OOC: Just changed it to Jeb! instead of Huntsman. Maybe Huntsman can be VP?
OOC: Good choice for Huntsman. Walker still has to get elected in 2016 though, he probably beats Huntsman in the primaries using Koch money.
OOC: Just changed it to Jeb! instead of Huntsman. Maybe Huntsman can be VP?
Good choice. Walker still has to get elected in 2016 though, he probably beats Huntsman in the primaries using Koch money.
OOC: I’m thinking: should I change Scott Walker? Honestly, I can’t see him being President. Just kinda rolled with it until realizing he probably might not get elected over someone like Huntsman.
Updated list of Presidents since Reagan:
40: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), R-CA
41. George Bush (1989-1997), R-TX
42. Mario Cuomo (1997-2005), D-NY
43. John Kerry (2005-2009), D-MA
44. Jeb Bush (2009-2017), R-FL
45. Jon Huntsman (Since 2017), R-UT
Well, given how Clinton's life went after losing in 92 - a half dozen rape and sexual assault allegations, the divorce, the years of graft, and multiple heart attacks - its for the best that we were spared him in the White House.
Best thing he ever did for the country was give us that running gag, his ex-wife, Hillary Rodham, repeatedly unsuccessfully trying to primary Democratic Senators. There was her failed attempt to get Pat Monyihan to retire in NY, and she screwed Senator Obama out of his first Senate race in Illinous only to lose by 15 points to Mike Ditka. Can you imagine if that nasty woman had a former President behind her?
Kerry aside, I say we have had a pretty good run of Presidents since HW Bush won his second term. I mean, that was when Bush the Elder really came into his own - the moon base, the Kemp Development Aid package to Eastern Europe - I say we came out very much ahead.
You know, Kerry was a failure as President but rewatching the 2008 debates with Jeb! Bush (who went onto win the White House in a landslide) kind of made me feel bad for him in a way. Here was a guy who suffered Vietnam, a divorce, and now he is saddled with the worst economy since 1929 and a term of office with no chance of reelection. Sad how life works out that way sometimes.
Passed over, not past over.OOC: Yep, and he almost got it in '92 but just barely was past over. After losing his dream job and Pappy went down that same year, he ran for Governor against his own family's wishes but won! Obviously, whoever snubbed Dubya made a big mistake that changed the course of history - for the worse.
At least Obama was able to bounce back politically by becoming Governor of Illinois in 2006, then he beat Mark Kirk in 2016 to finally win the seat he lost back in 2004. Can’t say the same for Bill, though.
And yeah, besides Kerry, everyone’s been pretty good. Even Cuomo was alright, and he showed everyone how to lead from the front when 9/11 struck.
Many people were riding high on Kerry since Ann Richards was too elderly and sickly to take office after Cuomo, so Kerry was seen as Bush to Cuomo’s Reagan. Sadly, the economy had other plans.
It was kind of disheartening to see that electoral map almost bleeding red on election night, followed by Kerry’s concession. Just like his dad on his first election, he was able to break 400 electoral votes.
Another weird irony, although this one is more superficial, is that both Bushes crushed two eminently qualified but generally uncharismatic Massachusetts Democrats. Exactly twenty years apart no less. On the other hand, Jeb's reelection was expected while Sr's was an upset victory almost no one saw coming. At the end of the day, both are judged as pretty successful Presidents overall and thanks to them the Bush name is synonmous with public service and moderation.
Even that other Bush son who never really made it in politics, George W., is a pretty inspirational example of how you can overcome addiction and follow your passion - in his case baseball. That guy does have a weird speech thing though, figures that he wouldn't follow in the footsteps of his father.
Yeah, he isn’t as eloquent a speaker as his father, but I heard that’s what makes him a likeable guy when it comes to his job. A lot of my friends say it is what makes him seem like one of them. He seems like a guy you’d want to grab a beer with.
I remember someone did a timeline on him going into politics. It was interesting, but I lost interest as it got increasingly implausible. Sure, he's got a bit of foot-in-mouth disease, but it definitely felt like the author had an axe to grind against the Bush family (which is unfortunate given all the good they've done for this country). I remember nobody was a fan of the way Jeb got unceremoniously killed off.
George W. isn't someone I'm too familiar with as someone who's not into baseball (I mostly know him from the time he told steroid users that "You will be hunted down, wherever you may hide, and be persecuted" which I only know from the 2016 meme), but he seems like a good guy.
OOC: If Bush had been reelected, would he (rightfully) get the credit for working with Gorby to end the Cold War in 1989 instead of Reagan? The Cold War appears to have actually ended at the Bush-Gorbachev Malta Summit in Dec. 1989, almost a full year after Reagan left office. (This was when Bush and Gorby declared an end to Cold War hostilities). Not to mention it was Bush who made the agreement to reunite Germany and successfully negotiated START I. In 1989 a Gallup poll showed that few Americans credited Reagan with bringing down the Berlin Wall (which to my estimation was actually due to internal dissent within East Germany, not Reagan, Bush, or Gorby), instead a plurality pointed to Gorbachev as the one responsible. It wasn't until later in the 1990's after Bush 41 left office that right-wing think tanks started pushing this narrative that Reagan was essentially the conservative FDR, someone who singlehandedly turned around the economy via tax cuts and destroyed the Communist bloc. Bush 41 is negatively compared to his predecessor, at least in conservative circles, as a weak loser who *gasp* compromised on taxes for the good of the country. Reagan did some good things in OTL, but he wrongfully gets credited for what his contemporaries accomplished.