The People Mover isn’t a monorail, it’s the same medium rail design as SkyTrain or Scarborough—but agreed, like Scarborough it falls into the fairly useless as built category.
São Paulo’s Line 15 or Vancouver SkyTrain or various modern Asian rails systems with similar concepts is what I was thinking of.
Unintentional bump: now that we've seen the midterms, I decided to procrastinate on real life stuff and work out how the 1976 Senate races might go (sadly I'm really a novice at this so there's probably a bunch of local factors and granularity I haven't factored in):
Some assumptions: GOP nominee is Reagan, Phil Hart dies in late '75 and is replaced on the ballot by Ed Muskie, Wallace doesn't run, Buckley v. Valeo goes the same way as OTL
California: S. I. Hayakawa over Tom Hayden (McG shifts the Overton window slightly the left for the Dems; Hayakawa wins the primary by more because hippies; Robert Finch actually still runs in the primary but is abandoned by arch-conservatives because he suggested that Nixon actually did something wrong)
Connecticut: William Buckley does entertain the idea of primarying Lowell Weicker or finding a palatable Democrat to run against him (someone like Joe Lieberman basically) but decides to help out James in New York instead
Florida: Lawton Chiles over J. Herbert Burke (not too sure about this race tbh but Chiles probably wins with his personal popularity)
Indiana: Edgar Whitcomb over Vance Hartke
Maine: Joseph E. Brennan over William Cohen (on Muskie's coattails)
Maryland: Paul Sarbanes probably suffers from lack of name recognition without the impeachment proceedings, resulting in Joseph Tydings over John Glenn Beall Jr.
Michigan: Carl Levin over Martin Esch (in loving memory of Phil Hart)
Mississippi: John C. Stennis over Thad Cochran
Missouri: Atwater and Rove stay around in Missouri and uncover Warren Hearnes' tax shenanigans so he loses the primary to James Symington, who is defeated by John Danforth due to lack of rural support
Nebraska: to prevent another Carl Curtis/Bob Dole/Milton Young moment Roman Hruska is persuaded to run again and defeats some unknown Dem (Ed Zorinksy likely stays Republican ITTL)
New York: honestly I have no idea who wins the Dem primary, but maybe Elizabeth Holtzman over James Buckley (or even Mario Biaggi inspired by Frank Rizzo in '74?) as Buckley won in a fluke anyway and is going to lose to any Dem that isn't hard left
Ohio: Howard Metzembaum over Robert Taft Jr. (still wins on the back of high union turnout with Reagan on the ballot)
Tennessee: John Jay Hooker wins the primary by reminding voters that Jim Sasser was Albert "peacenik, busing supporter, not a massive racist, doesn't that remind you of someone called George McGovern?" Gore Sr's protegee but loses to Bill Brock, a snippet of McG's abysmal performance in the South
Texas: after stepping down as RNC chair, George H. W. Bush finally gets that Senate seat over Lloyd Bentsen (n.B. I suspect Bentsen will have to face a primary opponent to his left, maybe Barbara Jordan?)
Vermont: Robert Stafford over Thomas P. Salmon and Peter Diamondstone (stronger rural support and liberal Republicans staying at home because Reagan almost brings it in for Salmon, but then a certain Liberty Union candidate runs off with 4% of the vote...)
Virginia: Joel Broyhill over Harry Byrd Jr. and Henry Howell (the Republicans actually bother nominating a candidate as McG has zero chance of winning there anyway; Henry Howell and William Spong try to scout for someone to kick out the last remnant of the Byrd Machine but fail and Howell takes up the mantle himself; also Elmo Zumwalt was pretty hawkish I think so he wouldn't run with the arch-dove in the White House) as Byrd and Howell split the tribal Dem vote
With everything else more or less OTL, this amounts to a de facto R+4 swing leaving it at D 52 to R 48. Admittedly this is a bearish prediction (VA, VT, maybe TN and TX could swing both ways) but it seems that McGovern's hands are pretty tied in his second term and any big initiatives are unlikely to happen. In any case Howard Baker is almost certain to be Majority Leader by 1978. Better use that two last years of a Democratic majority wisely...
Unintentional bump: now that we've seen the midterms, I decided to procrastinate on real life stuff and work out how the 1976 Senate races might go (sadly I'm really a novice at this so there's probably a bunch of local factors and granularity I haven't factored in):
Some assumptions: GOP nominee is Reagan, Phil Hart dies in late '75 and is replaced on the ballot by Ed Muskie, Wallace doesn't run, Buckley v. Valeo goes the same way as OTL
California: S. I. Hayakawa over Tom Hayden (McG shifts the Overton window slightly the left for the Dems; Hayakawa wins the primary by more because hippies; Robert Finch actually still runs in the primary but is abandoned by arch-conservatives because he suggested that Nixon actually did something wrong)
Connecticut: William Buckley does entertain the idea of primarying Lowell Weicker or finding a palatable Democrat to run against him (someone like Joe Lieberman basically) but decides to help out James in New York instead
Florida: Lawton Chiles over J. Herbert Burke (not too sure about this race tbh but Chiles probably wins with his personal popularity)
Indiana: Edgar Whitcomb over Vance Hartke
Maine: Joseph E. Brennan over William Cohen (on Muskie's coattails)
Maryland: Paul Sarbanes probably suffers from lack of name recognition without the impeachment proceedings, resulting in Joseph Tydings over John Glenn Beall Jr.
