2018 Presidential Election

Any chance Liz Clark will run again? It seems like with so many reputable Republicans declining, 2022 could be her best chance at the nomination despite her flaws
 
Any chance Liz Clark will run again? It seems like with so many reputable Republicans declining, 2022 could be her best chance at the nomination despite her flaws
No, she made it clear she was finished with politics after dropping out in 2018 and leaving office in Jan 2019. The attacks on her son's bi-sexuality and the fact her heart was never really in it, but as the sitting VP she felt she had to run.
 
So Jeff Daniels plays both Jim Arkin and Will McAvoy ITTL?
Like many tv shows/universes, you kind of just have to go with it. For example, Steven Culp (who plays former Speaker Jeff Haffley) was a recurring actor on JAG as CIA Agent Clayton Webb for a number of years, He would later appear on NCIS (a direct spinoff of JAG) as a Naval Intelligence officer, even as his fellow JAG cast members would appear as the same characters they had played on the parent show.

It's sort of like a corollary to the "Matthew Perry" Rule. In season 1, Donna tells Josh that she thinks she saw Matthew Perry during President Bartlet's trip to LA. Years later, Perry would appear on the show as Joe Quincy.
 
Like many tv shows/universes, you kind of just have to go with it. For example, Steven Culp (who plays former Speaker Jeff Haffley) was a recurring actor on JAG as CIA Agent Clayton Webb for a number of years, He would later appear on NCIS (a direct spinoff of JAG) as a Naval Intelligence officer, even as his fellow JAG cast members would appear as the same characters they had played on the parent show.

It's sort of like a corollary to the "Matthew Perry" Rule. In season 1, Donna tells Josh that she thinks she saw Matthew Perry during President Bartlet's trip to LA. Years later, Perry would appear on the show as Joe Quincy.
Maybe in this instance you guys could call it the "O'Donnell rule" since Lawrence O'Donnell appears as both Bartlet's father and his brother ITTL.
 
Washington Weekly, Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Another Year, Another Run


As reported in 2016, Senator Clark Gibson of Idaho has again made his case at the beginning of this year to become President pro tempore and again been shut down by Congress and Congressional leaders. Gibson, an archconservative from Idaho was sworn in on the very same day, the very same second, as Senator Sam Wilkinson, archconservative from Kansas, yet Wilkinson was elected to the traditional post of President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 2017, and reelected twice since (in 2019 and 2021).

Both Gibson and Wilkinson are not particularly well-liked on the Senate floor, with Wilkinson even eschewing Committee positions until relatively recently, despite his high seniority. They have done well in their states, and have been bolstered by friendships with party leaders, but Wilkinson was quoted as being a brash upstart throughout much of the 1980s and early '90s and Gibson notoriously fought against any progressive legislation with filibusters so often that he has received cloture more often than any other Senator in US history.

One might think that Gibson and Wilkinson, hated by the Senate-at-large, might team up and become good friends. They would be wrong. "The enemy of my enemy is still a lying rat bastard," said Clark Gibson to Rolling Stone in 2002, after Sam Wilkinson claimed that they were teaming up to fight against President Bartlet's second term agenda. Gibson backed retaining Jack Moseley of Colorado as Senate Majority Leader, while Wilkinson supported Robert Royce of Pennsylvania to replace him (which ultimately won out when Moseley resigned from the position due to controversy). The minor Moseley-Royce feud reignited bad blood between Gibson and Wilkinson ever since which is why they are rarely seen in the same room, do not speak to each other, and refuse to serve on the same commitees or sub-committees.

But, regardless of all that, what has this to do with the position of President pro tempore? Since 1949, the President pro tempore has always been traditionally elected (by a majority of the Senate) from the most senior member of the majority party. The Democrats, when in power, elected Kenneth McKellar (TN; 1949-1953), Walter F. George (GA; 1955-1957), Carl Hayden (AZ; 1957-1969), Richard Russell (GA; 1969-1981), Patrick Little (DE; 1991-1996), Anthony Gianelli (NY; 1996-1999), and William Wiley (WA; 2015-2017). The Republicans, when in power, elected Styles Bridges (NH; 1953-1955), Milton Young (NC; 1980), Jesse Calhoun (SC; 1981-1989), Bill Glomer (IA; 1989-1991), Joseph Furman (TX; 1999-2009), and Robert Miner (AR; 2009-2015). All powerful men with no conflicts in their seniority.

