New Deal Coalition Retained: A Sixth Party System Wikibox Timeline

Prince Daemon Targaryen

1984 Presidential Election

“This was the first truly competitive election with three viable parties since 1912. As with then, some crazy outcomes ended up occurring.”

-Mitch McConnell-​


There were no doubts among anyone that this would be a very close election. The conditions – apart from the presence of a third party in the Progressives – matched that of the 1960 election. Strong, evenly matched candidates, a popular President but middling numbers for his party, a significant rejection in the past midterm election, and an uneasy foreign situation. As they left their respective conventions, Senator William Proxmire, Governor Donald Rumsfeld, and Congressman John Anderson charged into the general election in a mad dash for victory.

Bill Proxmire was a well-known figure in the Democratic Party solely due to being the symbolic figure of the liberal faction, which had dominated prior to George Wallace’s takeover of the party in 1968. The “Lion of the Senate” was a perfect fit to seek to lure back skeptical liberals that might have been persuaded to defect to the Progressives. His campaign strategy was to portray him as an incorruptible civil servant, documenting his crusade against government waste and for campaign finance reform. “The era of bloated government is over” Proxmire declared, seeking to get from under the common smear directed at the Democrats from the GOP.

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Anti-Proxmire strategies focused on his history of liberal causes, namely opposition to the Vietnam War (although he did vote for the declaration of war after McNamara’s death, Proxmire voted against all other bills) and his quixotic campaign against federal funding for NASA after Prometheus Ten landed on the moon. In response to a segment about space stations on 60 Minutes, Proxmire stated that "It's the best argument yet for chopping NASA's funding to the bone. I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy.” Rumsfeld ads referred to Proxmire’s introduction of an amendment into the 1982 NASA budget that effectively terminated NASA's nascent SETI efforts, remarking “Is it wise to cede the heavens to Communism?” Leading the countercharge against this effort was Jesse Helms, the outspoken Senator ruthlessly defending his former colleague against “Don Rummy’s brigade of assholes and slander.” Proxmire’s support for reform communonationalism was also used to buttress his credentials, painting him as someone that cared about the working people of America.

Upon first meeting the then thirty year old Donald Rumsfeld on the campaign trail in 1962, Richard Nixon stated: “Rummy's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that, and that makes him tough enough to last in this godforsaken business.” Headed by former Kentucky Republican Party Chair Mitch McConnell, feisty young South Carolinian Reagan Press Secretary Lee Atwater, and former Treasury Secretary William Casey, Governor Rumsfeld sought to prove the President’s prophecy right. His public persona was that of the congenial manager toiling away to competently run the Land of Lincoln, and his campaign trotted out the Nixon 1960 strategy to milk as much out of it as possible. Though the numbers were disputed by his opponents, the GOP made the state of the Illinois economy one of the front and center issues of the campaign, portraying Rumsfeld as the “steady hand on the wheel” to continue the Reagan prosperity. Reagan and Gerald Ford were often seen at Rumsfeld campaign events and ads, the Governor of Illinois proudly running as “Reagan’s Third Term.”

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Many within Rumsfeld’s campaign team, the pleas coming from Atwater especially, felt that competency wasn’t going to win the election on its own. The leader needed fire, to show culturally conservative voters in the south and rural areas turned off by Proxmire’s liberalism and the Progressives in general that he could stand strong against communism and for traditional values (opposed to his wealthy New Trier Township origins). Rummy relished his role as an attack dog, spending much of the month of September steadily heaping sharp and biting attacks on his rivals. Mike Gravel was prolifically used in this regard due to his “Frontier Everyman” persona and libertarian roots. He was a favorite among the rural swing states, and served as a strong draw to voters concerned with government ethics – usually a core Progressive talking point, Gravel worked Rumsfeld’s history of fighting corruption as Governor and sponsorship of the Freedom of Information Act to cut into Anderson’s dominance in this field.

