An Alternative History of the 2008 Elections - No McCain and Obama

7:30pm September 23rd Chicago



Barack Obama waved at the people standing below him. It was a cold evening.


“This Election is a choice between two people, One who is like George Bush and the other who isn’t,” the crowd laughed. “ America is a divided country, by race and by class. It will remain divided unless we have a president who can fix it, I have been subject to a mass of attack ads recently and I find it disgusting that my opponents will attack my race in order to be elected and that is why I am dropping out,”


 
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8:35 September 23rd John Edwards campaign HQ

“ We have to stop Edwards withdrawing, He has a chance now Obama has dropped out”
Said David Bonior, leader of Edwards’ campaign. He held the phone to his ear. Nothing.

“ Oh Dear Lord!”


8:55 September 23rd John Edwards campaign HQ


“ He’s on in five minutes,” shouted Bonior at staff of the headquaters.

“ Sir, we’ve tried everything,” said one of the aides

“Try harder!” Bonoir shouted back.

9:00pm September 23rd ,The Jay Leno Show


“Today we welcome John Edwards,” said Jay Leno

Edwards strode in smiling, “It’s good you see you Jay,” he sat down.

“So, running for president , that’s a hard job,”

“ Well yeah, It is” replied Edwards “ I want the average Americans to get out of poverty, to be able to afford a new car, a new house.”

“ Everyone wants that,” said Leno. The audience laughed.

“ Well, the Republicans don’t,” said Edwards. The audience continued laughing.

“ Well, I can’t comment of that,” Laughter continued.

“ Jay, lets get serious,” said Edwards, his tone of voice completely different.

“ Serious, serious ,” Jay repeated “OK, I’m serious.”

“ I am withdrawing, I will suspend my campaign to run for President and endorsing am Al Gore,”

Leno was shocked, all the colour had drained from his face.
 
9:07 September 23rd John Edwards campaign HQ


“Oh Rats, were dead,” shouted David Bonoir



9:09 September 23rd Barack Obama campaign HQ



“Jesus! Edwards has withdrawn,” said the Obama supporter loudly, so everyone could hear.
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September 24th

“With Edwards out I could run,” both men realised. They did not realise it at the same time in fact one of the men was in Vermont and the other in Massachusetts. They would both continue to think about this realisation for days. Kerry and Dean were both thinking about becoming president of the United States.
 
September 28th


“Sir, We’re doing alright in the polls,” said Steve Schmidt .


“Alright, Steve we’re doing terrible.” Replied Colin Powell.


“ OK, I admit we are doing badly but wait till you see how Ron Paul is doing, he’s at 2%,” laughed Steve.


“Exactly Ron Paul, the unelectable extremist has 2% and me the experienced, moderate General is not doing much better.”


“Sir, that’s just the Republican Party.”


“What if I do not run for the Republican Party,” said Powell.


“Sir, are you seriously considering running an independent?”

Powell did not reply.
 
PS. What do you think about Howard Dean entering the race and stealing Obama and Edwards votes?

Unless you butterfly away his loss in Iowa in 2004 and the subsequent 'scream', Dean's electoral career is effectively over. (I think it's unfair; the 'scream' was really nothing more than a typical 'rah-rah' speech covered with a powerful directional mic, but lots of things are unfair in politics.)

Moreover, even without the disqualifying 'scream' speech, Dean is structurally a second-tier candidate; he's the former Governor of a very small, very blue state who's best described as "workmanlike" in terms of his political skills. I think Howard Dean would have remained a second-tier candidate were it not for the fact that Democrats in 2004 were frustrated by an establishment candidate (Kerry) that had voted for the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, the Bush tax cuts, and No Child Left Behind. Dean capitalized on those dissatisfied Democrats to vault into the top tier in 2004, but he's not inherently a very strong candidate, IMO.
 
September 30th
Steve Schmidt had spoken with Powell again on the 29th, luckily Powell wasn’t going to run as an independent. Their conversation got Steve thinking. How could a moderate like him win the republican primaries? Powell would need friends. He set about calling McCain, Pawlenty , Bloomberg and Scott Brown. The endorsements would follow.
 
September 30th
Steve Schmidt had spoken with Powell again on the 29th, luckily Powell wasn’t going to run as an independent. Their conversation got Steve thinking. How could a moderate like him win the republican primaries? Powell would need friends. He set about calling McCain, Pawlenty , Bloomberg and Scott Brown. The endorsements would follow.

Scott Brown was just a random state senator in 2008.
 
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