So when the time comes for Anubis to weigh the souls of, say, a Russian or an Indian who lived otherwise good lives, they're at a disadvantage by virtue of them being non-American?
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So when the time comes for Anubis to weigh the souls of, say, a Russian or an Indian who lived otherwise good lives, they're at a disadvantage by virtue of them being non-American?
Basically. But if they were a very noble Russian they might get reborn as like a Chinese or Nigerian, which is only a half-step down from an American.
I've really fallen into a rut. Most of the last few boxes has been much of the same. So I say it's time to branch out. I will either give my best yet work, or my worst yet.
With a POD much farther back then the box may imply, the Royalist Dictatorship of Alexander eventually had to give way with the German invasion. It was a choice of either submission to Germany (unacceptable), collaboration with the fascists (also unacceptable), or collaboration with the Communists (unacceptable until the realization kicked in there was no one else to help them save the allies, and the closest one's able to help was Germany's, until recent, best friend). A unity Government in-exile was set up and a new constitution was drawn after the war to try and, if not make everyone happy, make them accept their new neighbors and family for now.
Federalization had come to significant degree, the King now neutered compared to January 6, the 14 Parliaments of Istria, Dalmatia, Slovenia, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Voivodina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Sandžak, Nish, and Kosovo had in them vested powers over some taxation, regional and municipal elections, drawing lines for elections to the Parliament (or House of the People). Each were expected to keep their own budgets and enforce constitutional provisions among other responsibilities that would come to be defined and changed as the Constitution was reworked every few decades.
The first election came late in the year and was a resounding success for the Communists in Yugoslavia. Both sides still recovering from the war feared what the other may do, but the past 6 years had sown in them a small sense of camaraderie. Only God knew what would come next for this Kingdom with Communists in power.
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Thoughts?
With a POD much farther back then the box may imply, the Royalist Dictatorship of Alexander eventually had to give way with the German invasion. It was a choice of either submission to Germany (unacceptable), collaboration with the fascists (also unacceptable), or collaboration with the Communists (unacceptable until the realization kicked in there was no one else to help them save the allies, and the closest one's able to help was Germany's, until recent, best friend). A unity Government in-exile was set up and a new constitution was drawn after the war to try and, if not make everyone happy, make them accept their new neighbors and family for now.
Federalization had come to significant degree, the King now neutered compared to January 6, the 14 Parliaments of Istria, Dalmatia, Slovenia, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Voivodina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Sandžak, Nish, and Kosovo had in them vested powers over some taxation, regional and municipal elections, drawing lines for elections to the Parliament (or House of the People). Each were expected to keep their own budgets and enforce constitutional provisions among other responsibilities that would come to be defined and changed as the Constitution was reworked every few decades.
The first election came late in the year and was a resounding success for the Communists in Yugoslavia. Both sides still recovering from the war feared what the other may do, but the past 6 years had sown in them a small sense of camaraderie. Only God knew what would come next for this Kingdom with Communists in power.
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Thoughts?
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I've really fallen into a rut. Most of the last few boxes has been much of the same. So I say it's time to branch out. I will either give my best yet work, or my worst yet.
With a POD much farther back then the box may imply, the Royalist Dictatorship of Alexander eventually had to give way with the German invasion. It was a choice of either submission to Germany (unacceptable), collaboration with the fascists (also unacceptable), or collaboration with the Communists (unacceptable until the realization kicked in there was no one else to help them save the allies, and the closest one's able to help was Germany until recent best friend). A unity Government in-exile was set up and a new constitution was drawn to try and, if not make everyone happy, make them accept their new neighbors for now.
Federalization had come to significant degree, the King now neutered compared to January 6, the 14 Parliaments of Istria, Dalmatia, Slovenia, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Voivodina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Sandžak, Nish, and Kosovo had in them vested powers over some taxation, regional and municipal elections, drawing lines for elections to the Parliament (or House of the People). Each were expected to keep their own budgets and enforce constitutional provisions among other responsibilities that would come to be defined and changed as the Constitution was reworked every few decades.
