The
2136 United States presidential election is a little over a year away, and already, the major candidates have declared and are lining up. Incumbent Democratic President Benjamin G. Thurman is seeking his second term, but there are several potential challengers to him from within his own party. With the Republicans, the presumptive frontrunner is former U.S. Senator Jake Dupree, who would bring a great deal of experience to the ticket. The Republican National Convention isn't scheduled until June 2136, but the first primaries are scheduled for November 2135. Of the 406 states, only 117 have primaries or caucuses, but less than 70 of those are binding. Most states select their candidates for the convention through their own conventions. Favorite son candidates do very well in their own primaries, and usually don't declare until a few months before. Below are the major candidates who have multi-state/commonwealth/planet campaigns and have been polled nationally.
Timothy "Smoky" Bones is a retired Marine Corps general, who is most well known for his tour as the Commanding General of allied forces during the Cydonian War. Bones is a bit of a perennial candidate, having run for President in every election since 2120, and while he's won a few states, he's yet to have a major impact. Bones is mercurial with no particular economic or social policy. His campaign is largely built on an adversarial foreign policy that's opposed to detente with the Soviet Union and also supportive of intervention in Cydonia (again) and Sognia. He's also attracted the support of various far-right nativist and xenophobes who want to limit immigration and also want to limit non-human aborigine internal movements.
Bill Burr is the current Governor of California, and despite having only been sworn into office a few months earlier, has announced his run for President. He comes from the famous Burr family and is the son of John Prescott Burr (the former President of the United States University System, former United States Senator from Connecticut and 2112 Republican nominee for Vice President), which also makes him the nephew of former Vice President Samuel Burr and the cousin of U.S. Senator George Kelley Burr of New York and businessman Scot Burr. Bill Burr is the darling of the party's social progressives, and has already overseen efforts to ban public smoking in California and to ban sports betting. He has, however, come out in support of stronger state-sanctioned and enforced eugenics, which might derail his campaign. Despite that, he looks to do well on Venus.
Royal Calder is a U.S. Senator from Viking, and is a cardiologist by trade. She is the daughter of former U.S. Representative Jack Calder of Opportunity, and has inherited a large portion of her father's former support. The Calders are social libertarians and stand opposed to efforts to limit public drinking, smoking, gambling; they're strong bio-conservatives and are opposed to eugenics; and also want to loosen GVAT restrictions. While the elder Calder was a strict anti-interventionist, the younger Calder has become something of a flip-flopper when it comes to military intervention. She is also opposed to further expansion and seeks to limit the powers and budget of the Minutemen.
Jake Dupree is the former long-time U.S. Senator from Kansas and also the long-time Republican floor leader in the Senate. Dupree is the oldest and most experienced Republican candidate, having spent more than 45 years in D.C. in the White House and the Senate. Originally a fiscal hawk, Dupree became a national conservative, though was more tempered when it came to expansion. He remains the prohibitive front-runner due to his experience and his support from the Republican donor class--overall, prospective Republican hopefuls have raised more than $75 million, of which Dupree has raised $48 million. Dupree has broad support, and while his age might be a factor against him, he's the only Republican in the race who has the experience to take on Ben Thurman.
Walter D. Haas is a businessman and agricultural engineer from Mars. There has been recent buzz surrounding him as he has fought off several potential challenges to divide up his vast agricultural empire, which has made him a poster boy for the big business agriculturalists. Haas wants to throw big government money at various infrastructure mega-projects (particularly on Mars) and at education, but is otherwise a big business social libertarian who wants to reduce government influence and power as much as possible. Might do very well on Mars and with Republican-affiliated science types.
John Paul Johnson is a well-liked and well-admired businessman who is the CEO of PurCal Biotech Industries and also hosts a weekly business talk show, The Feed Tank with John Paul Johnson. Johnson, who is running a largely self-funded campaign, is the prototypical third wave neoliberal and has built an entire platform on welfare reductions, tax cuts, spending cuts and removal of government regulations. Despite his own personal popularity, he has been trailing far behind in the recent polls, as his neoliberalism simply isn't connecting with Republican supporters who don't think he adds anything to the party platform. Might make for a good cabinet official in a future Republican administration though.
Jack Lodge is the current Governor of Arizona, and is the great-grandson of former U.S. President George C. Lodge III. Jack Lodge is the most interesting candidate, not least of all because of his personal life (his wife is Ambassador Rose Kennedy Lodge, a member of the Democratic Kennedy family). He's a committed Columbianist, a vocal expansionist and a social progressive, and speaks more like a Democrat than he does a Republican. He's rallied a young and diverse base of support around him, primarily from Outer System Republicans who want some sort of change from the main party. He's the most prominent challenger to Dupree, though it's unlikely that Lodge will be able to knock him off--with the hope being that he gains enough support from the Outer System to force multiple ballots at the convention
Don Metcalf is probably mostly in it to sell books. He served in the House in the 2110s and 20s as a Republican from Venus, but left the House to join the Minutemen during the Ionian Mutiny. He became America's highest-scoring fighter ace since World War II with 19 confirmed kills during the Mutiny. After the Mutiny ended, he became a Democrat and served in the U.S. House from Io, and became known for his red-baiting--he was controversially censured by House leadership, lost his primary and resigned his seat, rejoining the Republicans while releasing a popular memoir based no his war experience.
Olivia Westerfeld is the current Governor of Phoenix, and has gained a reputation for herself as something of a union-buster, successfully managing to limit the ability of unions to strike and collectively bargain in her state, while also successfully forcing the steelworkers back to work during the strike of 2133. She has become popular with the certain faction of the Republican Party that still doesn't trust blue-collar unions, but despite all that, nobody is really sure why she's running for President. She made several notable gaffes and missteps before even declaring her intention to run, and most think she'd be better served running for Premier of Farside first to gain some experience.