Poll: Choose The Future of my TL!

What do I do now?

  • Udall '76 (Preparing for the EMAK/Zangara TL)

    Votes: 15 57.7%
  • The EMAK/Zangara TL w/out preparation

    Votes: 11 42.3%

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
Well, as you guys can probably tell, my timeline Every Man A King (the link is in my sig) is basically dead as it is. However, the concept and the general TL is not dead. As I just said in another thread, I'm planning to use a different POD for this TL, one that is much more popularly recognized: Zangara assassinates FDR 1933.

Much of it will of course be the same. However, for once, I'm actually going to have a consistent style of writing for this TL, specifically Thande's style used for his excellent timeline which can be found in the Timelines & Scenarios Section, "Look To The West."

However, this TL is going to my baby. I love it, just as I have loved every other previous version of this, dating all the way back to "The Man With the Iron Heart." Therefore, I want it to be really great.

Therefore, I've conceived the idea of writing a much shorter TL set in the 1970s, revolving around one alternate POTUS elected in 1976. Indeed, unless my fellow AH.Commers deem it way too ASB, I was thinking of electing an impossible candidate, as does seem to be my tendency in my TLs. This time, it would be Mo Udall.:D The purpose of writing this TL (which would be short - it would only cover the Udall Presidency) would be to prepare and train myself for writing a TL of the magnitude I have planned for my Every Man A King redo. I have realized that I'm somewhat unprepared to take on a TL of this seize so far, so therefore I should prepare myself for it by writing a shorter TL that will educate me in both AH and TL writing.

However, I'll put it up to YOU THE READER, whom I have disappointed with my many cancellations and my tendency to redo my redoings of my TL concepts.

And so the question is: Should I prepare myself with an Udall '76 TL, or should I go directly to EMAK sort-of-2.0?

The poll is incoming, and it shall last three days.
 
I'm in the same boat. I was trying to prepare myself to write a Timeline on the McGovern Presidency from 1972 on, including the 1972 Presidential Election, with butterflies being revealed as we went on, but it is tie consuming to write and find good sources.

As for Mo Udall, it would not be impossible to get him elected, considering how close he was in a number of major primaries against Carter. He would win the general election by a comfortable margin as well.


Edit: The only problem I had with Every Man a King was the unrealistic Cross-Channel Invasion.
 
I'm in the same boat. I was trying to prepare myself to write a Timeline on the McGovern Presidency from 1972 on, including the 1972 Presidential Election, with butterflies being revealed as we went on, but it is tie consuming to write and find good sources.

As for Mo Udall, it would not be impossible to get him elected, considering how close he was in a number of major primaries against Carter. He would win the general election by a comfortable margin as well.


Edit: The only problem I had with Every Man a King was the unrealistic Cross-Channel Invasion.


1) Yeah, it's hard to do a long TL right off the bat.
2) A detailed TL on a McGovern presidency? I REALLY hope you do this at some point. My mouth is already watering.:p
3) Huh, I never realized Udall was that close. Interesting.
4) The '42 Cross-Channel Invasion in EMAK: I've been thinking about your arguments in the TL's thread, and yeah, it's basically ASB how it happened. This version's D-Day would probably happen in 1943.
 
Nice idea. I've voted on the pole already. Don't know much about Udall. It'll be good to wet your whistle with that TL while you get stuff ready for the EMAK 2.
 
Bumpity Bump. So far I'm definitely leaning towards starting off with President Udall, though there is currently a conversation going with another board member about a certain collaborative TL that would be totally awesome.:D;)
 
A sample/preview for the Udall TL, showing the POD and a bit of the TL:

-------------

The New York Times Editorial, April 30 1976

The Five Men with a Shot in November


The end of the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries are approaching soon, and neither party seems to have a clear nominee and a clear platform set for November.

