Yeah but Obama taught Constitutional Law foralmost a decade. This isn't the 50's where you can just give the seat to a prominent politician; Obama at least has a background that fits the court even if he hasn't been a judge.
Geronimo : What if Osama Bin Laden was killed prior to 9/11?
- Thread starter Iwanh
- Start date
kernel
Gone Fishin'
Thats true. But usually SC justices are given to federal judges or (in the past) experienced politicians near (or at) retirement. I just don't believe that the Dems would nominate a rising political star to the Court, especially one who is likely to seek the presidency one day.
This is exciting for me. ITTL I would likely be one of the volunteers who are running the velodrome venue in Coney Island.
Good job as always Iwanh!
I bet New Yorkers are excited for the 2012 Summer Olympics coming to their city.
How about Michael Jackson ?
Iwanh can save him at 2009
Either way, that opening ceremony sounds like it will be epic once it eventually happens in 2012.
I honestly don't think there really is any way of saving MJ in 2009. He was already in poor health before he died and even at the time I thought "How can this guy do this tour. He looks so unwell" And alot of the reason he was doing the tour was because he was so badly in debt. I think even if he lives past 2009, health problems become worse and by 2012 I don't think he has it in him to do a performance like the Olympics would demand.
It probably depends on how bad they suffer from the Great Recession if they'll even need to be bailed out by the US Government or not.
IIRC another big factor was the 2000s energy crisis driving down demand for SUVs and AFAIK that hasn't happened ITTL
I don't think Iwanh would make TTL 2008 just as same as OTL
It might more like OTL 1958-59 and 1991-92 recession
It might more like OTL 1958-59 and 1991-92 recession
The Great Recession being a smaller recession compared to OTL is what a lot of us are saying and predicting.
If President Edwards handles the initial meltdown well enough then he would be re-elected so he would spend the the first part of his second term fixing the economy with a much more aggressive stimulus and progressive social reforms allowing the economy to actually recover for the masses instead of just the rich and bring the Unemployment rate down to around between 3.0 to 4.0% by 2010 just in time for the 2012 Olympics.
If there is a recession, I'm sure Edwards will do his best. It's hard for anyone to fuck up as much as Dubya did in 2008.
I imagine he'll do better than Dubya but don't expect another New Deal, especially with a milder recession than OTL. Keep in mind, Edwards won't have the massive congressional majorities of Obama. My best guess is that things will go something like this.
1. Edwards' economic policies are able to delay the crash and make it better than OTL, but won't prevent it entirely. He manages to get tougher regulation of the housing market, which means the bubble deflates rather than completely collapsing.
2. By 2007/08 economic growth begins to slow, but the economy doesn't start shrinking until 2009 or so. Despite the slowing economy Edwards manages to win reelection by a narrow margin, though not as narrow as TTL 2004.
3. As the economy enters recession in 2009, Edwards' approval ratings quickly falls as he struggles to get a stimulus through a closely divided Congress. While the recession isn't as bad as OTL, it's still pretty bad, while the housing bubble deflating instead of popping lessens the financial pain lots of people still lose their savings.
4. The 2010 midterms result in Republicans taking control of both houses of Congress. I talked more about how no Obama and a milder Great Recession could lead to a different American political scene here.
5. While the economy begins to recover, Edwards remains unpopular, struggling with the new Republican Congress (though there's probably less obstruction than OTL) and after eight years voters are ready for a change, leading to the Republicans retaking the White House in 2012.
Again, this is just my speculation, I don't want Iwanh to feel like I'm writing his timeline for him.