But with Gibson and Wilkinson, things are a little different. Same day swearing-in. Yet, Senate rules are very specific over who has the higher seniority regarding committee assignments, office space, general order of precedence, and so on. And, currently, that would be Sam Wilkinson, as his state (Kansas) had a higher census population in 1980 than Clark Gibson's state (Idaho), and still does to this day. State populations by Census determines seniority between two same-day Senators with no other qualifying factor (like being a former governor, congressman, or president; none of which apply to Gibson or Wilkinson). But Senate rules on seniority have changed in the past 40 years, and when they were both sworn-in in 1981, it operated on a basis of pure alphabetical nature. G is before W, argues Gibson, and changes to the rules shouldn't apply to them retroactively.

Gibson has made his case on the floor of the Senate, passionately and with vigor. He has more than a few colleagues throw some support to him in the press often over the years. But the floor vote has been nearly unanimous three separate times. Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (AL) doesn't want a divided caucus, like in the chaotic days of 2003. He pressed hard to maintain the seniority rules in their present state, even retroactively, and most of the Senate agrees with him. Still, thanks to Gibson, the vote for President pro tempore has been a roll call vote for three consecutive Congresses (the first time since 1949), and it's public record that he received only two votes each time: one from himself and one from his Idaho Senate colleague Gina DiMeo.

"One day, that f***** will drop dead with one of his mistresses, and we can revisit this issue," Gibson told a reporter once in what was later claimed to be an off-the-cuff remark. Gibson, who is eight years older than Wilkinson and the second-oldest Senator (behind only William Wiley), may not be around to see that day. Both insist on running in 2022.

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Pictured above: Then-Ranking Member Clark Gibson (R-ID) talking at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing with actress Holly Hunter, wife of late UK Labour politician Jonathan Moseley, in 2016. Photo by Patrick Leahy Enterprises.
 
Maybe in this instance you guys could call it the "O'Donnell rule" since Lawrence O'Donnell appears as both Bartlet's father and his brother ITTL.

From May 18, 2011:
Tim Thomason said:
Former Secretary of Agriculture Jonathan Bartlet was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell last week. Here he is talking about the Bartlet legacy. Inserted photo is of Edward Bartlet, Jonathan and former President Josiah Bartlet's father:

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I see a vague similarity.
 
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Thursday January 28th 2021

A special Series: The 2022 Presidential Contenders
Number One: Alan Duke

Alan Royston Duke

Born October 19th, 1954, Claremore, Oklahoma.

A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1991 to 2015.

He was elected to the United States Senate from Oklahoma in 1990. He served four terms until losing his 2014 re-election bid. He is a social conservative who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and embraced a cultural warrior image during his Senate tenure. While serving as a Senator he promoted the teaching of intelligent design. He called for the Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing & Urban Development all to be abolished. He also called Climate change a “massive hoax”.

He was born in the town of Claremore, Oklahoma the only child to Roy Duke (1924-2001) & Patsy (Leland) Duke (1928-2003). He attended Claremore Elementary school before attending Claremore High School graduating in May 1973. He then attended Claremore Junior College before joining the Mayor of Claremore's office first of all as an office Junior in 1977. He swiftly worked his way up and within three years he joined the campaign team of Jack Beaver, the Mayor when he ran for Governor in 1980. After his victory he became Beaver’s Chief of Staff, and after masterminding his landslide 1984 re-election victory, he left politics to join Oklahoma’s largest oil company “Klaxon Oil” as a senior Executive. In 1989 he was persuaded by the now retired Beaver to run for the United States Senate after the retirement of Republican Senator Dewey F. Bartlett, because Beaver who had the first choice couldn’t run because of health reasons (he would die of cancer in 1992) and won the election with 62% of the vote. He was re-elected three times, in 1996, 2002 & 2008 although with a declining % of the vote each time (59%, 57% & 54%).

