2018 Presidential Election

Does Stephen Colbert exist ITTL and if he does is it possible for Alan Duke to go on his show where things get a bit "heated"?
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Long mulls independent run if GOP doesn't nominate a "mainstream conservative"

Friday, November 5th, 2021

Texas billionaire Andrew Long said Friday that he would seriously consider running as an independent candidate for President of the United States if the Republicans nominate someone who is not a "mainstream conservative."

Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Long, who ran for governor and senator in Texas as an independent candidate before switching his affiliation to the GOP in 2019, said that he was "worried" about the Republicans nominating someone "who seeks to move the country backward, not forward."

"There's a difference between conservatives who want things to stay the same and to change things slowly, and people who want it to be 1921 instead of 2021," Long said. "I see people running for the nomination that fit into the latter category, and that worries me."

Long declined to answer when asked to name specific candidates who fit his description, but most viewers took it to be a shot at former senator Alan Duke (R-OK) and, to some extent, senator Ruth Norton-Stewart (R-OH) who supports the option of schools to teach "intelligent design" alongside evolution.

Norton-Stewart declined to comment, but Duke's campaign said that Long's candidacy was "a gun to the head of conservative voters" and that the real estate and cell phone mogul was "an elitist who thinks he alone should dictate who the nation's next president should be."

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Interior secretary says war memorials on National Mall "always open" to veterans of wars in question

Friday, November 5th, 2021

Secretary of the Interior Sean Boone said that three memorials at the National Mall would be "always open" to veterans of those conflicts, in spite of the government shutdown.

Boone spoke at a press conference with White House Press Secretary Cassie Tatum, saying that the National World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial would allow veterans of those conflicts to access the memorials during the shutdown.

"We ask that any veterans or group of veterans planning on visiting war memorials at the National Mall please contact the the National Park Police at least four days in advance, and prepare to bring documentation of your service." Boone said.

The National Park Police, which is responsible for guarding national monuments, is part of the Department of the Interior. Tatum said that this policy announcement would seek to prevent "misunderstandings" among the public.

"There is no question that those who fought and bled for our country deserve to be able to visit their nation's memorials that honor them and their fallen brothers and sisters in arms," Tatum said. "But because of this shutdown, they were unfairly denied the opportunity."

The policy will also allow "immediate family, caretakers or group coordinators" to enter into the monuments with veterans, an obvious necessity given the advanced age of the veterans in question.

There is no memorial in the National Mall for soldiers who fought in conflicts after the Vietnam War. Legislation signed by President Glen Allen Walken in 2014 authorized the construction of the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial without the use of federal funds, but as of yet, construction has not begun.
 
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Former governor Burke endorses Duke, says he will run if Duke is "cheated" out of nomination

Sunday, November 7th, 2021

Former Alabama governor Wesley Burke (R) endorsed former senator Alan Duke (R-OK) and said that he would run for president as an independent if Duke is "cheated" out of the nomination.

"Three years ago, the RNC ignored the will of the party and saddled us with Henry Shallick," Burke said in an appearance on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). "Where did that lead us? To Sam Seaborn in the White House and the American family under attack. Well, friends, I won't let something like that happen again."

A supporter of then-governor Peter Gault (KS) in 2018, Burke had planned to make a late entry to the presidential race after Gault was defeated by Shallick at the Republican National Convention, but was dissuaded by Gault, who went on to endorse Shallick.

Burke served as governor of Alabama from 1995 to 2003 and was one of the most prominent politicians from the party's social conservative wing for almost a decade following his departure from elected office owing to his consistent media presence in evangelical Christian media, frequently appearing on CBN and at events organized by the American Christian Assembly (ACA).

This threat comes days after Texas billionaire Andrew Long threatened to run a third-party presidential campaign if the Republicans don't nominate a "mainstream conservative", which many took as meaning Duke.

James Ritchie, chair of the Republican National Committee, issued a statement saying that Burke's remarks were "irresponsible and untrue."

"At no time was there improper influence by the party [during the presidential nomination process] in 2018," Ritchie said. "Governor Burke has been egregiously misinformed about the circumstances that led to Henry Shallick being our party's nominee that year, and I hope he issues a retraction soon."

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Democrats reject GOP piecemeal funding bills

Sunday, November 7th, 2021

Attempts by congressional Republicans to restore funding specific agencies have met with rejection by both their Democratic colleagues and President Seaborn, who say they are attempts at relieving political pressure from the party without restoring less popular, but vital, other services.

