The Power and the Glitter!
- Thread starter vultan
- Start date
Looks like a very interesting career path he has... I hope to hear more about him!
Plus, I'm thrilled to see Jack Kemp still gets to be President
Plus, I'm thrilled to see Jack Kemp still gets to be President
Looks like a very interesting career path he has... I hope to hear more about him!
Plus, I'm thrilled to see Jack Kemp still gets to be President
Ah, yes. They're both very interesting guys.
John Fredrick Parker
Donor
Finally got around to catching up; just want to say -- loving it! Looking forward to seeing if Forrest Gump or Pulp Fiction win Best Picture...
The Jerry Springer Show, History
The Jerry Springer Show, a day-time talk show, debuted on September 30, 1991, starring the titular former Cincinnati mayor . Initially, Springer was distributed by Multimedia Entertainment, later going to the former Universal and then to Studios USA CTTD also distributed to the series. It was conceived as an issues-oriented and political talk show, a longer version of the commentary for which Springer had gained local fame as a reporter and anchor, and for its first season, was even taped at Springer's former station, WLWT in Cincinnati. Guests early on included future Senator Oliver North and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and the topics included homelessness and gun politics, as well as the social effects of rock music, featuring shock rock stars like GG Allin, El Duce from The Mentors and GWAR as guests.
Originally seen in only the four markets where Multimedia owned TV stations, it was somewhat different than today's version of the show. The set for the show has had two major changes over the years. When the show first started in 1991, it was very basic with white walls, in an effort to capture the feel of fellow talk show Donahue. Springer’s haircut and glasses even seeming to make him look like Phil Donahue. The general look of this set was carried over when the show first moved to Chicago in September 1992, with an unpolished, open air look and bright colored shapes.
At the program was moved to the NBC owned-and-operated channels in 1992, however, ratings were slack. By early 1994, Multimedia was threating to pull the plug on The Jerry Springer Show. Two competing camps emerged in the production team. The first was represented by producer Peter Dominick, who suggested a drastic revamp of the program, touching more controversial and taboo topics and allowing working class Americans to take to the stage to deal with their problems. Such a lowbrow pitch was considered by executive producer Burt Dubrow “vulgar”, who instead advocated “staying the course” with the program’s original intent. However, though Dubrow disagreed with the main thrust of Dominick’s proposed changes, he recognized that some shock value was going to have to be added to maintain audience attention. The question on everyone’s mind in the early months of 1994, of course, was what was exactly needed to achieve this. By May, Dubrow had found the answer.
In a moment ranked up with the Frost-Nixon interviews in terms of importance, ousted Louisiana Governor David Duke agreed to appear on Jerry Springer’s television program. This would be his first interview since the recall, and to this day Duke has never specifically stated why he accepted the offer to appear on the show. What is clear, though, is that it became a seminal moment in American television history. Well over 70 million Americans [1] tuned in for the broadcast on April 11th, 1994- a record for a daytime talk show. The telecast itself was rather predictable: a smiling Duke walked onto the stage to a deep chorus of boos and jeers, while Springer himself tried to remain somewhat dispassionate in his questioning of the former Governor. Duke, however, pushed his rhetoric so hard that the disgusted host walked out of the interview (though many in the media allege the walkout was a preplanned act to garner media attention, as the lengthy interview was five minutes from completion anyway). The Klansmen came out of The Jerry Springer Show much the same as he came in- a reviled, fringe specimen of American politics. The real change, though, was for the program he appeared on. Burt Dubrow was vindicated in his strategy, whilst the rebellious Peter Dominick had to concede to Dubrow that his plan had worked. Jerry Springer’s talk show was now a direct competitor to The Oprah Winfrey Show- at least in the short term. The trick was to see if the formula worked long term.
Though later accounts would suggest a bitter falling-out between the Dubrow camp and the Dominick camp, in actuality that was not the case. Peter Dominick maintains a cordial relationship with his superior to this day, and for the remainder of his tenure on The Jerry Springer Show’s production team actively worked to incorporate his more populist ideas into the political format of the show. For instance, while it was Dubrow who got the standard staple of small-fry Nazis, Communists, conspiracy theorists and militia activists on the show for the next couple months, it was Dominick who repeated the success of the Duke appearance by arranging for an interview with Lenora Fulani on the Monday before the historic 1994 midterm elections. Fulani, a far-left political activist who had run for President before on the New Alliance Party ticket, had narrowly beaten out the more centrist incumbent, Stan Lundine, in the New York gubernatorial Democrat primary. Lundine was unpopular among the more liberal elements of the New York Democrat primary, who either sat out the primary or protest-voted for Fulani- who narrowly won the contest. Though polls showed her severely lagging behind Republican-Conservative nominee Norman F. Lent [2], but the race had gained national attention due to Fulani’s narrow win in the primary and her extremely liberal views. Seeing the popularity of The Jerry Springer Show, she agreed to appear on the program if treated fairly (i.e. no walkout), believing that it could make a difference in her polling numbers. While she still lost the gubernatorial election in a landslide, the interview pulled in a cool 60 million+ audience share for the network. The Jerry Springer Show had arrived.
