Fear, Loathing and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail '72

Status
Not open for further replies.

Unknown

Here's an entry you should add for the Super Bowl...

January 21, 1979

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Houston Oilers, 42-17, in Super Bowl XIII in Miami to win their second consecutive Super Bowl. Running back Tony Dorsett is the MVP, with 210 yards on 21 attempts and 3 touchdowns, while Roger Staubach throws for 22 completions, 224 yards, and two touchdowns.
 

Evan

vultan said:
The worst part is Pat Robertson and some other fundamentalists seem to be encouraging an apocalyptic view of things to their followers.
Click to expand...
Talking about which...

It's the Book of Revelation, singular. I've never listened to Pat Robertson, but I hope he wouldn't refer to it as "Revelations," plural.
 
Plumber

Plumber

Fascinating. The ever-changing mood of the Nixon-Agnew conversation is the best dialogue you've written yet.

Wait, what happened to Khalid in 1977 and why didn't Fahd succeed him?
And what's with the blue?
 
Last edited:
Thande

Thande

Donor
Hurrah, it's back!

What with all the oil shocks, it's just as well for the UK that North Sea oil will be coming on stream at this time...of course, that's also what fuelled (no pun intended) the growth of the SNP, which also seems to be happening in TTL judging by the fact that the failed devolution referenda have happened on schedule. The difference being that this is a strong Labour majority government rather than a weak minority one so the referenda failure doesn't really hurt the PM.
 

Evan

Thande said:
the failed devolution referenda have happened on schedule.
Click to expand...
The Timeline said:
Scotland votes narrowly for home rule, which is not implemented (and which lead to more problems), and Wales votes against it.
Click to expand...

So... did it pass or fail? Or, I seem to remember something iOTL about its needing to get some fraction of the eligible electorate as well as a majority of those actually voting... did it meet the second criterion but fail the first?
 

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy

Banned
Why would the Chileans need to warn Ecuador? Not only is it not a neighboring country, its traditional rival is Peru. If anything, Pinochet might use it to keep the Peruvians in check. I expect he held secret talks with Brazil, Paraguay and Ecuador before those with Bolivia and Peru. Also, just what are the terms of the peace treaty with Argentina?

Wait a minute... You're having us cheer for Pinochet and Saddam, aren't you?
 

Archibald

Banned
France meanwhile actively courted the Iraqi regime as the sole regional power capable of countering the disastrous fall of the Al-Saud regime.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_4000

It is the Mirage 2000 big brother and Rafale ancestor. OTL France went very close to selling that machine to Iraq (in 1979) and... Saudi Arabia in 1988.
Instead the Iraqis were given 150 or so Mirage F1EQ, which were armed to the teeth and the most sophisticated in the series - even more advanced than the french F-1s that fought them in GW1, only weeks after the last EQ were embargoed, late 1989...
 

vultan

Well, thought I'd review what is known about OTL's future Presidents, Vice Presidents, and major candidates for both offices.

Ronald Reagan: Left the California Governor's Mansion as per OTL, ran for and won the GOP nomination for POTUS in 1976. Lost the election to George Wallace by the narrowest of margins. Currently the presumptive front-runner to win the Republican nomination in 1980.

George H.W. Bush: Was Secretary of State during the Agnew Administration and the first bit of the Gavin Administration. After failing to gain much traction in the 1976 GOP primaries and dropping out pretty early, he's regained his political relevance by being elected Governor of Texas in 1978.

Jimmy Carter: Currently the freshman Senator from the great state of Georgia.

Walter Mondale: After running afoul of Wallace for challenging Briscoe's nomination to Energy Secretary, he lost reelection in the 1978 midterms.

Geraldine Ferraro: Status unknown.

Michael Dukakis: Status unknown (though we do know he couldn't have been elected to his first term as Massachusetts Governor in 1974, as Tip O'Neill won that).

Lloyd Bentsen: Senator from Texas.

Dan Quayle: Got in some trouble with the military for essentially mutinying when he was in 'Nam. Political career doubtful (unless he, ironically, goes far left).

Bill Clinton: Was elected as a Representative from Arkansas in the last midterms... as a Republican!

