Crestfallen Hope: Crisis in the Networking Decade
- Thread starter Gorrister
- Start date
43
Number 43*
It was June 1992. Bill Clinton was on track to win the Democratic nomination, and then the presidency, if the polls were to be believed. His sole opponent, Governor Jerry Brown, had waned and had a next to nil shot of securing the nomination while Clinton's blood was still warm. Now, the attention of the Clinton campaign was focused towards the platform and the vice presidential search. In front was Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, who did not launch a presidential bid due to a Baltimore car accident involving his son in 1989. There were other finalists too - Senators Bob Kerrey, Jay Rockefeller and Harris Wofford chief among them, but Gore was in the clear, as former Vermont governor Madeline Kunin, who served on the search team, would later recall - "When we were looking at the shortlist, Senator Gore's name would come up again and again." It seemed like a natural pick - the two men had a good rapport, and they were ideologically similar enough to double down on the moderate platform Clinton wished to emphasize in the fight against Bush and Perot.
Fate would have other plans for the mooted Clinton-Gore ticket. On the first day of July, Senator Gore's daughter Sarah was brought into hospital, suffering from heat stroke. The 13 year old was in an unconscious state, and was rendered bedridden for four weeks on the advice of James Fleming, an old family friend of the Gores*. Gore's wife, Tipper, was reportedly furious, and expressly forbade him from political consideration while Sarah was recovering, having just barely escaped the threat of brain damage. Kunin and Warren Christopher were informed of the decision, and reluctantly told Clinton that Gore was off the table. With a mere week until the convention began, the team were forced to look over their prior choices. Governor Mario Cuomo flat out rejected the idea, as he had months before. Wofford also said no, citing his limited time in the senate and wish to work on healthcare reform. Senator Graham was already working on his re-election campaign, and Bob Kerrey had lost his interest in the role. They decided that they needed an out of the box choice to contrast with Clinton and to show a 'united front' within the party. Prominently, on the advice of Donna Brazille, they wanted to go with a woman in order to countenance the claims of sexual assault made against the governor earlier on in the primary cycle. One from an electoral vote rich state.
And so, the call was made to one Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi, the San Fransisco Congresswoman. She wasn't expecting such a call to be made, having brushed off the VP speculation ages before. She was already working on the DNC policy committee, trying to incorporate language talking of a 'war on AIDS' among other liberal bugbears into the convention's platform, which was being drafted by Ohio Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar**. Pelosi met with the Clinton campaign many times in the week leading up to the convention, receiving more and more assurances with each meeting. Pushing for Pelosi at the bottom of the ticket was House Speaker Tom Foley, who was fond of her. In the end, the news came on the 9th that she would arrive on the ticket. Instantly, the Republicans pounced. "Clinton makes Frisco liberal as Number 2, the headlines write themselves!" Pat Buchanan was alleged to have yelled on the eve of the announcement. Indeed, the campaign acknowledged the optics of the Pelosi pick, which is why the nominee would spend the next several months undergoing 'media training'. Pelosi, who had described herself as 'too shy' for politics, had a voice which did not 'exude confidence', as James Carville noted. She spent the second night of the convention practicing speaking with what was dubbed a 'stronger' tone. Some muted comparisons were made to the media training Margaret Thatcher received from her political strategist Gordon Reece, which helped transform her into the 'Iron Lady'.
The general election would be a top-heavy affair, with the battle of the three Number Twos garnering little media attention. Quayle was notoriously Quayleish, while Pelosi's reserved nature made itself more apparent. General Stockdale genuinely impressed, managing to outshine the other two through sheer force of not being a bore. Pelosi felt left out of the campaign, later noting in her memoirs that she considered herself little more than a third wheel on Clinton's apparatus. Whatever her involvement, it was the Arkansas governor who proved to be the eventual victor. President Bush walked away with a pithy 168 electoral votes and sub-40% in the popular vote. Clinton was victorious, and though the Republicans would attempt to pin his win on Ross Perot's independent candidacy, it was he who would be the next occupant of the oval office. Clinton handed power in Little Rock over to Jim Guy Tucker, while Pelosi would resign her congressional seat. The ensuing special election would be won by Jonestown survivor and state assemblywoman Jacqueline Speier.
The dream wasn't to be, however. Clinton's first term was marred by the fight on healthcare - called 'Hillarycare' after the president's feisty wife, who Pelosi had a begrudging amount of respect for - which ultimately came to naught as conservative Democrats balked in an attempt to save their skins. Senator Gore's own lukewarm thoughts helped kill the radical bill, which was confined to the dustbin for the moment. Foreign policy-wise, things weren't much rosier. The inaction in Rwanda, which Pelosi voiced some concern against, seemingly proved the administration's ineffectiveness in the eyes of so-called 'hawks'. Things weren't all boorish stagnation, however - NAFTA was signed into law with the tacit passing of the cabinet, and some movement on gun control came forth with the signing of the Brady bill. The Supreme Court had two new additions in the forms of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, and minorities were appointed to numerous administrative positions in a wave of diversity. The Republican Party was rapidly radicalizing, as the hard-right 'Contract with America', unveiled by their new house minority leader Newt Gingrich, showed. Partisanship looked as if it would only intensify over the next few years.