The first election came late in the year and was a resounding success for the Communists in Yugoslavia. Both sides still recovering from the war feared what the other may do, but the past 6 years had sown in them a small sense of camaraderie. Only God knew what would come next for this Kingdom with Communists in power.
---
Thoughts?
I love it and I kind of want to use as a jumping off point for saving Yugoslavia in my revisIon of KTBLFF. Honestly I really like the challenge of making a real federal Yugoslavia work out.
The Commonwealth of Cornucopia on Ceres has become a Republican stronghold following the realigning elections in the 2110s. The number of blue collar union jobs has decreased and given rise to more white collar and professional jobs in the dense urban areas of the northern coast. The Republican Party has also begun a significant shift to the right, which has made many moderate Republicans uneasy with the party. Likewise, the 2120s saw the rise of a more left-wing Democratic Party as liberal syndicalists took control of the party away from democratic unionists. The Green Party began to grow in power in the late 2120s in response to this, as did a so-called radical center. The radical center was opposed to partisan politics, strongly supported campaign finance reform, free market reform of health care, education reform and decrease in government power.
The right-ward and left-ward shift of the Republican and Democratic parties continued into the 2130s. Republican Premier Edward D. Walker was term-limited, so the nomination fight turned into a battle between the conservative faction lead by Deputy Premier Evan Reich and the moderate faction led by Senator Anna Simms of Plymouth. Reich called for a platform of significant tax cuts, privatization of some welfare, school voucher system, decreased funding for the Commonwealth Education Department and fewer WPA projects. Many moderates and centrists saw this platform as too radical while many were unimpressed with Simms's incompetent campaigns and gaffes. With many moderates and centrists staying at home and with the Republican Party in the hands of conservatives, Reich was nominated for premier with conservative TV mogul Brianna Mathison as his running mate. The Democratic nomination, on the other hand, was simple and almost perfunctory, with the machines and labor unions getting behind Natalie Broadhead, the First Secretary of the Forestry Sequence of Mayflower, with Falls Church City Councilman Devonne Kemp as her running mate.
Moderates in both parties and political independents quickly formed a campaign to draft computer and software entrepreneur Nelson Flores to make an independent run. Flores initially declined to run, but was convinced to run after Broadhead became the Democratic frontrunner. Flores ran on a platform that would have seen fairly standard for any Republican, though he campaigned strongly against partisan politics. Flores chose former Senator Payton Glennon of Powhatan as his running mate to give his campaign credence. Former Cornucopia State Natural Resource Commissioner Alexa McClaskey was renominated for the Green Party nomination with a platform of green politics and social liberalism.
Some polls showed him in second place and within striking distance of Reich. The Reich and Broadhead campaigns--in some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy--colluded to attack Flores from both the left and the right. Flores was an inexperienced campaigner, and while his campaign had a slick Internet campaign, his TV ads were often rejected by television stations (mostly on stations owned by Mathison Broadcasting) and he was often criticized for speaking too quickly and often getting his words confused. Flores's numbers began to drop, though large a significant number of voters were unhappy with both Reich and Broadhead. Reich won a close election over Broadhead, Flores and McClaskey. Flores remained defiant in his concession speech, and the day after the election, he met with donors and supporters to lay the groundwork for a new political party.
The right-ward and left-ward shift of the Republican and Democratic parties continued into the 2130s. Republican Premier Edward D. Walker was term-limited, so the nomination fight turned into a battle between the conservative faction lead by Deputy Premier Evan Reich and the moderate faction led by Senator Anna Simms of Plymouth. Reich called for a platform of significant tax cuts, privatization of some welfare, school voucher system, decreased funding for the Commonwealth Education Department and fewer WPA projects. Many moderates and centrists saw this platform as too radical while many were unimpressed with Simms's incompetent campaigns and gaffes. With many moderates and centrists staying at home and with the Republican Party in the hands of conservatives, Reich was nominated for premier with conservative TV mogul Brianna Mathison as his running mate. The Democratic nomination, on the other hand, was simple and almost perfunctory, with the machines and labor unions getting behind Natalie Broadhead, the First Secretary of the Forestry Sequence of Mayflower, with Falls Church City Councilman Devonne Kemp as her running mate.
