2010 US Presidential Election

[Marky Bunny]

For what it is worth, I think a re-boot would be silly, the Bartlet Presidency is clearly set in the period of 1999 to 2007, it clearly fits that period. You couldn't have a Bartlet Presidency now (Martin Sheen would be to old anyway).
In my opinion the only way to do it would be to focus on "now" and a Presidential race in the current time, just to read write it all would be frankly pointless and de value what has gone before. I also get the idea that Sorkin hates the three seasons after he left the show, although he does claim never to have watched them at all.
Yes, Series 5 was pretty awful, the "jump forward" didn't help but in Series 6 and Series 7 the show did produce some excellent episodes. The best thing it did was bringing in Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick, a thoughtful, funny, nice Republican, and wonderfully portrayed. I don't think Sorkin could have written such a good Republican character personally.

 

[Excelsior]

For what it is worth, I think a re-boot would be silly, the Bartlet Presidency is clearly set in the period of 1999 to 2007, it clearly fits that period. You couldn't have a Bartlet Presidency now (Martin Sheen would be to old anyway).
In my opinion the only way to do it would be to focus on "now" and a Presidential race in the current time, just to read write it all would be frankly pointless and de value what has gone before. I also get the idea that Sorkin hates the three seasons after he left the show, although he does claim never to have watched them at all.
Yes, Series 5 was pretty awful, the "jump forward" didn't help but in Series 6 and Series 7 the show did produce some excellent episodes. The best thing it did was bringing in Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick, a thoughtful, funny, nice Republican, and wonderfully portrayed. I don't think Sorkin could have written such a good Republican character personally.

I don't think they would literally do a reboot, but a new series set in the same universe in the current day. I personally think a new series featuring the winner of the 2018 election and their administration would be great.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Monday March 6th 2017

Seaborn getting ready to launch campaign; Senator Casey "likely to announce" later this week

We understand that California Senator Sam Seaborn is getting ready to launch his much expected Presidential campaign. It is believed that he will be endorsed at the yet to be announced event, by fellow California Senator Nicole Kershaw, the States former Governor turned TV host Gabe Tillman, plus Ohio Congressman and 2014 candidate Josie Bail, New Mexico Senator Andy Ritter, Oregon Senator Robert Greys and West Virginia Senator Michael Higgins.

A source told NBS "The Seaborn camp are going for some big heavyweight endorsements, with the roll out event, and big media blitz. the campaign may have slow getting off the ground, but that has been totally deliberate, they plan to simply knock all the other campaigns out with the launch".

In other candidate news, Connecticut Senator Chris Casey, a close friend and political ally of the 2014 nominee Jimmy Fitzsimmons is likely to announce later this week. Casey has been long regarded as Presidential candidate, but he stood aside in 2014 for his friend Fitzsimmons.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Wednesday March 8th 2017

Carner launches Presidential campaign with article in the New York Times

Democratic Governor Kurt Carner of Montana has become the ninth Democrat to declare his intention to seek the Presidency by declaring intentions in an article for the New York Times today.

"This is a time of unprecedented peace and global prosperity, but also great anxiety and social upheaval. The benefits of globalisation and economic growth are being unevenly distributed and many Americans are acutely aware of their own relative disadvantage" Carner says adding "Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the biggest gains have been made by the richest. The American economy has grown and improved but it has not been for all our citizens, but the Republican Party has convinced many Democratic voters, that my party has fallen out of line with their core values. That we are only interested in spending more and more money in the hope everything will change, that we are out of step with true American values".

"Because of this I believe that we need to convince voters next November that we as a party have changed, that we can have a Democratic President that can work with Republicans as I have done in Montana, a state at the last two Presidential elections that President Walken won, and by 15.76% in 2014 and the smaller 3.28% four years before. I have a proven record in improving Education, in getting Health Insurance to Children, and getting down crime in the state".