The Clinton presidency came tumbling down on the 29th of October 1994. With the conclusion of a four day middle east trip that morning, the president sat down to watch a football game with friends. He got a call from Hillary, who was touring California at the time, and he stepped out to the North Lawn in order to take it. His wife was inquiring about 'another look' at her health care initiatives, and Clinton was attempting to get through the conversation quick enough to get back to the game. It was at that moment when Francisco Martin Duran, a 26 year old who was declared missing by his wife several weeks prior, opened fire with an SKS rifle. Clinton collapsed from the three shots to his person, breaking two ribs due to the impact with the ground. The president's chief of staff, Leon Panetta, dashed out to the lawn, where he was struck in the leg. A passerby, Ken Davis, attempted to disarm Duran but was smashed in the face with the butt of the rifle, knocking him unconscious. The president was rushed to the Medical Unit of the white house. He was not saved.
Desperate to avoid a repeat of Alexander Haig's 'In Control' episode, a wounded Panetta called Pelosi, who was touring housing development projects in Queens at the time. She was informed of the president's death, and the arrival of Air Force One at a secure runway at JFK airport. Pelosi's team at the time scattered to find a judge to swear her in. They found José Cabranes, who was driven to the airport on short notice. In scenes mirroring that of Lyndon Johnson's ascension thirty three years before, Pelosi took the oath of office inside the plane, flanked by secret service. She had officially become the 43rd president of the United States while Hillary and Bill's daughter Chelsea were rushed backed to D.C. to see the body, which was placed in the East Wing and was awaiting a state funeral.
*this is cut from whole cloth, for the record.
**This is our proper POD. Oakar is never caught up in the banking scandal, meaning that she's never forced to resign from the platform drafting.
That scenario's been done a fair few times before. This is an attempt to get Pelosi in the White House without killing off Dubya.
Midterms
Nancy Pelosi took power in the middle of one of the most volatile political shifts in the 20th century. The House GOP leadership, long held by Bob Michel, was seized by the young upstart Newton Gingrich of Georgia, who promoted an agenda far to the right of the previous congress. He, along with a litany of other Republicans like John Boehner and Dick Armey, took steps to re-establish the GOP's long dormant force in congress. His 'Contract with America', a document filled with rigid conservative planks such as welfare reform and tort reform, proved popular in the runup to the fateful midterm elections that year. While some of it was unlikely to pass, it was a clear blueprint as to what Gingrich would pursue in power.
The death of Bill Clinton complicated matters. The factors leading to a GOP victory were still there, but now the president of the United States was soon to lay in state and there was a chance of a sympathy vote extending to downballot Democrats. Gingrich called in the shots for the last week after issuing his statement of sympathy, attempting to rally the footsoldiers in order to prevent a last minute surge for the Democrats. It worked. Sort of. Democrats had lost the house in their worst result since Dwight Eisenhower, but the Republican lead was only one seat when the Democrat leaning independent Bernie Sanders was factored in. Of course, the technical majority was greater due to the amount of conservative 'blue dogs' in the Democratic caucus who could be counted on to back the GOP on certain issues, but it was still a precarious position for both parties to be in. In what could have been one of the night's surprises, Speaker of the House Tom Foley came within a few thousand votes of losing his congressional seat. Gingrich's relationship with President Pelosi was guaranteed to be fraught from the get go when she declared at a press conference that any reform of the welfare system would have to be 'on her terms'.
The situation was similarly tight in the Senate. Republicans made massive gains in the upper chamber, garnering five extra seats at the end of the night. However, they would come up short in two seats in what was blamed on the 'Duran effect'. One was Pennsylvania, where their senate candidate Rick Santorum (who launched his bid only because his congressional seat was cut up in redistricting) was ably battling the so-called 'Architect of Hillarycare' Harris Wofford by running a strong consensus based campaign that nonetheless reached out to catholic labor voters, and in the last stretches of the campaign, it looked as if Santorum would take it by the skin of his teeth. The assassination switched up things and caused enough Santorum-leaning Democrats to return to the fold, allowing Wofford to narrowly win re-election. Of course, he would be nearing 74 by 2000, and Santorum's career wasn't over by any means.
