AHC/WI: President George Takei

Partly out of my interest in improving LGBT rights, but mostly because George Takei is awesome, I was wondering if it was possible to get George Takei elected President of the US? Presumably as a Democrat (I believe he was once an alternate delegate to the DNC in 1972), but bonus points if he does it as a Republican.

Looking through his Wikipedia page I can see that he has attempted to run for public office a couple of times, first running for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, which he lost by 1,647 votes, and again as a California State Assemblyman in 1980, which he pulled out of for a number of reasons related to work and the accusation that his history on Star Trek gave him an unfair advantage. He also served on the board of directors for the Southern California Rapid Transit District between 1973 and 1984, which planned and initiated the Los Angeles subway system.

Presumably if he had successfully ran and won the assembly seat it could be the first step on a political career that leads to the White House?
 
A True October Suprise had him run for Senate in 1988, but he left the race after being publicly outed as gay.
 
Partly out of my interest in improving LGBT rights, but mostly because George Takei is awesome, I was wondering if it was possible to get George Takei elected President of the US? Presumably as a Democrat (I believe he was once an alternate delegate to the DNC in 1972), but bonus points if he does it as a Republican.

Looking through his Wikipedia page I can see that he has attempted to run for public office a couple of times, first running for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, which he lost by 1,647 votes, and again as a California State Assemblyman in 1980, which he pulled out of for a number of reasons related to work and the accusation that his history on Star Trek gave him an unfair advantage. He also served on the board of directors for the Southern California Rapid Transit District between 1973 and 1984, which planned and initiated the Los Angeles subway system.

Presumably if he had successfully ran and won the assembly seat it could be the first step on a political career that leads to the White House?

I can't see it unless he stays closeted and discreet. As openly gay, he could potentially be in Congress or a governor, but even those would probably only have been possible from the 90s on and only in some places. Neither party is likely to select an openly LGBT candidate for president (or VP) and, even if they did, they wouldn't likely get elected without a HUGE scandal on the other side.
 
Then the main thing would be to advance LGBT rights to at least modern levels by the time he runs. As of 2015, 74% of Americans say that they would vote for a gay/lesbian person, including 85% of Democrats, 73% of independents, and 61% of Republicans. Plus, if it came down to it, I think many of those Democrats and independents would end up voting for a gay candidate if they saw them as the lesser evil.

Based on George Takei's age, I'd say the latest date for him to be elected president would be 2008. With a POD in the 70s or early 80s, it should be pretty easy to advance LGBT rights. Perhaps you could replace Reagan with a less religiously conservative Republican in the 80s and then have a more socially liberal Democrat in the 90s and/or early 2000s. An Obergefell v. Hodges-style case can be decided in 2005, and by the time George Takei, Senator from California and Former Mayor of Los Angeles, runs for president in 2008, most of the people who wouldn't vote for him because of his sexual orientation are hardcore Republicans anyway.
 
Ok, so let's start with Takei winning the Los Angeles council seat and the election for California state assemblyman. Here's how it goes:

Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles, was looking to be elected to another term as mayor in 1989, which would continue his near 20 years in the position. Los Angeles, however, was not doing very well. Even though Bradley faced no real opposition from any Republican challenger, problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, the worsening of the condition of Santa Monica Bay, and residential neighborhoods being threatened by commercial development, left many Los Angeles Democrats wanting new leadership. In a surprise move, State Assemblyman George Takei announced his intention to challenge Bradley in the Democratic primary. He said, "Mayor Bradley is a titan of Democratic politics in California, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for him. However, I believe that Los Angeles needs new leadership; we are facing many new problems, and I believe I am the best person to solve these problems. That's why I am running for mayor." Takei went on to narrowly defeat Bradley in the primary, and easily defeat the Republican challenger to become the new Mayor of Los Angeles, making him one of the highest ranking openly gay politicians in the United States. He quickly went to work solving the city's ailments, and in 1992, the New York Times named him the most effective mayor in the United States.

In 1990, Republican Pete Wilson was elected Governor of California, and he was running for re-election in 1994. Many Democrats wanted Takei run against him. Takei had been eyeing the position since Wilson was elected, and he announced his run for governor with a scathing speech against Governor Wilson, "Governor Wilson has run California into the ground with his conservative policies. Californians deserve a governor who serve their interests, and their interests alone. The so-called "Republican Revolution" ends in California, and it ends with the election of George Takei as governor." Takei's reputation as a popular and effective mayor allowed him to easily defeat Wilson to become the 37th Governor of California.

While Takei and the Democratic party won a shattering statewide election, nationally, the Democratic party was faltering. In 1994, President Bill Clinton was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice regarding alleged sexual assault and extramarital affairs. Although the Republicans did not have the numbers in the House nor the Senate to impeach him or remove him from office, the ordeal severely damaged Clinton's reputation, and that combined with an economic downturn, left the President's approval rating between 20 and 30 percent. In a surprising move, Bill Clinton announced that he would not seek a second term, saying in a press conference, "While I have immensely enjoyed serving the people of this country as President of the United States, I have concluded that, based on recent occurrences, that it would be better for me and the people of this country that I not run for president a second time. I will happily endorse Vice President Gore in the 1996 election, and I believe he will do a fantastic job at leading the country where we left off."

Since Gore was the seemingly obvious choice for the Democratic nomination, he expected to face no serious opposition. There was a "Draft Governor Takei" movement, however, to try to persuade Governor Takei to challenge Gore for the nomination. A poll came out that found that most Democrats wanted to distance themselves from President Clinton, and that a majority also favored Governor Takei over Vice President Gore. Takei eventually gave in and announced his candidacy for President of the United States, saying, "Bill Clinton has been a travesty for the Democratic party and this country, and nominating his right-hand-man will be a disaster in the general election. I know people have many questions about my sexuality, but that has been a concern in every campaign I was in, whether it be for mayor, for governor, or anything else, and I have always overcome, and I plan to overcome again to become the 43rd President of the United States." "Trust Takei" became his slogan.

The primary race between Takei and Gore went all the way to the convention, and Takei managed to pull an upset to become the Democratic nominee. In his acceptance speech, he also announced his running mate, former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards. He said, "Ann Richards has always fought for liberal values in everything she has ever done, and I cannot think of a better person to be my running mate. I now call upon everyone who fought the uphill battle to make me the Democratic nominee to fight just as hard in the months leading up to November. I will also say that, unlike the current president, you can trust Takei!"

The Takei/Richards ticket faced off against the Republican nominee for president: Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and vice president: Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp. The presidential debates were rather boring; both Takei and Dole have slow, monotone voices. The vice presidential debate, however, was a completely different story. Richards' famous one-liners were almost Reaganesque in their effectiveness, and although Jack Kemp expressed his positions well, he was no match for Richards, and she was the obvious winner of the debate.

Going into the actual voting, Takei narrowly led Dole, and that was evident in the results. Although Takei had hoped that making Richards his running mate would give him support in the south, he did not win a single southern state. That didn't matter, though; Takei narrowly won the electoral college anyway, garnering 280 electoral votes to Dole's 258, and George Takei was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20th, 1997, becoming the first gay and Asian president, and Ann Richards became the first female vice president.

That's how I would have Takei become president.
 
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