Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

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CosmicAsh

CosmicAsh

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The United States Presidential Election of 1980 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent National Nelson Rockefeller defeated Social Labor nominee Fernando González. This was the 4th presidential election won by President Nelson Rockefeller, who had served in the position since 1969. Historians consider this is the last of the "Rockefeller Era," which was marked by progressive politics, moderate reform, and little policy difference between the two political parties.

Rockefeller's popularity and the economic growth of the 1970s allowed him to win his largest mandate in the electoral college to date. The Social Labor primaries were only seriously contested by Senator Walter Mondale and Governor Fernando González. The popular Governor González ran on a socially conservative, economically socialist platform, touting his success in reviving Sonora's lagging economy, while also passing laws restricting marriage between one man and one woman.

President Rockefeller was a vocal critic of this policy, and maintained his steadfast support of civil rights, touting his party's success in expanding rights since the 1870s, something he would seek to continue moving into the 1980s. While Rockefeller would pass away before he could renew his term in office in 1981, President Romney signed the Marriage Equality Act of 1983 into law, which allowed the Federal Government to recognise same-sex unions in matters of Medicare and Social Pensions, but did not legalise the practice.

Few pundits believed González would be able to win the election, given the President's 70% approval rating, booming economy, and balanced budget. He proved to poll surprisingly strong in the south, where evangelical support was high, and a higher than normal Hispanic turnout was expected. This alone was not enough to propel the Governor to victory, who would go on to lose in the landslide.
 
Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

Kanan said:
The United States Presidential Election of 1980 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election.
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Nice to see the map!

Although it does feel rather... odd to have same sex marriage be such an issue this early. As far as I understand it, it wasn't a prominent issue until the 1990s.
 
Witch0Winter

Witch0Winter

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Kanan said:
The United States Presidential Election of 1980 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent National Nelson Rockefeller defeated Social Labor nominee Fernando González. This was the 4th presidential election won by President Nelson Rockefeller, who had served in the position since 1969. Historians consider this is the last of the "Rockefeller Era," which was marked by progressive politics, moderate reform, and little policy difference between the two political parties.
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Yay, wonderful to see it here. :) The Rockefeller Era certainly sounds interesting, particularly bits about the Nationals being much more socially progressive, with both Rockefeller and George Romney being big figures in the party. Given what you've shown of the two parties in the modern day, it seems quite the switch has happened between them, which makes it even more fascinating given how very recent it must have happened. Enjoyed it as always and thanks for making it. :D
 
NBC News: Election Night 1980
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    • CosmicAsh

    CosmicAsh

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    "Well it's turning out to be an interesting evening tonight. We can now project that Kansas and Nebraska will go to President Rockefeller, again, Kansas and Nebraska will go into the column of President Rockefeller, on your television screens now as blue, that's light grey in black and white."

    "It's pretty clear already that President Rockefeller will be able to secure his re-election, don't you agree?"

    "I believe the President has won a significant victory tonight, and the question is only by how much. As of now, NBC news still cannot project the key state of Cuba, where Governor Domínguez spent a lot of time in the waning weeks of the campaign, and we will try and see if he has pulled off a victory there."
     
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    • Witch0Winter

    Witch0Winter

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    A: Holy crap that is amazing and incredible and further propels this timeline along as an absolutely stellar piece of art. I love it so much and the retro 80s feel is perfect. :D

    B: Well there goes my retro map crown. :p
     
    CosmicAsh

    CosmicAsh

    Riley Uhr said:
    Gonzalez didnt do half bad in the popular vote
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    It was pretty comparable, but that's only because the races in the south were pretty close and he ran up the margins decently in the states he won.

    Turquoise Blue said:
    Nice to see the map!

    Although it does feel rather... odd to have same sex marriage be such an issue this early. As far as I understand it, it wasn't a prominent issue until the 1990s.
    Click to expand...

    It's a bit different in this timeline. Civil Rights, for any group, are accelerated by ~10-20 years. In the United States, at least, this stems from a far more successful reconstruction era, which allowed activists to move onto voting rights (granted before the turn of the century), the completion of the Civil Rights Movement (Think MLK) in the 1940s/1950s. The "Sexual Revolution" takes place in the 1950s into the 1960s. The 1970s are sort of the Conservative backlash, and gay rights accelerates in the 1990s and 2000s.

    Witch0Winter said:
    Yay, wonderful to see it here. :) The Rockefeller Era certainly sounds interesting, particularly bits about the Nationals being much more socially progressive, with both Rockefeller and George Romney being big figures in the party. Given what you've shown of the two parties in the modern day, it seems quite the switch has happened between them, which makes it even more fascinating given how very recent it must have happened. Enjoyed it as always and thanks for making it. :D
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    Oh! I should put a disclaimer that all ones I make for Our Fair Country will be posted here in the thread...

    In terms of the two parties, yeah. This happened a lot in the 1980s. The failure of González to win on his socialist economics with social conservatism led to the rise of the leftist wing of Social Labor, which was embodied in Walter Mondale, who would go on to win in 1984.

    Witch0Winter said:
    A: Holy crap that is amazing and incredible and further propels this timeline along as an absolutely stellar piece of art. I love it so much and the retro 80s feel is perfect. :D

    B: Well there goes my retro map crown. :p
    Click to expand...

    Really? I super didn't want to post it because I think it looked bad. Yours is a lot better in my opinion :biggrin:
     
    mortonofski

    mortonofski

    Donor
    Kanan said:
    Welcome to the posting club! Glad to have you as a reader! And thank you for the kind words!

    Yes, the Hamilton Post has that motto for a reason, I was wondering if someone was ever going to mention it...

    There's a modestly large controversy surrounding President Rubio's past, as well as his family connections. His father was incredibly weathly due to owning a lot of land and buildings in Havana-curious given that his own father was rather poor. There is intense speculation that Mario Rubio was a member of the Havana Mob, and part of the larger Cuban Mob crime ring that operates in Cuba and Florida.

    The Hamilton Post has pushed this story and the investigation very far, and some on the left believe that it goes so far as the President himself being involved in the Cuban mafia. The rest of the media establishment, for whatever reason, does not see merit or does not believe these accusations, and they do not report on it.

    This, "Democracy dies in Darkness" is the motto for the Hamilton Post due to their efforts to try and uncover the Rubio family ties, and to try and prove (or disprove) that the President is involved in the mafia. Darkness refers to them being the only media outlet investigating the story.
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    Wow, thank you so much! I guess it's time to dispense with the notion that Rubio doesn't know what he's doing ;) I think the sheer amount of thought and detail you put into everything here - even something as simple as a newspaper's slogan - is what sets Our Fair Country far apart from everything else on the site :)

    One additional question - I'd always kinda wondered how Lucien Bouchard made his way down from the Saguenay to become MP for Greenwood and parts of Park Slope in Brooklyn...
     
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