Over the next decade, Jerry Springer’s television spectacular became a beloved staple in American political discourse. There was no real bias to speak of on the show; Springer was only interested in ratings, and he’d accept anyone on his program (one common joke among the politically savvy in the United States was that The Jerry Springer Show was the fulfillment of the Fairness Doctrine). Several right-wing talk show hosts such as Michael Savage and Alex Jones became regulars on the show, while more lighthearted pundits such as Al Franken and Arianna Huffington (who’s transition from conservative to liberal became quite clear throughout the show’s run). Ross Perot appeared quite often during the 1996 and 1998 election cycles to pitch both his second presidential bid and the budding Reform Party, and many attribute the (relative) success of that party to The Jerry Springer Show. If any one label could correctly define the program, Peter Dominick found it: “a populist free-for-all”. After Ross Perot showed that the media exposure on the show could reap huge benefits, and Tom Campbell showed up in 1998 to help his reelection bid, many mainstream politicians were clamoring to appear. Often times conspiracy theorists and militia defenders would appear on the same stage as a three-term Senator or other important political insider. Charles Krauthammer succinctly stated, “What The Jerry Springer Show did, was it made the fringe in America acceptable.”
Eventually, Peter Dominick was able to produce a television show in his own vision- “giving ordinary Joes a chance to share their story”- to huge success. Showdown with William Shatner debuted in primetime on NBC in the fall, 1996 season.
1994 Midterms- The Republican Revolution
United States House elections
In a net gain of 59 seats, the Republicans under the leadership of Newt Gingrich take the House of Representatives, the first time the Republicans had taken the House in forty years. The defection of conservative Democrat Congressman George Wallace Jr., of Alabama, adds to the GOP’s numbers. Conservatives cite dissatisfaction with liberal policies that President Mario Cuomo had enacted, such as universal healthcare and strong gun control legislation, whilst liberal pundits blame relatively low voter turnout. Whatever the reason, it would prove a major stumbling block for Cuomo's agenda.
Specific races of interest include the Washington 5th, where incumbent Speaker of the House Tom Foley loses his seat, the California 46th, where incumbent Bob Dornan narrowly loses renomination to the more moderate Loretta Sanchez due to controversial statements he had made about illegal immigrants [3], but narrowly wins reelection anyway on the American Independent Party line (he would rejoin the Republican caucus in the House, however), and the Texas 14th, where former Congressman and 1988 Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul returns to Congress as a Republican by defeating incumbent Democrat Greg Laughlin.
United States Senate elections
Arizona: Incumbent Democrat Dennis Concini retired. Barry Goldwater Jr., son of conservative icon Barry Goldwater, was drafted by both conservative activists and libertarian-minded Republicans such as William Weld and Tom Campbell to run for the open seat. Goldwater defeated Democratic Congressman Sam Coppersmith in a landslide.
California: Representative Maureen Reagan [4], daughter of President Ronald Reagan, managed to beat more the more moderate Congressman Michael Huffington in the Republican primary (Huffington would later go on to become the House Majority Leader). After the primary election, she heavily campaigned on both her hawkish foreign policy views and fiscal conservatism, while maintaining that she was more “inclusive” on social issues, such as being pro-choice. She narrowly defeated incumbent Dianne Feinstein.
California (special): Popular incumbent Tom Campbell wins by a comfortable margin.
Connecticut: Incumbent Joe Lieberman is reelected.
Delaware: Incumbent William Roth is reelected.
Florida: Incumbent Connie Mack III is reelected.
Hawaii: Incumbent Daniel Akaka is reelected.
Indiana: Incumbent Richard Lugar is reelected.
Maine: Incumbent George Mitchell retires. Republican Congresswoman Olympia Snowe is elected over Democrat Congressman Thomas Andrews.
Maryland: Incumbent Paul Sarbanes is reelected.
Massachusetts: In the most expensive and closely watched race of the night, Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney defeats incumbent Ted Kennedy by the narrowest of margins. Kennedy had been particularly vulnerable that year, as, among other simmering scandals, this would be the first election since William Kennedy Smith's trial in Florida. Kennedy's attempt to attack Romney on several controversial former practices of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, such as barring blacks from the priesthood, backfired. Pundits cite the support Paul Tsongas in the race gave toward Romney, who publically stated that the Republican was “far closer” to his beliefs than Kennedy, as a major factor in the Republican gain. Tsongas was perceived as still being angry with the Cuomo Administration over the now-infamous "VP snub" back in 1992, and had himself considered running as an independent in the race. [5]
Michigan: Incumbent Donald Riegle, Jr. retired. Republican Spencer Abraham defeats Bob Carr for the seat.
