No Southern Strategy: The Political Ramifications of an Alternate 1964 Election
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Update 70: Kentucky elections, 1979 and 1991
Kentucky had a exhibited an amount of political volatility in its support for Presidential candidates since the early 1950's. The state had gone for Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson, like much of the Solid South in the 1952 presidential election, by a mere 700 vote margin (the closest a presidential election had been in any state since New Hampshire went for Woodrow Wilson by 56 votes in 1916). The state had flipped hard to the Republican Party and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, giving him a near 10 point margin over Stevenson in their rematch. Vice President Nixon meanwhile carried the state once again for the Republicans by around 80,000 votes in the nationally close 1960 presidential election. Like much of the nation, Kentucky gave its seal of approval to President Johnson in 1964, rejecting Republican nominee Barry Goldwater and Dixiecrat Ross Barnett by nearly a thirty-five point margin in the state. The state narrowly went for Vice President Humphrey in 1968, as the conservative message of Ronald Reagan and populist rallying cry of George Wallace proved more popular than the similar cries in 1964. Still Kentucky clung on to its traditional Democratic voting record. In 1972 the state broke narrowly for Democrat-turned-Republican John Connally, who challenged his 1968 running mate. The decent showing by the Independent Republican ticket of Jacob Javits and George Murphy most likely helped to siphon off enough liberal voters to enable a Republican victory in the state. Like the entirety of the south, the state went handsomely in 1976 for the southern-dominated Democratic ticket of President Howell and Vice President Brewer. The state once again shifted back to the Republicans in 1980 as it awarded its electoral votes to President MacBride in a once again narrow contest which pitted the wardoliberal 'statist' Scoop Jackson against the libertarian 'Taftite' Roger MacBride. Most Kentuckians surprisingly stayed with the Republican ticket in 1984, going for the surprisingly effective libertine New Yorker over the alternatives: a liberal Californian and an angry spiteful turncoat. The state went like much of the South for favorite son Walter "Fox" McKeithen by a decent margin in his surprisingly large victory over Vice President Black in 1988. Nonetheless the National Conservatives did make some inroads among conservative and Republican voters who were nonetheless reluctant to support a Californian movie star (they had already rejected one twenty years prior.)
Until 1981 the state was represented by two Republicans in the US Senate, Louie B. Nunn and Marlow Cook (who would lose re-election in 1980, despite MacBride's victory in the state). Gaining a seat from the Republicans in 1980 was former Governor Walter D. Huddleston, who would be easily re-elected in 1986. Meanwhile he would be joined by fellow Democrat, and his predecessor as Governor, Wendell Ford, who defeated Senator Nunn in 1984. Despite fears from Democrats, the state would re-elected Ford in 1990 by a decent margin over Republican Congressman Larry J. Hopkins. Interestingly Nunn, Ford, and Huddleston all served as Governor of the state, each for a single term between 1967 and 1979. Nunn, the first Republican elected to the Governor's mansion since Simeon Wallis in 1943, was the last Republican elected to the office when Steve Beshear was elected in 1987. The state had surprised many when it narrowly elected Independent former Governor Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler as Governor in 1979 over Democratic Lieutenant Governor Thelma Stovall and Republican businessman Bob Gable. Chandler was joined on his renegade Democratic ticket by conservative former Congressman John Bayne Breckinridge, who, while running separately as the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, supported him and campaigned with him over Stovall. This ticket of ex-Democrats struck a chord with many Kentuckians who were feeling an itch beginning to form with President MacBride, while still reluctant to support the Democrats. Chandler, a former Governor, Lieutenant Governor, United States Senator and Commissioner of Baseball, was elected on a platform calling for "fiscal restraint" and avoiding "awkward" social questions. Working with a coalition of Republicans, conservative and Populist Democrats, and the odd Conservative state Representative and Senator, Chandley created a surprisingly workable "Chandler Coalition" which "administered a hacksaw to state spending" and remained surprisingly popular. Chandler’s term as Governor proved to be controversial however as he faced calls to resign after being overheard using a racial epithet while bemoaning international lack of recognition of the three white-majority states in southern Africa. While this harmed his popularity among the state legislature and blotted his surprisingly pro-integrationist tenure as Baseball Commissioner, he remained popular among his constituents and would finally drift into retirement in 1983, aged 85. In 1983 his Lieutenant Governor John B. Breckinridge was elected Governor in his own right on the Democratic ticket after narrowly beating state representative Martha Layne Collins in the party primary. Breckinridge would maintain most of his predecessor’s fiscally conservative policies, socially moderate policies; however his time as Governor was beset by health problems stemming from heart failure. During the latter period of his time in office much of the day to day workings of the Governor’s office were done by his Lieutenant Governor, Steve Beshear. Beshear would succeed Breckinridge, who would die little less than a month after leaving office in early December 1987: defeating Republican state Representative John R. Harper by a near 30-point margin.
Until 1981 the state was represented by two Republicans in the US Senate, Louie B. Nunn and Marlow Cook (who would lose re-election in 1980, despite MacBride's victory in the state). Gaining a seat from the Republicans in 1980 was former Governor Walter D. Huddleston, who would be easily re-elected in 1986. Meanwhile he would be joined by fellow Democrat, and his predecessor as Governor, Wendell Ford, who defeated Senator Nunn in 1984. Despite fears from Democrats, the state would re-elected Ford in 1990 by a decent margin over Republican Congressman Larry J. Hopkins. Interestingly Nunn, Ford, and Huddleston all served as Governor of the state, each for a single term between 1967 and 1979. Nunn, the first Republican elected to the Governor's mansion since Simeon Wallis in 1943, was the last Republican elected to the office when Steve Beshear was elected in 1987. The state had surprised many when it narrowly elected Independent former Governor Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler as Governor in 1979 over Democratic Lieutenant Governor Thelma Stovall and Republican businessman Bob Gable. Chandler was joined on his renegade Democratic ticket by conservative former Congressman John Bayne Breckinridge, who, while running separately as the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, supported him and campaigned with him over Stovall. This ticket of ex-Democrats struck a chord with many Kentuckians who were feeling an itch beginning to form with President MacBride, while still reluctant to support the Democrats. Chandler, a former Governor, Lieutenant Governor, United States Senator and Commissioner of Baseball, was elected on a platform calling for "fiscal restraint" and avoiding "awkward" social questions. Working with a coalition of Republicans, conservative and Populist Democrats, and the odd Conservative state Representative and Senator, Chandley created a surprisingly workable "Chandler Coalition" which "administered a hacksaw to state spending" and remained surprisingly popular. Chandler’s term as Governor proved to be controversial however as he faced calls to resign after being overheard using a racial epithet while bemoaning international lack of recognition of the three white-majority states in southern Africa. While this harmed his popularity among the state legislature and blotted his surprisingly pro-integrationist tenure as Baseball Commissioner, he remained popular among his constituents and would finally drift into retirement in 1983, aged 85. In 1983 his Lieutenant Governor John B. Breckinridge was elected Governor in his own right on the Democratic ticket after narrowly beating state representative Martha Layne Collins in the party primary. Breckinridge would maintain most of his predecessor’s fiscally conservative policies, socially moderate policies; however his time as Governor was beset by health problems stemming from heart failure. During the latter period of his time in office much of the day to day workings of the Governor’s office were done by his Lieutenant Governor, Steve Beshear. Beshear would succeed Breckinridge, who would die little less than a month after leaving office in early December 1987: defeating Republican state Representative John R. Harper by a near 30-point margin.