In 2014 he had built up a large early poll lead over Democratic Congressman Bradley Denning (In May 2014 he was polling around 70% of the vote), but slowly the Denning campaign began to haul back some of that lead, but at the Republican National Convention in protest at the party platform he attacked what he called a “homosexual take over” of the party in which he named Senator Matt Skinner of Vermont and Governor Sean Boone of Washington, although Boone was straight and married. Boone later confronted Duke backstage, and Boone punched him after he alleged Duke “insulted my Wife”. From that point Duke’s numbers began to fall, and it wasn’t helped by an interview and speech in which he said he “was only against things”. In the end Denning won by 12% winning 56% to 44%. It was described by many in the media as “one of the greatest defeats of a sitting US Senator”.

After leaving the Senate, Duke refused all media requests, and took paid “consultancy” work on the board of his old company “Klaxon Oil” and the “NRA”. In 2020 he re-entered public life, campaigning for Kansas Governor Peter Gault in his Senate race, with many speculating that he intended running for the 2022 Republican Presidential nomination. This was confirmed on December 8th, 2020 when he announced his candidacy from outside the Mayor’s office in Claremore, flanked by Mayor Jim Beaver, the son of his own mentor Jack Beaver.

He married his High School sweetheart Jeanette in 1979, and the couple have two daughters, Lucy (born 1984) and Beth (born 1988). Beth entered the national headlines in 2006 when she joined the “Youth in Revolt” group and came out as a Lesbian, Duke disowned his daughter. She openly campaigned for Bradley Denning in 2014, calling her father a “bully and a monster”.
 
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capitolbeat.com, Friday January 29th

Stark Signs Up for Norton-Stewart Presidential Run


Republican strategist Ann Stark has confirmed that she is leaving her role at Fox News and is widely believed to have agreed to run the Presidential campaign of Ohio Senator Ruth Norton-Stewart. Stark, 59, is a veteran of both President Walken campaigns and is widely credited with getting the negotiating the former President through a tough primary campaign in 2010 and cementing his appeal to the American public throughout both campaigns.

Senator Norton-Stewart is thought to be very close to confirming her candidacy. Polling over the past week has put her out in front of a fragmented GOP field and with growing momentum and support for her campaign. Fellow Ohio Senator Dylan Garrison all but endorsed his fellow Ohioan last weekend when he ruled himself out and said "I really hope Ruth will run. I think she would be an outstanding candidate for President. If she runs, she's got my vote."

With Stark seemingly on board and significant appeal across the party, Norton-Stewart is starting to look like the Republican front runner.
 
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Here are the seniority lists for the House and Senate:

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  • The state's population ranking for the six junior-most senators (Gault through Moore) are from the Census' estimates for 2020, not the official Census. The results for the OTL Census has been delayed and won't be expected until April due to COVID. Since that isn't the case ITTL, and I didn't feel like waiting for four more months, I just went with the estimates for now. If the numbering/order is wrong for these senators, it will be corrected in the 2023 version.
  • Of the party-switchers in the House:
    • Charles Hacker was originally established as a Democrat, but somehow turned into a Republican. I'm retconning it so that he switched parties between 2011 and 2018.
    • Franklin Woodside was first elected as a standard Democrat, then became an independent in 2010 to be Nicholas Alexander's running mate in Alexander's aborted presidential run. He then identified himself as an "Independent Democrat" for a while before returning completely to the Democratic fold.
    • John Peters' switch from a Democrat to a Republican in 2010 narrowed the Democrats' majority and was helped lead to Mark Sellner's ouster later that year.
    • Randy Celeste was originally elected as a member of the Progressive Alliance. He turned into the de facto leader before the alliance dissolved in 2012, when he became a Democrat.
  • One somewhat major change from the 2019 version is a retconning of Nicole Kershaw's seniority. Previously, Kershaw was sworn in after other senators so that then-incoming senator Sam Seaborn would become California's senior senator, rather than her, since she was appointed to finish Mark Kerrison's term and Seaborn was elected for a full term in 2010. Since I didn't know the precedent for a situation like this, I didn't change it when I did the last seniority list in 2019.

    But the situation with Georgia's new senators IOTL cleared up what has seemingly always been the rule: in the case of a both state's senators being sworn in simultaneously, the one elected to a full term is granted seniority. So Kershaw would have come immediately after Sam in seniority instead of being behind every other senator who first took office on January 3, 2011.

    So she moves ahead of Shallick, Elderton, Kuhio and Wheeler in seniority due to representing the largest state. Retroactively, she also gains seniority on two other former senators (Damon Matteo of Indiana & Scott Larkin of New Hampshire) who were part of the 2010 class but lost reelection in 2016.
 