Moderates in both parties and political independents quickly formed a campaign to draft computer and software entrepreneur Nelson Flores to make an independent run. Flores initially declined to run, but was convinced to run after Broadhead became the Democratic frontrunner. Flores ran on a platform that would have seen fairly standard for any Republican, though he campaigned strongly against partisan politics. Flores chose former Senator Payton Glennon of Powhatan as his running mate to give his campaign credence. Former Cornucopia State Natural Resource Commissioner Alexa McClaskey was renominated for the Green Party nomination with a platform of green politics and social liberalism.
Some polls showed him in second place and within striking distance of Reich. The Reich and Broadhead campaigns--in some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy--colluded to attack Flores from both the left and the right. Flores was an inexperienced campaigner, and while his campaign had a slick Internet campaign, his TV ads were often rejected by television stations (mostly on stations owned by Mathison Broadcasting) and he was often criticized for speaking too quickly and often getting his words confused. Flores's numbers began to drop, though large a significant number of voters were unhappy with both Reich and Broadhead. Reich won a close election over Broadhead, Flores and McClaskey. Flores remained defiant in his concession speech, and the day after the election, he met with donors and supporters to lay the groundwork for a new political party.
The further back you make a strong, sensible, and federal change the better things work out in the long run.
Well uncle Joe won't be happy about them working with the royal fascists. But at least Tito is not in the position to coup the government...yet? We'll see.
Also another well crafted box Mike.
Hey, the Green Party is still kicking!How are they in AJND?
If I remember correctly they're the opposition to Australia's National Liberals, replacing Labor.
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Hey, the Green Party is still kicking!
They exist. The American left doesn't like them because their policies are seen as anti-union and the American right doesn't trust them because their policies might hurt business. They're more blue-green (with a strong social liberal streak) because of the intense hostility from the Democrats and unions and tend to do a little bit well in New England and New England-type states (like most of Cornucopia).
Don't think I've seen that before but I think that the Nazi regime wouldn't go down quietly.
Now, the latest instillment in Screw Primaries.
"Kassebaum's second term was not as smooth as her first. The economy was still on firm footing but other things would get the public's attention. In May of 1989 American forces had almost entirely pulled out of Iran and almost immediately the nation plunged into chaos. It wasn't long before American troops were back in under the command of Wesley Clark, who after regaining order began a series of attacks on Kassebaum's foreign policy and military strategy.
And if that wasn't bad enough in the spring of 1990 the big secret came out. A Secret Service White House Security Officer released an audio recording of what appeared to be a sexual relationship between the President and Vice President. When asked to swear under oath both the President and VP swore that they had not done anything wrong. As more and more evidence began to surface of their relationship their poll numbers plummeted and Freshman Senator Bill Clinton of Arkansas filed the first article of impeachment. For the rest of Kassebaum's term, despite the strong economy the news would be fixated on the scandal and little else. This could spell trouble for the GOP, although polls show that many Americans are beginning to think the Democrats are blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
The 1992 election was an odd one that caught the country off guard. Turnout was down and the economy was up, the soviets were less scary as their economy crumbled and Iran seemed peaceful for the moment. The lines that had clearly defined the parties were warped and confused. In the west Libertarians and McCarthy supporters looked to the socially liberal but fiscally conservative Brown and the Unions of the Midwest endorsed Bush after Brown made a massive gaffe "The conventional viewpoint says we need a jobs program and we need to cut welfare. Just the opposite! We need more welfare and fewer jobs." Talking heads suggested that polling numbers were down due to pure confusion.
In the end the election came down to identity. The establishment and business interests backed Bush while hippies, libertarians and outsiders backed Brown. In the end no one was all too excited by the idea of more of the same and instead decided to back the radical new protectionist and anti-tax budget balancing ideals of Brown."
