2018 Presidential Election

He also addressed a website which is running a "What If" story based on Gault winning the nomination and Presidency last year. It has a web page much the same as the current Seaborn transition team website, along with a real time thread. "It's really weird and frankly a little bit nuts. These nerds need to get a life spending all there times thinking about something which never happened. I lost that's that I am not President and never will be".

Cut to John Hoynes and Bob Russell each making their own alternate history timelines in which they each won the presidency.
 
I am not sure to be honest, have a look through the original thread, it's still hosted here. I can't remember every single appointment and job going back over a decade now.
CJ is still a "Senior Advisor" to the President (Elect).

She was the one to negotiate the agreement with Hunter, wasn't she?
 
Not sure! Anyway if she did, then she’s worth her weight in gold as a “behind the scenes” negotiator. As far as Oliver Babbish goes, he would be a good fall-back position if George Montgomery fails to win confirmation as A.G. I’m sure that Robert Foxworth portrayed him in the West Wing & he was one of the individuals who was second-guessing Josh’s management of the Santos campaign; have an idea that the Montgomery character doesn’t have a bipartisan bone in his body & that Republicans will create problems for him in the Senate, ergo Oliver Babbish to the rescue.
 
Public Service Announcement
I do have a full eleven page Presidential Results PDF booklet available. I cannot upload it on here as it is two large a file. If anyone wants a copy please DM me and I will e-mail it to you.
Cheers
Mark
 
I would like to thank Marky Bunny for the PDF file, very informative & gives us a picture of an actual presidential election broke down in ATL!
 
Some of the most popular Alternate History threads in the West Wing universe:

1. Sam wins his congressional race in 2002

2. Bartlet does not run for re-election after MS is revealed

3. Bartlet resigns after his 2005 MS episode

4. Sam dies from his injuries in the 2010 car crash

5. Richard Lassiter wins elected office (seriously anything, even dog catcher)

6. There is a terrorist attack at the 2000 State of the Union Address, leaving Secretary of Agriculture Roger Tribbey as President

7. John Hoynes wins in 1998 (all of these timelines are posted by the same person: NotHoynes98)

8. Ronald Reagan serves out his full two terms with no complications

9. Vinick wins in 2006

10. Santos/McGarry wins in 2006, Leo survives, and Santos is assassinated leaving Leo as President

11. Bartlet succumbs to his gunshot wounds

12. Glen Allen Walken wins in 2006

13. Zoey Bartlet is never found and Bartlet resigns, leaving Glen Allen Walken as the permanent President

And Of Course.....
14. Zombie Bartlet vs. Zombie Lassiter
 
Some of the most popular Alternate History threads in the West Wing universe:

11. Bartlet succumbs to his gunshot wounds

How about Josh dies of his gunshot wound, therefore isn't around to get the idea from Donna to put Evelyn Baker Lang and Christopher Mulready on the court and later never convinces Santos to run, 2006 is most likely Russell vs Vinick with an entirely different national debate than the three way race been Russell, Santos, and Hoynes and the general election/national debate between Santos/Vinick.
 
Has there been any announcement of who will be replacing Charlie Young as Shadow Senator for DC? I have an idea around a potential replacement that I would like to explore if there is the opportunity...

Any information on the current mayor of DC (if named) would also be appreciated, I’ve had a scour but can’t seem to find anything. Aware it is probably in there somewhere.
 
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German governing coalition reach agreement on budget goals, avoids early elections

Three parties making up the governing coalition in Germany have reached an agreement on goals for the country's next budget, avoiding the possibility of an early election. Spokespeople for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) have announced that the three parties have settled on a modest increase in public spending, but most of the €11.2 million (£10.8 million) budget surplus and current tax rates will remain untouched. Chancellor Alex Baumann (SDP) previously rebuffed calls to lower taxes in favor of increased investment, while CDU leader Christian Hölling called to decrease the value-added tax rate from 19% on most items to 17%.

Unless budget talks break down as the parties work on specific budget items, elections will likely be called close to latest possible date (July 19, 2020) possible under German law.

According to BBC analyst Geri Fallstein, leaders in both the SPD and CDU were looking to avoid early elections due to a rise in support for the right-wing German Movement (DB) in nationwide polls (the CSU only is active in the state of Bavaria). "CDU leaders want as much time as possible to bring DB voters 'back into the fold' before the elections, while the SPD is hoping that this spike [in DB support since the 2016 election] can be stopped before they have to call an election." Fallstein says.

Currently, the DB have 59 seats in the 691-member Bundestag, while the government controls a combined 452 between the SPD (233) and CDU/CSU (219).

