Decade 2: An Alternate Political History of the 2010's

[JwEX]

2008 Election Season Officially Underway
Jan. 3, 2008

Today, caucus-goers decide who will win the first contests in this election season. On the Republican side, the race in Iowa seems relatively clear-cut as former frontrunners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have fallen behind in the polls, and is now largely a contest between two former Governors: Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The Democratic side is far more complex, with the polls showing essentially a three-way tie between the main contenders: Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.


Huckabee Wins GOP Caucus

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has had a very good night in Iowa as he has won the caucus by a margin of roughly 9 points over Mitt Romney, with former frontrunner John McCain in a disappointing 4th place finish. A somewhat surprising result as the general trend of the polls showed Romney with a slight lead, though some late polls predicted Huckabee's victory fairly accurately.


Democratic Race Too Close To Call

With most of the votes counted, the results of the caucus on the Democratic side are far too close to call, with all three candidates running essentially at a three-way tie, just as the polls predicted. This indicates that the Democratic contest could continue for months, because all three candidates could claim some form of victory through the results of the contest if they remain this close.


Hillary Clinton wins Democratic Caucus

In a shockingly close result, Senator Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Caucus with 32.5% of the vote to 2nd place finisher John Edward's 32.2%. Barack Obama came in a disappointing, albeit close, 3rd place with 32.1% of the vote, and will most likely win one more delegate than Edwards. However, this is a devastating result for the Obama campaign, who had been expecting a narrow victory in Iowa for at least the past month. It remains to be seen what will be next for his campaign, as well as the entire Democratic primary.

 

[Don Corleone]

New Hampshire: John Edwards pulls off a stunning upset in New Hampshire. On the GOP side, next door neighbor Mitt Romney finished just 500 votes ahead of maverick John McCain.

McCain and Obama stay in the race, hoping to get a boost from a first place finish in South Carolina.

 

[Don Corleone]

My bad - this wasn't marked collaborative.

Ignore my post if you planned something different for NH.

 

[JwEX]

New Hampshire: John Edwards pulls off a stunning upset in New Hampshire. On the GOP side, next door neighbor Mitt Romney finished just 500 votes ahead of maverick John McCain.

McCain and Obama stay in the race, hoping to get a boost from a first place finish in South Carolina.

Interesting predictions. We'll see if you're accurate.

 

[JwEX]

New Hampshire Debate Leaves Obama Fighting Off Attacks
Jan. 6, 2008

Yesterday night's St. Anselm College Debate turned fiery as Senator Edwards sided with Senator Clinton to attack Barack Obama, who has until recently led the polls here in New Hampshire. When Obama claimed that only he could bring change to the country, Edwards and Clinton both said that calling for a hopeful change would not win the White House. Said Edwards: "Senator Obama here is calling for change, and that's all very nice. However, hopeful optimism and a lack of experience is not enough to win the White House. Both Senator Clinton and I have that experience, and actually know-how to run an effective campaign and win." Clinton backed up this statement by saying: "I've fought for change all of my life; I can deliver that change, and I will not sell glittering generalities in order to win this nomination." Immediately, pundits began speculating that Edwards attacked Obama in this way in order to get closer to Clinton, perhaps in an attempt to become her running mate. Currently, however, Clinton narrowly leads in New Hampshire polls. Thoughts of a running mate are far from her mind.


McCain Seen As Favorite For GOP Primary
Jan. 7, 2008

The GOP race is again much less competitive then the Democratic one, with former frontrunner John McCain holding a comfortable lead in New Hampshire polls. His biggest competition is Mitt Romney, who hails from next door in Massachusetts. If McCain wins this contest, he can began to build momentum. However, if he loses, his campaign, already injured from a disappointing finish in Iowa, will likely come to an end.


Barack Obama Makes Controversy With Emotionally Intense Remarks

Earlier this morning, a conversation between the Illinois Senator and a reporter became interesting when the Reporter asked Obama how tough campaigning really is. Obama responded saying, "Well, it's actually pretty tough. I think it's probably a lot harder than most people realize. Especially when, at the moment, my campaign is in a bad place." The Senator's voice grew quieter and rawer. "I really don't want to lose here. It's not even about me. It's about the thousands of people who've invested so much of their time and hope into this campaign. I couldn't forgive myself if we let all those people, especially the young people, down." This moment of emotion sparked instant controversy as proponent said that it showed how much the Senator was emotionally invested in the country, while critics panned him for being showy in an attempt to gain sympathy votes. Obama's campaign was not available for comment today. Whether or not this incident will have an impact on the vote will be seen soon enough.

McCain wins GOP Vote Soon After Polls Close
Jan. 8, 2008

Arizona Senator John McCain, the Granite State's favorite maverick, has scored a political comeback that many thought impossible just a month ago by securing a 6 point victory over Mitt Romney. McCain addressed supporters just moments ago, saying "We sure showed them what a comeback looks like!" An exuberant moment for McCain, while Romney is now left scrambling for momentum after two consecutive losses in states he was once favored in.


Clinton Scrambling To Hold Lead In New Hampshire

With votes being counted in New Hampshire, currently, one thing is clear: Hillary Clinton underperformed the polls. Where just yesterday she led in polls by about 5 points, currently she is just a couple hundred votes shy of falling behind Obama. It seems this is due to a last minute surge caused by Obama's conversation with a reporter yesterday that gained nationwide controversy.


Clinton wins New Hampshire By Narrowest Margin In The State's History

Hillary Clinton has won the New Hampshire Primary by a margin of 98 votes over Barack Obama. Regardless of the fact that he lost the state, his upset overperformance is seen as a positive for his campaign. Obama responded to his loss with a surprisingly low key concession speech, where occasional calls of "yes we can" from the audience garnered no response from the candidate. Now, the campaign goes onto Michigan, which has been nullified, but more importantly, the Nevada caucuses.