Al Gore: Has a promising career in broadcast journalism ahead of him.

Ross Perot: Status unknown. (teeheehee)

Bob Dole: Lost reelection in the Democratic landslide that was the 1974 midterms, but returned to the Senate after the 1978 elections.

Jack Kemp: Narrowly lost the 1978 New York gubernatorial election.

George W. Bush: Has a promising career in Hollywood ahead of him.

Dick Cheney: After working for the Agnew Administration, is now associated with Hughes Network.

Joe Lieberman: Status unknown.

Ralph Nader: Status unknown. (teheeheeheeheeheehee)

John Kerry: A leading member of Veterans Against the Vietnam War, he lost narrowly to Donald Dwight in 1974 in the Massachusetts 8th.

John Edwards: Status unknown.

Barack Obama: Seems to be a college professor/author in the present day.

Joe Biden: Has become the Harold Stassen of Delaware politics.

John McCain: Had some Not Fun times in a Chinese prison.

Sarah Palin: Drew gave us a huge spoiler early on when he told us that he's drawn toward a Sarah Palin/Christine O'Donnell ticket. Make of that what you will. :D
 
Last edited:

Spengler

Banned
I'm wondering but with China's very pro han policy, what is the status of the Uighur, Mongol, and Tibetan minorities?
 
DanMcCollum

DanMcCollum

With the election of 1980 looming, I'd like to offer a few suggestions on local politics. Reagan lost in 1976 and may be a front runner, but never has a presidential candidate lost his first election and, four years later, managed to win. Personally, it seems as if you are building George H.W. Bush up to take the presidency (which would be a great choice. Although a loyal Democrat, I have a lot of respect for H.W.)
In any case, if the moderates of the Republican Party manage to win the day, might I suggest two candidates for the Senate from Wisconsin? Both of them were popular moderates who, with some political presssure from the party, might have agreed to run and beat Gaylord Nelson (not that I want to see Nelson lose, mind you. And, even in the OTL Reagan landslide, his loss to Kasten was razor thin.)

Lee S. Dreyfus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_S._Dreyfus

Dreyfus was the Chancelor of the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. In OTL he decided to run for Governor and wasn't sure which party to seek an alliance with. He eventually chose the Republicans because he feared that, in the post-Watergate environment, that Wisconsi nwas becoming a one-party state under the Democrats.
He was an independent who ran against his own party and eventually won. He served a single term before deciding not to run for re-election because he thought he had completed his program, despite being very popular.
A maverick in every sense of the word, and a popular governor, he might be a strong candidate for the Senate if he chose to run for the position

Clifford 'Tiny" Krueger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Krueger

A much more unknown choice, but just as interesting (to me own mind). A former circus fat-man, Krueger ran for the State Senate as a member of Wisconsin's Progressive party in 1942, and lost. In 1946 he ran again as a Republican and managed to unseat the incumbant. The party bosses, lead by Tom Coleman, ran his defeated opponent as an independent, but Krueger beat him again. (Krueger once claimed that all of the good Progressives returned to the Republican party; only the "commies" went to the Democrats)
From that point onward, he served in the Wisconsin State Senate until 1980, before retiring. in the post-Watergate politicla climate, he became State Senate Minority Leader, and defeated a strong challange from the right to be return to that position in 1978. He was known for being bipartisan, and working with the Democrats to get important legisaltion across, and was immensly popular and both sides of the isle. He was a staunch ally of Dreyfus until he became convinced of the Governor's ... naivety. In OTL one of his last act was endorsing Anderson for the Republican nomination.
I just defended my Master's thesis and Krueger played heavily in it. He was a salty old SOB, and would be a very interesting figure to introduce into the nation scene, however briefly.
 

Orville_third

Banned
Nader did stuff and was known before the PoD. I can see him leading a political reform movement, if his other activities don't keep him too busy.
 

Urban fox

Hmm, so Saddam might be on his way out. A good thing that man was even worse than Stalin when it came to backstabbing & bloodsoaked purges. And some of the Soviet leaders ITTL would well remember that.

