American Political Shockwave

[Glen Allen Walken]

It's November 8th 2006, the Democratic Party has just succeeded in achieving a massive election victory, winning a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and within the Senate.

The Democratic won 233 seats in the House and 50 seats in the Senate, compared to the Republicans 202 in the House and 49 in the Senate along with 1 Independent Senator. It had been expected that Bernie Sanders would also stay as an Independent following his election on an Independent Democratic but it has been announced that he will take the Democratic Whip.

The Democrats even succeeded in the gubernatorial results where they overtook the Republican majority with the Republican's holding only 22 Governorships and the Democrats winning 28 Governorships.

The Bush presidency is now left in tatters, however a shock decision has been made that Donald Rumsfeld will remain in his post as Secretary of Defence and that the Government will push ahead with the war in Iraq because it is the right thing to do for the safety of the world and of the United States.

Finally the Democratic and Republican parties are beginning to gear up for the inevitable announcements that are to come in the next few months with people declaring there intention to seek election as President of the United States. Most of the political news surrounding the Republican and Democratic nominations are the possibilities that Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Hillary Clinton will seek election for their respective parties.

The Senate Leadership for the Democratic Party seemed to be fairly self evident, Harry Reid is expected to take on the role without having to face an election but there are mummers that Barack Obama is considering challenging him for the Majority Leadership. The Leadership of the House of Representatives clearly seems to be much more volatile, Nancy Pelosi and Gabrielle Giffords both have stated that they would be interested in seeking election as Speaker of the House and it is expect that others will announce their interest in the coming days.

------------------------------

This is the background to where i am going to begin with my Timeline, there are very subtle changes right now with Bernie Sanders taking the Democratic whip and joining the party, Bush keeping on Rumsfeld and the discussion of who will take on the leadership of each party in the aftermath.

This is my first time doing this, only joined a few days ago so please enjoy my first attempt

[starwarsfan]

Originally Posted by Glen Allen Walken

It's November 8th 2006, the Democratic Party has just succeeded in achieving a massive election victory, winning a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and within the Senate.

The Democratic won 233 seats in the House and 50 seats in the Senate, compared to the Republicans 202 in the House and 49 in the Senate along with 1 Independent Senator. It had been expected that Bernie Sanders would also stay as an Independent following his election on an Independent Democratic but it has been announced that he will take the Democratic Whip.

The Democrats even succeeded in the gubernatorial results where they overtook the Republican majority with the Republican's holding only 282 Governorships and the Democrats winning 28 Governorships.

The Bush presidency is now left in tatters, however a shock decision has been made that Donald Rumsfeld will remain in his post as Secretary of Defence and that the Government will push ahead with the war in Iraq because it is the right thing to do for the safety of the world and of the United States.

Finally the Democratic and Republican parties are beginning to gear up for the inevitable announcements that are to come in the next few months with people declaring there intention to seek election as President of the United States. Most of the political news surrounding the Republican and Democratic nominations are the possibilities that Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Hillary Clinton will seek election for their respective parties.

The Senate Leadership for the Democratic Party seemed to be fairly self evident, Harry Reid is expected to take on the role without having to face an election but there are mummers that Barack Obama is considering challenging him for the Majority Leadership. The Leadership of the House of Representatives clearly seems to be much more volatile, Nancy Pelosi and Gabrielle Giffords both have stated that they would be interested in seeking election as Speaker of the House and it is expect that others will announce their interest in the coming days.

------------------------------

This is the background to where i am going to begin with my Timeline, there are very subtle changes right now with Bernie Sanders taking the Democratic whip and joining the party, Bush keeping on Rumsfeld and the discussion of who will take on the leadership of each party in the aftermath.

This is my first time doing this, only joined a few days ago so please enjoy my first attempt

Interesting is Bernie going to run for President?
Also good luck on your first attempt.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Today we are reporting at CNN on the fallout from the 2006 elections! In both Houses of Congress the Republicans and Democrats are going about electing their new leaderships.

Inside Look on the Republicans

As of today, November 14th, 3 members of the Republican Senate caucus
have announced their candidacy for Minority Leader.