Beshear, had previously served as Lieutenant Governor of the state under Breckinridge (he was also the first Lieutenant Governor who was elected on a ticket with the Governor), and had also served as Attorney General under Chandler before that. During his tenure as Attorney General of Kentucky, Beshear had incurred the wrath of religious voters, when he issued an opinion that led to copies of the Ten Commandments being removed from the walls of classrooms in the state after the Johnson Court issued a ruling in Stone v. Graham. The ruling struck down the Kentucky statute of having the Commandments placed on the wall of each public classroom in the state, as it was ruled to be in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment due to lacking a non-religious and/or legislative purpose. During his time as Lieutenant Governor Beshear would form and chair a panel charged with making recommendations for the future of the state. As Governor this committee would lead to a state government program and report entitled Kentucky 2000 which set out a series of proposed reforms in order to make Kentucky into a business hub for the whole of the upper South. Beshear as Governor also earned plaudits with his proposal to to expand casino gambling (proposed as part of the Kentucky 2000 program) in order to help fund increases in social programs such as education. “Educayshun, educayshun, educayshun” was how the Governor’s endeavors to help push the state of Kentucky up in state rankings for education quality and attainment. When Beshear entered into office the state ranked in the mid 40's nationally in terms of high school graduation and slightly higher in terms of percentages of those obtaining bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees. By the time Beshear left office in 1991, the state of Kentucky had managed to secondly only Virginia among Southern states in terms of each category. This, combined with the state managing to produce a budget surplus and Beshear’s high approval ratings seemed to bode well for the Democrats in the 1991 gubernatorial elections.
The Republicans were naturally feeling down about their chances in the Bluegrass State. The fact that the last time they had won a gubernatorial race was in 1967 with Louie B. Nunn (what more, Nunn was the party’s last statewide victor at all, having won a Senate race over a decade prior). The party’s gubernatorial primaries was expected to be full of the usual one issue obsessives, fringe candidates, has-beens or those with little to no name recognition. Some attempted to get former Governor Nunn to run for the job, but he turned down the offer, having contented himself as the old man of the Kentucky GOP. The party then found an acceptable nominee in the form of former Congressman Marion Eugene Snyder. Gene Snyder, as he was better known, was an attorney by trade and a former magistrate for the first district of Jefferson County, who also had interests in farming, real estate, insurance and construction. He had also served as a Congressman for Kentucky’s 3rd District from 1963-1965 and then for the 4th District from 1967-1989. Snyder distinguished himself from most Republicans with his opposition to the Civil Rights Act (like most Old Right conservatives he opposed it not for racial reasons but due to concerns over possible overreach of the federal government). A Taftite conservative in the mold of fellow Kentucky Representative Eugene Siler (the sole Republican and House member to oppose the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), he was a backbencher Congressman for most of his career. He had been an occasional ally of President MacBride, supporting the President’s limited economic and foreign policy agendas, but opposing his social agenda. Snyder had been a near casualty in 1988, when his years of incumbency were threatened by McKeithen's landslide victory in the state, and a surprisingly well-funded challenger for the first time in nearly a decade. Snyder would retire from Congress to focus on his business career in 1990. Snyder had been urged out of retirement by Nunn and other Republican bigwigs, who were anxious to put up at the very least an able candidate would could sing a good swan song. Snyder, by now over the age of sixty, agreed, reasoning that even if he won, it would only be for a single term, owing to the prohibition of consecutive terms for state offices.
The Democratic primary was, in comparison, an absolute mess. Lieutenant Governor Martha Collins started off with a strong polling lead over a wide array of candidates which included businessman Wallace G. Wilkinson (who was supported by former Governor Chandler in one of his last public statements before his death in June 1991), Mayor Henry Scott Baesler, State Representative Floyd Poore, and lawyer Gatewood Galbraith. Collins was attacked as a corrupt and nepotistic politician (her husband Bill Collins was appointed to several state party positions during her tenure as Lieutenant Governor, and her son Steve Collins was also running to succeed her as Lieutenant Governor), while Wilkinson was beginning to gain in the polls due to the support of Chandler, as well as Collins' inability to control the narrative regarding her qualities as a candidate. The Kentucky Democratic Party operated a single round primary system where all that was needed for victory was a simple plurality. Galbraith managed to narrowly beat both Wilkinson and Collins by less than a percent. Meanwhile the other two candidates were consigned to the single figures.
Galbraith was a stereotypical "simple country lawyer" who practiced all around the state as a trial lawyer, while having offices in Lexington. Educated at a local Catholic school, he joined the Marine Corps in 1966 but received an honorable discharge after an asthma attack on Parris Island which would prompt a career change. Over the next six years he would hold a variety of jobs, including lifeguard, automobile assembly and salesman. Hitchhiking around the country in order to do migrant farm labor, he would hop from railroad car to railroad car while living, as he said, "on the road". By 1971 he had returned to Lexington and was working as a milkman. The student demonstrations urging President Humphrey to press ahead sooner with peace talks over Vietnam over the two years prior would inspire Galbraith to make a difference and help those left fortunate than himself. Graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1974 and studying at law school in the UK until 1977, he would eventually practice law in 1981 after a four year spell owning a tractor company. Galbraith soon set his sights on changing things from the top - becoming Governor of Kentucky. Galbraith's peculiar political beliefs could only be described as syncretic. His two political heroes were Barry Goldwater and Roger MacBride, yet he put his name forward to run in the Democratic primary for Agriculture Commissioner in 1983. Galbraith believed that in becoming Governor he could “take the government off the backs of the People. My view is that government’s role should be to uplift, enlighten, educate, and ennoble the citizen, not oppress them with taxation and intrusive laws.” One of his trademark positions was the legalization of marijuana, a policy which was argued mainly by a high profile Republican in the state - former Governor and Senator Louie B. Nunn. Galbraith, running as a populist agrarian Democrat sought to exploit the party’s primary rules, stating that “I chose the Democrats because whoever won their Primary won the General Election.” He however was irked when the party “froze us out [...] and didn’t allow our views to be heard or considered.” The Republicans were just as bad in his view. Nonetheless Galbraith was able to come in an impressive second place over fellow primary challengers Butch Burnette and former Commissioner of Agriculture Tom Harris. Though they were all defeated by David E. Boswell, who would easily win the race in November. Galbraith would next run for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1987 - where he would come in third, being defeated by the then-Lieutenant Governor Steve Beshear.