Well in the little timeline I made up, the German people grew tired of the Nazi regime due to several massive blunders so the Widerstand had the popular support of the German people.
Also remember, this just ended WW2, I'm planning to make another infobox for a German Civil War between the Democrats and the Nazis.
After his narrow defeat in 2133, Nelson Flores and many of his close fundraisers and supporters announced the formation of a new party, the Whig Party. The Whig Party sat at the center between the Democrats and the Republicans, calling primarily for campaign finance reform, electoral reform, sane governance and education reform. The first test for the new Whig Party was the 2134 gubernatorial election in Mayflower and legislative elections in Mayflower and Rappahannock. However, the party went off to a rocky start. The party's new treasurer-secretary was investigated by the IRS for tax evasion, forcing him to resign, while three other members of the Central Committee were forced to resign due to various ethics investigations. Many of Flores's supporters opposed this new party because they had voted against politics as usual, and they saw the new Whig Party as just politics as usual. The off-year elections were a disaster, as different radical centrist candidates (who ran as independents) sapped support from the Republicans and the Whigs.
The commonwealth Republicans weren't fairing much better. Many moderate Republicans and Greens in the Commonwealth Legislature were opposed to Premier Evan Reich's tax cut policies and education cuts. The rancor between Reich and and legislative leaders (particularly House Speaker Bryce Connolly) became very public. Reich had a hostile relationship with the press pool, and stopped attending press briefings after getting into a shouting match with a few reporters. Reich's popularity was slipping, as were the Whigs. The Democrats remained controlled by the liberal syndicalists. The Greens was able to take advantage of the chaos, winning several seats in the House and Senate during the mid-terms. The Whigs likewise won a few seats, but with the Republicans, Whigs and Greens splitting the same vote, the Democrats were the big winners. While the Republicans still held a majority in both chambers, they were in danger of slipping.
The Democrats saw their opportunity going into 2137. 2133 nominee Natalie Broadhead declined to run, as did her running mate, Devonne Kemp. The nomination remained fluid, with former Governor Anna McKinley as the early front runner. But J.D. Oliver, the Speaker of the Raleigh State House, was able to upset McKinley in the early primaries. Oliver seized the momentum--he had the support of the black vote and several unions, compared to McKinley's liberal support--and captured the Democratic nomination, and he chose Senator Taylor Molina of Squanto as his running mate. Nelson Flores had originally sought the Whig Party nomination, but a sudden heart attack forced him to step aside. Former Governor Jeremy Roemer of Cornucopia was nominated in his place. 2133 nominee Alex McCloskey was renominated by the Greens.
Reich was deeply unpopular, but managed to cruise to renomination. Some moderate Republicans flocked to Roemer or McCloskey, though Roemer's numbers would be worse than Flores's. But many other moderate Republicans stayed home on election day, unable to commit to any one candidate. J.D. Oliver ran on a campaign of higher minimum wage, WPA expansion. more union control over industry and nationalization of key sectors. His platform--standard liberal syndicalist--was controversial, and his numbers remained largely the same as Broadhead's in 2133. Reich's numbers declined significantly as voters either went for McCloskey or stayed at home. Oliver became the first Democrat elected Premier of Cornucopia in nearly 40 years, and due to vote splitting and the wonders of FPTP, the Democrats captured majorities in both houses of the legislature.
2133 Cornucopia
The commonwealth Republicans weren't fairing much better. Many moderate Republicans and Greens in the Commonwealth Legislature were opposed to Premier Evan Reich's tax cut policies and education cuts. The rancor between Reich and and legislative leaders (particularly House Speaker Bryce Connolly) became very public. Reich had a hostile relationship with the press pool, and stopped attending press briefings after getting into a shouting match with a few reporters. Reich's popularity was slipping, as were the Whigs. The Democrats remained controlled by the liberal syndicalists. The Greens was able to take advantage of the chaos, winning several seats in the House and Senate during the mid-terms. The Whigs likewise won a few seats, but with the Republicans, Whigs and Greens splitting the same vote, the Democrats were the big winners. While the Republicans still held a majority in both chambers, they were in danger of slipping.