The other race would be Minnesota, which saw an outlying result in the form of a Democratic gain rather than a loss. This may have been due to Grams' rambling tribute to the late President Clinton, which was viewed as half-hearted and sloppily released. His Democratic opponent, Ann Wynia, stepped up her quiet workhorse campaign in the last week or so with the help of statewide Democratic officials, which may have allowed her to squeak past Grams, who all but assured a comeback run in 2000 in his concession speech.
The Republicans were left with 49 seats to the 51 seats held by the Democrats. It was a knife edge lead, and not one incoming majority leader Daschle relished in having, but it was one nonetheless. The defection of Richard Shelby on January 4th 1995 complicated matters further by leaving the senate at an exact tie, with vice president Lee Hamilton (appointed by President Pelosi due to his defense credentials and near unanimously confirmed at the start of the 104th congress) as the one to break ties in the event of a tied vote, which was sure to happen frequently over the next congressional term.
The gubernatorial scene would also see some minor after-effects. For example, in the state of New York, where long-standing political titan Mario Cuomo was taking hits from the unknown George Pataki, whose middle of the road campaign, primarily about race riots and the death penalty, was bearing serious fruit. The possibility of Cuomo going down in defeat on what would be a bad night for Democrats was real. The last minute shuffle of Democrats just barely saved Cuomo, whose son Andrew was already plotting his own political rise through the ranks. Pataki's career was not over, especially after coming so close to knocking off one of New York's greatest politicians, but it was stunted for the time being. However, congress and the senate were still alternatives.
Maine proved to be an odd case indeed. The incumbent Republican governor John McKernan, whose wife Olympia was running for the senate that same year, retired, leaving the race open. Independent candidate Angus King shook up the state of affairs, and looked as if he would reap the whirlwind of Ross Perot's success in the state two years earlier. Maine was the one case where Clinton's assassination proved to be equally beneficial for the Republican as much as it was for the Democrat, as Republican Candidate Susan Collins, the victor in an eight party primary, took advantage the fear and uncertainty by emphasizing her long record of stable governance in the state, dating back to her time as a staffer on the Homeland Security committee.
It was no dice for Angus King, as former Governor Joseph Brennan won on the back of his strategist-heavy campaign.
Other races, such as Alabama, went down to the wire. Governor Jim Folsom, son of the famous Big Jim whose death paved the way for the rise of George Wallace, was fending off a challenge from the far right Fob James, who had been defeated for re-election by Wallace ten years before. The campaign was expected to be a clear and easy victory for Folsom, even as the situation on the ground showed growing momentum for James. The initial result on election night produced a 123 vote lead for James, who delivered a triumphant victory speech. However, ballots from Birmingham were brought in that gave Folsom a considerable lead. Further absentee ballots showed the race tightening, but Folsom would come out of it with a slim 300 margin of victory. James threatened to challenge the results, but he conceded when informed that the court would reject his appeal.
All in all, the next few months looked like they wouldn't be the friendliest to the new president.
The death of Bill Clinton complicated matters. The factors leading to a GOP victory were still there, but now the president of the United States was soon to lay in state and there was a chance of a sympathy vote extending to downballot Democrats. Gingrich called in the shots for the last week after issuing his statement of sympathy, attempting to rally the footsoldiers in order to prevent a last minute surge for the Democrats. It worked. Sort of. Democrats had lost the house in their worst result since Dwight Eisenhower, but the Republican lead was only one seat when the Democrat leaning independent Bernie Sanders was factored in. Of course, the technical majority was greater due to the amount of conservative 'blue dogs' in the Democratic caucus who could be counted on to back the GOP on certain issues, but it was still a precarious position for both parties to be in. In what could have been one of the night's surprises, Speaker of the House Tom Foley came within a few thousand votes of losing his congressional seat. Gingrich's relationship with President Pelosi was guaranteed to be fraught from the get go when she declared at a press conference that any reform of the welfare system would have to be 'on her terms'.
The Republicans were left with 49 seats to the 51 seats held by the Democrats. It was a knife edge lead, and not one incoming majority leader Daschle relished in having, but it was one nonetheless. The defection of Richard Shelby on January 4th 1995 complicated matters further by leaving the senate at an exact tie, with vice president Lee Hamilton (appointed by President Pelosi due to his defense credentials and near unanimously confirmed at the start of the 104th congress) as the one to break ties in the event of a tied vote, which was sure to happen frequently over the next congressional term.
It was no dice for Angus King, as former Governor Joseph Brennan won on the back of his strategist-heavy campaign.
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I think this should be "litany".
Quite intrigued! I assume Bush defeated Richards, as in OTL?
Corrected, thanks!
Yes. That race was just a little too wide to be moved. Jeb loses as per OTL.