The Republicans couldn’t believe their luck. They had nominated a safe pair of hands, and the Democrats had managed to nominate a wannabe real life Jefferson Smith, who also happened to be, what they called, "a hippie in a suit". The Republicans resolved therefore to play the campaign safe, with Synder more than happy to oblige, as it was against a candidate that the party assured him was unelectable. All the while Galbraith hit the ground running, with only several tens of thousands of dollars to hand, he made the most of it and quickly began to press the flesh and stump out in rural Kentucky. Initial polling had Galbraith down by around 20 points, with most people in the state gaining their knowledge of the man from news reports that painted him as a radical subversive in a suit who was a threat to Kentuckian values. Galbraith would often answer that he was "guilty as charged": he was a radical. He claimed that he wanted to put power back in the hands of the people, and to ensure that the state continued the economic reforms of the Chandler years. The late Governor remained popular and by tying himself to him, advocating a slate of genuinely new and unique policies, and by aggressively scouring the state to meet voters, Galbraith began to see his numbers rise. All the while the Republicans assured themselves that Galbraith was the ideal Democratic candidate to oppose. They finally snapped out of their laid back attitude when a poll put Galbraith within the margin of error with only a week to go. Within an instant, Snyder was pushed out onto the campaign trail and a series of rushed and rather shoddy television ad spots were placed, hitting Galbraith hard on his supposed links to Vietnam protesters (with an allegation that he had engaged in flag burning, something the Supreme Court had ruled to be not protected by the First Amendment, in the early 1970s). All this played into Galbraith’s narrative that the "establishment" were scared and were simply trying to scare the good people of Kentucky into voting for their failed policies once again.
On election night the state remained relatively close, with the lead jockeying back and forth between Snyder and Galbraith, it was only when the rural areas of southern Kentucky began to report that Snyder opened up a small lead. In the end he would win by around five points, comfortable on paper, but hardly anything to cheer about for a campaign that had nearly re-enacted the GOP campaign in 1948. Galbraith, while obviously disappointed, turned his defeat around and assured his supporters that they had nearly beaten the establishment and that he and they would "definitely" be back in four years time to finish the job.
[1] Biography of Galbraith from here used and quoted in this update.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
As a Kentuckian god fucking damnit I want Gatewood to actually win for once. He was the best damn governor the state never had.
Gentleman Biaggi
Banned
YUESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Synder doesn't seem so bad though it's a real shame Galbraith lost.
Also:
EDIT: Just noticed John Bayne Breckinridge on both the Independent and Democratic tickets.
Also:
EDIT: Just noticed John Bayne Breckinridge on both the Independent and Democratic tickets.
Technically speaking, the Lieutenant Governorship was a separately elected office at this point. He's only put underneath both to demonstrate that he was running under the Democratic banner while also supporting Chandler for Governor.
Update 71: Louisiana elections, 1975 and 1991
Shortly after taking office as the Governor of Louisiana, James Carville wheeled out a large whiteboard at Free Speech Alley in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. In a mock setting of a classroom, similar to monologue before a Tom Lehrer ditty, he began to address the assembled state press. “Hello there boys and girls, now as this is the first day of the new term I thought I’d address what we’ll be looking at for this term over these next four years” As the laughter from the press simmered down, the Governor flipped the page over to the next sheet on the portable whiteboard. He would do this three times, each with a different focus. The first read "Change vs. more of the same" the Governor reasoned that the state of Louisiana was second only to Illinois in terms of corruption in the eyes of most people in America, thus reforming and rooting out corrupt practices was to be one of his three main priorities. The second read "The economy, stupid": the Governor argued that the economy would be his main legislative area of focus. He would seek to reach across the aisle to work with the more fiscally conservative state legislatures in order to triangulate in terms of policy. The third read "Don’t forget health care": Louisiana ranked fourty-eight out of fifty states in terms of healthcare access and quality. Thus the benchmark of whether the Carville years would be a success or failure were set.
Louisiana, like much of the deep south, backed the Dixiecrat ticket of Ross Barnett and George Wallace in 1964. Downballot, the state would see the Republicans make a comeback with an influx of right-wing, states rights, segregationist politicians, like David C. Treen who would contest the 2nd Congressional District several times in the 1960's and 70's, or the old man of the LA GOP, Charlton Lyons who contested the 4th District in 1961 and the governors office in 1963-1964. Lyons had been defeated for the governorship by Public Service Commissioner John McKeithen, though he gained the highest GOP showing in decades, taking nearly 40% of the vote. Another conservative challenge to McKeithen and the establishment Democratic Party would materialize four years down the line in the form of 6th District Congressman John Rarick. Rarick, a Democrat, was staunchly ultraconservative and borderline segregationist even that far out (the last openly segregationist candidacy in the South was the ultimately victorious bid for South Carolina Governor in 1970 by Albert Watson, who was George Wallace’s running mate in 1968). Rarick managed to take over 20% of the primary vote (no Republican ran in the general election in 1967) against Governor McKeithen, yet McKeithen nonetheless was returned with well over 70% of the vote. The 1971-2 race would see Congressmen Edwin Edwards (D) and David Treen (R) face off against each other. Edwards would defeat Treen by around a ten point margin, hardly comforting for a state that had no non-Democrat running four years prior. The whole Democratic machine would collapse in the gubernatorial general election in 1975. Emerging from the newly installed jungle primary were three main candidates Governor Edwin Edwards, Republican Robert M. Moss and Rarick, running now on the ticket of the American Independent Party. The state of Louisiana still maintained its allegiance to Democrats at this point, and thus the race was seen as one between Edwards and Rarick. Edwards’ political stock had been damaged due to a litany of corruption charges and accusations being levied against him. These stemmed from accusations made by a disgruntled former bodyguard Clyde Vidrine (who was later murdered) which included claims of gambling in Las Vegas, receiving illegal campaign donations, and dodgy sales of state agency posts. Edwards pushed back by saying that giving such donations was wrong, while accepting such donations was however, not wrong. An indictment was soon enough handed down to Edwards after he and Rarick (who was in effect endorsed by the Republican candidate who had "put his campaign in a coma" when it became apparent he was only going to draw anti-Edwards votes away). In the end a runoff race did not occur despite Rarick holding a mere 2 point lead over Edwards, Edwards withdrew from the race, in effect handing it to Rarick. Edwards would eventually find his way back as a Congressman for the 6th District (Rarick’s old one), which he would win in 1988 and has held ever since.
If anyone expected Rarick to be a blowover or to simple fade away, they were proven very much wrong. Rarick moved to abolish most the state’s taxes (including income, capital gains, sales and other taxes) and increasing the number of capital offences. Rarick was also a strong advocate of states’ rights/sovereignty, he would notably get into a series of border conflicts with his equivalents in Mississippi and Texas (Democrat William Winter and Republican Henry Grover respectively), over the state’s fishing boundaries. Rarick was incensed at what he saw as incursions by Texan and Mississippian fishing boats into the waters of the state of Louisiana. Summarily he took the most logical position and phoned up counterparts and threatened to sink the next boat that sailed into Louisiana state waters, personally. The issue, dubbed the "Shrimp Wars" by the press, would eventually work its way up to the Supreme Court, where the Court extended Louisiana’s ocean boundaries slightly, but ruled that vessels from other states could freely enter said waters. The Governor was not impressed. Rarick would also court controversy by attempting to have his opponent’s tax returns examined and released by the press as well as his suggestion during a series of protests against his Governorship that the state National Guard be given the use of nuclear weapons. He would also march down to the protests in person in his military uniform from the European Theater, he then marched in to order the arrest of the several hundred person strong protest. Taking the law into his own hands was something the Governor was especially fond of, for instance he would occasionally speed down roads in his official car, chasing after those who he found to be speeding, who he would promptly "arrest". The Governor was also hosted along with New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson in South Africa by that nation’s government, where both praised the government and its apartheid policy. The Governor also sought to veto all funding from LSU after an event was hosted by the university’s gay society, which held a dance. The Governor also attempted to have the state’s sodomy laws result in life imprisonment, which even some within his own party found to be exceptionally extreme. The Governor also attempted to try and ban the use of the metric system in any sense, including being taught at school within the state boundary. He would also push for a requirement that those who received welfare be tested for the use of drugs, only those who were shown to be drug-free could receive state and federal welfare. Rarick was also a strong opponent of gun control and gun registration, under his tenure the state of Louisiana would adopt some of the most lax gun laws in the country. Rarick despite (possibly because of) the mountains of controversy that he courted, was surprisingly re-elected by a six point margin over Democrat Louis Lambert in 1979.