The Democrats saw their opportunity going into 2137. 2133 nominee Natalie Broadhead declined to run, as did her running mate, Devonne Kemp. The nomination remained fluid, with former Governor Anna McKinley as the early front runner. But J.D. Oliver, the Speaker of the Raleigh State House, was able to upset McKinley in the early primaries. Oliver seized the momentum--he had the support of the black vote and several unions, compared to McKinley's liberal support--and captured the Democratic nomination, and he chose Senator Taylor Molina of Squanto as his running mate. Nelson Flores had originally sought the Whig Party nomination, but a sudden heart attack forced him to step aside. Former Governor Jeremy Roemer of Cornucopia was nominated in his place. 2133 nominee Alex McCloskey was renominated by the Greens.
Reich was deeply unpopular, but managed to cruise to renomination. Some moderate Republicans flocked to Roemer or McCloskey, though Roemer's numbers would be worse than Flores's. But many other moderate Republicans stayed home on election day, unable to commit to any one candidate. J.D. Oliver ran on a campaign of higher minimum wage, WPA expansion. more union control over industry and nationalization of key sectors. His platform--standard liberal syndicalist--was controversial, and his numbers remained largely the same as Broadhead's in 2133. Reich's numbers declined significantly as voters either went for McCloskey or stayed at home. Oliver became the first Democrat elected Premier of Cornucopia in nearly 40 years, and due to vote splitting and the wonders of FPTP, the Democrats captured majorities in both houses of the legislature.
2133 Cornucopia
There's a LOT of political dynasties here. Reich, Roemer, Anderson, even McKinley.
Those ones are entirely unrelated to those political families. Just coincidental naming.
Is it just that you're running out of unique surnames?
No. Roemer is important elsewhere in AJND (eventually), Anderson is very common, and Reich and McKinley were picked at random from my list.
The 2137 elections gave Republicans, Whigs and Greens a lot to think about. The Democratic vote had remained largely intact from 2133, while the opposition vote had been very heavily splintered between the three. This allowed the Democrats to not only win their first premiership election in almost 40 years, but also to gain control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time in history. With a majority and control of government in hand, the administration of J.D. Oliver moved quickly. Their first act was the expand workplace democracy and giving unions more power and say over day-to-day operations. When a group of copper mines threatened to shut down in response, the Oliver administration nationalized them (the resulting court case wouldn't be resolved for some time). Next, the Oliver administration nationalized the nickel mines in the Scarecrow Mountains (though many companies chose to sell to the government instead) and brought more regulations over the steel industry. These actions were controversial and were the largest spate of nationalization in the United States since the first administration of President Doug Grayson in the 2080s. However, the nationalization of power companies and consolidation into public power districts was well supported by both sides.
With Oliver's controversial movies, the opposition felt they had a good shot at retaking the legislature in 2139. The Republicans and Greens came to several agreements to not run against each other in several key districts. The Whigs refused such agreements. With a clean bill of health, Nelson Flores dumped millions of his own money into Whig campaigns and traveled across the country. Democratic and union support solidified around Oliver, as did many swing voters. Unemployment was down, population was rising, the mills and mines were humming along and the economy was growing, despite unease from the local stock market. Despite the collusion, the Republicans, Greens and Whigs split enough votes to give the Democrats an even larger majority, while the Whigs were completely shut out, losing all their seats in the House and not picking up any in the Senate.