House Majority Leader Andrew Casey (R-NY) said that he expects the House will vote to pass funding bills for the District of Columbia, Department of Health and Human Services, National Park Service and reserve components of the U.S. military, including the National Guard in the next few work days. These bills, he said, were a "starting point" for negotiations over a final budget bill.

"We want to build on these measures, crafted with input from our Democratic colleagues, to reach a budget solution," Casey said Sunday on Fox News' Fox and Friends. "We're serious about wanting to get our government back into good working order, and this is an olive branch that proves it."

But Democrats have, for the most part, rejected these proposals.

"The Republicans have looked at the polling and see that the American people have figured out that this is all their [the Republicans'] fault," congresswoman and former Speaker of the House Carol Gelsey (D-FL) said on CNN after Casey's announcement. Polling taken since the shutdown began has shown that approval for the Republican Party has a whole has reached its lowest level since the 2003 shutdown, and that 70% of registered voters disapprove of congressional Republicans' handling of this issue compared to only 58% for congressional Democrats' actions on the budget and 46% for President Seaborn's .

"They want to staunch the bleeding, and we're saying 'if you're really serious, then give us a budget proposal that doesn't take money out of programs that help working- and middle-class Americans or try to censor our educators."

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Sunday, November 7 2021

Jerusalem votes for new president, power-sharing arrangement

Jerusalem
— The first major political change in the Holy City of Jerusalem took place Sunday as citizens of the city-state voted to approve a proposed power-sharing arrangement between the city's religious populations and elected a new president to replace term-limited incumbent Ben Sawahili.

Member of the Jerusalem Council Yigal Peretz was elected to be the country's second president. Jerusalem's ranked-choice voting system meant that many candidates entered, and Peretz won the most first-choice votes with 26%. In the fourth and final round, Peretz was declared the winner with 62% of the vote, with ultra-Orthodox rabbi Meir Yishai getting 38%.

Peretz, who is an accountant by trade and served as the final head of the Jerusalem Developmental Authority under Israel, will be the first Jewish president of the city-state. He campaigned largely on issues related to economic development and simplifying the city's permit and zoning system, which has become infamous for its byzantine procedures (owing to obligations under the Ankara Agreement and subsequent trilateral agreements between Jerusalem and its neighbors) following Jerusalem's independence.

With the backing of both the governments of Palestine and Israel, voters overwhelmingly approved a proposed amendment to the city's charter that will create the position of "deputy president", who will be deputized to act for the president in certain instances and will become acting president should the incumbent be incapacitated, die or resign. A key provision will be that the president and deputy president must have different religions, and that the deputy president always be selected from the two most populous religious groups in Jerusalem.

This change was pushed by Sawahili, a Jordanian-born Christian who was able to bridge the political and social divide that still exists between Hebrew-speaking Jews who make up a majority of the population in the city, and Arab-speaking Muslims, who are by far the largest minority group.

The 82 year-old, who will leave office on December 2nd, congratulated Peretz and said that today's vote was a "popular reaffirmation of the values of peace and democracy."
 
So Kelly Hoffman is the first Democrat to win re-election as Governor of New Jersey since 1997. IRL Phil Murphy just became the first since 1977. That means in this universe, no Republican has been re-elected governor since Alfred Driscoll in 1949.

My one hang-up about this thread is that Tom Kean wasn't re-elected. I would like to know why that is.
 
So Kelly Hoffman is the first Democrat to win re-election as Governor of New Jersey since 1997. IRL Phil Murphy just became the first since 1977. That means in this universe, no Republican has been re-elected governor since Alfred Driscoll in 1949.

My one hang-up about this thread is that Tom Kean wasn't re-elected. I would like to know why that is.
You literally offered a solution last year when you asked about this.

Let's just say that ITTL Kean didn't get his family's approval and the GOP lose in a landslide once Reagan is incapacitated and his administration's role in covering up his health issues comes to light.
 
You literally offered a solution last year when you asked about this.

Let's just say that ITTL Kean didn't get his family's approval and the GOP lose in a landslide once Reagan is incapacitated and his administration's role in covering up his health issues comes to light.

I have some old PMs with @Prometheus_2300 from early 2012 when we were going over the Senate and Governor lists for New Jersey and I bandied about names. Prometheus wanted a Democratic governor to fulfill the post-Keane slot of 1986-1990 (and a then-unknown Republican from 1990-1994) and I suggested Lazzieri, who was invented by Westbrook as a former corrupt Senator (we have alot of those).

This was all in the interest of smoothing out the wrinkles that arose when Kate Crossley was introduced, and some of us list-minders tended to get headaches when the storytellers started throwing out names.