Mitch McConnell is heavily expected to be elected as Minority Leader. He is considered to be a Kingmaker in Kentucky and having alot of powerful financial backers it is believe that many Republicans may be wanting to cosy up to McConnell for what looks like will be a tough few electoral year for the Republicans.


Susan Collins, the Senator from maine, is expected to be a outside chance for the position but she is well liked within the Republican caucus and many of her most prominent supporters are believe to still be within the Senate.

John Thune, the senator from South Dakota, is expected to be McConnell's closest rival for the Leadership. He had been believed to be setting up a run for the republican presidency, but this move to seek the senate minority leader position seems to have squashed the rumour.

As for the Republican Senate whip there seems to only be two candidates for the position.

John Cornyn is the front runner for the position having received support from both McConnell and Collins but there is also the possibility that the Republican caucus could vote against Cornyn to ensure there is some leadership diversity.

Trent Lott is the only other confirmed candidate as a former leader of the republican party he is seen as a experienced conservative that could fight strongly for conservative values against what could be a new liberal congress

[serbrcq]

Originally Posted by Glen Allen Walken

This is the background to where i am going to begin with my Timeline, there are very subtle changes right now with Bernie Sanders taking the Democratic whip and joining the party, Bush keeping on Rumsfeld and the discussion of who will take on the leadership of each party in the aftermath.

If the Teabaggers aren't butterflied away, I wonder what they'll think of a self-professed socialist as the Senate majority whip.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Originally Posted by serbrcq

If the Teabaggers aren't butterflied away, I wonder what they'll think of a self-professed socialist as the Senate majority whip.

By taking the Senate whip i was referring to the fact that he had joined the democratic party and would be whipped in what ways the democrats vote

The Democratic leadership struggle will be announced in coming posts

[Glen Allen Walken]

Welcome back to CNN news here looking back the recent congress elections and the fallout from it. Earlier we spoke to you about the Republican leadership situation in the senate and now we want to dedicate some time to the challenges that will be going on for the House Republicans following there disaster performance last week.

Inside Look on the Republicans

The Speaker of the House will now be a position belonging to the Democrats it is likely that the former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will stand for the Minority Leader position. While he has not formally announced his intention to run for a leadership position it is hard to believe that he will not.


The current Majority Leader John Boehner has already announced that he will seek election for the position as Minority Leader in the 110th Congress. He had this to say -

"I believe that I am the right person to lead the Republican Party forward at this difficult time. We clearly had a bad night last week but we still have the ideals that every normal american believes in and we still hold the right plan to get our nation back on track. I believe i am the man that can set out our vision that will see us reclaim this Congress in two years and see a republican back in the White house in two years time.

John Boehner [14/11/2006]

The other candidate being proposed is Eric Cantor having been a strong conservative leader in the last session of congress. Cantor has gained a strong reputation on being on the side of the military which has only increased his standing within the Republican party at both the grass roots and upper echelons. Cantor has not announced his position yet but already has one Republican Congressman called on Cantor to step into this race.

Eric is the best man for the job with a doubt. John has came in at a difficult time but he has to accept responsibility for this defeat last week. He was our Majority leader in the last term and we are now in the Minority, that speaks for itself.

Texas Congressman John Carter

And speaking of John Carter he is being heavily touted as the man that will get the Minority Whip position regardless of his open support of Carter. Carter is believed to have been a very conservative voice on the House Appropriations committee that has impressed members of the Republican caucus. It is believed he already has the support of the Republican Study committee, which entertains over half of the House Republicans, which would suggest he has the position of Minority Whip locked.

[NickCT]

Giffords getting Speaker is ASB she was elected in 2006 that means she wouldn't vote on a single item of legislation until after she was speaker...complete ASB given how much parties care about seniority...

[Glen Allen Walken]

Welcome back to CNN news here looking back the recent congress elections and the fallout from it. We are now going to move onto the Majority party in congress, the Democrats who now not only need to elect a party whip and Leader but they also need to elect a new party speaker which is likely to bring out a wide variety of candidates for the Leadership positions.