He ends the article with the following announcement

"In politics, firstly, you have to earn the right to be heard. For Democrats that means showing that we’ve listened and understood why so many people feel that we’ve left them behind for so long.Secondly, you have to earn people’s trust, by showing you’ve got the answers to address their worries and anxieties, their hopes and their aspirations for them and their families.Thirdly, when you’ve gained that trust you have to deliver and by constantly striving to do better and be better and so today I announce that I will be seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2018".

 

[Marky Bunny]

Thursday March 9th 2017

Is Governor Boone gearing up for a 2018 Senate run?

There are tell tail signs that Republican Washington Governor Sean Boone could be gearing up for a 2018 Senate run. Boone who has won two high profile wins in what is normally regarded as a safe Democratic state is not term in 2020 for a third elected term, but it seems his sights are set higher than that.

Boone is believed to have met with key Republican donors over the weekend, in addition he has also had two meetings in the past month with Senate Majority leader Cody Riley and his deputy Max Lobell III. Boone would of course face off into 2018 against Senator Sam Wiley, the Democrats legendary Senator, but the Republicans sense for the first time, that Wiley could be vulnerable for the first time since entering the Senate back in 1982, and at his last re-election in 2012 he won re-election by just under 15% with 57.4% of the vote.

Boone has even made up with his arch Republican enemy former Speaker Jeff Haffley. Boone who doesn't even turn 40 until next January, believes that he could win the Senate race. Sources close to the Governor point to the fact that Republicans and Democrats have lost long serving Senators in the past couple of election cycles (Robert Miner for the Republicans in 2014 & Harry Conroy for the Dems last year for starters) and Wiley's political powers may of the first time be on the decline.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday March 10th 2017

Casey delays Presidential announcement following meeting with Andrew Thorn

Connecticut Senator Chris Casey has delayed his expected Presidential announcement which had been provisionally pencilled in for today following a meeting with New York Senator Andrew Thorn who has already declared his intention to run back in December.

With the Democratic field already becoming crowded, with nine declared candidates, Thorn is clearly attempting to keep another Senator out who shares many for the same values and clearly competing with for voters, especially if both men made it as far to the New Hampshire Primary on January 16th next year, they would almost be certain be against each other, plus two other Senators Indiana's Rudi Robinson and California's Sam Seaborn who is gearing up for his announcement speech, probably on Monday next week.

"All the polls point to the nomination being between Seaborn and probably two others, likely to be Rudi Robinson and one other, the likes of Senators Thorn and Casey, and Governors Carner and Kellner are all fighting to be the other stop Seaborn candidate" veteran Democratic pollster Al Kiefer told NBS.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Saturday March 11th 2017

Seaborn launch event in Sacramento Monday

The fledging "Seaborn for America" campaign is off and running sending out it's first release this morning confirming the expected launch event for Senator Sam Seaborn on Monday. It also confirmed that the website, Facebook and twitter accounts will also be rolled out on Monday as well.

The event will involve the expected speech, but also "several key endorsements" and that Seaborn will be holding a press conference directly after the event.

 

[Marky Bunny]

I have been a member of this site for exactly ten years!!
It has been one of the best experiences of my life, and the chance to have developed this thread for 8 & bit years of my time of this time has frankly changed my life in so many ways.
Now later on today, a certain Californian Senator is going to announce for the Presidency.... Can't imagine who!!
Right what's next....

 

[ajm8888]

I have been a member of this site for exactly ten years!!
It has been one of the best experiences of my life, and the chance to have developed this thread for 8 & bit years of my time of this time has frankly changed my life in so many ways.
Now later on today, a certain Californian Senator is going to announce for the Presidency.... Can't imagine who!!
Right what's next....

Congratulations. I wish another ten years for you! Keep being awesome!

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Saturday March 11th 2017

Seaborn launch event in Sacramento Monday

The fledging "Seaborn for America" campaign is off and running sending out it's first release this morning confirming the expected launch event for Senator Sam Seaborn on Monday. It also confirmed that the website, Facebook and twitter accounts will also be rolled out on Monday as well.