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Monday, February 1st, 2021

Collins confirmed as Commerce secretary

The Senate today confirmed Stephen Collins, former head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), to the position of Secretary of Commerce. Collins, who was President Seaborn's nominee to replace former secretary Shannon Frost, was confirmed by a 54-45 vote.

While almost a dozen Republicans joined with Democrats to approve of Collins' nomination, Senate Majority Whip Max Lobell III (R-GA) voiced dissatisfaction with the president's "patronage appointment to a vital department."

"I voted against the nomination because being the husband to one of the president's top aides is not a qualification to be a member of the United States Cabinet." Lobell said, alluding to Collins' wife, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Connie Britton.

Senator John Huntingdon (D-RI), the ranking member on the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, took issue with Lobell's characterization.

"It's frankly reductive and insulting for Senator Lobell to place emphasis on who the [secretary] is married to, instead of [Collins'] experience heading the national party apparatus of a major party for six years."
 
Look at this random photo I found of eight members of Congress. It's so weird that they're all from states where we don't have at least one member with a photo. Confounding.

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(top l-r): Rep. Daniel Abend (R-KY), Sen. Matt Chantler (R-ND), Sen. Joe Derrick (D-MD), Sen. Dan Hammond (R-TN)
(bottom l-r): Sen. Daryl Lukins (R-OK), Sen. Clare McAuley (D-DE), Sen. Antonio Rodrigues (D-AZ), Sen. Mac Walters (R-WV)


-------------​

Cast (all new casting)
Rick Holmes as Daniel Abend
Heath Shuler as Matt Chantler
Danny Huston as Joe Derrick
William Sanderson as Dan Hammond
Rick Worthy as Daryl Lukins
Terry Farrell as Clare McAuley
Jon Seda as Antonio Rodrigues
Currie Graham as Mac Walters

  • Abend is the only representative casted, but he's comparatively higher-ranking within the House GOP than either of Kentucky's two senators are within the Senate caucus.
  • Chantler was clearly based off Heath Shuler, so I figured why not just give Shuler something to do since he's retired from Congress?
  • I had been tempted to try and cast another House member for Maryland, but none of the current representatives struck me as interesting or important enough to cast. So I just went with plugging another gap in the Senate roster.
  • Just a reminder: Hammond has been in the Senate for 32 years (yet six others are still ahead of him on the seniority list) and was elected as a conservative Democrat in 1988 before party-switching after Owen Lassiter's victory in 1990. Sanderson is 77, but Hammond is probably at least a few years older than him.
  • Another "clearly based on an OTL athlete-turned-politician", TWW's answer to J.C. Watts gets casted. Unlike Watts, though, Lukins' background is that of a former Oklahoma basketball standout who won multiple NBA championships before jumping into politics. He and Rudi Robinson probably have a lot to talk about whenever they get done arguing with each other over the effects of social aid programs on the black community.
  • The slow trickle of Star Trek crew members into TWWverse continues with Terry "Jadzia Dax" Farrell appearing as Delaware's junior senator. She joins Odo (the late, great Rene Auberjonois) and Armin Shimerman (Quark) as being the only Deep Space Nine main cast to not be heads of state ITTL. (For those wondering: Avery Brooks and Cirroc Lofton are the former and current president of the Central African Federation, Michael Dorn is the "former" leader of Equatorial Kundu, Alexander Siddig is the sultan-turned-president of Qumar, and Colm Meaney is the president of Ireland).

    A special note: Shimerman actually appeared in the show. He played an actor playing Richard III in the Broadway play Bartlet attends in the season 3 finale.
  • Rodrigues was established as being pretty young when he was created back in 2010 as a "Santos-esque" Hispanic Democratic congressman. Luckily, Jon Seda was available to play Arizona's answer to (TTL) POTUS #44. But he hopes that unlike Santos, he can win re-election next year.
  • Pure dumb luck that I found Currie because he looks just like I'd imagined Walters in my head when I was writing articles about him.
 
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College Student and Future Congressman Dan Whiteside (D-MD-3) with his father, the late Senator Sam Whiteside (D-MD) on a family trip to San Francisco
(new casting: Jordan Bridges and old casting: Beau Bridges)
 
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I've added the junior Whiteside to the hidden cast list in the Congress roster, but Palminteri is both too young (Grunder got elected to Congress in 1973) and well....doesn't sound or look anything like an old white guy from rural Minnesota named Thom Grunder would look or sound like.