The President can't recess appoint a VP, the text of the 25th amendment doesn't enable the appointment of a VP to be subject to the same ability in Article II, Section 2 of the constitution.
Ah yes, I was wondering about that. Chalk that up to assuming VP fell under the Federal Official net.
Christmas Attacks
December 25 was meant to be just like any other day. The horror of Clinton's death was finally subsiding, and people were preparing for the wave of happiness brought on by the festive Christmas day. In France, this was not to be the case.
The political situation in Algeria had been volatile for years, and the country was still recovering from the decolonization war that occurred between 1954 and 1962 that led to it being begrudgingly granted independence. A civil war had been raging since the late 1992 when the army cancelled an election when an Islamic party looked likely to win, with Islamic terror groups attempting to supplant the unstable government there. France's involvement in the conflict was limited at best, a situation that would change drastically on the 25th of December 1994.
The incident was blamed on the incompetence of staff at the airport in Algiers, where Air France 8969 was to take off. Four terrorists, of the Groupe Islamique Armé (Armed Islamic Group), snuck onto the flight with the intention of hijacking the plane, and it was only after the plane had set out and passengers overheard the hijackers discussing their plan to fly the plane to France. The flight attendants on board were stabbed and incapacitated by the four men, who go on to secure the cockpit and seize the controls of 8969. Three passengers were killed after they attempted to take back control of the flight, and Air France officials in France were only alerted when one hijacker accidentally transmitted a message to Air Traffic Control.
By the time the army was ready to blow the plane out of the sky, it had entered Parisian airspace and was nearing the Eiffel Tower. Immediately before 8969 had hit the Tower, a stack of dynamite was set off to make sure that the damage was done. It certainly was, as the top of the tower was sheared off and collapsed onto the ground below. The third and fourth floors followed suit, while the plane exploded, with the wreckage falling around the area, razing the nearby hedges and caving in the roofs of buildings that were close by.
On the eve of the disaster, prime minister Edouard Balladur and Paris Police Chief Philippe Massoni convened a joint press conference addressing questions about why the attack had not been prevented. Balladur issued a response declaring that airport security across the nation would be beefed up and that he would meet with President Mitterand to discuss further action. President Pelosi issued a statement of sympathy for the government, saying "whatever the United States can do to assist in France's fight against terror, we will do." The governments of Britain and Germany did the same. The Christmas Attack had a troubling effect on the French national psyche, with the towering symbol of France having been mostly destroyed. The image of France as surrender-prone cowards vanished overnight, and many TV shows and movies that mocked the French were put on hold for airing in the United States. Jacques Chirac, the eventual victor of the 1995 Presidential election, regularly toured the epicentre and promised retaliation if he entered Élysée. He would get his wish.
The Algerian government received a huge amount of help from the Chirac government in their hunt for rebels in the Atlas Mountains. The regime was able to pull out a crushing victory, with its army holding French guns and riding French tanks. French troops were also deployed , but Chirac's cabinet advised him not to drag the country into full on war, fearing a Vietnam-esque retaliation. The United States government would help out only in piecemeal ways, something that would lead to a slight resentment of the US among portions of the French public, who viewed them as cowards.
The political situation in Algeria had been volatile for years, and the country was still recovering from the decolonization war that occurred between 1954 and 1962 that led to it being begrudgingly granted independence. A civil war had been raging since the late 1992 when the army cancelled an election when an Islamic party looked likely to win, with Islamic terror groups attempting to supplant the unstable government there. France's involvement in the conflict was limited at best, a situation that would change drastically on the 25th of December 1994.
The incident was blamed on the incompetence of staff at the airport in Algiers, where Air France 8969 was to take off. Four terrorists, of the Groupe Islamique Armé (Armed Islamic Group), snuck onto the flight with the intention of hijacking the plane, and it was only after the plane had set out and passengers overheard the hijackers discussing their plan to fly the plane to France. The flight attendants on board were stabbed and incapacitated by the four men, who go on to secure the cockpit and seize the controls of 8969. Three passengers were killed after they attempted to take back control of the flight, and Air France officials in France were only alerted when one hijacker accidentally transmitted a message to Air Traffic Control.
By the time the army was ready to blow the plane out of the sky, it had entered Parisian airspace and was nearing the Eiffel Tower. Immediately before 8969 had hit the Tower, a stack of dynamite was set off to make sure that the damage was done. It certainly was, as the top of the tower was sheared off and collapsed onto the ground below. The third and fourth floors followed suit, while the plane exploded, with the wreckage falling around the area, razing the nearby hedges and caving in the roofs of buildings that were close by.
