Alternative Actor/Presidents to Ronald Reagan

I am going to throw this TL into the ring and will most likely get shot down for doing it but hey ho:

PoD: On September 30, 1955, a tired, 24 year old man, decides to place his Porsche 550 Spyder, onto a trailer behind his 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon, driven by friend, while he has a quick shut eye. Planning to break in the car at Salinas, California.

James Dean, arrives at Salinas, California, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for the auto racing event.

Coming third in the race, was fine by Dean, who races more for a hobby, then for winning.

On October 27, 1955, James Dean, views the finishing cut of "Rebel Without a Cause" at it's release date.
After finishing filming Giant, Dean plans to run for Indiana as a Representative.

So in 1957, James Dean is elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 3rd congressional district, beating F. Jay Nimtz in the election.

In 1960, James Dean was asked to be a Key Note Speaker at the Democratic National Convention, after his outspoken support for Massachusetts senator, John F. Kennedy.

In 1964, James Dean was shocked to hear of the assassination of President Kennedy, he would campaign for the Indiana gubernatorial, and on January 11, 1965, at the age of 33, was Governor of Indiana.

In 1969, Dean won re-election, the first Governor of Indiana to serve for eight consecutive years in Indiana since 1861, and the first Democrat to do so, since 1949.

On January 8, 1973, James Dean, was uneligible to run for a third term as the office is limited to being elected to two consecutive terms at a time. But this did not hinder Dean, as in 1973, he saw his next aim, the White House.

On October 10, 1973, Spiro Agnew, resigned from the the office of Vice President with Gerald Ford being accepted as the new Vice Presidnet in December 6, 1973.

James Dean, began his silent campaign on January 4, 1974 and with Richard Nixon's resigning as President on August 9, 1974, the campaign got louder.

In 1976, James Dean was nominated as the Democrat Presidential Candidate with Texan Senator, Lloyd Bentsen as his Running Mate, which many saw as a strong match against the Republican party and Gerald Ford and Bob Dole.

Nominee ____ James Dean --- Gerald Ford
Party _______ Democratic ---- Republican
Home state _ Indiana -------- Michigan
Running mate Lloyd Bentsen Bob Dole
Electoral vote 297 240
States carried 24 + DC* 26*
Popular vote 42,831,881 36,148,634
Percentage 50.1% 48.0%

* The California electors were split with 25 going to Ford and 20 going to Dean

1976.png
 
Paul Newman reportedly would've liked the opportunity to run for president.

He campaigned a lot for Mondale in 1984. Reportedly he was hoping that if Mondale won he would get an ambassadorial appointment and use that as a springboard for higher office.
 
Oooh, how about Tom Selleck? He calls himself an independent, but pretty consistently endorses Republicans. He's been very, very active in the gun rights movement, so he could count on the NRA throwing its weight behind him. The only downside is that he's kind of libertarian-ish, so the religious right probably won't be a fan.

How about this scenario:
In 2003, when Gray Davis is getting recalled, Selleck preempts Arnold Schwarzenegger by throwing his hat into the ring. Selleck fills basically the same political niche as Schwarzenegger: a Hollywood celebrity Republican who is liberal enough on social issues to be palatable to Californians. The Republican establishment quickly lines up behind Selleck, so Schwarzenegger doesn't run. Selleck then wins the recall election with roughly the same result that Schwarzenegger did in OTL. From there, he becomes the golden boy of the Republican party, speaking at the RNC in 2004 (like OTL Schwarzenegger) and gets speculation as a potential Presidential candidate in 2008 (like OTL Schwarzenegger). The only difference is that unlike Schwarzenegger, Selleck (a) is actually eligible to be President and (b) won't blow the whole thing up with some stupid sex scandal.

When he runs in 2008, he has to move to the right like Romney did in OTL. He probably goes for the civil-unions-but-no-marriage line on gay rights (the standard moderate position at the time) and condemns abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother (right-of-center, but not crazy enough to alienate moderates). He performs well in the primaries, but loses out to McCain. In 2012, the Reagan comparisons are obvious. He is a former actor turned Governor of California who is a bit on the older side (67 compared to Reagan's 69) but looks far younger than he is. He also narrowly lost the nomination 4 years earlier like Reagan. Given the weakness of the Republican field, Selleck manages to emerge triumphant in 2012 and then beats Obama in a close election. Plausible?

I've never understood why Republicans are against gay marriage. What do they think will happen? The gates of hell will open? Yeah give me a break.
 

TinyTartar

Banned
I've never understood why Republicans are against gay marriage. What do they think will happen? The gates of hell will open? Yeah give me a break.

To be honest, it might be the kind of thing where it was a fight that started long ago and nobody remembers why they are still fighting but dislike of the opposition keeps it going.

I consider myself a Republican, and honestly, its not something I think about a ton but I have sort of just stopped caring and no longer really care one way or the other except in the constitutional sense that I think this is a states matter and not a federal one (i.e. having the Feds tell California to ban it or Alabama to legalize it is repulsive to me).
 

Frances

Banned
Someone suggested Hepburn... but as Emperor Norton says, people cherish and idolize these people as movie and tv figures, but when exposed to the reality of their politics in a sustained election campaign,,,
 

nbcman

Donor
How about Alan Alda? He has a long history of activism for women's rights and could be elected in his home state of New Jersey. Perhaps he could be elected to a lower office in the mid 1980s after MASH ended. This could lead to his election to higher office in the 90s and maybe a chance for presidential run after the year 2000.
 
I've never understood why Republicans are against gay marriage. What do they think will happen? The gates of hell will open? Yeah give me a break.

Read the Old Testament. And apparently, ONLY the Old Testament.

BTW, what's with the deal with Christians and the Old Testament? Isn't it the NEW Testament that's our gig? I remember Jewish comedians like Joe Black and the late Alan King making it part of their act that "Why is that Christians get this a God who is a really nice God? IDK if maybe He calmed down after He got married and had a kid...? While we're stuck with this Old Guy who told Abraham to fricassee his son Isaac, and after stringing the poor guy along for forty years wouldn't let Moses move to Palestine?":p
 
Ah-nold is a Marxist-Leninist by today's Republican standards.:rolleyes: But by Kennedy stands he was at best merely a standard conservative pre-Tea Party California Republican.

Ah-nold wrote an op-ed for the NY Times on the environment when he was in the State House. Spot-on pro-environment all the way. The Kennedys would have been proud.
 
After all the candidates listed, has anybody mentioned Warren Beatty yet? Very involved in Democratic causes, strongly involved in McGovern and Hart's presidential campaigns, and supported John McCain's campaign finance reform legislation. Many people were wondering if he would run for President in 2000, either as a Democrat or Independent. Not sure if he'd be doing the rap from Bulworth when he announced though.
 
After all the candidates listed, has anybody mentioned Warren Beatty yet? Very involved in Democratic causes, strongly involved in McGovern and Hart's presidential campaigns, and supported John McCain's campaign finance reform legislation. Many people were wondering if he would run for President in 2000, either as a Democrat or Independent. Not sure if he'd be doing the rap from Bulworth when he announced though.

YIKES! Warren Beatty? Well, if every woman he'd ever slept with voted for him...:p

But seriously, no. Just no. Being involved =/= being viable
 
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