Bicentennial Man: Ford '76 and Beyond

Out of curiosity, how far do you have this written through?
I have pretty sporadic notes up to about 1985 or thereabouts as of right now. I have a few potential stopping points, though my long term plan is to try to end it in 2001 (thus having the TL cover a quarter century and then letting readers choose for themselves what they think happens next)
 
The Last Leg
The Last Leg

The preeminent event on the October '80 campaign schedule was not, in fact, the second and final Carey-Reagan debate but rather the first Vice Presidential debate to feature a woman, as Anne Armstrong and Reuben Askew squared off on stage at Washington University in St. Louis. The Reagan campaign was eager for the event - they were gradually starting to close September's gaping polling deficit and were bullish on Armstrong's appeals to "the Mom Majority," as they termed it. The debate drew higher viewership than either main Presidential debate, and Armstrong performed well, showing off her foreign policy credentials with decisive, informative and knowledgeable answers on issues ranging from Central America (particularly El Salvador, which would feature very prominently in the campaign within weeks) to Iran to the Soviet bloc. Askew was his usual cheerful, sunny self and avoided criticizing Armstrong too firmly; in a reversal of the Ford-Dole dynamic four years earlier, it was Carey who was the attack dog and Askew who was the chipper, optimistic sidekick who spent most of the debate laying out the case for the "team of housecleaners" in himself and his ticket mate who had steered New York and Florida through tough times. Armstrong was seen as winning the debate and as anticipated scored well with women, a crucial jolt to the Reagan campaign, though Republican operatives began to mutter that it had been too little, too late, and was not enough to seriously change the trajectory of the race, especially as unemployment and inflation numbers both ticked up together in October.

The second debate, held five days before election night after Carey and Reagan criss-crossed the country holding event after event, was thus the final chance for the two candidates to make their case to the American people. The debate was looser and zippier than the first; when asked if he would be able to effectively govern in Washington with likely Democratic majorities, Reagan quipped, "I've been around Democrats my whole life; as Governor Carey keeps reminding us all, I've spent a fair bit of time in Hollywood!" Carey closed the evening out, however, with an effective, now-famous appeal directly to the camera. Speaking after Reagan's closing remarks, the New York Governor remarked: "If you liked the last twelve years of flatter wages, fewer jobs and higher prices, boy will you love the next four years if Governor Reagan is elected. But if you didn't, then I have a different choice to offer you." The closer stuck, and Carey was seen as winning the second debate narrowly. Two days later, on the weekend before the election, the Sunday edition of most newspapers led with a story of Salvadoran soldiers raping and murdering several American nuns, a grim reminder of the chaotic atmosphere [1] in Latin America under Gerald Ford's second term and certainly an unhelpful headline for Republican campaigns, even if El Salvador was far from the minds of most voters.

And with that, the campaign had come to a close, and all that was left was to wait for results on election night.

[1] This happened in early December 1980 IOTL
 
1980 Presidential election
1980 United States Presidential election

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Map Made with US Election Atlas
 
Ah Indiana, home sweet home, always has to piss in the Midwest's porridge. Also, just Virginia and the Carolinas in the South, jeez Reagan you dog whistled for practically jack shit.
 
For a minute I thought Regan had won. Why are the colors reverse?
US Election Atlas predates the red-for-Republican blue-for-Democrat scheme.
^^^

Ah Indiana, home sweet home, always has to piss in the Midwest's porridge. Also, just Virginia and the Carolinas in the South, jeez Reagan you dog whistled for practically jack shit.
Believe it or not those three states were the most consistently Republican in the South back then! Even Peanut didn’t win VA
 
1980 Gubernatorial Elections/List of incumbent Governors as of January 1981
Arkansas: Bill Clinton (D) Re-Elected
Delaware: Pete Du Pont (R) Re-Elected
Indiana: Otis Bowen (R) Term-Limited; Robert Orr (R) Elected
Missouri: Kit Bond (R) Term-Limited; Jim Spainhower (D) Elected [1] D+1
Montana: Thomas Lee Judge (D) DEFEATED for Re-Nomination; Ted Schwinden (D) Elected
New Hampshire: Hugh Gallen (D) Re-Elected
North Carolina: Jim Hunt (D) Re-Elected
North Dakota: Arthur Link (D) Re-Elected [2]
Rhode Island: J. Joseph Garrahy (D) Re-Elected
Utah: Scott Matheson (D) Re-Elected
Vermont: Richard Snelling (R) Re-Elected
Washington: Dixy Lee Ray (D) DEFEATED for Re-Nomination; Jim McDermott (D) Elected [3]
West Virginia: Jay Rockefeller (D) Re-Elected