Inside Look on the Democrats

Within the Senate Democrats the Majority Leadership fight seems to be within two prominent Senators. Harry Reid, the current Minority leader is believed to be the front runner as he has the experience and was the man that led the Senate Democrats to the majority that they now have. He had this to say one the night that the democrats took back the senate.

"This has been a long time coming, the "Do-Nothing Congress" that the Republicans created over this last period has been a mockery to the American people and to our Democracy. It has been an honour to lead the Democratic Party through this election and to our Majority and i cannot wait to take up the post of Majority leader and help this nation get back on track.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid

The rumours surrounding a possible challenge to a Reid leadership is due to Barack Obama says that "Reid is our Minority Leader that does not make him de facto Majority Leader, he shall have to wait till a vote before that is decided. That is how it works in a Democratic country and political party.

This has made political spectators suggest that Barack Obama is ready to take a step up and take on a Democratic Leadership role but whether this is the case or not is a different matter. His comments could elude to another senator challenging Reid for the Leadership such as the experienced John Kerry or Ted Kennedy.

The Senate Majority Whip position doesn't look like it will see a race. Dick Durbin, the current Minority Whip, is running for the Majority Whip position and it is pretty much a sure thing that he will receive the support of his fellow democratic senators.

However there are people that could potentially fulfil the position. Jeff Bingaman, the senator from New Mexico, is a well like man on both sides of the isles and would provide a strong link between both party's senators as with the Democrats majority over the Republicans of just one it could often happen that they would need republican defectors to pass bills and legislation.


Back to the House Democrats and the Speaker position is now being hotly contested by Current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the new comer Gabrielle Giffords and finally John Lewis. Nancy Pelosi is without a doubt the front runner for the Speaker position having led the Party into the Majority and being a very popular leader with the public according to polls released by the Washington Post earlier today.

The shock runner is Gabrielle Giffords who is not expected to have much of a chance in the race having not yet served in the House or even the Senate. She has said she is running because this is a new session where new views need to be heard. Her candidacy has been seen in the public eyes as a extremely positive move and many polls released by ourself here at CNN show that if it was a Public elections Giffords would have a chance of getting elected. However we have heard from some Democrats that she has to serve her dues before being trusted with a position of such power.

John Lewis, a strong leader within the Liberal wing of the Democratic party, has also announced his intention to seek the position as Speaker of the House. Much like Giffords he is expected to lose to Pelosi but has major support from many strong Liberals and the party's Black caucus which could well provide a shock result.

The position of Majority leader seemed to be over before it had even begun when Steny Hoyer announced his intention to seek the position. Steny has been the second in command for House Democrats for the last 4 years and many have came out to strong back him, including Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn, John lewis and the man that's been coined as the leader of the new breed of House Democrats Rahm Emanuel.

The position of Majority whip again is a one horse race after Rahm Emanuel announced his candidacy and received high profile support like former president Bill Clinton.

[Orville_third]

Wasn't Kucinich gunning for a leadership position OTL?

[MrHuman]

Sanders would never be the Democratic Whip in the 110th Congress. A socialist who's often critical of the Democrats and had no Senate experience would beat Dick Durbin?

Originally Posted by Glen Allen Walken

By taking the Senate whip i was referring to the fact that he had joined the democratic party and would be whipped in what ways the democrats vote

The Democratic leadership struggle will be announced in coming posts

Actually I just saw this. My apologies.

[Linsanity]

Originally Posted by Orville_third

Wasn't Kucinich gunning for a leadership position OTL?

2006 brought in a wave of blue dogs. No way would he have come close. The caucus became more conservative as a whole.

[Glen Allen Walken]

We have a news special right now as we can confirm that Congress has elected the new Democratic and Republican Leadership in both Houses of Congress and there has been a shock in the House of Representatives as the Blue Dog wave that has entered into this congress has placed two of there own in Democratic Leadership positions.


Democratic Leadership - House of Representatives



PELOSI ELECTED SPEAKER ELECT!

Nancy Pelosi has been elected speaker after Gabrielle Giffords backed out and supported Pelosi in return for Pelosi backing other Blue Dogs in the other Leaderships races.

The Majority Leaders position did, after three votes it is believed, go to Steny Hoyer as he was able to convince just enough of the blue dogs and liberal members to back his candidacy which allowed him to beat out Congressman Jim Cooper.

