28: Fear, Loathing and Yellowcake on the Campaign Trail ‘04
Abraham Washington
Banned
Fear, Loathing and Yellowcake on the Campaign Trail ‘04
When Trump announced his campaign for re-election in late 2003, it came with a new slogan: Make America Great Again. Hoping to capitalize on the revolutionary spirit that thrust him into office at the turn of the century, Trump chose this slogan to help with his final push for electoral reform.
In fact, 2004 was very much a dual campaign, with the President campaigning not only for himself, but a yes vote in the referendum in the fall. It would be a grueling campaign, but Trump hoped that his great successes in his first term would win him a second and give much needed gravitas to his support for the 28th...
But opposition was mounting. Hoping to capitalize on the recession and numerous scandals during Trump’s presidency, both the Republicans and Democrats would run strong and fierce campaigns.
The Republicans nominated John McCain, the Republicans maverick answer the reformist Trump. The conservative base was not happy, so McCain decided to emphasize his hawkishness and status as a war hero. He ran on a campaign criticizing Trump’s radicalism and “un-presidential” actions. He also stoked up fear over WMDs in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Indeed, one of his main policies was using American military force to secure the country. He hammered the doveish Trump over his refusal to act against Iraq and his “cosying up to dictators”. He also made insinuations that Trump was in cahoots with places like Russia to destablise the post war order. Most Americans at the turn of the century were rather apathetic about foreign policy, but his arguments woulf resonate in some sectors.
The Democrats on the other hand would nominate one Hillary Rodham Clinton, hoping to capitalize on her recognition, appeal and potential to the first female President. This nomination was much to the disdain of the party’s left, so as a result Clinton would pick Howard Dean as her running mate. This assuaged some fears, but some were still disillusioned with the Democrats.
This was all well and good for the two parties, but they still lagged behind the President in the polls and it very much looked like Reform would come through the middle again like last time. So when a certain news story broke in mid 2004, it came as a great relief to the parties.
The news broke that Iraq did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction and was using them against the rapidly growing rebellion against Saddam.. Furthermore, it was alleged through leaked documents that Trump was colluding with nations like Russia and Turkey to suppress this information. The story was wild, and Trump quickly denied it, but it did give the other two parties casus belli for a new an unorothodox approach.
With civil war looming in Iraq and the threat of terrorists or other rogue actors aquiring WMDs, the Democrats and Republicans announced a “patriotic” electoral pact for national security. The Democrats would take themselves off the ballot in red states and the Republicans would take themselves off the ballot in blue states. It was hoped that this would deadlock the electoral college, at which point the McCain and Clinton campaigns secretly promised to pledge their delegates to the more successful candidate. Afterwards, a bipartisan administration would be formed to tackle Saddam’s Iraq and roll back the radicalism of Trump.
This was their trump card.
The announcement threw the election into chaos, with mass defections from all three parties. One segment of Americans was outraged with Trump’s weakness against Iraq. Another segment was even more outraged that the other two parties were colluding to oust Trump.
Things seemed dire heading into the fall for the Trump campaign, but things could still be turned around. Trump and his advisors knew that by showing their hand so soon, they had proved Trump’s argument of the corrupt two-party duopoly and that this line of attack could be key to not only winning re-election but sweeping away the old order once and for all...
Meanwhile, pressure began to mount against the Trump Administration to act against Iraq. Trump’s failure to neutralize Bin Laden had led to many considering him “weak” on foreign policy, and the crisis in Iraq only reinforced this argument. Would Trump have to abandon his principles and order a strike in the gulf?
When Trump announced his campaign for re-election in late 2003, it came with a new slogan: Make America Great Again. Hoping to capitalize on the revolutionary spirit that thrust him into office at the turn of the century, Trump chose this slogan to help with his final push for electoral reform.
In fact, 2004 was very much a dual campaign, with the President campaigning not only for himself, but a yes vote in the referendum in the fall. It would be a grueling campaign, but Trump hoped that his great successes in his first term would win him a second and give much needed gravitas to his support for the 28th...
But opposition was mounting. Hoping to capitalize on the recession and numerous scandals during Trump’s presidency, both the Republicans and Democrats would run strong and fierce campaigns.
The Republicans nominated John McCain, the Republicans maverick answer the reformist Trump. The conservative base was not happy, so McCain decided to emphasize his hawkishness and status as a war hero. He ran on a campaign criticizing Trump’s radicalism and “un-presidential” actions. He also stoked up fear over WMDs in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Indeed, one of his main policies was using American military force to secure the country. He hammered the doveish Trump over his refusal to act against Iraq and his “cosying up to dictators”. He also made insinuations that Trump was in cahoots with places like Russia to destablise the post war order. Most Americans at the turn of the century were rather apathetic about foreign policy, but his arguments woulf resonate in some sectors.
The Democrats on the other hand would nominate one Hillary Rodham Clinton, hoping to capitalize on her recognition, appeal and potential to the first female President. This nomination was much to the disdain of the party’s left, so as a result Clinton would pick Howard Dean as her running mate. This assuaged some fears, but some were still disillusioned with the Democrats.
This was all well and good for the two parties, but they still lagged behind the President in the polls and it very much looked like Reform would come through the middle again like last time. So when a certain news story broke in mid 2004, it came as a great relief to the parties.
The news broke that Iraq did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction and was using them against the rapidly growing rebellion against Saddam.. Furthermore, it was alleged through leaked documents that Trump was colluding with nations like Russia and Turkey to suppress this information. The story was wild, and Trump quickly denied it, but it did give the other two parties casus belli for a new an unorothodox approach.
With civil war looming in Iraq and the threat of terrorists or other rogue actors aquiring WMDs, the Democrats and Republicans announced a “patriotic” electoral pact for national security. The Democrats would take themselves off the ballot in red states and the Republicans would take themselves off the ballot in blue states. It was hoped that this would deadlock the electoral college, at which point the McCain and Clinton campaigns secretly promised to pledge their delegates to the more successful candidate. Afterwards, a bipartisan administration would be formed to tackle Saddam’s Iraq and roll back the radicalism of Trump.
This was their trump card.
The announcement threw the election into chaos, with mass defections from all three parties. One segment of Americans was outraged with Trump’s weakness against Iraq. Another segment was even more outraged that the other two parties were colluding to oust Trump.
Things seemed dire heading into the fall for the Trump campaign, but things could still be turned around. Trump and his advisors knew that by showing their hand so soon, they had proved Trump’s argument of the corrupt two-party duopoly and that this line of attack could be key to not only winning re-election but sweeping away the old order once and for all...
Meanwhile, pressure began to mount against the Trump Administration to act against Iraq. Trump’s failure to neutralize Bin Laden had led to many considering him “weak” on foreign policy, and the crisis in Iraq only reinforced this argument. Would Trump have to abandon his principles and order a strike in the gulf?
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