Carter's crushing victory
Tuesday, 2 November 1976: “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. After just a few short hours, I can confidently report that governor James Earl Carter has just become the next President-Elect of the United States. Though the final tally of votes will not be known for a few days while the count is underway, reports state that within all likelihood, the Georgia governor will win four hundred and ninety-nine electoral votes, with the states of Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont still undecided for a total of fourteen electoral votes, though these states heavily favor Mister Carter. Meanwhile, President Connally has won the following states: Alaska, Idaho, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming, for a total of nineteen electoral votes. Finally, the state of Arizona is a complete tossup, with six electoral votes entirely up for grabs"
"We go now live to our field reporter in Burlington, Vermont where governor Carter is currently wrapping up his campaign in the state, having been here the past few days trying to mobilize democratic support in New Hampshire and Vermont, hoping to make a clean sweep of the New England region in this election."
"Thank you, Walter, I stand here with Governor Carter who has just been informed of his victory in forty-one out of the fifty states in the country, and that polls show that he's the favorite in three more states, with one more in the air. How do you feel in regards to this clear victory, governor?"
"I feel blessed by God that the American people have seen fit to support my message of change and honesty so much so as to earn such a victory. I have worked tirelessly day and night to earn each and every vote, and I do not intend to stop campaigning until every polling place has closed. This is an election about sending a clear message to Washington that the time of dishonesty and corruption is over. That we the American people demand more from our leaders, and that we will require the help of each and every person to do so, and as such, every vote counts which is why I've spent the last few days personally campaigning in New Hampshire and Vermont, while Senator Church has been campaigning all throughout the state of Colorado for the past week."
"Strong words Governor. Have you given thought to how your presidency might go, especially as an outsider?"
"Yes, I have given it much thought, and I think it's clear that throughout my career in politics I've been more than happy to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle, especially within my party, and they fully understand that when I speak of corruption in Washington, I'm referring to, as I've said many times before, to the acts of former President Nixon, and the pardon issued to him by President Connally. The American people were incensed with Watergate and felt relieved for justice to have been achieved with impeachment, yet President Connally's pardon took that away from the American People. It's made a lot of people angry, regardless of party and it led to tonight's result. I want to channel that energy to clean up the White House and make sure nothing like this ever happens again, while also providing for people's basic needs rather than leaving them to their own devices as President Nixon has done throughout his administration. I want the American people to rest assured knowing that no one is above the law, especially not the President of the United States."
"Thank you very much, governor. Do you have any final words for the viewers at home?"
"Yes. These last four years, we have seen great change come from the people. From the legalization of cannabis in the state of California in 1972 to the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment on the third of February, 1975. We have seen popular movements achieve great things in the history of this country, and I want to continue this movement to achieve real change. However, I can't act alone, and I will do my best to deal with Congress to help pass as much legislation as possible to help the American people. At the end of the day, I want people to be active during my administration, to submit proposals, to call their Senators and Representatives, to stay active and informed, and to vote, vote, vote. so as to make their voices heard."
"Thank you, Governor Carter, and congratulations on becoming President-Elect of the United States. We here at CBS hope to hear more from you and your administration in the coming months."
"Amazing result here tonight, only four short years after former President Nixon's massive victory in 1972, where President-Elect Carter served as senator McGovern's running mate. Unlike the previous elections, this one has shown no marks of electoral trickery, and the governor's crushing victory seems to be the result of a hard-fought campaign that spared no quarter against the Nixon-Connally administrations. As of now, we have Mister Carter's policy priorities from his campaigning, as well as his released 100-days plan, and all we can wait for is to see is how these policies are pursued and implemented once he's in office. Back to you, Walter."