Also why are the Soviet leaders calling a Baathist regime ''socialist'' (if only just)? The Baathists were set up in emulation of the Nazis. The Soviets might be willing to use them, but call them socialist! Nah.
 

vultan

Orville_third said:
Nader did stuff and was known before the PoD. I can see him leading a political reform movement, if his other activities don't keep him too busy.
Click to expand...

Could be that Dellums is seeking to recruit him for his latest project...

Anyway, seems I've forgotten John Anderson on the list, but I don't think he's been mentioned so far in the timeline.
 

vultan

Just going to review the Libertarian Party as it currently stands, and the potential...

Current Elected Officials:
-Governor Edward Crane (L-ND)
-Senator Ronald C. Galtieri (L-MT)
-Representative Larry Fullmer (L-ID)
-Representative Richard Newton* (L-MT)
-Representative Robert Frankholm* (L-MT)
-Representative John Calfous (L-ND)

*The Libertarian Congressman from Montana caused me some confusion in compiling. In Drew’s update that included the 1978 midterms, it showed the Libertarians gained Montana’s 2nd congressional district, but it didn’t name the winner. I made the extrapolation that Robert Frankholm, the Libertarian Senatorial nominee in 1976 who lost, ran for and won the seat.
However, Drew showed in1976 that the Libs already took the seat, with Richard Newton as the winner. In 1978 it still shows a Libertarian pick-up (as opposed to a hold), and that the party increased their number of House seats from three to four. I’ll assume it’s an inconsistency, with the Libertarians in control of both of Montana’s seats, with Newton in the 2nd District and Frankholm in the 1st. This would need confirmation from Drew to become canon, however.

Potential Cross-Overs:
-Former Governor Barry Goldwater, Jr. (R-CA)
-Former Governor Jack Williams (R-AZ)
-Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK)
-(Former?) Representative Sam Steiger (R-AZ)
-Representative Larry McDonald (D-GA)
-Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
-Senator Barry Goldwater, Sr. (?*) (R-AZ)

*Hear me out. Even in our timeline, during his later years he expressed his distaste in how conservative the Republican Party had gotten, especially socially and in civil liberties matters. Already in this timeline he has taken a diametrically opposite position to Jesse Helms, a leading conservative Republican Senator, on the issue of this proto-War on Terror, so who knows what could happen, something could come along and push him over the edge, especially if his son defects to the Libertarians…
But I would agree his chances of crossing over are somewhat smaller than the other possibities, especially since it looks like the nascent Christian Values Movement has the potential to bleed off Southern populists and the Christian Right from the GOP. We’ll see.

Potential Future Elected Officials:
-Gary Johnson? (OTL Governor of New Mexico, 1995-2003)
-Rand Paul? (Son of Ron Paul and OTL Senator from Kentucky, 2011-Present)
-Andrew Napolitano? (OTL Judge on the New Jersey Superior Court and libertarian-leaning conservative media pundit)
-David Nolan? (Founder of the Libertarian Party, OTL candidate for various offices in Arizona)
-L. Neil Smith? (OTL science fiction writer, especially of libertarian-themed novels, and in For All Time was the President that took power in the early 2000’s and turned the USA into a libertarian paradise)
-Wayne Allyn Root? (OTL Vice Presidential candidate for the Libertarians in 2008)
-Andre Marrou? (OTL elected to Alaska state legislature as a Libertarian, was Vice Presidential candidate for the party in 1988 (under Ron Paul) and the 1992 Presidential candidate)
-Clint Eastwood? (OTL Hollywood icon and libertarian Republican, elected mayor of Carmel, California for a term)
-Penn Jillette? (OTL magician and skeptic, also an activist for libertarian causes)
-Any other ideas?
 
Last edited:

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy

Banned
vultan said:
Could be that Dellums is seeking to recruit him for his latest project...
Click to expand...

Let's not fall for Kucinich's mythologizing of his past. He got elected mayor of Cleveland by playing the ethnic card and had a term so disastrous it put an end to his political ambitions for years to come, until he reinvented himself as a liberal (and a pro-life one at first). Even if he wasn't a spent force, he's politically closer to Wallace (shock!) than Dellums.
 
Top
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top