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Qumari elections scheduled for July

The Qumari Ruling Council, the interim government of the war-torn nation of Qumar, has declared that new parliamentary elections will take place in July. Chair of the Ruling Council Zuben Ahmed, who has been Qumar's de facto head of state following the 2016 crisis that saw the country occupied by four separate powers, said that the new parliament would also be tasked with deciding what the permanent form of the new government would be. "The people of Qumar will be asked to decide for themselves if they would like a new sultan, or if the head of state will be a president." Mr. Ahmed said during the announcement of the elections.

The 74-member Parliament of Qumar has not sat since July 2016, shortly before the crisis that saw Sultan Manab Hessani abdicate and flee in exile to the United Arab Emirates and Iran occupy the northern parts of the country. The countries that have occupied the majority of Qumar (China, the United Kingdom and the United States), set up the Ruling Council to act as the civilian government of Qumar in place of the Parliament, owing in part to the inability to hold new by-elections to replace members that had died or gone into exile.

While "ABC" (American-British-Chinese) forces have uprooted most pockets of Islamic Bahji control, there are still sporadic attacks on government and foreign troops outside of the capital of Jabal Nafusah and most of the northern section of the country remains under Iranian control. Iran has declared the Qumar to have been "illegally partitioned" from it by the United Kingdom in 1921 and claims all of Qumar as its own, a claim which is not recognized by any other nation. Major General Abdolrahim Heydari, the head of the Iranian military force occupying northern Qumar, has declared the elections "illegitimate" and said that any attempts to campaign or organize voting in that area would be considered "a criminal under the rules of martial law" and subject to military justice.

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Seaborn transition team confident Congress will pass waiver, confirm Shannon

Washington, D.C.
— The Seaborn transition team is privately confident that Congress will pass a waiver to allow retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Jack Shannon, President-elect Seaborn's choice for Secretary of Defense, to serve in that capacity. A high-ranking member of the transition team told ACN that they were "very confident" that the waiver, required because of the National Security Act of 1947 requiring former military officers to have been retired at least seven years before becoming Secretary of Defense, would pass both the House and Senate, and that Shannon would easily be confirmed. "General Shannon has had an exemplary military career, and has indicated his continued willingness to serve when his country calls on him," incoming White House Press Secretary Cassie Tatum said when asked for a comment. "The president-elect expects that Congress will do its due diligence, and grant a waiver to allow General Shannon to continue serving his country."

Shannon is viewed by Washington insiders as perhaps one of the cabinet nominees least likely to find trouble in the Republican-controlled Senate, and it is expected that his nomination will pass out of the Senate Armed Service Committee quickly once it comes up on Monday. There is reported tension behind the scenes between Speaker of the House Daniel Maddox (D-IL) and the transition team, with the speaker allegedly upset at the transition team's refusal to allow Shannon to appear before the House Armed Services Committee while that committee considers sending the waiver to the House floor, but it is unlikely that this will stop the nomination.

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C.J. Cregg Not About to Tell Seaborn That He Can't Make Her Sit In the Corner In the Oval Office

January 12, 2018

SANTA MONICA — Former White House Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg, who has been tapped to become a senior adviser to President-elect Sam Seaborn is not about to tell him that she won't be able to be put in a corner once Seaborn moves into the Oval Office. "I understand why I'm being punished," Cregg said, staring directly into the corner of her Santa Monica living room as punishment for her pushing tech billionaire Franklin Hollis as Seaborn's running mate. "But I'm not about to tell the president-elect that this punishment won't work after next Sunday." Cregg, knows that her advocacy of one of the worst running-mate selections in American political history has hurt her with the incoming president, but is confident that she will be able to competently advise Seaborn after he assumes the presidency and allows her to move around freely again.

At press time, Cregg did not express similar confidence about being allowed to remove the "dunce" cap that she has been forced to wear since Franklin Hollis' first public relations disaster several months ago.
 
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I have received permission from Marky to regard this post as non-canon, which is why it doesn't feature into the last post.

Has there been any announcement of who will be replacing Charlie Young as Shadow Senator for DC? I have an idea around a potential replacement that I would like to explore if there is the opportunity...

If you noticed in the "Seaborn cabinet" infoboxes, I've listed Charlie as a former shadow senator, not a current one. Part of that was because he wasn't consistently referred to as a shadow senator after he was appointed in 2011, so I took that to mean that he didn't run for a term of his own and retired in 2015 to return to his law practice. I know that the other senator for the 2013-2019 term was Hans Jorgenson (James Roday), who I assume won another term in November, but no one has been established the person who won the election for Charlie's seat in 2014.
 
Much appreciated, I took the ‘former’ aspect of the title to mean that he had resigned ahead of taking up his White House appointment. Oversight on my part.

With that in mind, I may rework my idea to fit an individual who is already holding the Shadow Senate seat formerly occupied by Charlie.
 