The Republicans began a hard shift to the right in response. Former Premier Evan Reich lead early polls for the Republican nomination, but his campaign-not-campaign never got off the ground after the midterms (all the candidates he campaign for lost heavily). Senator Stephanie Bricker of Yale tried to bring the the Republicans back to the center, but after Republican Senate Leader Tiffany Rockwell was replaced with Monte Jones, Bricker bolted the party and joined the Greens. The Republicans were unable to settle on a candidate. They spent most of the winter of 2140 cycling through different candidates. Former Governor Evan Chase of Powhatan lead throughout the summer, though he was seen as boring an uninspiring. Video store mogul and right-wing darling (and Orcish American, able to deflect Democratic criticism on Republican racial policies) Arlen se'Nuhtama took the lead in late fall, but after allegations of sexual impropriety and harassment surfaced, he fell to the wayside. Former Representative Ike Lovering became the leader in the winter for a short while, until Republicans realized that Lovering's tenure as chair of the House Finance Committee had been disastrous and he had nearly lost them control in the late 2110s. Representative Jessica Bourne of Roanoke was the pride of anti-government minarchists for a short while, only to be replaced by Christian moralist and former Senator Rob Drinan of Mayflower. Se'Nuhtama temporarily regained the lead after that. During that whole time, Evan Chase remained in the back, often polling a strong second. After cycling through those candidates, the Republicans settled for Chase. Chase named Senate Minority Leader Monte Jones as his running mate.
Many moderate Republicans like Stephanie Bricker were aghast at the right-wing turn the Republicans had taken. Instead of flocking to the Whigs--which they saw as irredeemable vote splitters--they turned to the Greens. In the summer of 2140, the Oliver administration and the federal WPA announced a project to use low-yield nuclear devices in the Scarecrow Mountains to create new artificial lakes, road tunnels and strip mines. Republicans like Evan Chase were opposed to it because they saw it as government overstep and unnecessary pandering to the unions. However, mainline and moderate Republicans and the Greens were opposed to it because nuclear weapons. This gave the Greens a shot in the arm. The nomination quickly fell to Representative Nicole Burke of Cornucopia, a young and energetic politician first elected to the legislature in 2137 despite the Democratic wave. Burke, who was the Green Party Leader in the House, reached out to moderate Republicans by naming Senator Stephanie Bricker as her running mate.
Nelson Flores easily won the Whig Party nomination. The Whigs had a small but dedicated group of voters, but had little support outside of that. Flores's own personal popularity--he was a frequent regular on late-night talk shows--helped boost the Whigs somewhat, but not enough. He ran with former ambassador Hugh Willis, a former Democrat who left the party after Oliver's spate of nationalizations.
The campaign was a hard one. The Democrats focused on keeping their coalition and voters intact as they had in 2137. Oliver was intensely popular with Democratic voters and with the unions. The opposition had little chance of picking off voters from there. The Republicans and Greens hoped to massively increase turnout for the election since turnout for 2137 had been low. The opposition would undo itself once again. Flores and the Whigs gained extra votes, while a great many moderate Republicans abandoned Chase for Burke. Turnout was indeed up, which mostly benefited the Greens. But it wasn't enough to unseat Oliver who managed to hold on for a win over Chase, Burke and Flores. The Democrats also managed to hold onto their majority in both houses, though it did shrink slightly. The Whigs were once again shut out of the Legislature. Flores would announce his retirement from politics shortly after the election. The experiment of the radical center seemed to have failed as it simply shifted Cornucopia further to the left.
2133 Cornucopia
2137 Cornucopia
With Oliver's controversial movies, the opposition felt they had a good shot at retaking the legislature in 2139. The Republicans and Greens came to several agreements to not run against each other in several key districts. The Whigs refused such agreements. With a clean bill of health, Nelson Flores dumped millions of his own money into Whig campaigns and traveled across the country. Democratic and union support solidified around Oliver, as did many swing voters. Unemployment was down, population was rising, the mills and mines were humming along and the economy was growing, despite unease from the local stock market. Despite the collusion, the Republicans, Greens and Whigs split enough votes to give the Democrats an even larger majority, while the Whigs were completely shut out, losing all their seats in the House and not picking up any in the Senate.