If you could, please send any future casting suggestions to me or the other writing staff (Marky Bunny or MountainDew17) first before posting them on the thread. We've changed things up a bit since the old thread, but would still love to get your input for casting characters (or help pointing out when previous castings have fallen through the cracks).
 
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Tuesday February 2nd, 2021

A special Series: The 2022 Presidential Contenders

Number Two: Gus Edwards

Gus Albert Edwards
Born May 21st, 1966, Traverse City, Michigan

A member of the Republican Party, he served as a City Council member in Midland, Michigan, Mayor of Midland, and a United States Congressman for Michigan’s fourth congressional district from 2011 to 2021.

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2010, he was re-elected four times before declining to seek re-election in 2020. He is a liberal, moderate “Vinick Republican”; his views can be described as "fiscally conservative but socially liberal". He believes in a strong national defense, tax cuts for the middle class and working families and a balanced budget. Although he is pro-life, he supports abortion in all life-threatening cases, and after rape. He also supports same sex marriage saying that he supported not in spite of his conservatism but because he is a conservative, and claimed it was about equality and that the “true Republicans should not be telling people who they should be allowed to fall in love with” adding “ we should believe in freedom, but sadly many in our party, believe we should tell people what to do in the privacy of their own bedrooms”. He believes “Climate change is real but may be part of the natural part of the eco-system of the planet, rather than fully man made”.

He was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the youngest of four children to William Edwards (1938 to 2017) & Susan (Brown) Edwards (1939 to present). The family moved to Midland, Michigan when he was two years old. He attended Central Park Elementary School, before attending Jefferson Middle School and Herbert Henry Dow High School. He graduated in 1984 and attended the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, completing a dual degree in business and public Government. Between 1990 and 1992 he travelled across Europe, including to eastern European countries who had recently become free from Communism. Between 1993 and 1996 he worked for “Barclays Bank” in the UK, advising on expanding business markets in the former eastern bloc. In 1997 he returned to Michigan and Midland working as an Executive for “Dow Chemicals” who are based in the City. In 2001, he became a City Councilman, and was elected as Mayor in 2005 (Mayors in Midland are elected by the Council members) and re-elected in 2007 and 2009. He remained working for “Dow Chemicals” until 2005 when he became an “independent business advisor”. In 2010 he ran for Michigan’s fourth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives and was elected unopposed. He did face challengers in 2012, 2014, 2016 & 2018, but won re-election each time. He served on the Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees between 2011 and 2020 as a minority party backbencher.

In 2019 he announced that he would not seek re-election in 2020, as he had become frustrated with the party leadership in both the House and the Senate. He has clashed with the current Speaker of the House Mitch Harris, is no friend of Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley and in 2017 described RNC Chairman Jeff Haffley as "the kind of lunatic zealot that normal Americans find totally repugnant." On November 20th, 2020, he announced via social media that he was launching a bid for the 2022 Republican President nomination running on a platform of what he described as “sensible, practical Republican solutions”.

He married Julie Sanderson, in 1995 in London, they had met when both working for “Barclays Bank” in 1993. The couple have four children, Will (born in 1996), Tyler (born in 1999), Karen (born in 2001) & Shaun (born in 2003). They also have one grandchild, Blake born in 2020, to his son Will and his wife Jane.
 
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So in what year do the states hold their elections for governor? I know the abbreviation of Reagan's second term led to some states shifting their election years (some, like Illinois, having *just* done it prior to 1986).
 
So in what year do the states hold their elections for governor? I know the abbreviation of Reagan's second term led to some states shifting their election years (some, like Illinois, having *just* done it prior to 1986).
If you look at the current Governors list I posted last month, you will see the years for the next elections.
 
So in what year do the states hold their elections for governor? I know the abbreviation of Reagan's second term led to some states shifting their election years (some, like Illinois, having *just* done it prior to 1986).
Here's the schedule using years from a presidential election (PE):

+0 (22 states): Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin
+1 (5 states): Kentucky, Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont
+2 (21 states): Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
+3 (2 states): New Jersey, Virginia
 
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