I think Prometheus just wanted a smooth break in the 1985-1986 timeframe between our world and there's, generally across the spectrum, and a closer connection between the federal constitutional crisis and New Jersey politics is possible. Although, Reagan's stroke is in August and the Governor's election is in November (with the primaries being in June). So, probably the best bet is to have Kean or his successor (if he chose not to run) be tied in, or assumed to be tied in, to some sort of cover-up while the news of Reagan's incapacity blows up. Perhaps the Gubernatorial candidate that year was a Reagan staffer or official? Then Lazzieri or the NJ Dems could run ads saying "WTF is going on at the White House?! Do you want that here?" all day long and make up the 40-point deficit in compared to OTL.
 
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DOJ, FBI investigating Michigan state officials over conduct with regulators

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

NBS has learned that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating several officials in Michigan, including some current or former aides of Governor Ben Laurion (R), over their conduct with federal and state regulators.

Sources close to the investigation, triggered by a report from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators of the October oil spill near St. Clair, Michigan, say that several individuals have been identified as "persons of interest" and that federal prosecutors have obtained search warrants for at least three people's personal cellphones and personal computers. Several reports have confirmed that the FBI seized several state-issued laptops and cell phones belonging to officials or employees of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) since Friday.

The sources tell NBS that the investigation thus far is focused on whether these individuals improperly interfered with the work of state or federal environmental regulators in Michigan, or coerced them into filing falsified reports to curry favor with their superiors.

A spokeswoman for the governor's office said that the governor had not been approached by the FBI, but that the administration would "fully cooperate with any reasonable request."

Spokesmen for both the DOJ and FBI declined to comment on this story.
 
I have some old PMs with @Prometheus_2300 from early 2012 when we were going over the Senate and Governor lists for New Jersey and I bandied about names. Prometheus wanted a Democratic governor to fulfill the post-Keane slot of 1986-1990 (and a then-unknown Republican from 1990-1994) and I suggested Lazzieri, who was invented by Westbrook as a former corrupt Senator (we have alot of those).

This was all in the interest of smoothing out the wrinkles that arose when Kate Crossley was introduced, and some of us list-minders tended to get headaches when the storytellers started throwing out names.

I think Prometheus just wanted a smooth break in the 1985-1986 timeframe between our world and there's, generally across the spectrum, and a closer connection between the federal constitutional crisis and New Jersey politics is possible. Although, Reagan's stroke is in August and the Governor's election is in November (with the primaries being in June). So, probably the best bet is to have Kean or his successor (if he chose not to run) be tied in, or assumed to be tied in, to some sort of cover-up while the news of Reagan's incapacity blows up. Perhaps the Gubernatorial candidate that year was a Reagan staffer or official? Then Lazzieri or the NJ Dems could run ads saying "WTF is going on at the White House?! Do you want that here?" all day long and make up the 40-point deficit in compared to OTL.
Pretty much that, while I don't have those PMs anymore (got taken out with the old cap on conversations in vBulletin or Xenforo update) at the time I was probably concerned with fitting in Crossley, providing the cutoff between OTL and WWU. At the time I might have seen that Tom Kean's son was in the NJ State Senate, and just wanted to make sure we didn't have to contend with any political dynasties even potential ones from OTL.
 
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DOJ, FBI investigating Michigan state officials over conduct with regulators

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

NBS has learned that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating several officials in Michigan, including some current or former aides of Governor Ben Laurion (R), over their conduct with federal and state regulators.

Sources close to the investigation, triggered by a report from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators of the October oil spill near St. Clair, Michigan, say that several individuals have been identified as "persons of interest" and that federal prosecutors have obtained search warrants for at least three people's personal cellphones and personal computers. Several reports have confirmed that the FBI seized several state-issued laptops and cell phones belonging to officials or employees of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) since Friday.

The sources tell NBS that the investigation thus far is focused on whether these individuals improperly interfered with the work of state or federal environmental regulators in Michigan, or coerced them into filing falsified reports to curry favor with their superiors.

A spokeswoman for the governor's office said that the governor had not been approached by the FBI, but that the administration would "fully cooperate with any reasonable request."

Spokesmen for both the DOJ and FBI declined to comment on this story.
Interesting how this started immediately after Laurion decisively won the last debate. Should be a golden opportunity for other moderates like Irving and Edwards to surge
 
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Seaborn sits down with congressional GOP for first time since shutdown began

Thursday, November 11th, 2021

President Sam Seaborn met with congressional Republican leadership today for the first time since the federal government shutdown began on November 1st.