When Rarick finally bowed out in 1983, many within the state began to hope that maybe 1983 would represent a new chapter in the state of Louisiana and they would have little reminders of the past. Instead the people of Louisiana had the choice between the son of a potentially corrupt former-Governor, and the former Grand Wizard. The people of Louisiana summarily opted for the boy wonder over the "wannabe Hitler". The boy wonder, also known as Walter "Fox" McKeithen was initially typecast as being in his father (who by then was a two-term US Senator). Fox, proven most of the naysayers wrong and became a relatively successful, quiet, and dignified one-term Governor, which he would promptly use as springboard for the Presidency. His chosen successor, James Carville would easily win the gubernatorial race in 1987, defeating Buddy Roemer of the AIP by over fifteen points. Still Democrats were spooked by Roemer, who was hardly like the right-wing demagogue Rarick or the white nationalist far-right Duke. Roemer, in the years following Rarick's governorship, had successfully morphed the state AIP into a conventional ‘paleoconservative’/’Old Right’ party, cleansing and shedding it much of its former neo-segregationist rhetoric and policies. This appeared to help as AIPers Bob Livingston and Tom Armstrong who were elected Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, respectively, in 1987.
By 1991 the Carville Administration could be considered to have been quite successful. Budget deficits had been mostly cut and there had been a marked increase in education standards in the state. The state likewise would experience vast reductions in state spending and the size of the budget deficit (the budget deficit had been over $1bn when he entered office in 1987), though it was still somewhat off breaking even. Much of Carville’s proposed reforms would pass through the state legislature easily and relatively quickly, owing to the overlap on many economic questions among many Democrats, Republicans and American Independents. Carville would in 1990 call a special session of the state legislature in order to push his ambitious tax and economic reform package for local and state government. The proposals would have seen spending cut drastically, various programs gutted & abolished and various state-run institutions shut. Voters would narrowly approve the package in a statewide constitutional referendum in early 1991. Anti-corruption efforts would appear successful, with a handful of state politicians being forced to hand over campaign donations or being pressured to stand down from office completely. Though relatively few "big beasts" were harmed by his push; and some, such as former Governor Edwards, were actually elected back into office.
Carville’s Administration was attacked most vocally by his 1987 opponent, Buddy Roemer. This was hardly surprising as Roemer’s ambition to be elected Governor was the worst kept secret in the state. On two issues in particular did Roemer surprise many observers, with his attacks on Carville. The first was on the issue of the environment. Governor Carville enjoyed generally close relations with the powerful oil and gas industry, something Roemer considered to be a corrupt arrangement. Roemer argued for an emphasis to be put on the environment, something that virtually no major Louisiana state politician had ever really argued. The other issue was race. In 1989 the Louisiana Board of Appeals would recommend a pardon for black prisoner Gary Tyler who had been convicted of a first degree murder at the age of 17 by an all-white jury. Tyler, who had initially been sentenced to death, before having that sentence commuted in 1980, had a case which was highly controversial, owing to the small amounts of evidence that actually pinned him to the crime. Carville, opting to try and avoid the ugly issue of law and order raising its head, refused to consider an appeal. Roemer, whose father had been a state legislator and an advocate for civil rights, argued that this was simply trying to avoid causing controversy and that it was morally wrong. This would create a peculiar situation where Roemer was polling peculiarly well among the state’s black population (though still losing it by a significant margin to Carville) despite representing the state branch of the National Conservatives. Roemer however was clever enough to support popular initiatives proposed by Carville, such as the boosting of teacher pay in the state and the tightening of campaign finance laws. Ironically for the boss of the AIP, the most fiscally conservative of the parties, he would applaud the Governor’s move to push for minor pay increases for state employees past and present, something that had not been done in many years.
Heading into the jungle primary in 1991, Carville knew that he faced a far stronger and more confident Roemer than he had four years prior. Those scrambling onto the jungle primary ballot included Roemer as the solitary American Independent, while for the Democrats it included Governor Carville, conservative Congressman Speedy Long, moderate state representative Kathleen Blanco, liberal State Senator Leader Richard Ieyoub and conservative Congressman Billy Tauzin. The GOP meanwhile could only muster no name candidate Anne Thompson who in polling usually pulled in around 1% of the vote. David Duke meanwhile ran as a Populist, much to everyone’s consternation. After a series of laughably protracted debates and a "Stop Roemer" effort by the Carville campaign, the state would go to the polls on the 19th October 1991. Roemer led the pack, as expected with nearly 40% of the vote, followed by Governor Carville on 30%. The rest of the Democrats were packed in around the low teens and high single figures, while Duke managed an astounding 3.4% of the vote, ahead of Thompson's 1.3%. Carville and Roemer would progress to the runoff one more. Post runoff polling showed Carville with a 46-42 lead, with 12% still undecided. The campaign over the coming month was brutal, with both candidates pulled no punches in the aim of painting the other as the worst possible choice for Louisiana, bar David Duke. Carville made frequent use of Roemer’s father, Charlie "Budgie" Roemer’s legal troubles and accusations of conspiracy. Roemer hit back, stating that Carville was in the pocket of big business and the oil industry. Governor Carville was also attacked as being the representative of President McKeithen in Louisiana as opposed to the people’s Governor. President McKeithen (who still enjoyed strong approval ratings and popularity in his home state) was drafted in to help buoy the Carville campaign. It helped, though Carville was harmed during a televised debate when Roemer pulled out of notepad, referencing the Governor’s press conference nearly 4 years prior and began to hammer the Governor away on each of his self professed markers. “Governor, you said that you would fight for change versus more of the same, well we’ve had you for four years representing the status quo, surely it is now time for REAL change in this great state?”
On election night the lead would flip between the two candidates, with Carville picking up a reasonable lead once New Orleans began to report in. Roemer picked up a good lead in the north and west of the state, winning much of the north bar the President’s home parish, Caldwell Parish. The final tallies put Roemer ahead slightly by 40,000 votes, or less than 2% of the vote. The state Democratic Party demanded a recount, much to the protests of the AIP, yet the margin remained relatively unchanged. Carville would graciously and magnanimously concede the race to Roemer, who would proclaim that a “new day of change has dawned down here in the bayeux!” Up in Washington, the sounds of breaking glass and raised voices was later claimed by administration officials after the race was called for Roemer, though Chief of Staff Russell B. Long would deny this in his memoirs.