Upending the two-party system for the first real time since Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 was the campaign of John Anderson and Jerry Brown. Run by campaign manager and personal confidant Tom Wartowski, Anderson’s bid sought to transform the McGovernite party platform from 1980 to one that both broadened the appeal of the party and made it look more than a spoiler run as it did in 1968 and 1980. Armed with the support of the entire Party and much of Hollywood and the cultural icons of the day, Anderson rolled out an updated platform that added in more moderate economic policies, a “Well-rounded Budget,” and far better civil liberties protections including the Equal Rights Amendment. In what was being called the “Schmitz Effect” – after Evan Mecham was overshadowed by running mate John G. Schmitz in 1976 – Jerry Brown displayed his political talent on the campaign trail. His charisma and blending of old-school fiscal liberalism, McGovernite clean government policies, and minaprogressive social policies, allowed him to become the breakout star of the 1984 Progressive ticket despite his lack of major electoral victories.

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However, what dogged the Progressive campaign that year was Anderson himself – for all his strengths as someone with crossover appeal out of the Bull Moose heartland of prairie populists and cosmopolitan minaprogressives, he carried several major weaknesses that were emblazoned front and center by his opponents during the campaign. Much of Proxmire’s and Rumsfeld’s attacks against him focused on his deeply conservative past. Anderson had been one of the most right-wing members of the GOP caucus at the beginning of his career, famously introducing a constitutional amendment to attempt to "recognize the law and authority of Jesus Christ" over the United States three times. Anderson repudiated his earlier beliefs over the course of the campaign, but both the GOP and the Democrats recycled it to paint him as a flip-flopper and to separate him from his base. The criticism dogged him and Brown for months, hurting the Progressive cause.

Much hinged on the final three events, the VP debate, the Presidential debate, and the TV infomercials. Taking to the stage four weeks before the election, a two hour debate found three top-tier political talents battling largely to a draw. Helms’ garrulous personality, Jerry Brown’s skill, and Mike Gravel’s eccentric charisma all intersected to no overall winner, each managing a decent performance defending their running mates and attacking the others – although most pundits would say Helms got the better of the exchange. The Presidential debate was a little more exciting in terms of determining who came out ahead. Anderson was widely held to have underperformed, fumbling an answer about the Christian Nation amendment and seeming emotionless. Rumsfeld was uncharacteristically fiery in his attacks, while Proxmire was declared the narrow winner for not making any major mistakes and sticking to his “Lion of the Senate” mantra. The infomercials were mostly performed without a hitch, Rumsfeld/Gravel, Proxmire/Helms, and Anderson/Brown focusing on their strengths and closing strong.

The final Gallup poll predicated the uncertain final stage of the race:

Rumsfeld/Gravel: 36%

Proxmire/Helms: 36%

Anderson/Brown: 23%
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Most were predicting no overall winner, to be thrown into the House of Representatives just like 1968.

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It became apparent early on to reporters and viewers that the night would not end early. State after state was decided by razor thin margins, the two leading candidates trading leads all night in both the state level counts and the overall popular vote – though when the Upper Midwest came in Proxmire managed to open up a solid lead in the latter metric. Soon, the three deciding states (assuming that Hawaii would vote solidly GOP as it usually did) were Arizona, Tennessee, and Texas. Each was decided by less than 5,000 votes, but by the morning they were called. Arizona: Proxmire by 1,257 votes; Tennessee: Rumsfeld by 692 votes; Texas: Rumsfeld by 3,659 votes.

Despite losing the popular vote, Donald Henry Rumsfeld was elected the 40th President of the United States of America. Contrary to all expectations, there would be no deciding vote by the House of Representatives. The third consecutive term of Republican control of the executive branch, and the fourth President-elect to triumph without a popular vote win.

It was apparent from the map that there was no real geographic pattern that could be parsed from the results, as the trends appeared spotty and sclerotic that even hardened political veterans would take months to parse through. Largely, most settled on the conclusion that the political realignment from a two-party system with the occasional third party protest vote had morphed into a three-party system between the Republicans, Democrats, and Progressives. The different coalitions and breakdowns of voters now that there was a viable third party option not merely consigned to a single region like the Dixiecrats, and the chaos of it being the first true election of the new Sixth Party System, produced the sclerotic results.