Minnesota: Incumbent David Durenberger retired, and fellow Republican Rod Grams is elected to succeed him.
Mississippi: Incumbent Trent Lott is reelected.
Missouri: Incumbent John Danforth retired. Former Governor John Ashcroft defeats Congressman Alan Wheat for the seat.
Montana: Incumbent Conrad Burn is reelected.
Nebraska: Incumbent Bob Kerrey is reelected.
Nevada: Incumbent Richard H. Bryan is reelected.
New Jersey: Speaker of the State Assembly Chuck Haytaian defeats incumbent Frank Lautenberg.
New Mexico: Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin R. McMillan, known for his role in the Gulf War, defeats incumbent Jeff Bingaman.
New York: Incumbent Ed Koch is reelected in a very close race over Republican State Senator George Pataki.
North Dakota: Incumbent Kent Conrad is reelected.
Ohio: Incumbent Howard Metzenbaum retires. Republican Bernadine Healy succeeds him.
Pennsylvania: In a surprising come-from-behind win, Congressman Rick Santorum defeats incumbent Harris Wofford.
Rhode Island: Incumbent John Chafee is reelected.
Tennessee: Incumbent Jim Sasser is defeated by conservative actor and former Watergate attorney Fred Thompson.
Texas: Incumbent Lloyd Bentsen is reelected in a surprisingly close race over Republican challenger Kay Bailey Hutchinson [6]. After the results came in, Bentsen promises to retire at the end of his fifth term.
Utah: Incumbent Orrin Hatch is reelected.
Vermont: Incumbent Jim Jeffords is reelected.
Virginia: In a tight three-way race, Colonel Oliver North defeats incumbent Chuck Robb and independent J. Marshall Coleman.
Washington: Incumbent Slade Gorton is reelected.
West Virginia: Incumbent Robert Byrd is reelected.
Wisconsin: Incumbent Herb Kohl is reelected.
Wyoming: Incumbent Malcolm Wallop retires, while fellow Republican Craig Thomas succeeds him.
United States gubernatorial elections
The Republican Party also make broad gains in the number of State Houses they hold. Incumbents Jim Edgar, Pete Wilson, and John Engler win reelection in the important states of Illinois, California, and Michigan, respectively, while sitting Massachusetts Governor and 1992 Republican Vice Presidential candidate William Weld won reelection in a landslide with nearly 75% of the vote [7]. GOP gains include Texas and Florida, where George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, both sons of former President George H.W. Bush, defeat incumbent Democrats Ann Richards and Lawton Chiles, respectively. Former Conservative Party Congressman Norman F. Lent wins the New York gubernatorial race over Democrat nominee Lenora Fulani in a landslide, with significant support from moderate Democrats. Two other surprise pick-ups for the Republicans include the New Mexico and Maryland races, won by businessman Gary Johnson and Republican Liberty Caucus co-founder Michael Steele, respectively. Harry Browne, a New York Times #1 bestselling author and free-market advocate who is popular with libertarians, hard money proponents, and survivalists is also elected Governor of Tennessee as a Republican.
Still, it isn't a complete loss for Democrats. In the conservative Deep South, where the Republicans had hoped to make gains, Georgia Governor Zell Miller and Alabama Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. both win reelection. But perhaps most surprising are the two gubernatorial races won by non-major party candidates: independent Angus King wins the race in Maine, whilst A Connecticut Party's Eunice Groark, the sitting Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, wins her own term as Governor to succeed Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
...
[1] For comparison, 95 million people watched the OJ Simpson police chase.
[2] George Pataki, instead of running for Governor, decides to challenge Ed Koch for his Senate seat, who had been appointed there by Lundine after Daniel Patrick Moynihan was named Mario Cuomo’s Secretary of State.
[3] Remember, butterflies from the fallout of Duke's election caused a delay in illegal immigration legislation that would lead in our timeline to Prop 187. During the ensuing controversy, Dornan says something stupid and offensive regarding the problem (certainly in character for him), and is successfully primary challenged by Sanchez, who at the time was a moderate Republican.
[4] As noted in an earlier post, butterflies cause Maureen Reagan to win her Congressional race in 1992.
[5] Role with me, early polls indicated it would be a very tight race, and even then it was the closest election in EMK’s Senate career.
[6] As Bentsen was not appointed to be Treasury Secretary in this timeline (Cuomo picks Robert Reich for that post here), Bentsen is still in the Senate.
[7] Historically, that number was 70%.
---
Thanks to Wikipedia for forming the (edited) basis of my first few paragraphs, and thanks to Brainbin for helping me brainstorm and think through some concepts.
Just so everyone is clear, this version of The Jerry Springer Show is not as consistently successful as the OTL version. Whenever there's a special interview, the ratings spike, but overall there's less of an audience. It has more than enough to get by, though.