List of incumbent Governors as of January 1981

Alabama: Bill Baxley (D)
Alaska: Jay Hammond (D)
Arizona: Bruce Babbitt (D)
Arkansas: Bill Clinton (D)
California: Jerry Brown (D)
Colorado: Richard Lamm (D)
Connecticut: Ella Grasso (D)
Delaware: Pete Du Pont (R)
Florida: Bob Graham (D)
Georgia: George Busbee (D)
Hawaii: George Ariyoshi (D)
Idaho: Cecil Andrus (D)
Illinois: James Thompson (R)
Indiana: Robert Orr (R)
Iowa: Robert Ray (R)
Kansas: James Carlin (D)
Kentucky: Harvey Sloane (D)
Louisiana: Jimmy Fitzmorris (D)
Maine: Joseph Brennan (D)
Maryland: Blair Lee III (D)
Massachusetts: Mike Dukakis (D)
Michigan: William Milliken (R)
Minnesota: Warren Spannaus (D)
Mississippi: William Winter (D)
Missouri: Jim Spainhower (D)
Nebraska: Gerald Whelan (D)
Nevada: Harry Reid (D)
New Hampshire: Hugh Gallen (D)
New Jersey: Brendan Byrne (D)
New Mexico: Bruce King (D)
New York: Hugh Carey (D) (for now)
North Carolina: Jim Hunt (D)
North Dakota: Arthur Link (D)
Ohio: Dick Celeste (D)
Oklahoma: George Nigh (D)
Oregon: Vic Atiyeh (R)
Pennsylvania: Arlen Specter (R)
Rhode Island: J. Joseph Garrahy
South Carolina: Richard Riley (D)
South Dakota: Richard Janklow (R)
Tennessee: Richard Fulton (D)
Texas: John Luke Hill (D)
Virginia: Andrew Miller (D)
Vermont: Richard Snelling (R)
Washington: Jim McDermott (D)
Wisconsin: Martin Schreiber (D)
Wyoming: Edgar Herschler (D)

Democrats - 41 Governorships
Republicans - 9 Governorships

[1] State Treasurer; defeats Bill Phelps, the LG, to win
[2] IOTL, he was defeated
[3] IOTL, McDermott - who would later serve in Congress representing Seattle for about 30 years - lost to John Spellman after successfully primarying Ray
 
I’ll try to do those tomorrow or Thurs; for obvious reasons that’s a bit of a longer roundup. I’m not sure I have the bandwidth to do House races a third time either, lol
You could just make a list of the newly elected Democratic and Republican congressmen and have the total house amount displayed
 
I’m shocked that Carey won Mississippi and Alabama but lost the Carolina’s and Virginia. If I had to guess it would have been the opposite. Pretty Good map. I’m excited to see how Bill Clinton’s career evolves in this story, with the POD’s it looks like he’s going to be the Arkansas governor for a few more years than IRL
 
Ohhhhh shit son!

Man that's a really pretty map, even if the colour scheme did throw me for a second! Carey did pretty well all in all, this seems very logical and fair to me as an election map.

Okay so let's run down how the governor elections matched up with my picks! I completely blanked that Bond was term limited and the Dem winning is a surprise to say the least! He's certainly a very logical choice is Spanhower! Other than that I was pretty much bang on the money for all of them which I consider a point of pride! Have to say that McDermott getting in here is really interesting, I was reading about the Washington governor races and seeing how often his name popped up when paired with his future service intrigued me! And man, 41 governorships! That's fucking incredible!

Of course, I'm frothing at the mouth to see the congressional results (But, I mean, take your time by all means!) both to see how my own reading of the situation pans out and to see how the House manages!
 
I’m shocked that Carey won Mississippi and Alabama but lost the Carolina’s and Virginia. If I had to guess it would have been the opposite. Pretty Good map. I’m excited to see how Bill Clinton’s career evolves in this story, with the POD’s it looks like he’s going to be the Arkansas governor for a few more years than IRL
Clinton will have a pretty small role in this TL and on America’s politics in it, tbh, never really going much beyond Arkansas
Ohhhhh shit son!

Man that's a really pretty map, even if the colour scheme did throw me for a second! Carey did pretty well all in all, this seems very logical and fair to me as an election map.

Okay so let's run down how the governor elections matched up with my picks! I completely blanked that Bond was term limited and the Dem winning is a surprise to say the least! He's certainly a very logical choice is Spanhower! Other than that I was pretty much bang on the money for all of them which I consider a point of pride! Have to say that McDermott getting in here is really interesting, I was reading about the Washington governor races and seeing how often his name popped up when paired with his future service intrigued me! And man, 41 governorships! That's fucking incredible!

Of course, I'm frothing at the mouth to see the congressional results (But, I mean, take your time by all means!) both to see how my own reading of the situation pans out and to see how the House manages!
Congrats on getting your guesses right! Yeah McDermott would have made for… quite a different Governor, especially after Ray


My man, you've got a war to write in Cinco de Mayo. Don't spend any time detracting from that by worrying about House races.
lol have I ever mentioned I bite off more than I can chew? 😂
 
Great election map. Carey and the Democrats in Congress did very well! Great chapter. 👍 Looking forward to seeing how the GOP will handle this loss and what direction the party will now go more: conservative or moderate.
 
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