The event will involve the expected speech, but also "several key endorsements" and that Seaborn will be holding a press conference directly after the event.

AFT, or maybe it should be TFG

 

[Marky Bunny]

Monday March 13th 2017

Seantor Sam Seaborn declares for the Presidency "America's tomorrow begins Today"

As expected California Senator Sam Seaborn declared his candidacy for the presidency with a stirring speech in Sacramento today.

Seaborn was endorsed before the speech by several high ranking Democrats, Ohio Congresswomen and 2014 Presidential candidate Josie Bail, the States former Governor turned TV host Gabe Tillman, current Governor Abbie Heilemann, four fellow serving Senators, his fellow California Senator Nicole Kershaw, along side New Mexico's Andy Ritter, Oregon's Robert Greys and West Virginia's Michael Higgins. Also on stage were four sitting Democratic Governors, New Hampshire Liz Bartlet who is serving as Chairman of the Campaign, Mississippi Governor Alan Fisk and of course Attorney General in President Bartlet's second term, Hawaii Governor Joanne White and Wisconsin Governor Stephen Robson.

"America's tomorrow begins today as I announce that I am seeking the Presidency of the United States of America" adding that "American's don't do the easy things, they make the hard choices, down the ages Americans moved across the continent, so we moved from Thirteen colonies of King George, to a nation from sea to shining sea, that is a beacon to the world".

He pledged to pass Universal Healthcare by the end of his first term, as well as comprehensive Education and Immigration Reform. "I say with due respect to our current President, who I know is an decent and honourable man, we have not done enough to tackle these problems, and agree that our economy has grown in the last six years, much of it has been not because of this administration, and many Americans don't believe that recovery has served them in the middle-class".

He also made reference to many, including those in his own party that he is all talk and no action "Now many say that I like words, and speeches, well, I say that's right, words are good because that is where ideas begin, and from those ideas we can get solutions" and he also pledged " a positive campaign" "Americans are sick and tired of candidates tearing each other apart, even when we are in the same party, well you will not get that from me, what this campaign to be about the ideas and solutions America needs as we head towards the third decade of the twenty first century".

Photos from the Announcement

 

[Alexander Hamilton]

Dear Mr. Bunny,

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! As an avid reader of (and sometimes contributor to) this site, I applaud your efforts. I might even say that you and your co-contributors and done a better job than the original show runners since this site is much fairer to Republicans (such as Vinick and Walken) than the original Aaron Sorkin West Wing was. However, I had hoped that Liz Clark would be more like Kay Bailey Hutchinson and less like Sarah Palin. But wheres the fun in that?
I see that Sam Seaborn is following in the facial hair style of Speaker Paul Ryan of our universe. I hope his beard lasts as long as Ryan's did.
Keep up the good work!

Your obedient servant,
Alexander Hamilton

 

[Tim Thomason]

In one of the closest Presidential Elections in History (and one that has been forgotten how close it was), Charles Evans Hughes was narrowly beaten by the sitting President Woodrow Wilson. The election higned on California and its 13 electoral votes. Wilson managed to win the state and thus a second term in office by just 3,800 votes.
Imagine that Hughes manages to win instead, there is the famous story of Hughes going to bed on Election night beleiving himself to have won the election.
How does his election effect World War One, and does the United Staes still enter and who does it effect the 1920 Election?

Hughes wasn't the anti-war candidate, Wilson was (with the end goal of being highly interventionist and setting himself and the nation high upon the world stage). So, I imagine he'd, perhaps slowly, enter into the European theater. While the Republicans were seen as the party of war that year, to Hughes' dismay, they didn't nominate the warmongers (TR, Elihu Root), and instead picked a Supreme Court Justice out of the blue with no record of political opinion on the then-current issues.