Questions? Thoughts? Critiques?
The Jerry Springer Show, a day-time talk show, debuted on September 30, 1991, starring the titular former Cincinnati mayor . Initially, Springer was distributed by Multimedia Entertainment, later going to the former Universal and then to Studios USA CTTD also distributed to the series. It was conceived as an issues-oriented and political talk show, a longer version of the commentary for which Springer had gained local fame as a reporter and anchor, and for its first season, was even taped at Springer's former station, WLWT in Cincinnati. Guests early on included future Senator Oliver North and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and the topics included homelessness and gun politics, as well as the social effects of rock music, featuring shock rock stars like GG Allin, El Duce from The Mentors and GWAR as guests.
Originally seen in only the four markets where Multimedia owned TV stations, it was somewhat different than today's version of the show. The set for the show has had two major changes over the years. When the show first started in 1991, it was very basic with white walls, in an effort to capture the feel of fellow talk show Donahue. Springer’s haircut and glasses even seeming to make him look like Phil Donahue. The general look of this set was carried over when the show first moved to Chicago in September 1992, with an unpolished, open air look and bright colored shapes.
At the program was moved to the NBC owned-and-operated channels in 1992, however, ratings were slack. By early 1994, Multimedia was threating to pull the plug on The Jerry Springer Show. Two competing camps emerged in the production team. The first was represented by producer Peter Dominick, who suggested a drastic revamp of the program, touching more controversial and taboo topics and allowing working class Americans to take to the stage to deal with their problems. Such a lowbrow pitch was considered by executive producer Burt Dubrow “vulgar”, who instead advocated “staying the course” with the program’s original intent. However, though Dubrow disagreed with the main thrust of Dominick’s proposed changes, he recognized that some shock value was going to have to be added to maintain audience attention. The question on everyone’s mind in the early months of 1994, of course, was what was exactly needed to achieve this. By May, Dubrow had found the answer.
In a moment ranked up with the Frost-Nixon interviews in terms of importance, ousted Louisiana Governor David Duke agreed to appear on Jerry Springer’s television program. This would be his first interview since the recall, and to this day Duke has never specifically stated why he accepted the offer to appear on the show. What is clear, though, is that it became a seminal moment in American television history. Well over 70 million Americans [1] tuned in for the broadcast on April 11th, 1994- a record for a daytime talk show. The telecast itself was rather predictable: a smiling Duke walked onto the stage to a deep chorus of boos and jeers, while Springer himself tried to remain somewhat dispassionate in his questioning of the former Governor. Duke, however, pushed his rhetoric so hard that the disgusted host walked out of the interview (though many in the media allege the walkout was a preplanned act to garner media attention, as the lengthy interview was five minutes from completion anyway). The Klansmen came out of The Jerry Springer Show much the same as he came in- a reviled, fringe specimen of American politics. The real change, though, was for the program he appeared on. Burt Dubrow was vindicated in his strategy, whilst the rebellious Peter Dominick had to concede to Dubrow that his plan had worked. Jerry Springer’s talk show was now a direct competitor to The Oprah Winfrey Show- at least in the short term. The trick was to see if the formula worked long term.
Though later accounts would suggest a bitter falling-out between the Dubrow camp and the Dominick camp, in actuality that was not the case. Peter Dominick maintains a cordial relationship with his superior to this day, and for the remainder of his tenure on The Jerry Springer Show’s production team actively worked to incorporate his more populist ideas into the political format of the show. For instance, while it was Dubrow who got the standard staple of small-fry Nazis, Communists, conspiracy theorists and militia activists on the show for the next couple months, it was Dominick who repeated the success of the Duke appearance by arranging for an interview with Lenora Fulani on the Monday before the historic 1994 midterm elections. Fulani, a far-left political activist who had run for President before on the New Alliance Party ticket, had narrowly beaten out the more centrist incumbent, Stan Lundine, in the New York gubernatorial Democrat primary. Lundine was unpopular among the more liberal elements of the New York Democrat primary, who either sat out the primary or protest-voted for Fulani- who narrowly won the contest. Though polls showed her severely lagging behind Republican-Conservative nominee Norman F. Lent [2], but the race had gained national attention due to Fulani’s narrow win in the primary and her extremely liberal views. Seeing the popularity of The Jerry Springer Show, she agreed to appear on the program if treated fairly (i.e. no walkout), believing that it could make a difference in her polling numbers. While she still lost the gubernatorial election in a landslide, the interview pulled in a cool 60 million+ audience share for the network. The Jerry Springer Show had arrived.