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[1] Wikipedia articles Meldrim Thompson and Buddy Roemer used and applied here
Louisiana, like much of the deep south, backed the Dixiecrat ticket of Ross Barnett and George Wallace in 1964. Downballot, the state would see the Republicans make a comeback with an influx of right-wing, states rights, segregationist politicians, like David C. Treen who would contest the 2nd Congressional District several times in the 1960's and 70's, or the old man of the LA GOP, Charlton Lyons who contested the 4th District in 1961 and the governors office in 1963-1964. Lyons had been defeated for the governorship by Public Service Commissioner John McKeithen, though he gained the highest GOP showing in decades, taking nearly 40% of the vote. Another conservative challenge to McKeithen and the establishment Democratic Party would materialize four years down the line in the form of 6th District Congressman John Rarick. Rarick, a Democrat, was staunchly ultraconservative and borderline segregationist even that far out (the last openly segregationist candidacy in the South was the ultimately victorious bid for South Carolina Governor in 1970 by Albert Watson, who was George Wallace’s running mate in 1968). Rarick managed to take over 20% of the primary vote (no Republican ran in the general election in 1967) against Governor McKeithen, yet McKeithen nonetheless was returned with well over 70% of the vote. The 1971-2 race would see Congressmen Edwin Edwards (D) and David Treen (R) face off against each other. Edwards would defeat Treen by around a ten point margin, hardly comforting for a state that had no non-Democrat running four years prior. The whole Democratic machine would collapse in the gubernatorial general election in 1975. Emerging from the newly installed jungle primary were three main candidates Governor Edwin Edwards, Republican Robert M. Moss and Rarick, running now on the ticket of the American Independent Party. The state of Louisiana still maintained its allegiance to Democrats at this point, and thus the race was seen as one between Edwards and Rarick. Edwards’ political stock had been damaged due to a litany of corruption charges and accusations being levied against him. These stemmed from accusations made by a disgruntled former bodyguard Clyde Vidrine (who was later murdered) which included claims of gambling in Las Vegas, receiving illegal campaign donations, and dodgy sales of state agency posts. Edwards pushed back by saying that giving such donations was wrong, while accepting such donations was however, not wrong. An indictment was soon enough handed down to Edwards after he and Rarick (who was in effect endorsed by the Republican candidate who had "put his campaign in a coma" when it became apparent he was only going to draw anti-Edwards votes away). In the end a runoff race did not occur despite Rarick holding a mere 2 point lead over Edwards, Edwards withdrew from the race, in effect handing it to Rarick. Edwards would eventually find his way back as a Congressman for the 6th District (Rarick’s old one), which he would win in 1988 and has held ever since.
If anyone expected Rarick to be a blowover or to simple fade away, they were proven very much wrong. Rarick moved to abolish most the state’s taxes (including income, capital gains, sales and other taxes) and increasing the number of capital offences. Rarick was also a strong advocate of states’ rights/sovereignty, he would notably get into a series of border conflicts with his equivalents in Mississippi and Texas (Democrat William Winter and Republican Henry Grover respectively), over the state’s fishing boundaries. Rarick was incensed at what he saw as incursions by Texan and Mississippian fishing boats into the waters of the state of Louisiana. Summarily he took the most logical position and phoned up counterparts and threatened to sink the next boat that sailed into Louisiana state waters, personally. The issue, dubbed the "Shrimp Wars" by the press, would eventually work its way up to the Supreme Court, where the Court extended Louisiana’s ocean boundaries slightly, but ruled that vessels from other states could freely enter said waters. The Governor was not impressed. Rarick would also court controversy by attempting to have his opponent’s tax returns examined and released by the press as well as his suggestion during a series of protests against his Governorship that the state National Guard be given the use of nuclear weapons. He would also march down to the protests in person in his military uniform from the European Theater, he then marched in to order the arrest of the several hundred person strong protest. Taking the law into his own hands was something the Governor was especially fond of, for instance he would occasionally speed down roads in his official car, chasing after those who he found to be speeding, who he would promptly "arrest". The Governor was also hosted along with New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson in South Africa by that nation’s government, where both praised the government and its apartheid policy. The Governor also sought to veto all funding from LSU after an event was hosted by the university’s gay society, which held a dance. The Governor also attempted to have the state’s sodomy laws result in life imprisonment, which even some within his own party found to be exceptionally extreme. The Governor also attempted to try and ban the use of the metric system in any sense, including being taught at school within the state boundary. He would also push for a requirement that those who received welfare be tested for the use of drugs, only those who were shown to be drug-free could receive state and federal welfare. Rarick was also a strong opponent of gun control and gun registration, under his tenure the state of Louisiana would adopt some of the most lax gun laws in the country. Rarick despite (possibly because of) the mountains of controversy that he courted, was surprisingly re-elected by a six point margin over Democrat Louis Lambert in 1979.
When Rarick finally bowed out in 1983, many within the state began to hope that maybe 1983 would represent a new chapter in the state of Louisiana and they would have little reminders of the past. Instead the people of Louisiana had the choice between the son of a potentially corrupt former-Governor, and the former Grand Wizard. The people of Louisiana summarily opted for the boy wonder over the "wannabe Hitler". The boy wonder, also known as Walter "Fox" McKeithen was initially typecast as being in his father (who by then was a two-term US Senator). Fox, proven most of the naysayers wrong and became a relatively successful, quiet, and dignified one-term Governor, which he would promptly use as springboard for the Presidency. His chosen successor, James Carville would easily win the gubernatorial race in 1987, defeating Buddy Roemer of the AIP by over fifteen points. Still Democrats were spooked by Roemer, who was hardly like the right-wing demagogue Rarick or the white nationalist far-right Duke. Roemer, in the years following Rarick's governorship, had successfully morphed the state AIP into a conventional ‘paleoconservative’/’Old Right’ party, cleansing and shedding it much of its former neo-segregationist rhetoric and policies. This appeared to help as AIPers Bob Livingston and Tom Armstrong who were elected Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, respectively, in 1987.
By 1991 the Carville Administration could be considered to have been quite successful. Budget deficits had been mostly cut and there had been a marked increase in education standards in the state. The state likewise would experience vast reductions in state spending and the size of the budget deficit (the budget deficit had been over $1bn when he entered office in 1987), though it was still somewhat off breaking even. Much of Carville’s proposed reforms would pass through the state legislature easily and relatively quickly, owing to the overlap on many economic questions among many Democrats, Republicans and American Independents. Carville would in 1990 call a special session of the state legislature in order to push his ambitious tax and economic reform package for local and state government. The proposals would have seen spending cut drastically, various programs gutted & abolished and various state-run institutions shut. Voters would narrowly approve the package in a statewide constitutional referendum in early 1991. Anti-corruption efforts would appear successful, with a handful of state politicians being forced to hand over campaign donations or being pressured to stand down from office completely. Though relatively few "big beasts" were harmed by his push; and some, such as former Governor Edwards, were actually elected back into office.
