'We can now call the state of Florida for...'
As the controversial Democratic President’s second elected term came to a close the nation watched to see who would throw their hat into the ring. Many felt that the Republicans could have their man in the form of the widely respected, popular and moderate former General - however he stated he had no interest in becoming President or in getting involved in the political arena; his announcement left the Republican field wide open for candidates. Many candidates at first announced their intentions - but there was one who many felt stood out. Bush, who had won election as a Republican only a few years before, threw his hat into the initially crowded ring before the new year and was considered by many to be the front runner. That didn’t deter some of the more novelty candidates from challenging Bush; however most of them dropped out soon after the first few primaries, leaving in reality on Bush and another candidate. His main challenger was however the maverick Senator from Arizona who managed to pick up some surprise wins in New Hampshire. However, after an alleged smear campaign by the Bush campaign which alleged the Arizonan was dangerous and could be considered detrimental to the security of the nation, his campaign fizzled out and he dropped out after a few more primaries.
At the Republican Convention, Bush was nominated easily on the first ballot and he sought to pick someone who was a capable and trusted operator. His pick of a former Secretary of Defense who born west of Mississippi was a surprise to many who expected Bush to select someone who was currently serving in congress. That being said the ticket was nominated by acclamation - despite a handful of defections to other candidates.
Meanwhile, in the Democratic field many were unwilling to enter the ring - considering the nomination to be a poisoned chalice and a potential career destroyer. With that being said, moderate Tennessee Democrat Albert Arnold Gore naturally took up the opportunity and effectively became the presumptive nominee as soon as he had announced his intention to run for the nomination. Gore was a long time Washington insider - having represented his home state of Tennessee in congress (first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate) for just under twenty years. Gore won the nomination easily beating a former New Jersey Senator who, despite being relatively unknown and forgotten by many ran an energetic, populist and informal campaign as ‘Senator Bill.’ The closest the New Jersey Democrat came to winning a primary was his close defeat in New Hampshire; after the first few primaries it was apparent that Gore would be the nominee.
Gore was easily nominated at the Democratic Convention and set about looking for a running mate who was acceptable to the southern conservatives and northern liberals alike - a tough job. In the end Gore selected someone who he felt would ensure that the party could appeal to those disillusioned by the incumbent President’s policies and actions and not tear itself to pieces in the process. In the end he felt he had picked the right person in a Connecticut Democrat, who besides being a critic of the President and Jewish was thought able to mend the divisions within the party, which had emerged over the past few years as a result of the President’s actions and policies. If that was Gore’s reasoning for selecting his running mate - it backfired considerably; some of those on the extreme end of the other wing of the party - long feeling ignored and challenged by the party leadership bolted off to support someone they felt would represent their views better and backed his campaign enthusiastically with his somewhat one issue populist anti-Washington D.C. message (which was surprisingly ironic considering he lived not far from the very place he was so eager to attack.)
For the campaign the two candidates sought to appeal to those voters in the middle ground who could make or break their election chances. Bush ran a ‘compassionate’ campaign noting his various moderate conservative policies which would appeal to ‘middle American.’ Gore ran a campaign very much anchored to the centre - not wishing to further alienate those who had begrudgingly decided to remain in the party and take their chances with a candidate who could actually win.
The campaign itself was dominated by several issues; the ethics & actions of the President, foreign policy (concerning the President’s decision to get involved in the quagmire across the globe where the Europeans had got involved sparking fears of an all out war in the region) and the booming economy of the past few years; which had recovered spectacularly since the previous Republican administration. However one of the major issues which was not ideologically based was the personalities of the candidates - Bush and Gore both came across as rather dull and boring. Bush was hampered by a minor gaffe which was magnified to an extreme extent - the 'gaffe' in question occurred during a speech when he voiced his support for 'Planned Parenthood' and for the Supreme Court to legalise abortion to prevent a "horde of illegitimate children born to unmarried girls - who threaten the moral and societal fabric of this nation's future; our human stock is threatened." The remarks were widely published and were said to be supportive of eugenics or even the social Darwinism of the Nazis regime in Germany - both of which Bush denied strongly. Gore on the other hand came across as droning and monotonous in his speeches, lacking visible passion or much excitement. The renegade third party and it’s activists protested the fact that the media ignored them largely and refused to let them even debate on the issues.
Coming up to election day polls predicted that the election would be close - Republican strategists feared that Bush would win the popular vote while Gore would win the more important electoral vote. Regardless of your political affiliation it was acknowledged that the race was going to be rather close with the decision coming down to a handful of states.
On election night the results began to come in - the south remained as it had been for many years solidly red - though Florida was considerably closer with it at first being called for Gore and then being ‘uncalled’ for Gore when it became apparent how close it was going to be. The north east/New England was a near complete ‘sea of blue’ - hampered by a single state turning red and becoming an “island of red in a sea of blue” as one commentator described it. The majority of the West Coast voted Democrat - while the vast majority of the sparsely populated west voted Republican - the state of New Mexico however narrowly voted for Gore by a handful of votes - the vote there took several days to finally complete.
By the next day it emerged that neither candidate had received the necessary electoral votes for victory. Gore was marginally in the lead in electoral votes and had received more popular votes than Bush. A series of recounts occurred in the remaining state of Florida as the two campaigns each continued to claim that it was they who had won the state of Florida. The state did encounter many problems in voting and with the recounts - what blacks that managed to get as far as the polling station were en masse were turned away from the polls due to being apparently convicted felons - those minority that could vote were intimidated by party activists from the governing party in the state of Florida. The recount was also hampered by party activists in several counties in central Florida, especially in severally traditionally Democratic counties that had surprisingly high votes for the right wing third party candidate. It was alleged by some that this was part of an effort by the Governor to ensure that his party's candidate won the state. On election night Bush emerged with a slender margin of victory - however over the course of the recounts his lead was gradually declining. The Bush campaign went to the courts to have the recount halted - after several rulings going gradually all the way up to the Supreme Court - it was ruled in the Bush campaign’s favour that the Florida recount had to be halted. Gore bitterly conceded defeat to his Republican opponent soon after.
On a cold January at the US Capitol in front of the assembled crowds and to much fanfare the inauguration occurred. First the new Vice President was sworn in and then the big moment came. On January 20, 1957, under the disappointed and bitter gazes of President Truman and Senator Al Gore, Snr.; the now former Connecticut Senator, Prescott Sheldon Bush took the oath of office to become the 34th President of the United States of America.
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Hope everyone enjoyed my first attempt at a vignette
. Hopefully it's passable and works - as I said it is my first attempt!