After today's Veterans' Day ceremonies, including the president laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Seaborn and congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House Mitchell Harris (R-IN) and Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (R-AL) met at the White House to discuss passing a budget that would end the ten-day shutdown, by far the longest in the nation's history.

The meeting lasted roughly two hours before congressional leaders returned to Capitol Hill. Seaborn said that a compromise had not been reached, but was encouraged by Republicans agreeing to negotiate on several issues and that Republicans had agreed to remove contentious portions from the budget that would strip federal funding from schools that teach "critical race theory."

"I hope that this means that a budget will appear on my desk in the next few days that is something both parties can agree on," the president told the White House Press Corps afterwards. "There's no doubt in my mind that Congress does not want this shutdown to continue any more than the rest of us do."

The economic fallout from the shutdown has been tremendous, with Moody's Analytics estimating the shutdown has cost the American economy $25 billion, with over $1 billion worth of wages from federal employees being lost. Areas heavily dependent on federal support and dollars, including Washington D.C., have been hit hard by the shutdown, with crowdfunding platforms filled with small businesses near national parks suddenly finding themselves in extremely precarious financial situations.
 
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Senate leadership nears compromise on budget agreement to end shutdown

Saturday, November 13th, 2021

The leaders of both parties in the Senate say they are close to reaching a final agreement that would provide a new federal budget and re-open the federal government.

Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (R-AL) and Senate Minority Leader Jimmy Fitzsimmons (D-MA) praised each other after both men left different meetings, Riley with members of his Senate leadership team and Fitzsimmons with President Sam Seaborn at the White House.

"We've made substantial progress," Riley said. "I want to thank the minority leader and the minority leadership for the constructive discussions we have had these past few days."

Fitzsimmons likewise praised Riley's "diligence and temperance" in the negotiations between the two parties.

Sources familiar with the negotiations say that the deal's framework is largely based off of the bipartisan "Gang of Ten" agreement that was later endorsed by Seaborn and most congressional Democrats. The agreement would retain current levels for Medicaid and Medicare, leave federal education standards intact. Reported modifications to the plan, structured to get House Republicans onboard, would freeze pay at current rates for all non-military government employees and lower both the corporate and capital gains tax rates for two years.

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Saturday, November 13 2021

Laurion advisors named in oil spill indictments

Grand Rapids, MI
— Three current and former aides of Governor Ben Laurion (R) have been indicted alongside the head of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (GLE) and two other top officials there. A grand jury of the federal District Court of Western Michigan returned six indictments yesterday as a result of an FBI investigation into practices at GLE that officials suspect helped lead to last month's spill near St. Clair, which spilled over one million gallons of crude oil and briefly threatened the water supply for nearly a third of Michigan residents.

Almost all of the grand jury's charges were for counts of obstruction of justice and perjury, with Laurion former aide Tom Widen also charged with fraud and misuse of government resources for allegedly using state resources and funds to promote his planned post-government consulting business before his departure from Laurion's employ in 2019. Two current Laurion aides, Rick Hoek and Sandy Miller, are also charged with obstruction of justice (both) and witness tampering (Hoek).

GLE Director Lane Parrish-Smith has been charged with five counts of obstruction of justice, three counts of witness tampering, and one count each of perjury and conspiracy. Two others, including Ken Wynant, head of the Oil, Gas, and Minerals Division, have also been charged for allegedly attempting to influence federal and state regulators to falsify reports to present reports that "aligned with the [Laurion] administration's political agenda" as stated in the charging document.

A spokesman for Laurion's office said that all three GLE employees have been placed an "indefinite leave of absence", while Hoek and Miller were fired following the indictments. He also denied that Laurion had any role or knowledge of the alleged criminal misconduct at GLE before the FBI and Department of Justice began its investigation.

"The governor wishes to express his outrage and shock at the violation of trust that both career public servants and some of his own advisors allegedly perpetrated." the spokesman said.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andy Becker said that the investigation was still "ongoing", but that it had exposed a "culture of corruption and incompetence" at GLE that "nearly led to an international environmental disaster." Prior to the St. Clair oil spill, Laurion had been close political allies with the energy sector, including Enbridge (the owner of the Line 5 pipeline that cracked) and promoted economic deregulation as a solution to state and national energy needs.

"The interference by political officials and prioritizing of political objectives over scientific integrity and the law [at GLE] is deeply concerning." Becker said. He also added that officials from the Department of Justice and FBI were coordinating with the Michigan Attorney General to investigate other state agencies with "mandates affecting politically-sensitive areas."
 
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