The Republicans began a hard shift to the right in response. Former Premier Evan Reich lead early polls for the Republican nomination, but his campaign-not-campaign never got off the ground after the midterms (all the candidates he campaign for lost heavily). Senator Stephanie Bricker of Yale tried to bring the the Republicans back to the center, but after Republican Senate Leader Tiffany Rockwell was replaced with Monte Jones, Bricker bolted the party and joined the Greens. The Republicans were unable to settle on a candidate. They spent most of the winter of 2140 cycling through different candidates. Former Governor Evan Chase of Powhatan lead throughout the summer, though he was seen as boring an uninspiring. Video store mogul and right-wing darling (and Orcish American, able to deflect Democratic criticism on Republican racial policies) Arlen se'Nuhtama took the lead in late fall, but after allegations of sexual impropriety and harassment surfaced, he fell to the wayside. Former Representative Ike Lovering became the leader in the winter for a short while, until Republicans realized that Lovering's tenure as chair of the House Finance Committee had been disastrous and he had nearly lost them control in the late 2110s. Representative Jessica Bourne of Roanoke was the pride of anti-government minarchists for a short while, only to be replaced by Christian moralist and former Senator Rob Drinan of Mayflower. Se'Nuhtama temporarily regained the lead after that. During that whole time, Evan Chase remained in the back, often polling a strong second. After cycling through those candidates, the Republicans settled for Chase. Chase named Senate Minority Leader Monte Jones as his running mate.
Many moderate Republicans like Stephanie Bricker were aghast at the right-wing turn the Republicans had taken. Instead of flocking to the Whigs--which they saw as irredeemable vote splitters--they turned to the Greens. In the summer of 2140, the Oliver administration and the federal WPA announced a project to use low-yield nuclear devices in the Scarecrow Mountains to create new artificial lakes, road tunnels and strip mines. Republicans like Evan Chase were opposed to it because they saw it as government overstep and unnecessary pandering to the unions. However, mainline and moderate Republicans and the Greens were opposed to it because nuclear weapons. This gave the Greens a shot in the arm. The nomination quickly fell to Representative Nicole Burke of Cornucopia, a young and energetic politician first elected to the legislature in 2137 despite the Democratic wave. Burke, who was the Green Party Leader in the House, reached out to moderate Republicans by naming Senator Stephanie Bricker as her running mate.
Nelson Flores easily won the Whig Party nomination. The Whigs had a small but dedicated group of voters, but had little support outside of that. Flores's own personal popularity--he was a frequent regular on late-night talk shows--helped boost the Whigs somewhat, but not enough. He ran with former ambassador Hugh Willis, a former Democrat who left the party after Oliver's spate of nationalizations.
The campaign was a hard one. The Democrats focused on keeping their coalition and voters intact as they had in 2137. Oliver was intensely popular with Democratic voters and with the unions. The opposition had little chance of picking off voters from there. The Republicans and Greens hoped to massively increase turnout for the election since turnout for 2137 had been low. The opposition would undo itself once again. Flores and the Whigs gained extra votes, while a great many moderate Republicans abandoned Chase for Burke. Turnout was indeed up, which mostly benefited the Greens. But it wasn't enough to unseat Oliver who managed to hold on for a win over Chase, Burke and Flores. The Democrats also managed to hold onto their majority in both houses, though it did shrink slightly. The Whigs were once again shut out of the Legislature. Flores would announce his retirement from politics shortly after the election. The experiment of the radical center seemed to have failed as it simply shifted Cornucopia further to the left.
2133 Cornucopia
2137 Cornucopia
While Operation Plowshare-like civil uses of nuclear devices are quite common in the outer system (often to dig tunnels, create reservoirs or nuclear fracking), people are a bit more uncomfortable about it on Ceres. There's just something unsettling about setting of a nuke inside (particularly because, due to the curvature of Ceres, many Americans would be able to see it). Anti-nuclear opposition is much smaller and less pronounced most other places. Ceres is an exception. Plus there's the standard environmentalist concerns of unnecessary human expansion into the wilderness.
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