Over the next decade, Jerry Springer’s television spectacular became a beloved staple in American political discourse. There was no real bias to speak of on the show; Springer was only interested in ratings, and he’d accept anyone on his program (one common joke among the politically savvy in the United States was that The Jerry Springer Show was the fulfillment of the Fairness Doctrine). Several right-wing talk show hosts such as Michael Savage and Alex Jones became regulars on the show, while more lighthearted pundits such as Al Franken and Arianna Huffington (who’s transition from conservative to liberal became quite clear throughout the show’s run). Ross Perot appeared quite often during the 1996 and 1998 election cycles to pitch both his second presidential bid and the budding Reform Party, and many attribute the (relative) success of that party to The Jerry Springer Show. If any one label could correctly define the program, Peter Dominick found it: “a populist free-for-all”. After Ross Perot showed that the media exposure on the show could reap huge benefits, and Tom Campbell showed up in 1998 to help his reelection bid, many mainstream politicians were clamoring to appear. Often times conspiracy theorists and militia defenders would appear on the same stage as a three-term Senator or other important political insider. Charles Krauthammer succinctly stated, “What The Jerry Springer Show did, was it made the fringe in America acceptable.”
Eventually, Peter Dominick was able to produce a television show in his own vision- “giving ordinary Joes a chance to share their story”- to huge success. Showdown with William Shatner debuted in primetime on NBC in the fall, 1996 season.
1994 Midterms- The Republican Revolution
United States House elections
In a net gain of 59 seats, the Republicans under the leadership of Newt Gingrich take the House of Representatives, the first time the Republicans had taken the House in forty years. The defection of conservative Democrat Congressman George Wallace Jr., of Alabama, adds to the GOP’s numbers. Conservatives cite dissatisfaction with liberal policies that President Mario Cuomo had enacted, such as universal healthcare and strong gun control legislation, whilst liberal pundits blame relatively low voter turnout. Whatever the reason, it would prove a major stumbling block for Cuomo's agenda.
Specific races of interest include the Washington 5th, where incumbent Speaker of the House Tom Foley loses his seat, the California 46th, where incumbent Bob Dornan narrowly loses renomination to the more moderate Loretta Sanchez due to controversial statements he had made about illegal immigrants [3], but narrowly wins reelection anyway on the American Independent Party line (he would rejoin the Republican caucus in the House, however), and the Texas 14th, where former Congressman and 1988 Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul returns to Congress as a Republican by defeating incumbent Democrat Greg Laughlin.
United States Senate elections
Arizona: Incumbent Democrat Dennis Concini retired. Barry Goldwater Jr., son of conservative icon Barry Goldwater, was drafted by both conservative activists and libertarian-minded Republicans such as William Weld and Tom Campbell to run for the open seat. Goldwater defeated Democratic Congressman Sam Coppersmith in a landslide.
California: Representative Maureen Reagan [4], daughter of President Ronald Reagan, managed to beat more the more moderate Congressman Michael Huffington in the Republican primary (Huffington would later go on to become the House Majority Leader). After the primary election, she heavily campaigned on both her hawkish foreign policy views and fiscal conservatism, while maintaining that she was more “inclusive” on social issues, such as being pro-choice. She narrowly defeated incumbent Dianne Feinstein.
California (special): Popular incumbent Tom Campbell wins by a comfortable margin.
Connecticut: Incumbent Joe Lieberman is reelected.
Delaware: Incumbent William Roth is reelected.
Florida: Incumbent Connie Mack III is reelected.
Hawaii: Incumbent Daniel Akaka is reelected.
Indiana: Incumbent Richard Lugar is reelected.
Maine: Incumbent George Mitchell retires. Republican Congresswoman Olympia Snowe is elected over Democrat Congressman Thomas Andrews.
Maryland: Incumbent Paul Sarbanes is reelected.
Massachusetts: In the most expensive and closely watched race of the night, Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney defeats incumbent Ted Kennedy by the narrowest of margins. Kennedy had been particularly vulnerable that year, as, among other simmering scandals, this would be the first election since William Kennedy Smith's trial in Florida. Kennedy's attempt to attack Romney on several controversial former practices of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, such as barring blacks from the priesthood, backfired. Pundits cite the support Paul Tsongas in the race gave toward Romney, who publically stated that the Republican was “far closer” to his beliefs than Kennedy, as a major factor in the Republican gain. Tsongas was perceived as still being angry with the Cuomo Administration over the now-infamous "VP snub" back in 1992, and had himself considered running as an independent in the race. [5]
Michigan: Incumbent Donald Riegle, Jr. retired. Republican Spencer Abraham defeats Bob Carr for the seat.
Minnesota: Incumbent David Durenberger retired, and fellow Republican Rod Grams is elected to succeed him.
Mississippi: Incumbent Trent Lott is reelected.
Missouri: Incumbent John Danforth retired. Former Governor John Ashcroft defeats Congressman Alan Wheat for the seat.
Montana: Incumbent Conrad Burn is reelected.
Nebraska: Incumbent Bob Kerrey is reelected.
Nevada: Incumbent Richard H. Bryan is reelected.
New Jersey: Speaker of the State Assembly Chuck Haytaian defeats incumbent Frank Lautenberg.
New Mexico: Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin R. McMillan, known for his role in the Gulf War, defeats incumbent Jeff Bingaman.
New York: Incumbent Ed Koch is reelected in a very close race over Republican State Senator George Pataki.
North Dakota: Incumbent Kent Conrad is reelected.
Ohio: Incumbent Howard Metzenbaum retires. Republican Bernadine Healy succeeds him.
Pennsylvania: In a surprising come-from-behind win, Congressman Rick Santorum defeats incumbent Harris Wofford.
Rhode Island: Incumbent John Chafee is reelected.
Tennessee: Incumbent Jim Sasser is defeated by conservative actor and former Watergate attorney Fred Thompson.
Texas: Incumbent Lloyd Bentsen is reelected in a surprisingly close race over Republican challenger Kay Bailey Hutchinson [6]. After the results came in, Bentsen promises to retire at the end of his fifth term.
Utah: Incumbent Orrin Hatch is reelected.
Vermont: Incumbent Jim Jeffords is reelected.
Virginia: In a tight three-way race, Colonel Oliver North defeats incumbent Chuck Robb and independent J. Marshall Coleman.
Washington: Incumbent Slade Gorton is reelected.
West Virginia: Incumbent Robert Byrd is reelected.
Wisconsin: Incumbent Herb Kohl is reelected.
Wyoming: Incumbent Malcolm Wallop retires, while fellow Republican Craig Thomas succeeds him.
United States gubernatorial elections
The Republican Party also make broad gains in the number of State Houses they hold. Incumbents Jim Edgar, Pete Wilson, and John Engler win reelection in the important states of Illinois, California, and Michigan, respectively, while sitting Massachusetts Governor and 1992 Republican Vice Presidential candidate William Weld won reelection in a landslide with nearly 75% of the vote [7]. GOP gains include Texas and Florida, where George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, both sons of former President George H.W. Bush, defeat incumbent Democrats Ann Richards and Lawton Chiles, respectively. Former Conservative Party Congressman Norman F. Lent wins the New York gubernatorial race over Democrat nominee Lenora Fulani in a landslide, with significant support from moderate Democrats. Two other surprise pick-ups for the Republicans include the New Mexico and Maryland races, won by businessman Gary Johnson and Republican Liberty Caucus co-founder Michael Steele, respectively. Harry Browne, a New York Times #1 bestselling author and free-market advocate who is popular with libertarians, hard money proponents, and survivalists is also elected Governor of Tennessee as a Republican.
Still, it isn't a complete loss for Democrats. In the conservative Deep South, where the Republicans had hoped to make gains, Georgia Governor Zell Miller and Alabama Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. both win reelection. But perhaps most surprising are the two gubernatorial races won by non-major party candidates: independent Angus King wins the race in Maine, whilst A Connecticut Party's Eunice Groark, the sitting Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, wins her own term as Governor to succeed Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
...
[1] For comparison, 95 million people watched the OJ Simpson police chase.
[2] George Pataki, instead of running for Governor, decides to challenge Ed Koch for his Senate seat, who had been appointed there by Lundine after Daniel Patrick Moynihan was named Mario Cuomo’s Secretary of State.
[3] Remember, butterflies from the fallout of Duke's election caused a delay in illegal immigration legislation that would lead in our timeline to Prop 187. During the ensuing controversy, Dornan says something stupid and offensive regarding the problem (certainly in character for him), and is successfully primary challenged by Sanchez, who at the time was a moderate Republican.
[4] As noted in an earlier post, butterflies cause Maureen Reagan to win her Congressional race in 1992.
[5] Role with me, early polls indicated it would be a very tight race, and even then it was the closest election in EMK’s Senate career.
[6] As Bentsen was not appointed to be Treasury Secretary in this timeline (Cuomo picks Robert Reich for that post here), Bentsen is still in the Senate.
[7] Historically, that number was 70%.
---
Thanks to Wikipedia for forming the (edited) basis of my first few paragraphs, and thanks to Brainbin for helping me brainstorm and think through some concepts.
Just so everyone is clear, this version of The Jerry Springer Show is not as consistently successful as the OTL version. Whenever there's a special interview, the ratings spike, but overall there's less of an audience. It has more than enough to get by, though.
Questions? Thoughts? Critiques?
Last edited:
I like the Springer update, I had no idea there was potential ways it could have gone, and the idea of the Jerry Springer show as the "fringe" show is lovely. Would Huffington still go liberal ITTL? It is a very different environment.
Regardless of what you think of EMK (Charles Pierce covers my mixed feelings in a brilliant piece) the thought of Mittens having success in politics is -- as always -- disturbing. He'd also be well to the left of like a dozen Democratic Senators in 1994... which is hilarious viewed from OTL.
Oh and Krugman is very unlikely for that position and is (at this point in time) known primarily for his early work, the Print Yen idea, and as a hardcore globalization guy: think brilliant young radical. Robert Reich would be the most likely liberal pick who would be listened to (Clinton ignored him in favour of confidence fairies) and unlike Krugman at the time he is widely respected even by Wall Street no matter how much they might disagree with him.
Regardless of what you think of EMK (Charles Pierce covers my mixed feelings in a brilliant piece) the thought of Mittens having success in politics is -- as always -- disturbing. He'd also be well to the left of like a dozen Democratic Senators in 1994... which is hilarious viewed from OTL.
Oh and Krugman is very unlikely for that position and is (at this point in time) known primarily for his early work, the Print Yen idea, and as a hardcore globalization guy: think brilliant young radical. Robert Reich would be the most likely liberal pick who would be listened to (Clinton ignored him in favour of confidence fairies) and unlike Krugman at the time he is widely respected even by Wall Street no matter how much they might disagree with him.
An update that sees Jerry Springer as less looney talk show host AND saw the election of two of my favorite should-have been politicians, Maureen Reagan and Barry Goldwater Jr? Awesome!
Keep it coming!
Keep it coming!
Two reasons I'm keeping the Huffington ideological switch-
A) though the timeline is obviously different from OTL, in politics at least there are strong parallels ("our timeline, just moreso"is my motto here)
B) in general, there seem to be a lot fewer liberal pundits than conservative ones, so thematically, it's useful
He'll be very much the Massachusetts moderate here.
...you know, you're probably right. SPOILERS I had planned on making Robert Reich Governor of Massachusetts in the 2000's, and had originally planned on him just serving the same post he did in the Clinton Administration, at the Labor Department,in the Cuomo administration to get there. That would give him even more of a boost.
The only problem is I mentioned the top four members of Cuomo's cabinet, including Krugman, in an earlier post that's too late to edit...
I don't really have anything particular to say about most of the Springer material, having already discussed it with you in advance, though I must say, I'm surprised that you launched right into it, with the Oscar results still pending. Though you're certainly drawing them out, as if you were an actual Oscar telecast, so kudos to you, going for that verisimilitude
Also, a few observations about the talk show scene of this era ITTL, some of which I've already shared with you:
The "established" talk shows - Donahue and especially Oprah, who's been looking for an excuse to go "legit" at around this time, may ape Springer to a certain extent. Oprah remained relatively apolitical for most of her talk show career IOTL, until Barack Obama - that might change here. This could also be the tonic that Donahue needs to save his flagging career (his show would be cancelled in 1996 IOTL). As for Geraldo, Sally Jessy, and the rest - tough call. They have no scruples, I can say that much. Also, we may not see the wave of "softball" talkies that emerged in the late 1990s IOTL, largely as a reaction to the gutter-diving antics of Springer and his ilk.
Some interesting Senate results! California now has two Republican Senators. The libertarian wing of the Republican party seems to be thriving - I wonder how Perot and his Reform Party will respond to that.
Looking forward to more, especially if it involves the Oscars!
So it's just as tightly choreographed as the Frost-Nixon interviews, too. And that "walkout" was so obviously staged - the stuff he's resolutely remained onstage through IOTL proves that conclusively. But it's good water-cooler material, and to Springer's credit, he doesn't appear to have pulled any similar tricks later on, so I guess the ends do justify the means in this case.
Primetime?! That's quite the coup for Dominick, and for Shatner. Are we looking at a newsmagazine-style show, then? I can't remember a pure talk show airing in primetime - that's strictly daytime territory. I don't see any bold experiments getting off the ground at the uber-staid, very conservative NBC of the 1990s. Brandon Tartikoff might have given something like that a shot, but not Warren Littlefield.vultan said:
Also, a few observations about the talk show scene of this era ITTL, some of which I've already shared with you:
The "established" talk shows - Donahue and especially Oprah, who's been looking for an excuse to go "legit" at around this time, may ape Springer to a certain extent. Oprah remained relatively apolitical for most of her talk show career IOTL, until Barack Obama - that might change here. This could also be the tonic that Donahue needs to save his flagging career (his show would be cancelled in 1996 IOTL). As for Geraldo, Sally Jessy, and the rest - tough call. They have no scruples, I can say that much. Also, we may not see the wave of "softball" talkies that emerged in the late 1990s IOTL, largely as a reaction to the gutter-diving antics of Springer and his ilk.
Some interesting Senate results! California now has two Republican Senators. The libertarian wing of the Republican party seems to be thriving - I wonder how Perot and his Reform Party will respond to that.
I can't help but thinking you reached just a little bit here - though Kennedy certainly has a great deal of baggage, his constituents have seemed quite content to ignore it. But, for all we know, Romney will be easily defeated in his re-election bid six years down the line. I doubt that Kennedy will personally run to get his seat back; Cuomo can always appoint him somewhere if he really wants to stay in politics. Another observation: assuming that Romney serves his full term, there will be two Republican Senators representing the Bay State!vultan said:
Looking forward to more, especially if it involves the Oscars!
I don't really have anything particular to say about most of the Springer material, having already discussed it with you in advance, though I must say, I'm surprised that you launched right into it, with the Oscar results still pending. Though you're certainly drawing them out, as if you were an actual Oscar telecast, so kudos to you, going for that verisimilitude
So it's just as tightly choreographed as the Frost-Nixon interviews, too. And that "walkout" was so obviously staged - the stuff he's resolutely remained onstage through IOTL proves that conclusively. But it's good water-cooler material, and to Springer's credit, he doesn't appear to have pulled any similar tricks later on, so I guess the ends do justify the means in this case.
Primetime?! That's quite the coup for Dominick, and for Shatner. Are we looking at a newsmagazine-style show, then? I can't remember a pure talk show airing in primetime - that's strictly daytime territory. I don't see any bold experiments getting off the ground at the uber-staid, very conservative NBC of the 1990s. Brandon Tartikoff might have given something like that a shot, but not Warren Littlefield.
Also, a few observations about the talk show scene of this era ITTL, some of which I've already shared with you:
The "established" talk shows - Donahue and especially Oprah, who's been looking for an excuse to go "legit" at around this time, may ape Springer to a certain extent. Oprah remained relatively apolitical for most of her talk show career IOTL, until Barack Obama - that might change here. This could also be the tonic that Donahue needs to save his flagging career (his show would be cancelled in 1996 IOTL). As for Geraldo, Sally Jessy, and the rest - tough call. They have no scruples, I can say that much. Also, we may not see the wave of "softball" talkies that emerged in the late 1990s IOTL, largely as a reaction to the gutter-diving antics of Springer and his ilk.
Some interesting Senate results! California now has two Republican Senators. The libertarian wing of the Republican party seems to be thriving - I wonder how Perot and his Reform Party will respond to that.
I can't help but thinking you reached just a little bit here - though Kennedy certainly has a great deal of baggage, his constituents have seemed quite content to ignore it. But, for all we know, Romney will be easily defeated in his re-election bid six years down the line. I doubt that Kennedy will personally run to get his seat back; Cuomo can always appoint him somewhere if he really wants to stay in politics. Another observation: assuming that Romney serves his full term, there will be two Republican Senators representing the Bay State!
Looking forward to more, especially if it involves the Oscars!
With another very short interlude tacked on, more Oscars to come. And don't worry, the Democrats' time will come (even if it doesn't seem so at first).
ATTENTION EVERYONE: I would like to direct you to this post. I am making an official retcon here, due to the fact that the post cannot be edited anymore. Paul Krugman is no longer Mario Cuomo's Secretary of the Treasury in this timeline; according to Electric Monk's advice, it is now Robert Reich. Everything else in that update, including the other major members of Cuomo's cabinet, the Senate appointments made upon Dan Moynihan and Sam Nunn leaving Congress for the Cuomo Administration, and especially the production notes on Watchmen and Stargate still stand.
Also, update tomorrow -and I may just mess with Brainbin some more by delaying the Oscars some more and talking about Stargate.
Also, update tomorrow -and I may just mess with Brainbin some more by delaying the Oscars some more and talking about Stargate.
Also, update tomorrow -and I may just mess with Brainbin some more by delaying the Oscars some more and talking about Stargate.
Always glad to see updates!
Glen
Moderator
ATTENTION EVERYONE: I would like to direct you to this post. I am making an official retcon here, due to the fact that the post cannot be edited anymore. Paul Krugman is no longer Mario Cuomo's Secretary of the Treasury in this timeline; according to Electric Monk's advice, it is now Robert Reich. Everything else in that update, including the other major members of Cuomo's cabinet, the Senate appointments made upon Dan Moynihan and Sam Nunn leaving Congress for the Cuomo Administration, and especially the production notes on Watchmen and Stargate still stand.
Also, update tomorrow -and I may just mess with Brainbin some more by delaying the Oscars some more and talking about Stargate.
If you tell me how you would like it to read I can edit it for you.
Even more padding and unnecessary delays? It really is like the Oscars! All you need now are the awful jokes! And don't even think about it. Or you can forget about Battlestar Galactica getting off the groundAlso, update tomorrow -and I may just mess with Brainbin some more by delaying the Oscars some more and talking about Stargate.
Even more padding and unnecessary delays? It really is like the Oscars! All you need now are the awful jokes! And don't even think about it. Or you can forget about Battlestar Galactica getting off the ground
Woah now, let's not be hasty!