DBWI: George H.W. Bush loses re-election in 1992

OOC: I’m thinking that in this alternate timeline, the Reagan era/Reagan Revolution is commonly referred to as the Republican era/Republican Revolution. Bush is seen as the extension of his predecessor, since Bush was Reagan’s VP. I would say that Reagan gets credit for starting off negotiations, while Bush gets credit for seeing it through to the finish. In my mind for this timeline, I think it would be adequate to say that both men get the praise due to being from the same administration that started it all. Just my two cents.

OOC: That would be awesome, at least in terms of historical fairness.
 
You got to admit that Senator Obama had a lot of accomplishments as Governor of Illinois, including public education reform and the Chicago community policing initiative. And wasn't Illinois the first state to allow LGBT couples to marry?

Did not hurt to have J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy in his cabinet.
 
You got to admit that Senator Obama had a lot of accomplishments as Governor of Illinois, including public education reform and the Chicago community policing initiative. And wasn't Illinois the first state to allow LGBT couples to marry?

Did not hurt to have J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy in his cabinet.

Yeah. They say that he worked well with Illinois Republicans to get all of those things done. There’s a reason he garnered nearly 60% of the vote against incumbent Mark Kirk two years ago. Illinoisans love Obama.

There’s also a reason he’s the front runner for the nomination in 2020. He represents a new image for the Democratic Party: a centrist, third-way candidate who pragmatically is able to work with both parties.

OOC: Basically, Obama is the centrist, third way candidate Bill Clinton was when he was President.
 
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Just a thought, but how would Clinton have overseen the downfall of Yugoslavia? I mean, Bush and Coumo did quite well from the accounts I've read and I'm not sure what another President would have done over that timeframe.
 
Yeah. They say that he worked well with Illinois Republicans to get all of those things done. There’s a reason he garnered nearly 60% of the vote against incumbent Mark Kirk two years ago. Illinoisans love Obama.

There’s also a reason he’s the front runner for the nomination in 2020. He represents a new image for the Democratic Party: a centrist, third-way candidate who pragmatically is able to work with both parties.

OOC: Basically, Obama is the centrist, third way candidate Bill Clinton was when he was President.

I've read somewhere that Donald Trump is considering running as well. Can't see him beating Obama to the nomination, though, he seems too "My way or the highway" for the American voter.
 
I've read somewhere that Donald Trump is considering running as well. Can't see him beating Obama to the nomination, though, he seems too "My way or the highway" for the American voter.

I’ve heard he doesn’t like Obama very much. Not 100% sure why-maybe racism, but who knows? Definitely doesn’t have a shot though. As you said he’s way too abrasive.

Obama’s biggest hurdle is gonna be his centrism (which is also his main asset). About half the Dems think that the party needs to move further left-there’s a reason the Justice movement got a dozen representatives elected last cycle. Those voters would prefer Governor Nixon or Senator Feingold.
 
I’ve heard he doesn’t like Obama very much. Not 100% sure why-maybe racism, but who knows? Definitely doesn’t have a shot though. As you said he’s way too abrasive.

Obama’s biggest hurdle is gonna be his centrism (which is also his main asset). About half the Dems think that the party needs to move further left-there’s a reason the Justice movement got a dozen representatives elected last cycle. Those voters would prefer Governor Nixon or Senator Feingold.

Trump seems to be a more conservative candidate, but I honestly don’t see him gaining any traction.

What one needs to understand is that the Democratic Party is divided between the more progressive Justice movement, and the centrist Third Way movement. Justice Senators like Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are constantly clashing with Third Way Senators like Barack Obama, Joe Manchin, and Gina Raimondo. They need to come to a consensus in order to unite behind a candidate.
 
Trump seems to be a more conservative candidate, but I honestly don’t see him gaining any traction.

What one needs to understand is that the Democratic Party is divided between the more progressive Justice movement, and the centrist Third Way movement. Justice Senators like Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are constantly clashing with Third Way Senators like Barack Obama, Joe Manchin, and Gina Raimondo. They need to come to a consensus in order to unite behind a candidate.
I’ve found that Obama is more left-leaning then he seems, while he opts for bipartisanship his positions are more left-leaning then his policies as Governor. He also isn’t clashing with Justice Dems as much as his fellow “Third-Wayers” as you deemed him.
I’m all honesty, I think he’s going to be the unifier the Dems need. More centrist than the Justice League (my own name for them :winkytongue:) but more left-leaning then the Third-Wayers. I may be reading way too much into this though, this is at least what I hope him to be. Even if he isn’t it, he’s still a pretty cool guy and an awesome person. Just my 2 cents.
 