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C.J. Cregg Not About to Tell Seaborn That He Can't Make Her Sit In the Corner In the Oval Office

January 12, 2018

SANTA MONICA — Former White House Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg, who has been tapped to become a senior adviser to President-elect Sam Seaborn is not about to tell him that she won't be able to be put in a corner once Seaborn moves into the Oval Office. "I understand why I'm being punished," Cregg said, staring directly into the corner of her Santa Monica living room as punishment for her pushing tech billionaire Franklin Hollis as Seaborn's running mate. "But I'm not about to tell the president-elect that this punishment won't work after next Sunday." Cregg, knows that her advocacy of one of the worst running-mate selections in American political history has hurt her with the incoming president, but is confident that she will be able to competently advise Seaborn after he assumes the presidency and allows her to move around freely again.

At press time, Cregg did not express similar confidence about being allowed to remove the "dunce" cap that she has been forced to wear since Franklin Hollis' first public relations disaster several months ago.

Sam could always make CJ Ambassador to Turkmenistan.
 
MSN.com

“President-Elect Sam Seaborn awarded lifetime achievement award by the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of America”

Chairman-Emeritus of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of America, former White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey, announced that President-Elect Sam Seaborn had been awarded the society’s annual Lifetime Achievment Award. Past recipients of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s Lifetime Achievment Award include former President Josiah Bartlet, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Staub, and film studio owner Ted Marcus.
 
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scotuswatch.org

January 14, 2019

Retirement Predictor: Second Half 2018-19 Term

With Sam Seaborn set to take office in less than one week, we figured it was time to update our forecasts of the nine justices of the Supreme Court. With the first Democratic president since 2011, you can be sure that some justices will be more open to leaving the bench.

Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang
Age: 71
Appointed by: Bartlet, 2004
Wing: Liberal


Will Sam Seaborn be replacing the first female Chief Justice in the same year she swears him in? Unlikely, we say.

Baker Lang is still sharp at 71, and with the Senate still in Republican hands, she knows that whoever will replace her will be to her right. Even if the Democrats retake the Senate in 2020, she might decide to stay put.

Associate Justice Jackson Hoyt
Age: 58
Appointed by: Lassiter, 1995
Wing: Conservative


Owen Lassiter's boy wonder is now heading towards sixty and is now the most senior associate justice.

He's probably glad that he will be swearing in Jack Hunter on the 20th instead of Franklin Hollis, and even if it were Henry Shallick taking the presidential oath instead, it would be unthinkable that Hoyt will retire anytime soon. He's probably going to break Joseph Crouch's record for longest Supreme Court tenure.

Associate Justice Rachel Carmine
Age: 80
Appointed by: Lassiter, 1998
Wing: Moderate (left-leaning)

The only justice above the national life expectancy (78), Carmine is probably the best bet we have for a retirement this term.

The Hawaii native is also the only sitting justice to have been born in a territory (Hawaii gained statehood when she was in college), and her age is starting to show, appearing in a sling for oral arguments in November after falling in her home.

It's unknown exactly what legal qualities she would like for a successor, but we can assume she's looking more and more at retirement after Seaborn was declared the winner in November.

Associate Justice Roberto Mendoza

Age: 73
Appointed by: Bartlet, 2000
Wing: Liberal

If he were anyone but the no-nonsense liberal of the court, Justice Mendoza would normally be looked at seriously as a possible retiree in the next term.

But Mendoza has publicly said that he would only look into stepping down before his 75th birthday in 2020 if his health holds, and by all appearances it has. He may walk with a cane all the time now (owing to age and the leg injury he sustained in his previous career as a New York City police officer), but he's still spry and ready to give the Seaborn administration some victories in the high court.

Associate Justice Christopher Mulready

Age: 63
Appointed by: Bartlet, 2004
Wing: Conservative


In Democratic circles, Christopher Mulready's appointment by Jed Bartlet is frequently considered to have been a devil's bargain. On one hand, they got a true liberal to succeed Roy Ashland and the first female chief justice. On the other, though, it led to Mulready becoming the intellectual anchor of the conservative bloc that has emerged as a result of the Walken presidency.

With a Democrat in the White House and a few years before he can even draw Social Security (which presumably, he would have ruled against if he had been on the court in the 1930s), Justice Mulready isn't going anywhere.

Associate Justice Edward Appleton

Age: 62
Appointed by: Santos, 2010
Wing: Moderate


The only Santos appointee to the court, Appleton is the only true moderate justice, having moved to the left after being part of the moderate-right bloc in the first few terms after his appointment.

While he's going to turn 63 in a few days, Justice Appleton is probably going to be on the court for another dozen years at least even if this is the first opportunity he'll have to have his replacement be someone close to his ideological outlook.

