Well, not all of them surely. The Chavista (as in Cesar, not Hugo) wing would probably be if not comfortable, at least amenable to the Democrats in this TL - pretty much ethnic blue collar Catholic types (though of course not all of them were as paranoid about the communists as Chavez was). Huerta may or may not go FP, as she was less politically tied up with the Church than Chavez.
No Southern Strategy: The Political Ramifications of an Alternate 1964 Election
- Thread starter Nofix
- Start date
RIP Birch Bayh, once of the greatest liberal statesman of the Cold War Era who was once a VP candidate ITTL. I was re-reading that section last night only to find out he died today.
And so another NSS figure dies. Unfortunately this is a part of writing figures from this era. RIP.
I've actually been keeping a tallying of figures ITTL who have died thus far, the 1991 Senate list is slowly drying up - indeed quite a few figures have died since the TL started way back in 2015.
As a result of the death of Senator Bayh, we now have the situation where we have to go back to 1988 for a figure on one of TTL' major party tickets to still be alive (we have Bruce Babbitt and Pat Robertson both still around as of now). Interestingly the IR ticket in 1976 has both figures on it still alive - Lowell Weicker & Pete McCloskey. In comparison when the TL started we were only a few months past the death of Senator Ed Brooke, which would have made 1968 the earliest election for a still living candidate.
Much like OTL he's technically running in the Democratic primaries, but its quite lacklustre as he doesn't have any real interest in it (and hasn't deluded himself into thinking he might actually win).
Okay, just wasn't sure if it was like his OTL run where he was a write-in and used his own name as an outlet for protest voters, or it was more "Ralph Nader has decided to join the two-party system after having spent his entire public life railing against it!"
But not Tom Hayden?
Anyways, I'm surprised McKiethen has so many challengers.
Edit: removed comments about Woods since apparently he suffered serious facial injuries in the military
Tom Hayden was a Democratic State Senator in California who had obvious ambitions on the Presidency, but was sidelined by the state party repeatedly because he's Tom Hayden.
It's completely reasonable to have him run, but Nader, who's been a prominent critic of the two-party system for his entire career, is a lot more questionable.
I have to say that after having read into the guy, he was quite an 'inspiring' guy considering all the adversities he had to face in his life. An orphan who enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force & then later the US Army Air Corps in WWII who suffered horrendous injuries after a botched landing which left nearly three-quarters of his body badly burnt - his nose, eyelids, ears & hands were all destroyed. He received pioneering skin grafting surgery which saved his life & made him a pioneer with regards to transplants. After years of surgery which 'reconstructed' his face (often without anaesthesia) he started a successful business campaign which made him a millionaire. A perennial candidate, he nearly became the Democratic candidate for Lt. Gov. of Alabama in 1974 but lost the runoff after winning the initial primary vote. In 1992 he ran and despite being one of the many 'no name' candidates, he nearly won the North Dakota primary, coming in ahead of Clinton. Despite his looks he was happily married & had children - one of his sons was a Republican candidate for a House seat for the GOP about ten years or so ago. Despite all the challenges he faced, Woods lived into his eighties & considered himself to have been "blessed by God". In TTL he manages to become the Lt. Gov. candidate for the Dems (effectively winning him the office due to the weakness of the AL-GOP) in 1970 - with Albert Brewer resigning the office, Woods becomes Governor of the state. Woods rejected the use of racial rhetoric and sought to run the Governor's office in a business-like manner. While initially many Alabamans were shocked & even a little creeped out by his appearance, his down to earth personality and awe-inspiring life eventually won them around. The public would rally around him when an opponent made light of his appearance, and Woods would leave office as a remarkably popular man who still in the 1990s enjoys the admiration and support of many Alabamans, especially for his role in trying to mend race-relations in the state.
It should be noted that these candidates do vary in terms of how much of a threat they are. Most Presidents receive levels of opposition to their renomination, from 1992 with Bush having a serious challenge from Pat Buchanan to the hordes of weirdos, no-names & washed up pols who challenge Obama in 2012.
Deleted member 87099
I see someone is not a fan of Jeff Boss of the NSA Did 9/11 Party.