On the eve of the disaster, prime minister Edouard Balladur and Paris Police Chief Philippe Massoni convened a joint press conference addressing questions about why the attack had not been prevented. Balladur issued a response declaring that airport security across the nation would be beefed up and that he would meet with President Mitterand to discuss further action. President Pelosi issued a statement of sympathy for the government, saying "whatever the United States can do to assist in France's fight against terror, we will do." The governments of Britain and Germany did the same. The Christmas Attack had a troubling effect on the French national psyche, with the towering symbol of France having been mostly destroyed. The image of France as surrender-prone cowards vanished overnight, and many TV shows and movies that mocked the French were put on hold for airing in the United States. Jacques Chirac, the eventual victor of the 1995 Presidential election, regularly toured the epicentre and promised retaliation if he entered Élysée. He would get his wish.
1996 Election
Amid assassination, terror attacks, and congressional troubles, the 1996 election looked as if it would be a wide open affair as opposed to the 1964 election. The Republican party was looking for a talented nominee to put up against Pelosi, whose sympathy effect only stretched as far as partisanship allowed. Governor George W. Bush was widely courted, but his lack of experience beset him from launching a campaign. Senator Bob Dole, the 72 year old Senate Minority Leader, was focused on his work in the upper chamber after suffering a nasty heart attack early on in the year. RNC chairman Haley Barbour tried to convince former Bush cabinet secretary and football star Jack French Kemp to run, but he too declined a bid, as did Dole's wife Elizabeth.
Frustrated with the options presented, the establishment split between the campaigns of Senator Phil Gramm and former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander, with the former running a far more conservative operation. Gramm's calls for stringent economic deregulation gave him a booster with the fiscally conservative donors that made up much of the GOP's money base. His views were also far to the right enough to be acceptable to the base. His prior record as a Democrat was skewered by the campaign of radical conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, famous for attempting to primary president Bush 1992 and still making waves with his old voter bases. Buchanan was the one candidate who refused to shy away from attacking the legacy of Clinton in no uncertain words, speaking at length of the failures Hillarycare would've wrought. He sought to make an enemy out of the president, controversially saying "She wants to be like Lyndon Johnson, but she'll end up like Jimmy Carter", implicitly comparing himself to Ronald Reagan.
Gramm's campaign would tumble during the course of 1995. His reputation as a Washington Insider was a tough one to evade, and as the divided congress tried going about its business, things got worse. Pelosi pledged to veto any attempt at welfare reform that didn't come with huge caveats and waivers on work requirements, and worse still, her landmark 'Lobbying Disclosure' bill, which sought to curb lobbying and soft money significantly, came under fire from pundits who saw it as trying to protect politicians from the wrath of their own voters. Pelosi's attempts to crack down on militia groups, which included an expansive gun control bill strengthening background checks and restrictions on the sale of semi-automatic rifles like the one used to kill president Clinton, provoked a massive backlash from Republican primary voters, who were eager to bloody the nose of Pelosi. Amid all of this chaos, businessman Ross Perot forgoed a second run at the presidency, leaving the nascent Reform party's nomination in the hands of former governor Dick Lamm, who would eventually garner a mere 4% of the vote, a point off of the 5 needed to get federal funding.
Gramm's victory in Louisiana was an upset, as Buchanan had been polling very well there in the run-up. A win in Iowa followed, confirming Gramm's momentum. Buchanan's campaign fell into a tailspin that would only be revived by a close victory in New Hampshire over Alexander, who would go on to win only two states in the process. Maverick businessman Steve Forbes was able to siphon off a few votes from the Gramm machine by positioning himself as stridently in favour of an all out flat tax, in a last ditch attempt to win over donors. He would end up winning five states, including New York in what was a serious upset at the time. Nevertheless, the ball was in Gramm's court, as Buchanan continued racking up poor primary performances. Buchanan would withdraw very late into the game, realizing that only a bullet would get him the nod, and even then it wouldn't be guaranteed. As a sop to those who desired for 'unity' in the party, he slotted Alexander to be his vice presidential nominee. The slogan was only worked out at the convention in San Diego, and it was to be "For An America That Leads!", a clear shot at Pelosi.
Gramm's convention would work out well, as he was able to get his man Rick Perry, the Texas lieutenant governor standing for Gramm's senate seat, in the keynote slot. Perry delivered an inspiring speech calling for conservatives across the nation to come together and unite in order to soothe the fears of the American people. It was positive, in comparison to Gramm's rather negative takedown of the president.
President Pelosi had a bad start to the general election, with her veto of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act garnering criticism from across the aisle. The act, which passed in the senate 73-26, was controversial for what many saw as the gutting of the welfare system and its replacement with a far inferior product. Pelosi had severe reservations on the bill, plus she was angry about her own revisions not being added in. Majority leader Daschle went back to the drawing board with senate Republicans in order to satisfy Pelosi, who by now was receiving attacks from high ranking Republican officials. The new 'revised' bill would be more along the lines of Clinton's original 'two years' vision. A concrete two year time limit would be implemented, but if people were playing by the rules and they still couldn't find work, they would continue to collect federal benefits which would be reduced over time. It wasn't an acceptable compromise for Republicans, but it still passed the senate easily.