Hughes would've been a very different president than what we've seen before or since. A Supreme Court Justice with strong social liberal tendencies in the 1910s, he was supported by most Republicans (the Preparedness guys and the former Progressive Party members, with the notable exception of California Governor Hiram Johnson due to a personal dispute...), and could've really started the ball rolling on social reforms in the United States ahead of the roaring '20s and eventual Depression. His reputation as an arch-type conservative really starts with abandoning progressive principles after 1924 and his Chief Justice-ship in the 1930s.

He was a former Governor of New York and a somewhat ally (if not strict adherent to) Theodore Roosevelt. This provides somewhat of a blueprint to Hughes' potential presidential activities (although the Great War would put a shadow over his social and governmental reforms). I imagine he might send over Theodore Roosevelt in place of John Pershing on any expeditionary force to Europe (as was TR's wish before being denied by Wilson). Roosevelt's malaria (that he picked up in 1914, pre-POD) would've been a major issue come 1918, and maybe even exasperated on the battlefield, so we'd likely end up having to change Generals mid-war (especially since I assume Hughes would send less troops due to no conscription via his reliance on Roosevelt's volunteers).

After the War, as it will still likely be over long before Hughes leaves office in either 1921 or more likely 1925, we won't see the push towards League of Nations or internationalism in general. Some other forums say less reparations from Germany, which will have immense effects on the future history of the world. If there is a LoN, or similar structure, America will likely be more involved, albeit with certain concessions and allowances not present in OTL.

Social reforms come in play. We *might* prevent or lessen a depression at some point. World War II, while not outright averted, will likely erupt with different players (only one comes to mind...), and who knows when we might develop ourselves into the atomic age. On the one hand, I say, it looks very bright. But then, what happens over the course of a hundred years and one week could go anywhere and everywhere, and we might all be living under a nuclear shadow collecting bread in lines and wishing that Hughes had lost California. Then again, probably 100% of us wouldn't have been born. So, no big deal.

EDIT: Oh, wait, sorry. Wrong thread.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Dear Mr. Bunny,

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! As an avid reader of (and sometimes contributor to) this site, I applaud your efforts. I might even say that you and your co-contributors and done a better job than the original show runners since this site is much fairer to Republicans (such as Vinick and Walken) than the original Aaron Sorkin West Wing was. However, I had hoped that Liz Clark would be more like Kay Bailey Hutchinson and less like Sarah Palin. But wheres the fun in that?
I see that Sam Seaborn is following in the facial hair style of Speaker Paul Ryan of our universe. I hope his beard lasts as long as Ryan's did.
Keep up the good work!

Your obedient servant,
Alexander Hamilton

Thanks for the kind remarks Alexander.
I said exactly the same thing about the Sorkin series (1 to 4), although Ainsley Hayes was a Republican, she wasn't a frontline politician, and probably the only "good" Republican politician we saw during the Sorkin years was Congressman Matt Skinner (and someone I of course used in the thread).
Walken was written well in his three appearances on the show. Everyone knows what I think about Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick, simply brilliant, and so-well written. (Also much of his political physiology is the same as mine). Actually though for this thread I sometimes find it harder writing for the Republicans than I do the Democrats.
The Sam "facial hair" was a fluke, as I found some great pictures from 2016 I could use.

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Photos from the Announcement

Is Sam Seaborn bringing back the Presidential beard?????

 

[Marky Bunny]

Tuesday March 14th 2017

Senator Casey remains undecided over Presidential run

A measure of uncertainty regins tonight regarding the expected Presidential campaign of Connecticut Senator Chris Casey. Casey had been expected to announce his candidacy last weekend, but that never happened after a meeting with New York Senator Andrew Thorn at which Thorn asked Casey not to run in that it would weaken the chances of one of them stopping the front-runners California Senator Sam Seaborn and Indiana Senator Rudi Robinson.