Michigan: Carl Levin over Martin Esch (in loving memory of Phil Hart)
Mississippi: John C. Stennis over Thad Cochran
Missouri: Atwater and Rove stay around in Missouri and uncover Warren Hearnes' tax shenanigans so he loses the primary to James Symington, who is defeated by John Danforth due to lack of rural support
Nebraska: to prevent another Carl Curtis/Bob Dole/Milton Young moment Roman Hruska is persuaded to run again and defeats some unknown Dem (Ed Zorinksy likely stays Republican ITTL)
New York: honestly I have no idea who wins the Dem primary, but maybe Elizabeth Holtzman over James Buckley (or even Mario Biaggi inspired by Frank Rizzo in '74?) as Buckley won in a fluke anyway and is going to lose to any Dem that isn't hard left
Ohio: Howard Metzembaum over Robert Taft Jr. (still wins on the back of high union turnout with Reagan on the ballot)
Tennessee: John Jay Hooker wins the primary by reminding voters that Jim Sasser was Albert "peacenik, busing supporter, not a massive racist, doesn't that remind you of someone called George McGovern?" Gore Sr's protegee but loses to Bill Brock, a snippet of McG's abysmal performance in the South
Texas: after stepping down as RNC chair, George H. W. Bush finally gets that Senate seat over Lloyd Bentsen (n.B. I suspect Bentsen will have to face a primary opponent to his left, maybe Barbara Jordan?)
Vermont: Robert Stafford over Thomas P. Salmon and Bernie Sanders (stronger rural support and liberal Republicans staying at home because Reagan almost brings it in for Salmon, but then a certain Liberty Union candidate decides to test the waters and runs off with 4% of the vote...)
Virginia: Joel Broyhill over Harry Byrd Jr. and Henry Howell (the Republicans actually bother nominating a candidate as McG has zero chance of winning there anyway; Henry Howell and William Spong try to scout for someone to kick out the last remnant of the Byrd Machine but fail and Howell takes up the mantle himself; also Elmo Zumwalt was pretty hawkish I think so he wouldn't run with the arch-dove in the White House) as Byrd and Howell split the tribal Dem vote
With everything else more or less OTL, this amounts to a de facto R+4 swing leaving it at D 52 to R 48. Admittedly this is a bearish prediction (VA, VT, maybe TN and TX could swing both ways) but it seems that McGovern's hands are pretty tied in his second term and any big initiatives are unlikely to happen. In any case Howard Baker is almost certain to be Majority Leader by 1978. Better use that two last years of a Democratic majority wisely...
Wallace doesn't run but more than likely Maddox with Ichord as his running mate will run under the AIP banner. How well do you think they will do in the South?
Vermont: Robert Stafford over Thomas P. Salmon and Bernie Sanders (stronger rural support and liberal Republicans staying at home because Reagan almost brings it in for Salmon, but then a certain Liberty Union candidate decides to test the waters and runs off with 4% of the vote...)
Wallace doesn't run but more than likely Maddox with Ichord as his running mate will run under the AIP banner. How well do you think they will do in the South?
Not too sure about Ichord being on the ticket if they want to keep that House seat, but anyway probably 2~3% at most nationwide: Maddox doesn't have that appeal to blue collar workers that Wallace had, and his platform would be just blatant racism unlike Wallace's more coded anti-establishment messages.
I'm now having some second thoughts about Bernie as apparently he ran for Senate in 1974 already, so he probably still runs for Governor. I'll replace him with Peter Diamondstone.
n. B.: with McG in the White House I also suspect that Bernie might actually join the Democratic Party outright
Not too sure about Ichord being on the ticket if they want to keep that House seat, but anyway probably 2~3% at most nationwide: Maddox doesn't have that appeal to blue collar workers that Wallace had, and his platform would be just blatant racism unlike Wallace's more coded anti-establishment messages.
But wouldn't that be enough to carry the deep south states that Wallace carried since those don't have a Union presence in them while vote splitting with Reagan in the South and possible given the states of Florida, North Carolina and Arkansaw to McGovern But only if he chooses Askew as his Running Mate?
It was an off year for the Senate in Texas, no vote to be had, and he wouldn’t have wanted one if there was, that gussied-up talking shop was no kind of career for a man who meant to get things done.
And Edmund Muskie, according to Yugoslovakia. I think Yes is planning on having Jackson challenge McGovern in the 1976 Primaries, so we might end up crossing him off the list. As for Jimmy Carter, a post in the test thread indicates that McGovern will be appointing Carter as Secretary of Energy in his Second Term.
And Edmund Muskie, according to Yugoslovakia. I think Yes is planning on having Jackson challenge McGovern in the 1976 Primaries, so we might end up crossing him off the list. As for Jimmy Carter, a post in the test thread indicates that McGovern will be appointing Carter as Secretary of Energy in his Second Term.
Wouldn't President McGovern try to get a Southerner on the ticket? As a proven election winner and incumbent president it makes a lot of sense to accept if your an ambitious Southern Governor or Senator who wants to be President someday.
Is it confirmed Hart will be retiring from the ticket? I'd seen the post saying that was one option, but he could also stay on - with his declining health just a talking point for the Republicans in 76 and maybe 80. I do agree that replacing him with Byrne would be most interesting if George views the south as never going his way (not unwise). It was also suggested that Hart could die, giving George a powerful moment eulogizing his friend and maybe putting him over 270 if the timing is just perfect.