The election campaign would be fought surprisingly little on Clinton's memory, with both candidates instead opting to fire shots at each other. Gramm had all the Republican big hitters like Dole and Reagan coming out to campaign for him, while Pelosi was instead forced onto the defense, still having to answer questions about Hillarycare and the welfare veto, as well as the ongoing war in Bosnia. Gramm was facing concerns about his proposed deregulation spree, as well as allegations that he was 'strong-arming' Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in order to get him to cross the floor to the Republicans. It was false, but it still stuck in the media zeitgeist.
Another veto came in late September. The Defense of Marriage Act, which had passed the senate with overwhelming support, came to the president's desk on the 21st. Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal at heart, couldn't bring herself to sign the bill which banned the government from permitting gay marriages. Several senators, including the otherwise moderate Chuck Robb, spoke out against the bill, and after the veto, many of the yea voters were whipped into the nay pile. The veto was overridden, but by a bare 67 votes. It still damaged the president severely in the southern states and other places where the 'moral majority' reigned supreme.
Pelosi's first debate performance was not admirable. Her old speaking style came back and she sounded nervous, while Gramm spoke at length with a folksy demeanor. Gramm gained in the polls, and many wondered if Pelosi was blowing the whole thing. Pelosi gathered her team - which included John Podesta and James Carville - in order to refocus their objectives. Pelosi chose to lighten activities in the south, seeing it as a guaranteed loss either way. Instead, she poured money into swing states like Ohio and Florida, the latter of which had gone against the national grain by voting for Bush in 1992. Arizona was also put in the general campaign strategy, hoping to utilize the Hispanic voting bloc. Pelosi's decent performances in the subsequent debates, in which Gramm came under fire for his comments about how taxing the rich was "the equivalent of bigotry against the successful", which came across as elitist to many rural voters.
Pelosi was elected (or re-elected) by a larger than expected margin, despite a near Republican wipeout in the south. This was chalked up to the progressively improving economic situation, with a budget surplus projected for 1998. Gramm gave a short and improvised concession speech as he sincerely expected a victory. Instead, it would be Pelosi walking away as the first woman to ever win a United States presidential election, with over 50% of the popular vote to boot.
The congressional picture was a little different, however...
Frustrated with the options presented, the establishment split between the campaigns of Senator Phil Gramm and former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander, with the former running a far more conservative operation. Gramm's calls for stringent economic deregulation gave him a booster with the fiscally conservative donors that made up much of the GOP's money base. His views were also far to the right enough to be acceptable to the base. His prior record as a Democrat was skewered by the campaign of radical conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, famous for attempting to primary president Bush 1992 and still making waves with his old voter bases. Buchanan was the one candidate who refused to shy away from attacking the legacy of Clinton in no uncertain words, speaking at length of the failures Hillarycare would've wrought. He sought to make an enemy out of the president, controversially saying "She wants to be like Lyndon Johnson, but she'll end up like Jimmy Carter", implicitly comparing himself to Ronald Reagan.
Gramm's campaign would tumble during the course of 1995. His reputation as a Washington Insider was a tough one to evade, and as the divided congress tried going about its business, things got worse. Pelosi pledged to veto any attempt at welfare reform that didn't come with huge caveats and waivers on work requirements, and worse still, her landmark 'Lobbying Disclosure' bill, which sought to curb lobbying and soft money significantly, came under fire from pundits who saw it as trying to protect politicians from the wrath of their own voters. Pelosi's attempts to crack down on militia groups, which included an expansive gun control bill strengthening background checks and restrictions on the sale of semi-automatic rifles like the one used to kill president Clinton, provoked a massive backlash from Republican primary voters, who were eager to bloody the nose of Pelosi. Amid all of this chaos, businessman Ross Perot forgoed a second run at the presidency, leaving the nascent Reform party's nomination in the hands of former governor Dick Lamm, who would eventually garner a mere 4% of the vote, a point off of the 5 needed to get federal funding.
Gramm's victory in Louisiana was an upset, as Buchanan had been polling very well there in the run-up. A win in Iowa followed, confirming Gramm's momentum. Buchanan's campaign fell into a tailspin that would only be revived by a close victory in New Hampshire over Alexander, who would go on to win only two states in the process. Maverick businessman Steve Forbes was able to siphon off a few votes from the Gramm machine by positioning himself as stridently in favour of an all out flat tax, in a last ditch attempt to win over donors. He would end up winning five states, including New York in what was a serious upset at the time. Nevertheless, the ball was in Gramm's court, as Buchanan continued racking up poor primary performances. Buchanan would withdraw very late into the game, realizing that only a bullet would get him the nod, and even then it wouldn't be guaranteed. As a sop to those who desired for 'unity' in the party, he slotted Alexander to be his vice presidential nominee. The slogan was only worked out at the convention in San Diego, and it was to be "For An America That Leads!", a clear shot at Pelosi.
