rid of Trump." Suburban moms went back to brunching, poorer neighbourhood residents went back out of sight, and politics became boring again. Imagine how annoyed they were four years later, when the President they 'got rid of' was reelected with plurality.

Truth be told the Biden years weren't all that sunny. Nine seperate impeachment attempts from a Republican-majority congress since 2022, two seperate recessions that didn't help the post-COVID economy, a major scandal involving ENRON, chemical waste deposits and insider trading, nationwide flooding and crop blight, and periodic government shutdowns. All the while there was Trump, campaigning since he left on Marine One for a rally in Jupiter, Florida, and having attack ads run 24/7 once he brought up Herring Networks Inc. with what little money was leftover from the millions he was pumping into a counter-lawsuit towards the Supreme Court of New York. He ranted, raved and preformed his usual schtick all the way to inauguration day, and kept doing that for the rest of his nonconsecutive term. Even when he (begrudgingly) didn't run for a third term and endorsed his new Vice President, many were confused who exactly the rally was supporting, as Trump never truely left the stage, or let VP Noem talk. I think even she was relieved when he was found non-responsive on a Mar-a-Lago toilet, like Elvis.

The Democrats across the aisle had spent the last four years passive-aggressively trying to work with Republicans, who had said many times that they'd first resign before be captured on C-Span so much as conferring with a neighbour across the aisle. The progressive wing of the party had spent that last four years fuming, enraged by Pelosi's magnanimity and the conservative-majority SCOTUS bankrolling any repeals Trump wanted (healthcare, Roe V. Wade, basic human rights). Come their bout against Noem, the primaries were stacked with the most predictable back catalogue of middle-road candidates; former Transport Secretary Buttegieg, Governors Newsom and Whitmer, Senators Booker, Castro and Gillibrand back for more punishment, and Stacey Abrams, who was, well, Stacey Abrahams. Another returner was Andrew Yang, who did a lot better than last time. As Bernie Sanders didn't run due to his declining age, as well as Warren for being Bernie's Judas and AOC for being so absolutely fed up with the DNC, Yang was quickly made the presumptive nominee thanks to an angry progressive base. Didn't want to combat automation? Shove it. Rather not think about the kids in cages? Fuck round and find out. Want to keep the private option for healthcare? You're gonna catch these hands.

Even the chuffed radlibs who were happy the Republican ticket was all-female couldn't stop the Socialist Surge that hit polling stations. The pandemic coupled with time to shuffle out the old guard voters and usher in a new rash of millennial/Gen Z voters who'd been radicalised many years prior. The ultimate blend of Yang Gang and Tulsi Stans.

Man the 2020s weren't kind to Yang were they?
 
I am like 95% certain that if Tulsi ever runs again, much less gets on either half of a Presidential ticket, it'll be as a Republican.
Me too, but I still maintain that Yang/Gabbard is the most powerful ticket possible for the next few primaries. The rabid fan devotion would be enough to render flesh from bone.
Man the 2020s weren't kind to Yang were they?
IMO he looks rather dashing
 
Me too, but I still maintain that Yang/Gabbard is the most powerful ticket possible for the next few primaries. The rabid fan devotion would be enough to render flesh from bone.

I'm afraid I don't see Yang inviting Gabbard to the ticket either, though it'd be funny to see former Trump '20 (+ '24) fratboys fly Yang/GABBARD flags from their trucks.

How did Andy Beshear fare, anyhow?
 
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