Carville’s Administration was attacked most vocally by his 1987 opponent, Buddy Roemer. This was hardly surprising as Roemer’s ambition to be elected Governor was the worst kept secret in the state. On two issues in particular did Roemer surprise many observers, with his attacks on Carville. The first was on the issue of the environment. Governor Carville enjoyed generally close relations with the powerful oil and gas industry, something Roemer considered to be a corrupt arrangement. Roemer argued for an emphasis to be put on the environment, something that virtually no major Louisiana state politician had ever really argued. The other issue was race. In 1989 the Louisiana Board of Appeals would recommend a pardon for black prisoner Gary Tyler who had been convicted of a first degree murder at the age of 17 by an all-white jury. Tyler, who had initially been sentenced to death, before having that sentence commuted in 1980, had a case which was highly controversial, owing to the small amounts of evidence that actually pinned him to the crime. Carville, opting to try and avoid the ugly issue of law and order raising its head, refused to consider an appeal. Roemer, whose father had been a state legislator and an advocate for civil rights, argued that this was simply trying to avoid causing controversy and that it was morally wrong. This would create a peculiar situation where Roemer was polling peculiarly well among the state’s black population (though still losing it by a significant margin to Carville) despite representing the state branch of the National Conservatives. Roemer however was clever enough to support popular initiatives proposed by Carville, such as the boosting of teacher pay in the state and the tightening of campaign finance laws. Ironically for the boss of the AIP, the most fiscally conservative of the parties, he would applaud the Governor’s move to push for minor pay increases for state employees past and present, something that had not been done in many years.
Heading into the jungle primary in 1991, Carville knew that he faced a far stronger and more confident Roemer than he had four years prior. Those scrambling onto the jungle primary ballot included Roemer as the solitary American Independent, while for the Democrats it included Governor Carville, conservative Congressman Speedy Long, moderate state representative Kathleen Blanco, liberal State Senator Leader Richard Ieyoub and conservative Congressman Billy Tauzin. The GOP meanwhile could only muster no name candidate Anne Thompson who in polling usually pulled in around 1% of the vote. David Duke meanwhile ran as a Populist, much to everyone’s consternation. After a series of laughably protracted debates and a "Stop Roemer" effort by the Carville campaign, the state would go to the polls on the 19th October 1991. Roemer led the pack, as expected with nearly 40% of the vote, followed by Governor Carville on 30%. The rest of the Democrats were packed in around the low teens and high single figures, while Duke managed an astounding 3.4% of the vote, ahead of Thompson's 1.3%. Carville and Roemer would progress to the runoff one more. Post runoff polling showed Carville with a 46-42 lead, with 12% still undecided. The campaign over the coming month was brutal, with both candidates pulled no punches in the aim of painting the other as the worst possible choice for Louisiana, bar David Duke. Carville made frequent use of Roemer’s father, Charlie "Budgie" Roemer’s legal troubles and accusations of conspiracy. Roemer hit back, stating that Carville was in the pocket of big business and the oil industry. Governor Carville was also attacked as being the representative of President McKeithen in Louisiana as opposed to the people’s Governor. President McKeithen (who still enjoyed strong approval ratings and popularity in his home state) was drafted in to help buoy the Carville campaign. It helped, though Carville was harmed during a televised debate when Roemer pulled out of notepad, referencing the Governor’s press conference nearly 4 years prior and began to hammer the Governor away on each of his self professed markers. “Governor, you said that you would fight for change versus more of the same, well we’ve had you for four years representing the status quo, surely it is now time for REAL change in this great state?”
On election night the lead would flip between the two candidates, with Carville picking up a reasonable lead once New Orleans began to report in. Roemer picked up a good lead in the north and west of the state, winning much of the north bar the President’s home parish, Caldwell Parish. The final tallies put Roemer ahead slightly by 40,000 votes, or less than 2% of the vote. The state Democratic Party demanded a recount, much to the protests of the AIP, yet the margin remained relatively unchanged. Carville would graciously and magnanimously concede the race to Roemer, who would proclaim that a “new day of change has dawned down here in the bayeux!” Up in Washington, the sounds of breaking glass and raised voices was later claimed by administration officials after the race was called for Roemer, though Chief of Staff Russell B. Long would deny this in his memoirs.
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[1] Wikipedia articles Meldrim Thompson and Buddy Roemer used and applied here
Man, Rarick is quite the character. I can't help but cheer for his crusade against the metric system. It's unAmerican, by Jove! 
So the President's man was defeated in the President's home state? Oh boy
So the President's man was defeated in the President's home state? Oh boy
Just finished this timeline. Great work! I love your custom political system, you've turned me into someone who always votes Democratic to a swing voter. Here are my votes I compiled throughout reading