Gramm's convention would work out well, as he was able to get his man Rick Perry, the Texas lieutenant governor standing for Gramm's senate seat, in the keynote slot. Perry delivered an inspiring speech calling for conservatives across the nation to come together and unite in order to soothe the fears of the American people. It was positive, in comparison to Gramm's rather negative takedown of the president.
The election campaign would be fought surprisingly little on Clinton's memory, with both candidates instead opting to fire shots at each other. Gramm had all the Republican big hitters like Dole and Reagan coming out to campaign for him, while Pelosi was instead forced onto the defense, still having to answer questions about Hillarycare and the welfare veto, as well as the ongoing war in Bosnia. Gramm was facing concerns about his proposed deregulation spree, as well as allegations that he was 'strong-arming' Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in order to get him to cross the floor to the Republicans. It was false, but it still stuck in the media zeitgeist.
Another veto came in late September. The Defense of Marriage Act, which had passed the senate with overwhelming support, came to the president's desk on the 21st. Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal at heart, couldn't bring herself to sign the bill which banned the government from permitting gay marriages. Several senators, including the otherwise moderate Chuck Robb, spoke out against the bill, and after the veto, many of the yea voters were whipped into the nay pile. The veto was overridden, but by a bare 67 votes. It still damaged the president severely in the southern states and other places where the 'moral majority' reigned supreme.
Pelosi's first debate performance was not admirable. Her old speaking style came back and she sounded nervous, while Gramm spoke at length with a folksy demeanor. Gramm gained in the polls, and many wondered if Pelosi was blowing the whole thing. Pelosi gathered her team - which included John Podesta and James Carville - in order to refocus their objectives. Pelosi chose to lighten activities in the south, seeing it as a guaranteed loss either way. Instead, she poured money into swing states like Ohio and Florida, the latter of which had gone against the national grain by voting for Bush in 1992. Arizona was also put in the general campaign strategy, hoping to utilize the Hispanic voting bloc. Pelosi's decent performances in the subsequent debates, in which Gramm came under fire for his comments about how taxing the rich was "the equivalent of bigotry against the successful", which came across as elitist to many rural voters.
Pelosi was elected (or re-elected) by a larger than expected margin, despite a near Republican wipeout in the south. This was chalked up to the progressively improving economic situation, with a budget surplus projected for 1998. Gramm gave a short and improvised concession speech as he sincerely expected a victory. Instead, it would be Pelosi walking away as the first woman to ever win a United States presidential election, with over 50% of the popular vote to boot.
The congressional picture was a little different, however...
Senate
Senator Al Gore spent the four years after Clinton's election working closely with the leadership to pass legislation, hoping to rise through the ranks and propel himself into the national political sphere. Controversially, he voiced muted support for Clinton's mooted healthcare proposal, despite disdaining the messaging used in private, noting how badly Clinton got on with Democrats in congress. Gore's re-election bid was not in doubt, not until after the 1994 midterms and the hefty gains the GOP made in the south. He was still popular and got a lot of pork for his state, but there was an opening for a serious challenge, considering his views on hot button topics such as coal regulations and abortion. The GOP at first was looking to field former governor Alexander, who was tied with Gore in almost all early polling, but he passed in order to make his presidential bid. Soon they turned to first term congressman Ed Bryant, who had established himself as a rising star within the Tennessee GOP.
Gore's campaign was beset by the Democrats deciding to drain resources from the Volunteer state, something that rankled with Gore and his wife Tipper. He and Pelosi never got on particularly well, and the decision came as something of a snub, especially after Gore's own efforts in passing portions of Pelosi's agenda. Bryant capitalized on the feud by highlighting Gore's support for the aforementioned health care push, as well as his conflicting statements on the veto of welfare reform. Gore still maintained a healthy lead throughout the campaign, easily outspending the Bryant camp in spite of Pelosi's fundraising drought, and looked to win a double digit victory until the veto of DOMA, which energized the christian evangelical base beyond belief. It would've been enough to swamp Gore and push Bryant over the top, removing a rising star from the Democratic field in 2000.
Well, almost. Gore was able to manoeuvre around the veto by attempting a last ditch shift into populist rhetoric. He carried the day by a four point margin, close enough to make a few at Nashville HQ to become nervous. He was back in, but for how long?