Rahm Emanuel was fully expected to achieve the role of majority whip but he was beaten out by Blue Dog opposition and Joseph Shuler, the North Carolina's Congressman

[Linsanity]

Yeah, it's important to remember most of the new members are Blue Dogs. This is a conservative caucus in comparison to previous years.

[Glen Allen Walken]

BOEHNER ELECTED MINORITY LEADER

John Boehner was confirmed today as the newly elected Minority Leader. Boehner beat out current Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert after Eric Cantor came out on C-Span with Boehner and said that he was the man to lead the party forward. Hastert was believed to have pull out of the race hours before the vote when it was clear he had no chance of winning and was first to come out and state that Boehner had the full support of the Republican Party and the weight of the American people behind him.


The Minority whip was a foregone conclusion with Boehner being elected leader and it went to John Carter. Carter was only challenged by Hastert who was attempting to ensure he still had a place within the leadership but his chances were over after humiliatingly withdrawing from the Minority Leader race.



THUNE ELECTED MINORITY SENATE LEADER

John Thune was the closest challenger to McConnell in the Senate leader race but it was expected that McConnell would come out on top. This surprise election of Thune could suggest that the Republican are looking for a leader that is not afraid to stand up for strong Republican Social issues like Same Sex Marriage, Abortion and even term limits which Thune has previously suggested for the House of Representatives.

In the other race Trent Lott was elected minority whip in a move that was suggested by many political commentators. Collins and McConnell's endorsement for Lott's challengers was clearly more of a hindrance that a help.

[Glen Allen Walken]

House of Representatives to get to the bottom of Rumsfled, Pelosi announces

Nancy Pelosi has today announced the priorities of the newly elected Congress announcing that the United States House of Representatives is to hold an inquiry into the role of Donald Rumsfeld in the led up to the War in Iraq and his role and competence in is role as Secretary of Defence.

Many political analysts have said that Bush's decision to allow Rumsfeld to continue on as Secretary of Defence gave the Democrats this massive opening to tarnish the Bush administration even further and to allow them to overshadow and Republicans who would be looking to announce there Presidential intentions after the new year.

In the same speech Pelosi would announce further aims of the Democratic Administration such increasing the minimum wage, providing better protection of Unions against large companies and the repealing of major tax cuts to the ultra rich.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Bush issues warning to Democratic Congress

Tonight our top story here on Fox is that George Bush has launch a strong warning to the incoming Democratic Congress that he and the white house will not be held hostage to their demand and that it would be "Un-American" and "foolish" if they were to endanger the economy with their socialist economic plans.

Fox Anchor: I must admit i was surprised to see the President acting to boldly especially after such a humiliating lose in these mid term elections.

Fox Analysis: As surprising as this sounds i feel these mid terms my just give the Bush Presidency a new lease of life. I mean he has nothing to fear now, it can surely only go up from here.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Clinton announces she will not seek the Democrats Nomination for President

In a shock announcement today Senator Hillary Clinton has announced she will be seek the Democratic Nomination for President this time around but she has not ruled out seeking it in the future.

Senator Clinton said she had been considering a run for the Presidency but has since decided against it and believe she knows the right person for the job but will wait to see if they decide to run.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Welcome to CNN tonight at 10 and our top story tonight is that Justice Anthony Kennedy has died after he was found in his office this morning having believed to have suffered from a heart attack late last night.

Messages of support and condolence have been pouring in from Senators, Congressmen and women and even the White House. President George W. Bush has said that "he is deeply saddened by the lose of a true defender of the American Constitution and a man that the founders themselves would have been proud was protecting their intentions."

Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi has called on the President to work with herself and the Democratic leadership to ensure that the right person is able to continue on from the Legacy left by Justice Kennedy. She said that "the American people deserve the best possible justice, they had that in Justice Kennedy and they deserve it a their next Justice."



July 23, 1936 - December 27, 2006

[d32123]

Just stumbled across this. Good stuff. Welcome to the forum.

[Glen Allen Walken]

Thanks man..... hope i am giving it a good first go