Rumsfeld carried some of the vital Republican base regions such as the Mid-Atlantic States and delivering a massive turnout among the African-American vote, which combined with the Progressives taking small but substantial portions of liberal whites to tip over the key southern states of Tennessee and Georgia into his column. California continued its since-1952 Republican streak, while a strong number among Mormons and rural populists (thanks to Mike Gravel) netted them several western states including a surprise win in New Mexico. Proxmire delivered an impressive showing in the Industrial Midwest thanks to his adopting of reform communonationalism, and his hometown roots netted MN and WI for the Democratic Party in what even Proxmire admitted would be the last time for the Democratic Party to be competitive there in the near future. Most of the Solid South held due to Helms’ influence, and the Party proved it had not been beaten in New England or the Pacific Northwest. As for the Progressives, Anderson and Brown made a powerful showing despite underperforming their poll numbers – largely felt due to Proxmire’s strength in the Bull Moose base in the Upper Midwest. They carried five states, including two upper New England states that usually went Republican (Rumsfeld became the first Republican to win without carrying either Vermont or Ohio), and came in second in California in a tight election that saw Rumsfeld only win with 36% of the vote. The Bull Moose was a force to be reckoned with.

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The tightness of the election and the fact that Rumsfeld lost the popular vote did not allow him to claim as much of a decisive mandate as if the vote totals were flipped. Protests would occur, casting “Rummy” as an illegitimate President, while calls to abolish the Electoral College began to circulate. However, both Proxmire and Anderson graciously conceded the election and went on all the major news networks to call for national unity behind the President-elect. Donald Rumsfeld had won by the rules in the Constitution, and he was inheriting a country in the midst of a new hope for peace and prosperity that had been absent since the Great Depression.

If only America possessed a crystal ball.

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Redcoat

Redcoat

Banned
I want something shitty to happen! Please! You've gotten rid of AIDS, given the U.S. universal healthcare, made saints out of Jim Jones, Ted Bundy and Rummy....Make something horrible happen1 It's been a while since focoism and shit.
 
jolou

jolou

Well Rumsfled won . Not really a surprise, i think we all know that he will be President .
But another prediction, he will be a better president than well in Rumsfledia (and it's easier) but he won't obtain another term and the next election will go to the house where the Democratic candidate will won .
 

Bookmark1995

Banned
jolou said:
Well Rumsfled won . Not really a surprise, i think we all know that he will be President .
But another prediction, he will be a better president than well in Rumsfledia (and it's easier) but he won't obtain another term and the next election will go to the house where the Democratic candidate will won .
Click to expand...

Unlike Rumsfeldia, he isn't trying a Southern Strategy mixed with anarcho-capitalism. Even if Rumsfeld was an asshole, as Nixon said, he is still an asshole whose base is moderate whites and African Americans, one of whom is a highly popular and influential Senator. So he won't be some regressive loon who grinds down civil liberties and the welfare state under his heel.
 
Knightmare

Knightmare

Bookmark1995 said:
Unlike Rumsfeldia, he isn't trying a Southern Strategy mixed with anarcho-capitalism. Even if Rumsfeld was an asshole, as Nixon said, he is still an asshole whose base is moderate whites and African Americans, one of whom is a highly popular and influential Senator. So he won't be some regressive loon who grinds down civil liberties and the welfare state under his heel.
Click to expand...
Especially with two parties after him.
 
ElectricSheepNo54

ElectricSheepNo54

Oh look new update

> Weird Sixth Party System
> Cold War goes interstellar
> Weird electoral college vote
> Blue Oklahoma
> Lefty North Dakota best North Dakota
> Blue Alaska
> Blue Wyoming don't see that much
> Vice President Gravel
> Ominous ending


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
 

zen23

Banned
ElectricSheepNo54 said:
Oh look new update

> Weird Sixth Party System
> Cold War goes interstellar
> Weird electoral college vote
> Blue Oklahoma
> Lefty North Dakota best North Dakota
> Blue Alaska
> Blue Wyoming don't see that much
> Vice President Gravel
> Ominous ending


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Click to expand...
How is it interstellar?I must've skipped or missed updates?
 
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