Casey met with advisors over the weekend, but we understand a decision has yet to be made. Some believe that he should run others feel that the nomination race is already about Seaborn versus Robinson, and that he is likely not to win. Senator Seaborn's announcement speech yesterday has broadly been well received across the party, and seems to have weakened Casey's hopes of winning, but the Democratic field already numbering ten candidates and the first debate just a month away, Casey has to decide in the next few days if he is going to get into the race or not.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday March 17th 2017

Russell wants Congressman Will Bailey to run for the Presidency

Former Vice-President Bob Russell, who twice lost running for the Democratic presidential nomination is now reportedly pushing his former Chief of Staff and 2006 Campaign manager Will Bailey to get into the race for the Presidency.

Bailey, an Oregon Congressman since 2008, is married to President Walken's National Secruity Advisor Kate Harper. Russell has had several meeting with donors that supported both of his nomination bids in 2006 & 2014, urging them Bailey would be a better bet than California Senator Sam Seaborn. He has also meet with Senator Chris Casey, to ask him not to run and back Bailey instead. Casey is still to make a decision about his possible entry into the race. Of course Bailey replaced Seaborn in the Bartlet White House as Deputy Communications Director in 2003, before becoming a close ally of Russell when he became Vice-President later that year.

Another former Vice-President John Hoynes has issued a statement stating that he will "remain 100% neutral until the Democratic party has a nominee". Hoynes is currently working on a TV film project for NBS.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday March 17th 2017

Democratic Presidential Polls
All polls include declared candidates only. Polling done in the 48 hrs. after Senator Sam Seaborn's announcement on Monday.
Polls include voters whom had declared for a candidates, so don't knows are not included.
State polls are for the first six contests prior to "Super-Dupa" Tuesday.

National Poll

1. Seaborn 38%
2. Robinson 20%
3. Thorn 12%
4. Kellner 10%
5. Straus 7%
6. Carner 6%
7. Stray 3%
8. Bighorse 2%
9. Garden 1%
10. Lyons 1%

Iowa

1. Seaborn 39%
2. Robinson 23%
3. Kellner 13%
4. Thorn 10%
5. Straus 5%
6. Carner 4%
7. Bighorse 3%
8. Stray 1%
9. Garden 1%
10. Lyons 1%

New Hampshire

1. Seaborn 50%
2. Robinson 19%
3. Thorn 9%
4. Kellner 7%
5. Stray 5%
6. Straus 4%
7. Carner 3%
8. Bighorse 2%
9. Garden 1%
10. Lyons 0%

Michigan

1. Kellner 26%
2. Seaborn 24%
3. Robinson 22%
4. Thorn 11%
5. Straus 8%
6. Carner 4%
7. Bighorse 2%
8. Stray 1%
9. Garden 1%
10. Lyons 1%

Nevada

1. Seaborn 38%
2. Robinson 22%
3. Kellner 15%
4. Thorn 11%
5. Straus 5%
6. Carner 3%
7. Bighorse 2%
8. Stray 2%
9. Garden 1%
10. Lyons 1%

South Carolina

1. Robinson 28%
2. Seaborn 27%
3. Kellner 21%
4. Garden 11%
5. Straus 4%
6. Thorn 3%
7. Bighorse 2%
8. Carner 2%
9. Stray 1%
10. Lyons 1%

Florida

1. Seaborn 40%
2. Robinson 23%
3. Thorn 13%
4. Kellner 11%
5. Straus 4%
6. Carner 3%
7. Bighorse 2%
8. Garden 2%
9. Stray 1%
10. Lyons 1%

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Bailey, an Oregon Congressman since 2008, is married to President Walken's National Secruity Advisor Kate Harper. Russell has had several meeting with donors that supported both of his nomination bids in 2006 & 2014, urging them Bailey would be a better bet than California Senator Sam Seaborn.

Russell Still a bit bitter over the Bartlett wing being dominant in the Democratic Party.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Russell Still a bit bitter over the Bartlett wing being dominant in the Democratic Party.

Yes, he believes he was stitched up twice for the nomination both in 2006 and 2014. He won more primary states and over 3 million more votes than Fitzsimmons in 2014 as well.