"Thank you for your reporting out in the field. Well, there you have it, folks, governor James Earl Carter is now President-Elect of the United States, and that's the way it is, Tuesday, November 2nd, 1976 ."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To those who have read before the changes: 1) Since ITTL, Nixon isn't the candidate in 1968, he's not stuck with Spiro Agnew in 1972, and as such, he picks his favorite, former Texas Governor, John Connally. Even with an incumbency advantage, Connally would still be stuck with the fact that much as IOTL, he's just a bad campaigner, as well as the fact that Texas/Conservative Democrats aren't in the best of moods with him due to the party switch, while liberals sure as Hell wouldn't support him, meaning he'd be stuck with just the most pro-Republican areas. 2) The electoral college maps are color shifted since the color was as of yet undetermined, and internationally, red is the color for social-democratic parties, while blue is the color for center-right parties. 4) This means that the Conservative Shift (Reagan Revolution IOTL) and the "Silent Majority" are stillborn/die in the crib, as the movements go down in flames as they're tainted by the Nixon-centric election. (Basically, Nixon and Connally taint the Southern and Conservative shift of the Republican party. This means that Reagan will be a non-factor following 1976.)
As those of you who have followed my timeline The American Civil War: The Rise of the Radical Republicans, you know that my computer was giving me quite a bit of trouble. Luckily, it wasn't my computer, but rather my charger, as it seems that due to periodic power outages (one of the less wonderful parts of living in Puerto Rico) the charger was damaged beyond use. My finals were crazy, and I've been in a bit of a funk, so I won't return to the TL just yet (but I will eventually). Still, I do want to write, and I realized I'm terrible at writing dialogue (so much for writing fanfic), so I came back to Alt Hist. This particular subject is one dear to me, due to me being quite fond of Jimmy Carter. He's a sweet, honest man, and I genuinely believe that he had the potential to be a good president, but was saddled with too many things to properly deal with, and as such, his reputation has suffered, especially since his term preceded that of Reagan (who is thankfully being weighed more honestly rather than as the second coming of Christ), and as such, I wanted to give Carter a timeline in which he'd be remembered as a great president, so there will be some instances of stretching, but I do hope to be able to justify all of them, even if I have to squint a bit (or a lot to do so).
To be clear, many PoDs will occur before the 1976 election (even before the primaries) and I feel like these are necessary stepping stones to give Carter (and the Democrats) a proper precedent to properly exercise power. As such, the first PoD will be a few decades before the 1976 election, with the first political PoD directly affecting Carter being in 1966 (and to a less direct extent, 1958).
Feel free to interact, and offer up ideas on how to carry on Carter's presidency (preferably in a more liberal/progressive, less neoliberal direction). Opinions are always welcome, and super helpful, though please do try to substantiate any opinions/suggestions.
"We go now live to our field reporter in Burlington, Vermont where governor Carter is currently wrapping up his campaign in the state, having been here the past few days trying to mobilize democratic support in New Hampshire and Vermont, hoping to make a clean sweep of the New England region in this election."
"Thank you, Walter, I stand here with Governor Carter who has just been informed of his victory in forty-one out of the fifty states in the country, and that polls show that he's the favorite in three more states, with one more in the air. How do you feel in regards to this clear victory, governor?"
"I feel blessed by God that the American people have seen fit to support my message of change and honesty so much so as to earn such a victory. I have worked tirelessly day and night to earn each and every vote, and I do not intend to stop campaigning until every polling place has closed. This is an election about sending a clear message to Washington that the time of dishonesty and corruption is over. That we the American people demand more from our leaders, and that we will require the help of each and every person to do so, and as such, every vote counts which is why I've spent the last few days personally campaigning in New Hampshire and Vermont, while Senator Church has been campaigning all throughout the state of Colorado for the past week."
"Strong words Governor. Have you given thought to how your presidency might go, especially as an outsider?"
"Yes, I have given it much thought, and I think it's clear that throughout my career in politics I've been more than happy to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle, especially within my party, and they fully understand that when I speak of corruption in Washington, I'm referring to, as I've said many times before, to the acts of former President Nixon, and the pardon issued to him by President Connally. The American people were incensed with Watergate and felt relieved for justice to have been achieved with impeachment, yet President Connally's pardon took that away from the American People. It's made a lot of people angry, regardless of party and it led to tonight's result. I want to channel that energy to clean up the White House and make sure nothing like this ever happens again, while also providing for people's basic needs rather than leaving them to their own devices as President Nixon has done throughout his administration. I want the American people to rest assured knowing that no one is above the law, especially not the President of the United States."