I’ve found that Obama is more left-leaning then he seems, while he opts for bipartisanship his positions are more left-leaning then his policies as Governor. He also isn’t clashing with Justice Dems as much as his fellow “Third-Wayers” as you deemed him.
I’m all honesty, I think he’s going to be the unifier the Dems need. More centrist than the Justice League (my own name for them :winkytongue:) but more left-leaning then the Third-Wayers. I may be reading way too much into this though, this is at least what I hope him to be. Even if he isn’t it, he’s still a pretty cool guy and an awesome person. Just my 2 cents.

I mean, he is by no means as conservative a Democrat as someone like Joe Manchin, but he is nowhere as progressive as someone like Warren, Harris or Sanders. What I meant by clashing is that usually, the Justice movement’s and Third Ways movement’s ideologies tend to clash as a whole. Barack Obama’s has tried to push for middle ground between the two factions, which is a reason why he is getting a lot of attention.
 
Do you guys think that these two factions within the Democratic Party will screw their chances at the White House in 2020?

It could. I can see the party breaking in half if Obama tries to make himself the bipartisan deal maker, because after all, that’s exactly what President Huntsman is. Senator Sanders may still run, and I imagine it wouldn’t be hard to say “These two are the same”. If he runs on that alone I can see him taking a lot of the progressives who back Universal Healthcare, Universal Basic Income, and the nationalization of different companies.
 
Trump seems to be a more conservative candidate, but I honestly don’t see him gaining any traction.
He seems to be at first glance, but he's also further to the left of a lot of Democrats on certain things, he supports universal healthcare, abortion, the decriminalization of marijuana and he's supported gay marriage since around 2008. At the same time, he constantly talks about increased military funding and tighter border security. Really weird.
 
He seems to be at first glance, but he's also further to the left of a lot of Democrats on certain things, he supports universal healthcare, abortion, the decriminalization of marijuana and he's supported gay marriage since around 2008. At the same time, he constantly talks about increased military funding and tighter border security. Really weird.

Kinda reminds me of that independent candidate from ‘96-google says I’m thinking of Ross Perot? Guy got like 6% of the vote IIRC, but apparently he was polling a lot higher back in 1992 before he decided to drop out.
 
It could. I can see the party breaking in half if Obama tries to make himself the bipartisan deal maker, because after all, that’s exactly what President Huntsman is. Senator Sanders may still run, and I imagine it wouldn’t be hard to say “These two are the same”. If he runs on that alone I can see him taking a lot of the progressives who back Universal Healthcare, Universal Basic Income, and the nationalization of different companies.

They are going to want someone who is tough on the positions Huntsman is more conservative on. He’s pro 2nd Amendment, opposes a federal assault weapons ban, abortion, universal healthcare, and marijuana legalization.
 
They are going to want someone who is tough on the positions Huntsman is more conservative on. He’s pro 2nd Amendment, opposes a federal assault weapons ban, abortion, universal healthcare, and marijuana legalization.
This. Sure, Sanders is left-winged but he focuses more on Economic Issues, making him
not as strong against someone like Huntsman. Harris’d be a better choice. Imo my perfect ticket would be Harris/Obama or Obama/Harris.
 
This. Sure, Sanders is left-winged but he focuses more on Economic Issues, making him
not as strong against someone like Huntsman. Harris’d be a better choice. Imo my perfect ticket would be Harris/Obama or Obama/Harris.

True. Huntsman is very strong on foreign policy, something he’d smoke Sanders on in my opinion.

Harris seems like a good option, but she was just sworn in as a Senator just one year ago. Granted, Obama is the same, but he’s had experience as a Governor first and foremost.
 
A question just came to me: had the economy not ranked towards the tail end of 2007, do you guys think Kerry would have been re-elected?

OOC: Just trying to keep fruitful conversation going.
 
It's not hard for Obama to be popular when hes the only Illinois governor whose retirement plans didn't include a room in afederal penitentiary.

That said, he did leave the state budget an even bigger mess. If anything will wreck Obama's road to the nomination, its that Illinois may be the first state to declare bankruptcy.

As for Kerry winning wothout the crash? I doubt it. Putting aside that the seeds for the crash were planted as far back as Jimmy Carter, Kerry was a trainwreck, everywhere from his handling of Katrina to Afghanistan. Not to mention he was a rapid fire gaffe machine.

At the end of the day, he was a deeply unpopular, uncharismatic President running against a successful Governor who was the son of a beloved former President. He was going to lose badly, the economy was just kicking the man while he was on the mat.
 
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