Not Too Old: McCain 2012

It can be truly said that 2012 was a big year for the Republican Party. In fact, saying it was big would be an understatement that doesn’t do those 365 days anywhere near the justice they deserve, so I will revise what I originally stated. 2012 basically boiled down to the major turning point for the Republican Party. The battle waged within the GOP was about so much more than just who would be the party’s nominee for the office of President of the United States; oh no. It was not only a political battle, but an ideological civil war that was waged not only for the party’s nomination, but also it’s very soul. It was a battle, that would determine the elephant’s path for generations to come. It was a battle, that many on the far right called the end. But, for the moderate wing of the party, it was a new beginning. And it all started with an old man, named John...
 
Hmmm, it's not letting me send you any messages yet. I'll try again later. How about McCain denounces the Birther theory for starters?
 
Hmmm, it's not letting me send you any messages yet. I'll try again later. How about McCain denounces the Birther theory for starters?

odd that you can't send me any messages. I wonder what could be wrong... anyway, I'd greatly prefer it if we could chat over PM's. I like to keep the element of surprise.
 
Ok, part 2. Also, I'd like a critique of my writing style. Could you guys tell me what I need to improve on? Any suggestions would be good.:

Actually, it might be more accurate (if not a little more prudent) to say that the events of 2012 actually began back in the far, distant year of 2011. Back in those troubled days, the economy was recovering slowly but surely from the economic troubles caused by the disastrous policies of the eight years spent under the epic failure of the Bush Administration. (Special distinction should be made to clarify that the author is referring to the administration of former president George W. Bush rather than the respective policies of the administrations of both former presidents George H. W. Bush and Jeb Bush.) Also in those days existed the infamous far-right movement within the Republican Party that was widely known on the national stage as the "Tea Party".

This "Tea Party", which had taken its nom de guerre from the Boston Tea Party (an event during the early days of the Revolutionary War in which American revolutionaries dumped many crates of tea from British merchant ships into the Boston Harbor to protest the high tax on tea), had declared itself dedicated to "preserving the values and freedoms guaranteed by the US constitution", and presented themselves as patriotic revolutionaries. However, the so-called "Tea Party" could be more accurately described by a term widely used by the "socialists" that they proclaimed to hate. Two terms actually, if you count their attitude towards change. The two terms that can best describe the Tea Party are reactionary and regressive. The Tea Party was also widely known for its somewhat radical ideas and violent rhetoric that was often thinly veiled. They were also some of the strongest advocates of of crackpot conspiracy theories, including the "Birther Movement" (an attempt to prove that President Barack Obama was not really an American citizen and thus ineligible for the presidency), the belief that Socialism was taking over the US, and the fear that the government was rapidly turning into a massive Big Brother state a la George Orwell's famous fictional story of dystopia, 1984, to name a few. While they never had a formal leader, some of their brightest shining stars in 2011 were former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, real estate tycoon and famed businessman Donald Trump, and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Former Governor Sarah Plain, fresh off the campaign trail from Senator John McCain's failed 2008 presidential campaign, was a major star in tea party politics, and was widely seen as the party's standard bearer up until the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona by Jared Lee Loughner, and Palin's resulting "Blood Libel" controversy. In response to the backlash she was receiving for her comments, Plain chose to lay low under the radar and wait out the storm she had stirred up for herself. When she finally returned, she found that, while she still remained popular with tea party regulars, she received a more frosty reception from a lot of people. It was then that she began to come to the sobering realization that her star was fading, and she knew that she needed to get back on track to save herself from irrelevance and obscurity.

Donald Trump was a celebrity, plain and simple. Well, to give credit where credit is due, he was also one of the richest men in the US in the year 2011. He built up a massive conglomorate and ran one of the most widely known reality TV shows, The Apprentice, and its less popular spin-off, Celebrity Apprentice. He was a competent businessman, that much cannot be denied, but competence in business and competence in politics are two completely different things, no matter what the shattered remains on the far-right might say. It can be truly said, looking back in retrospect, (if the reader will be so kind as to forgive any such biases that the author might hold) that Donald Trump was completely out of his element when it came to political discussions and debates. He was undiplomatic in many instances, he had something of a temper, and often appeared to have no real knowledge about what he was talking about when getting up before a camera. Yet, despite all of this (or perhaps because of this), he received a very warm reception from many in the Tea Party and was even briefly seen as a major contender for, and even the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for President in 2012. Trump towed the Tea Party line to major extremes, even carrying on the birther issue well past its expiration date. If Trump was ever serious about running, however, is a question that is still debated to this day.

Michelle Bachmann... well, I'm sure everyone knows about Michelle Bachmann by now. Founder of the Tea Party Caucus, the replacement of Palin as the Tea Party darling, and a congresswoman from Minnesota. Not much to say about Bachmann that isn't already known. All I have to say is that history will be her judge.
 
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Well, I hope that we don't overlook McCain's famously volatile temper and his history of tantrums and infantile rages. Or his complete lack of interest or involvement with economic issues of any sort. And I'm not sure how his 60's era social liberalism is going to play in the culture wars.

Basically, make sure to take the bad with the good...
 
The year 2011 was a year of caution for Republicans. It was also the year in which willing presidential candidates were harder to come accross than a four-leafed clover. Considering what year it was and just who they were up against, it was not at all surprising. After all, the Republican Party had soured itself in the vision of many Americans. The ideology they held at the time was losing popularity, and they were viewed by a large section of Americans as being obstructionist and "in the way". Piled on top of their slipping popularity was the unsavory truth that they were facing the challenge of unseating a president running for re-election (a feat not accomplished since Bill Clinton defeated Geroge H. W. Bush), and a popular president at that. If the Republicans were to have any hope of reclaiming the White House in 2012, they were going to need a charismatic leader that could appeal to all wings of the party as well as independents, a candidate that would energize voters, a platform that included a clear counterproposal to the Democratic plan, and they would also need to move away from the more radical elements of the party that had been screaming the loudest. Unfortunately for moderate Republicans, the more radical wing had been getting the most screentime and coverage, and the Tea Party had been nearly successful in hijacking the the Republican platform. The moderate wing knew that they had been backed into a corner, with a fringe movement at the helm. However much of an embarrassment the Tea Party had become for mainstream Republicans, they found leaving the Democrats in power to be an even worse scenario. While the Tea Party had no shortage of candidates to fawn over and support, moderate Republicans were hard-pressed to find an effective leader that could fight back. Most of their people were effectively either public unknowns or unpopular. Even some of their most moderate leaders, however reluctantly they might have done it, found themselves trying to gain acceptance with the Tea Party out of fear of losing their seats and being replaced with mouthpeices of the Tea Party. The Republican primaries, through late 2011 and into early 2012, would show just how much tea the Republicans were drowning in.
 
How did you fit in Clinton and two Bushes?

Unless I've been ISOT'ed very recently, George H. W. Bush was a one-term president that was unseated by Clinton in OTL. And there are three Bushes. OTL George Bush Sr and George Bush Jr, as well as a future administration under Jeb Bush that occurs after the events of the main story.

I also kind of don't understand the question you are asking.
 
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