1964 US President - Lyndon Johnson/Hubert Humphrey
1965 NYC Mayor - Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.
1968 US President - Hubert Humphrey/John Connaly
1968 Vermont Senate - Roger MacBride
1969 Virginia Governor - Henry Howell
1969 NYC Mayor - John Lindsay
1970 Alabama Senate - Albert Brewer
1970 New York Senate - Charles Goodell
1970 Massachusetts Senate - Michael Dukakis
1970 California Governor - Sam Yorty
1970 California Senate - John V. Tunney
1970 Florida Senate - Claude R. Kirk
1972 US President - Jacob Javits/George Murphy
1972 Virginia Senate - William Spong Jr.
1972 North Carolina Senate - John C. Jackson
1972 South Carolina Senate - John C. West
1972 Maine Senate - Margaret Chase Smith
1972 Illinois Governor - Richard H. Ogilive
1973 LA Mayor - Jesse Unruh
1973 Virginia Governor - A. Linwood Holton
1973 NYC Mayor - Robert Kennedy
1974 Nevada Senate - Harry Reid
1974 Colorado Senate - Gary Hart
1975 Louisiana Governor - Moon Landrieu
1975 Kentucky Governor - Walter D. Huddleston
1976 Republican Nomination - Edward Brooke
1976 Democratic Nomination - Hugh Carey
1976 US President - Pete McCloskey/Lowell Wiecker (I like Howell/Brewer too, just less)
1976 Arizona Senate - Morris Udall
1976 Texas Senate - Lloyd Bentsen
1976 Virginia Senate - Clive L. DuVall
1977 NYC Mayor - Bella Abzug
1977 Virginia Governor - Henry Howell
1978 Tennessee Senate - William Anderson
1979 Kentucky Governor - Thelma Stovall
1980 Republican Nomination - Roger MacBride
1980 Democratic Nomination - Birch Bayh
1980 US President - Henry Jackson/Birch Bayh
1980 US Senate - Bruce Babbit
1981 NYC Mayor - Elizabeth Holtzman
1981 Virginia Governor - Maurice Dawkins
1982 Ohio Governor - Jerry Springer
1982 Pennsylvania Governor - R. Bud Dwyer
1983 Wyoming Governor - Clifford Hansen
1983 Louisiana Governor - Fox McMcKeithen
1983 Mississippi Governor - Charles Evers
1984 Democratic Nomination - Jesse Unruh
1984 Republican Nomination - Charles Evers
1984 NC Nomination - Bill Buckley
1984 US President - Jesse Unruh/Hugh Carey
1984 Nebraska Senate - James Exon
1984 Georgia Senate - Joe Frank Harris
1984 Utah Governor - Allan T. Howe
1986 Minnesota Governor - Eugene McCarthy
1986 Arizona Senate - Bruce Babbit
1986 Arizona Governor - Art Hamilton
1986 Texas Governor - Ron Paul
1986 Illinois Governor - Pat Quinn
1986 Georgia Governor - Ben Blackburn
1986 Colorado Governor - Pat Schroeder
1987 Louisiana Governor - Buddy Roemer
1988 Democratic Nomination - Bruce Babbit
1988 Republican Nomination - Jay Rockefeller
1988 NC Nomination - Meldrim Thompson through process of elimination
1988 US President - Fox McKeithen/Bruce Babbitt
1988 Massachusetts Senate - Paul Tsongas
1988 Washington Governor - George Fleming
1988 Mississippi Governor - Charles Evers
1988 Mississippi Senate - Mike Sturdivant
1989 NYC Mayor - Bernie Sanders
1989 Virginia Governor - Donald Beyer
1990 Rhode Island 1st - Buddy Cianci
1990 California 29th - Mel Levine
1990 Delaware Senate - Richard S. Cordrey
1990 Montana Senate - Daniel Kemmis
1990 Arkansas Senate - Bill Clinton
1990 South Dakota Governor - Jim Sykes
1990 South Carolina Senate - Richard Riley
1990 Alabama Senate - Albert Brewer
1990 Texas Governor - Mickey Leland
1990 Texas Senate - Charlie Wilson
1990 Arizona Governor - Art Hamilton
1990 Colorado Senate - Oscar Acosta
1990 Colorado Governor - Hunter S. Thompson
1991 Kentucky Governor - Gatewood Galbraith
1991 Louisiana Governor - Buddy Roemer
1964 US President - Lyndon Johnson/Hubert Humphrey
1965 NYC Mayor - Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.
1968 US President - Hubert Humphrey/John Connaly
1968 Vermont Senate - Roger MacBride
1969 Virginia Governor - Henry Howell
1969 NYC Mayor - John Lindsay
1970 Alabama Senate - Albert Brewer
1970 New York Senate - Charles Goodell
1970 Massachusetts Senate - Michael Dukakis
1970 California Governor - Sam Yorty
1970 California Senate - John V. Tunney
1970 Florida Senate - Claude R. Kirk
1972 US President - Jacob Javits/George Murphy
1972 Virginia Senate - William Spong Jr.
1972 North Carolina Senate - John C. Jackson
1972 South Carolina Senate - John C. West
1972 Maine Senate - Margaret Chase Smith
1972 Illinois Governor - Richard H. Ogilive
1973 LA Mayor - Jesse Unruh
1973 Virginia Governor - A. Linwood Holton
1973 NYC Mayor - Robert Kennedy
1974 Nevada Senate - Harry Reid
1974 Colorado Senate - Gary Hart
1975 Louisiana Governor - Moon Landrieu
1975 Kentucky Governor - Walter D. Huddleston
1976 Republican Nomination - Edward Brooke
1976 Democratic Nomination - Hugh Carey
1976 US President - Pete McCloskey/Lowell Wiecker (I like Howell/Brewer too, just less)
1976 Arizona Senate - Morris Udall
1976 Texas Senate - Lloyd Bentsen
1976 Virginia Senate - Clive L. DuVall
1977 NYC Mayor - Bella Abzug
1977 Virginia Governor - Henry Howell
1978 Tennessee Senate - William Anderson
1979 Kentucky Governor - Thelma Stovall
1980 Republican Nomination - Roger MacBride
1980 Democratic Nomination - Birch Bayh
1980 US President - Henry Jackson/Birch Bayh
1980 US Senate - Bruce Babbit
1981 NYC Mayor - Elizabeth Holtzman
1981 Virginia Governor - Maurice Dawkins
1982 Ohio Governor - Jerry Springer
1982 Pennsylvania Governor - R. Bud Dwyer
1983 Wyoming Governor - Clifford Hansen
1983 Louisiana Governor - Fox McMcKeithen
1983 Mississippi Governor - Charles Evers
1984 Democratic Nomination - Jesse Unruh
1984 Republican Nomination - Charles Evers
1984 NC Nomination - Bill Buckley
1984 US President - Jesse Unruh/Hugh Carey
1984 Nebraska Senate - James Exon
1984 Georgia Senate - Joe Frank Harris
1984 Utah Governor - Allan T. Howe
1986 Minnesota Governor - Eugene McCarthy
1986 Arizona Senate - Bruce Babbit
1986 Arizona Governor - Art Hamilton
1986 Texas Governor - Ron Paul
1986 Illinois Governor - Pat Quinn
1986 Georgia Governor - Ben Blackburn
1986 Colorado Governor - Pat Schroeder
1987 Louisiana Governor - Buddy Roemer
1988 Democratic Nomination - Bruce Babbit
1988 Republican Nomination - Jay Rockefeller
1988 NC Nomination - Meldrim Thompson through process of elimination
1988 US President - Fox McKeithen/Bruce Babbitt
1988 Massachusetts Senate - Paul Tsongas
1988 Washington Governor - George Fleming
1988 Mississippi Governor - Charles Evers
1988 Mississippi Senate - Mike Sturdivant
1989 NYC Mayor - Bernie Sanders
1989 Virginia Governor - Donald Beyer
1990 Rhode Island 1st - Buddy Cianci
1990 California 29th - Mel Levine
1990 Delaware Senate - Richard S. Cordrey
1990 Montana Senate - Daniel Kemmis
1990 Arkansas Senate - Bill Clinton
1990 South Dakota Governor - Jim Sykes
1990 South Carolina Senate - Richard Riley
1990 Alabama Senate - Albert Brewer
1990 Texas Governor - Mickey Leland
1990 Texas Senate - Charlie Wilson
1990 Arizona Governor - Art Hamilton
1990 Colorado Senate - Oscar Acosta
1990 Colorado Governor - Hunter S. Thompson
1991 Kentucky Governor - Gatewood Galbraith
1991 Louisiana Governor - Buddy Roemer
We will get to that eventually, as of 1991/2 ITTL, the Soviet Union is still standing, somewhat, but the Eastern Bloc is beginning to wither away around it. General Secretary Fedorchuk is meanwhile seen as being like Suslov, Andropov and Chernenko before him - conservative yet becoming keenly aware that any attempt to try and match defence spending increases of the US is likely to cause pretty big problems for the Soviet economy (if you ignore the already existing ones).
Quite an interesting list there! If you don't mind me asking why did you vote for some of the Republicans and even Conservatives such as Ron Paul, Budd Dwyer, Buddy Roemer and Paul Tsongas for instance?
Ron Paul is socially liberal, and I care more about social issues than economic ones. Didn't seem much different in Pennsylvaia candidates, so consider my vote for Dwyer a pitty vote for what happened to him IOTL more than anything. I originally had my vote for Carville but I found myself agreeing with Roemers policies more (too my surprise) in the latest update. Paul Tsongas can be either liberal or conservative depending on the timeline, haha.
