So everything's been moved over here now? Okay, going to be keeping an eye on things.
YepSo everything's been moved over here now? Okay, going to be keeping an eye on things.
I’m not with my computer right now, but I’ll have a box posted for the Democratic primaries by tonight. Whoever is doing the election itself, can you please PM me with details so I can have it done by the time the update goes out?The 1992 Primaries
Following VR Day, President Donald Rumsfeld was riding high. Approval rating shooting up to nearly 95%, many in the nation were comparing him to Abraham Lincoln and FDR as one of America’s greatest Presidents. And it wasn’t hard to see why. The nation was riding high. Three World Wars and three massive, overwhelming victories with little damage to the homeland. Not one war a defeat and having taken the lead to destroy two malignant, tyrannical ideologies in Nazism and Communism, the national mood in the Summer of 1991 couldn’t be more hyped or jingoistic. America could conquer anything, could surmount any obstacle – could single-handedly pull the world to everlasting peace. While the jingoism and patriotic zeal of victory would not go away, it was tempered with the harsh realities of the post-war era. Worldwide war had greatly disrupted the global economy and trade routes, wartime production orders suddenly halted as the market corrected for a primacy on civilian goods. America (despite some bomb damage) had been spared the devastation that haunted the world, joining China and India (and to a lesser extent South Africa, Australia, and the Asian Tigers) as the primary manufacturing hub as it had following WWII. This helped greatly, but the peacetime shock to a war economy was joined by mass apprehension over the Marburg Virus Epidemic to deal a major blow to the national mood. Unemployment, which had been at a record low of 1.3% in the beginning of 1990, shot up to 6.3% by December 1991 – not a depression by any extent but one that put a damper on the era of good feelings victory had brought. As 1992 began, Rumsfeld’s approval ratings had fallen to 42%.
Donald Rumsfeld would end his presidency with an average approval of 60%, rated by public opinion and presidential scholars as one of the top leaders of the United States. Domestic policy plaudits were mixed, general lack of major change from the Reagan era (his predecessor considered one of the greatest domestic agenda Presidents by the same metrics), the George Ryan Scandal, and the entitlement reform flop contrasting with the focus on funding scientific advancement. He would be primarily known for fighting and winning WWIII, and cementing America’s superpower status in the following peace. Retiring to their home in Winnetka, Illinois, Donald and Joyce Rumsfeld would continue to be active in public life to this day as one of the most distinguished elder statesmen in the country. After 16 years in the political wilderness, the Democratic Party smelled their chance to finally reclaim 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Rumsfeld had rebounded to about 60% approval, but much of that was largely victory goodwill and relief that the Marburg Virus hadn’t reached the United States. Economic uncertainty and concerns over the post-Warsaw state of the world dominated the national mood and the Democrats saw this as their main opening. Nearly two dozen candidates immediately threw their hats into the wing, but by the start of voting in 1992 only five were left. Representative William J. Clinton – fresh off his 1988 run by putting his extramarital affairs issues behind him – looked to consolidate the crucial southern bloc behind him. New York Senator and former Mayor of NYC Hugh Carey ran as a northern communonationalist, while Governor Dick Durbin of Illinois leveraged his executive experience as a populist liberal. Rounding out the field was Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, the great liberal hope. However, it was the fifth candidate in the race that took all the late buzz.
One of the most recognized names in the country, Lee Iacocca certainly had a charmed life. Having overseen the transformation of the Chrysler corporation into one of the top world automakers, he joined his friend and more partisan colleague Donald Trump in managing the Wartime Business Council, a roundtable dedicated to assisting the US Military in war production for WWIII. Often seen on the Chrysler manufacturing floors where the tanks were built, Iacocca was a popular figure by 1991. Long having been bitten by the political bug, he made feelers to both the Republicans and Democrats, but ultimately threw his hat with the latter after determining a Democrat was more likely to win the 1992 general. At first, most of the field ignored Iacocca as too conservative and too anomalous to win, but many pundits and politicos were shocked as he slowly but surely rose in the polls with universal name recognition and a simple but winning message – namely a robust “Second New Deal” that would boost business, growth, and the social safety net. Hence Iacocca’s slogan: “Get America Working Again.” Polls vaunted him to the lead after a leaked RNC memo cited Iacocca as the “candidate we should be afraid of.” In two primary debates his rivals would attack him considerably over cozy relationships to big business, overly moderate positions, and past support for Republicans. Iacocca would brush it off. “If you’re a businessman in America, you have to get along with everybody. You lose money if you make enemies, and last time I checked I have a lot of money,” he said at a debate to roaring laughter.
At the Minnesota primary he would come into a close second to Ron Wyden, quickly knocking out Carey and Durbin in New Hampshire while coming in a narrow first above Clinton in Virginia. While Clinton would carry the Deep South and Wyden the West and upper Northeast, by Spring Iacocca would clean up the rest of the nation to clinch the Democratic nomination. To shore up his liberal support – given Iacocca’s moderate views and past conservatism made him mistrusted by the base of the party – he selected Pennsylvania congresswoman Lynn Yeakel, both a noted liberal and the first woman selected for a major party ticket. The Iacocca/Yeakel team would take the convention in Madison Square Garden by storm, exuberant Democrats simply tasting their first national victory since 1972.
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Summary
Credit: The Congressman
I’m not with my computer right now, but I’ll have a box posted for the Democratic primaries by tonight. Whoever is doing the election itself, can you please PM me with details so I can have it done by the time the update goes out?
@Roberto El Rey, can you make a wikibox for the ITTL 1991 Hungarian elections please? Thanks.
It might take me till tomorrow but I’ll do it.
Be sure to index the updates
Hmm, since you guys are doing post-war stuff now, should I still work on the spy series?
One minor thing, if a new TL is ongoing can we just fix apart of the story that (all other issues aside) irked me?
Using minority troops as canon fodder isn't that workable a dissent causer
Hmm, since you guys are doing post-war stuff now, should I still work on the spy series?
Didn't Agnew die in the Nixon assassination back in part 1?