The situation in Louisiana was markedly more mixed. The notoriously corrupt Edwin Edwards dropped his bid for a second term in the Pelican state after remarrying, and the field was wide open. Louisiana's 'jungle primary' system provided for some rough and tumble results, and this cycle would not feature an exception to that rule, with eight major candidates in all. State legislator Mike Foster was the butt of many attacks after switching his party affiliation to the GOP, especially in the wake of the Clinton assassination, which was viewed as 'spitting on the late president's legacy'. It was a bunkum attack that really wasn't relevant to the reasons why Foster actually switched (shifting tides in ideology and - err - genuine political expediency as the Democratic field was about as crowded as could be), but the opposition candidates pounced upon it with gusto.
Recounts can always be a neck-tugging affair, as was the case with this jungle primary. In first was Treasurer Mary Landrieu, with just over 20%. Close behind was Foster, and further behind was congressman Cleo Fields. It looked to be a straight up Landrieu-Foster battle, until last minute absentee ballots arrived from New Orleans putting Fields in the lead by a mere 500 votes. The Foster campaign practically begged the courts to look at ballots from St. Mary Parish, where supporters said there were uncounted military ballots. It was rejected in a hugely controversial move that certain Foster supporters allege was down to judges paid off by Fields or Landrieu or even president Pelosi in order to avoid a Republican victory. As a result, the runoff saw vastly decreased Republican turnout at the expense of increased black turnout for Fields. Landrieu won heftily with the support of former Foster voters, and was keyed in for national office in the future by DNC officials.
Unfortunately for Louisiana's Democrats, Landrieu's absence would not be good news for them in the ensuing senate race. They were saddled with an ineffectual candidate in the form of attorney general Richard Ieyoub, who cleared the field, with David Duke's latest bid sitting pretty at 14%. Ieyoub's lead would eventually fall apart, and he was soundly defeated by Woody Jenkins, who was immediately spotted for promotion in the Republican caucus.
Up north in New Hampshire was fertile ground for Democrats, as the controversial Bob Smith seemed to be on his political deathbed. His own radical positions on social issues such as gay marriage set himself apart even from other conservative Republicans in the state. He faced a stiff challenge in the general from the humorously named Richard Swett, whose consensus shaped campaign worked hand in hand with that of gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Shaheen, who was well on her way of becoming governor of the Granite state. Smith's career was severely in doubt, especially after he issued a full throated defense of Gramm's 'bigotry against the successful' remark, in which he claimed those who protested were merely "proving his ultimate point". The remark would be his downfall, as the Swett campaign aired commercials intercutting the quote with short vignettes of poor New Hampshire residents. Dick Swett would eventually pull out and become the next senator from New Hampshire, and becoming the new topic of discussion for late night comedians everywhere.
In Texas, there's little to say aside from Phil Gramm gets his man in the senate seat against the protestations of governor Bush, who would be forced to replace Perry with Carole Rylander.
Gore's campaign was beset by the Democrats deciding to drain resources from the Volunteer state, something that rankled with Gore and his wife Tipper. He and Pelosi never got on particularly well, and the decision came as something of a snub, especially after Gore's own efforts in passing portions of Pelosi's agenda. Bryant capitalized on the feud by highlighting Gore's support for the aforementioned health care push, as well as his conflicting statements on the veto of welfare reform. Gore still maintained a healthy lead throughout the campaign, easily outspending the Bryant camp in spite of Pelosi's fundraising drought, and looked to win a double digit victory until the veto of DOMA, which energized the christian evangelical base beyond belief. It would've been enough to swamp Gore and push Bryant over the top, removing a rising star from the Democratic field in 2000.
Well, almost. Gore was able to manoeuvre around the veto by attempting a last ditch shift into populist rhetoric. He carried the day by a four point margin, close enough to make a few at Nashville HQ to become nervous. He was back in, but for how long?
Recounts can always be a neck-tugging affair, as was the case with this jungle primary. In first was Treasurer Mary Landrieu, with just over 20%. Close behind was Foster, and further behind was congressman Cleo Fields. It looked to be a straight up Landrieu-Foster battle, until last minute absentee ballots arrived from New Orleans putting Fields in the lead by a mere 500 votes. The Foster campaign practically begged the courts to look at ballots from St. Mary Parish, where supporters said there were uncounted military ballots. It was rejected in a hugely controversial move that certain Foster supporters allege was down to judges paid off by Fields or Landrieu or even president Pelosi in order to avoid a Republican victory. As a result, the runoff saw vastly decreased Republican turnout at the expense of increased black turnout for Fields. Landrieu won heftily with the support of former Foster voters, and was keyed in for national office in the future by DNC officials.
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Shouldn't Smith and Swett's PV be switched? Great update, 2000 should be interesting.