My votes:
President, 1964: LBJ
UK Parliament, 1964: Labour
NYC Mayor, 1965: Buckley
President, 1968: Humphrey
UK Parliament, 1967: Labour
Vermont US Senate, 1968: MacBride
Virginia Governor, 1969: Howell
NYC Mayor, 1969: Buckley (if only based on the record)
Alabama Governor, 1970: Brewer
Massachusetts US Senate, 1970: Lodge
California Governor, 1970: Reagan
California US Senate, 1970: Tunney
UK Parliament, 1971: Labour
President, 1972: Humphrey
Virginia US Senate, 1972: Scott
NC US Senate, 1972: Jackson
SC US Senate, 1972: West
Maine US Senate, 1972: Smith
Virginia Governor, 1973: Zumwalt
NYC Mayor, 1973: Kennedy
Nevada US Senate, 1974: Reid
Colorado US Senate, 1974: Hart
Kentucky Governor, 1975: Huddleston
Louisiana Governor, 1975: Edwards
President, 1976 primaries: Between Ford and Brooke (R), Howell (D)
President, 1976 general: Howell
Arizona US Senate, 1976: Udall
Texas US Senate, 1976: Bush
Virginia US Senate, 1976: DuVal
Chile President, 1976: Aylwin
NYC Mayor, 1977: Abzug
Virginia Governor, 1977: Howell
Tennessee US Senate, 1978: Probably flip a coin between W. Anderson and Baker
Kentucky Governor, 1979: Stovall
Canada Parliament, 1979-91: NDP
President, 1980 primaries: Dornan (R), Long (D) (merely out of home-state acceptance)
President, 1980 general: MacBride
Arizona US Senate, 1980: Babbit
UK Parliament, 1980 & 81: Labour, then Liberal
NYC Mayor, 1981: Holtzman
Virginia Governor, 1981: Dawkins
Ohio Governor, 1982: Springer
Pennsylvania Governor, 1982: Dwyer
California gubernatorial recall election, 1983: No
Wyoming gubernatorial recall election, 1983: Hansen
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983: McKeithen
Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1983: Evers
President, 1984 primaries: Unruh (D), Evers (R), Buckley (NC)
Nebraska US Senate, 1984: Nelson
Georgia US Senate, 1984: Harris
Utah Governor, 1984: Huntsman
Minnesota Governor, 1986: Humphrey
Arizona US Senate, 1986: Babbit
Arizona Governor, 1986: Coin toss between Hamilton and McCain
Texas Governor, 1986: Paul
Illinois Governor, 1986: Schlaffy (if only out of pure sadism)
Georgia US Senate, 1986: Blackburn (if only a wasted vote)
Colorado Governor, 1986: Thompson
Louisiana Governor, 1987: Roemer
President, 1988 primaries: McKeithen (D), Philips (R), Jenkins (NC)
President, 1988 general: McKeithen
Mississippi Governor, 1988: Dowdy (Round 1), Evers (Round 2)
Mississippi US Senate, 1988: Thad Cochran
Massachusetts US Senate, 1988: Tsongas
Washington Governor, 1988: Morrison
NYC Mayor, 1989: Sanders
Virginia Governor, 1989: Webb
Quebec Assembly, 1989: Union Nationale
Delaware US Senate, 1990: DuPont
Montana US Senate, 1990: Kemmis
Arkansas US Senate, 1990: Clinton
SD Governor, 1990: Pressler
SC Governor, 1990: Riley
Alabama US Senate, 1990: Brewer
Colorado US Senate, 1990: Kramer
Colorado Governor, 1990: Thompson
Texas Governor, 1990: Paul (first round), sit out (second round)
Texas US Senate, 1990: Wilson
Arizona Governor, 1990: Coin toss again
CAFTA Referendum, 1990: Non
Louisiana Governor, 1991: Roemer
Kentucky Governor, 1991: Snyder
Canada Parliament, 1994: Social Credit (Aliens abound)
President, 1964: LBJ
UK Parliament, 1964: Labour
NYC Mayor, 1965: Buckley
President, 1968: Humphrey
UK Parliament, 1967: Labour
Vermont US Senate, 1968: MacBride
Virginia Governor, 1969: Howell
NYC Mayor, 1969: Buckley (if only based on the record)
Alabama Governor, 1970: Brewer
Massachusetts US Senate, 1970: Lodge
California Governor, 1970: Reagan
California US Senate, 1970: Tunney
UK Parliament, 1971: Labour
President, 1972: Humphrey
Virginia US Senate, 1972: Scott
NC US Senate, 1972: Jackson
SC US Senate, 1972: West
Maine US Senate, 1972: Smith
Virginia Governor, 1973: Zumwalt
NYC Mayor, 1973: Kennedy
Nevada US Senate, 1974: Reid
Colorado US Senate, 1974: Hart
Kentucky Governor, 1975: Huddleston
Louisiana Governor, 1975: Edwards
President, 1976 primaries: Between Ford and Brooke (R), Howell (D)
President, 1976 general: Howell
Arizona US Senate, 1976: Udall
Texas US Senate, 1976: Bush
Virginia US Senate, 1976: DuVal
Chile President, 1976: Aylwin
NYC Mayor, 1977: Abzug
Virginia Governor, 1977: Howell
Tennessee US Senate, 1978: Probably flip a coin between W. Anderson and Baker
Kentucky Governor, 1979: Stovall
Canada Parliament, 1979-91: NDP
President, 1980 primaries: Dornan (R), Long (D) (merely out of home-state acceptance)
President, 1980 general: MacBride
Arizona US Senate, 1980: Babbit
UK Parliament, 1980 & 81: Labour, then Liberal
NYC Mayor, 1981: Holtzman
Virginia Governor, 1981: Dawkins
Ohio Governor, 1982: Springer
Pennsylvania Governor, 1982: Dwyer
California gubernatorial recall election, 1983: No
Wyoming gubernatorial recall election, 1983: Hansen
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983: McKeithen
Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1983: Evers
President, 1984 primaries: Unruh (D), Evers (R), Buckley (NC)
Nebraska US Senate, 1984: Nelson
Georgia US Senate, 1984: Harris
Utah Governor, 1984: Huntsman
Minnesota Governor, 1986: Humphrey
Arizona US Senate, 1986: Babbit
Arizona Governor, 1986: Coin toss between Hamilton and McCain
Texas Governor, 1986: Paul
Illinois Governor, 1986: Schlaffy (if only out of pure sadism)
Georgia US Senate, 1986: Blackburn (if only a wasted vote)
Colorado Governor, 1986: Thompson
Louisiana Governor, 1987: Roemer
President, 1988 primaries: McKeithen (D), Philips (R), Jenkins (NC)
President, 1988 general: McKeithen
Mississippi Governor, 1988: Dowdy (Round 1), Evers (Round 2)
Mississippi US Senate, 1988: Thad Cochran
Massachusetts US Senate, 1988: Tsongas
Washington Governor, 1988: Morrison
NYC Mayor, 1989: Sanders
Virginia Governor, 1989: Webb
Quebec Assembly, 1989: Union Nationale
Delaware US Senate, 1990: DuPont
Montana US Senate, 1990: Kemmis
Arkansas US Senate, 1990: Clinton
SD Governor, 1990: Pressler
SC Governor, 1990: Riley
Alabama US Senate, 1990: Brewer
Colorado US Senate, 1990: Kramer
Colorado Governor, 1990: Thompson
Texas Governor, 1990: Paul (first round), sit out (second round)
Texas US Senate, 1990: Wilson
Arizona Governor, 1990: Coin toss again
CAFTA Referendum, 1990: Non
Louisiana Governor, 1991: Roemer
Kentucky Governor, 1991: Snyder
Canada Parliament, 1994: Social Credit (Aliens abound)
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Well, I think it’s more complex than that. Ron Paul believes in reviving the gold standard (an insane position which will almost certainly result in economic disaster if enacted), so that means I’ll choose literally anyone with rational views over him.