Associate Justice Judi Rand

Age: 67
Appointed by: Walken, 2012
Wing: Moderate (right-leaning)

Ever since the appointment of Howard Weston two years ago, Rand has become the swing justice. She's clearly relishing her status as the most-coveted vote in most tight decisions, and has seen an increase the number of decisions she's authored since Weston's arrival.

The odds she's going to retire in the next four-to-eight years are laughably small.

Associate Justice Howard Weston
Age: 61
Appointed by: Walken, 2016
Wing: Conservative

The third member of the solid conservatives, Weston has shifted the court to the right and doesn't seem to mind having given up his Senate seat to do so.

Even if the Republicans unseat Seaborn in 2022 and hold the White House for eight years after, don't expect Howard Weston to go anywhere.

Associate Justice Joe Quincy

Age: 49
Appointed by: Walken, 2017
Wing: Conservative*

The newest justice on the court, Justice Quincy's not firmly established where his ideology even is since he's only had about one full term's worth of rulings. He's clearly on the conservative side, but time will tell if he's a staunch conservative or is a conservative-leaning moderate in the Rand mold.

Either way, we're going to wait another 20 years before even thinking that Quincy will step down.

scideologychart.png

A helpful graphic of the current court's ideology

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Casting (previously established)
Evelyn Baker Lang: Glenn Close
Jackson Hurt: William Hurt
Rachel Carmine: Dawn Wells
Roberto Mendoza: Edward James Olmos
Christopher Mulready: William Fichtner
Edward Appleton: Kevin Costner
Judi Rand: Dianne Wiest
Howard Weston: Thomas Gibson
Joe Quincy: Matthew Perry
 
Associate Justice Jackson Hoyt
Age: 58
Appointed by: Lassiter, 1995
Wing: Conservative


Owen Lassiter's boy wonder is now heading towards sixty and is now the most senior associate justice.

He's probably glad that he will be swearing in Jack Hunter on the 20th instead of Franklin Hollis, and even if it were Henry Shallick taking the presidential oath instead, it would be unthinkable that Hoyt will retire anytime soon. He's probably going to break Joseph Crouch's record for longest Supreme Court tenure.

Great job as always but I was just wondering how a 35 years old gets appointed to the Supreme Court?
 
Great job as always but I was just wondering how a 35 years old gets appointed to the Supreme Court?

James Madison did appoint 32 year old Joseph Story to the Court. Of course, this was back when it was considered that each Seat should be filled with someone from the state as the previous person and Story was a Democratic-Republican from Massachusetts.
 
James Madison did appoint 32 year old Joseph Story to the Court. Of course, this was back when it was considered that each Seat should be filled with someone from the state as the previous person and Story was a Democratic-Republican from Massachusetts.

And also when few qualifications were required/requested. I mean Story was the first Justice to attend law school and given the fact that the average lifespan was much lower back then I could see why they would go young.

With our criteria, though, for Justices you may not even see a person be considered qualified until they are in their mid 40's at the earliest.
 
And also when few qualifications were required/requested. I mean Story was the first Justice to attend law school and given the fact that the average lifespan was much lower back then I could see why they would go young.

With our criteria, though, for Justices you may not even see a person be considered qualified until they are in their mid 40's at the earliest.

Well, Clarence Thomas was 43 when confirmed. Going through the Supreme Court Justices on Wikipedia, Byron White was 45. William O Douglas was 41. So 35 is a bit young, but if you have the right President with the right Congress with the right candidate...it can happen.
 
Well, Clarence Thomas was 43 when confirmed. Going through the Supreme Court Justices on Wikipedia, Byron White was 45. William O Douglas was 41. So 35 is a bit young, but if you have the right President with the right Congress with the right candidate...it can happen.

I wanted to make him amazingly young, to make it more of a naked ploy to put someone on the Supreme Court for decades. Owen Brady was also about 40 when appointed, and was canonically young (52 when he died on the show), so it was already established that Bartlet's predecessor wasn't above appointing young legal minds to the highest court in the land.

I didn't cast William Hurt (who is about ten years older than Hoyt), but maybe the years haven't been kind and he's not in the best of health. The Senate in 1995 was majority Democratic (Senate Majority Leader John Hoynes), but I solved that dilemma by having Hoyt start out as more of a moderate with Blue Dog support and a tough confirmation anyway.

Here's a couple links with what I established on Jackson Hoyt and the Supreme Court in general in this universe:

A list of "current" Supreme Court Justices (as of 8 1/2 years ago), including confirmation votes, accompanied by several paragraphs describing the history of Supreme Court appointments between 1987 and 2010, as I understood them.

A Wiki page on all the Supreme Court Justices (age and such included). You can make out that Hoyt replaced RL Justice Byron White.
 
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