The simplest struggle this year is the two-man war between President Gerald Ford and his conservative critic, former actor and Governor of California Ronald Reagan. In an insurgent campaign against an incumbent President that has never been seen since Gene McCarthy, Governor Reagan has proven a tough opponent for President Ford. In the seven past contests, Governor Reagan has come within striking distance of the President in three, and in North Carolina, the most recent contest, the conservative firebrand defeated the President of the United States with a 53% popular vote victory. The question on the mind of the pollster is: Can Governor Reagan somehow pull it off?

The situation for the Democratic Party is less simple. Jimmy Carter, an unknown peanut planter and former governor of Georgia, has went from obscure to phenomenon by becoming a major frontrunner for the nomination. Governor Carter has won six of the eight past primaries, albeit narrowly. And while much of the Democratic Party is contented with Carter, liberals in the party, disillusioned with the centrism of the Carter campaign, have stood behind Congressman Mo Udall of Arizona, who won a strong victory for his campaign in Wisconsin two and a half weeks ago. And while this contest would appear to be a two-man race, a late entry has arrived: The Governor of California, Jerry Brown, who is winning support quickly.

After considering the facts, I have compiled a list of five candidates who have a chance at winning the presidency in November, and I have compiled them in the order of most realistic. The most likely shall be detailed first, and the least likely shall be detailed last.

1. The Most Likely - Jimmy Carter. We've got to hand it to Governor Carter: For an insurgent from Georgia, Jimmy Carter has done remarkably well. He has succeeded in rallying centrists within the party around his campaign, while also attracting several liberals with his outsider campaign. If Governor Carter can continue his efforts to unite the entire party, he can not only win the nomination, but he can easily lead a united Democratic Party to victory in November 1976.

2. The Second Most Likely - Ronald Reagan. Governor Reagan has it all - the eight years as Governor, the charismatic personality, the name recognition - to win the United States presidency. Although he has done poorly in several primaries, he has come very close to defeating President Ford in several primaries, and while he seems likely to a resounding defeat in the Pennsylvania primary tomorrow, his chances at a blowout victory in Texas - his first ever - appear very large. If Reagan can overcome the President and somehow keep the Ford Republicans united with the party, Reagan would have a likely chance at victory in the general election.

3. The Third Most Likely - Mo Udall. Although Mo Udall should have more name recognition for being the brother of John F. Kennedy's Secretary of the Interior and as a longtime congressman - and not to mention his charisma - he doesn't. Mo Udall has supported liberal legislation in the House since he was sworn in, and he has so far proven personally infallible. If Mo Udall can prove the power of liberalism in the upcoming primaries, he has a chance at winning the nomination. Then, depending on his running mate and the level of unity in the party post-primaries, Udall would have a chance at winning in the general election.

4. The Fourth Most Likely - Jerry Brown. Jerry Brown has been Governor of California since January 1975, having succeeded Ronald Reagan (who, as a matter of fact, succeeded Jerry's father, Edmund G. Brown Sr.). Governor Brown has been active in office, and he appears to be a unique blend of centrism and liberalism. Governor Brown has recently entered the contest as a late candidate. The only chance for Governor Brown to win the Democratic nomination would be to position himself as a compromise between Jimmy Carter and Mo Udall, and even then, his chances in the general election are slim.

5. The Least Likely - Gerald Ford, the President himself. President Gerald Ford appears to have been the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. The President has suffered unfavorable ratings in the polls since he took office after Richard Nixon's August 1974 resignation; he has suffered many setbacks in policy decisions, such as his controversial pardoning of President Nixon; the two attempts on his life last November; and the conservative uprising led within his own party this year. With the conservatives behind Reagan unhappy and revolutionizing, the Democrats determined to defeat whomever wins the Republican nomination, and the American people dedicated to electing a new president this November, Gerald Ford would have to pull a miracle to win re-election this November, assuming he wins his own party's nomination. Though it is not to say a Ford victory is impossible - after all, we all remember 1948.
 
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