"Thank you very much, governor. Do you have any final words for the viewers at home?"
"Yes. These last four years, we have seen great change come from the people. From the legalization of cannabis in the state of California in 1972 to the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment on the third of February, 1975. We have seen popular movements achieve great things in the history of this country, and I want to continue this movement to achieve real change. However, I can't act alone, and I will do my best to deal with Congress to help pass as much legislation as possible to help the American people. At the end of the day, I want people to be active during my administration, to submit proposals, to call their Senators and Representatives, to stay active and informed, and to vote, vote, vote. so as to make their voices heard."
"Thank you, Governor Carter, and congratulations on becoming President-Elect of the United States. We here at CBS hope to hear more from you and your administration in the coming months."
"Amazing result here tonight, only four short years after former President Nixon's massive victory in 1972, where President-Elect Carter served as senator McGovern's running mate. Unlike the previous elections, this one has shown no marks of electoral trickery, and the governor's crushing victory seems to be the result of a hard-fought campaign that spared no quarter against the Nixon-Connally administrations. As of now, we have Mister Carter's policy priorities from his campaigning, as well as his released 100-days plan, and all we can wait for is to see is how these policies are pursued and implemented once he's in office. Back to you, Walter."
"Thank you for your reporting out in the field. Well, there you have it, folks, governor James Earl Carter is now President-Elect of the United States, and that's the way it is, Tuesday, November 2nd, 1976 ."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To those who have read before the changes: 1) Since ITTL, Nixon isn't the candidate in 1968, he's not stuck with Spiro Agnew in 1972, and as such, he picks his favorite, former Texas Governor, John Connally. Even with an incumbency advantage, Connally would still be stuck with the fact that much as IOTL, he's just a bad campaigner, as well as the fact that Texas/Conservative Democrats aren't in the best of moods with him due to the party switch, while liberals sure as Hell wouldn't support him, meaning he'd be stuck with just the most pro-Republican areas. 2) The electoral college maps are color shifted since the color was as of yet undetermined, and internationally, red is the color for social-democratic parties, while blue is the color for center-right parties. 4) This means that the Conservative Shift (Reagan Revolution IOTL) and the "Silent Majority" are stillborn/die in the crib, as the movements go down in flames as they're tainted by the Nixon-centric election. (Basically, Nixon and Connally taint the Southern and Conservative shift of the Republican party. This means that Reagan will be a non-factor following 1976.)
As those of you who have followed my timeline The American Civil War: The Rise of the Radical Republicans, you know that my computer was giving me quite a bit of trouble. Luckily, it wasn't my computer, but rather my charger, as it seems that due to periodic power outages (one of the less wonderful parts of living in Puerto Rico) the charger was damaged beyond use. My finals were crazy, and I've been in a bit of a funk, so I won't return to the TL just yet (but I will eventually). Still, I do want to write, and I realized I'm terrible at writing dialogue (so much for writing fanfic), so I came back to Alt Hist. This particular subject is one dear to me, due to me being quite fond of Jimmy Carter. He's a sweet, honest man, and I genuinely believe that he had the potential to be a good president, but was saddled with too many things to properly deal with, and as such, his reputation has suffered, especially since his term preceded that of Reagan (who is thankfully being weighed more honestly rather than as the second coming of Christ), and as such, I wanted to give Carter a timeline in which he'd be remembered as a great president, so there will be some instances of stretching, but I do hope to be able to justify all of them, even if I have to squint a bit (or a lot to do so).
To be clear, many PoDs will occur before the 1976 election (even before the primaries) and I feel like these are necessary stepping stones to give Carter (and the Democrats) a proper precedent to properly exercise power. As such, the first PoD will be a few decades before the 1976 election, with the first political PoD directly affecting Carter being in 1966 (and to a less direct extent, 1958).
Feel free to interact, and offer up ideas on how to carry on Carter's presidency (preferably in a more liberal/progressive, less neoliberal direction). Opinions are always welcome, and super helpful, though please do try to substantiate any opinions/suggestions.
Last edited:
