TLIAFW: You Betcha We Got a Problem

RepMR

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Who are you?
I'm new here, I've been stalking for a while but finally got the guts to sign up

What's this about?
It's a timeline focusing on American politics from 2007-2015, with the PoD being sometime in later 2007 with knock on effects that leads to a constitutional and governing crisis in 2014.

I assume crisis is why Sarah Palin is on the banner?
She's gonna be a big player in said crisis

What's this? TLIAFW?
It's Timeline in a few weeks, given I'm unsure when I'll be able to get updates out due to work etc.

What's the style?
Narrative; inspired by recent great TL's I've read such as about Boehner being deposed as Speaker by Cantor and David Miliband making a 2008 leadership challenge to Gordon Brown.

Feeling confident?
Guess. But we'll see how this goes first.
 

RepMR

Prologue

October 29th 2014, 9:35pm
Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.


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“I, Sarah Louise Palin, do solemnly swear…”

“To those of you just joining us, President Sarah Palin makes history today to take office as not only the first President to take office under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, but also as the first female Commander in Chief”

“and will to the best of my ability…”
“and will to the best of my ability…"

“The President remains, and I call him President because according to the Constitution he is still President as well, President Huntsman remains in critical condition. There is no more information on his condition at this time.”

“So help you God?”
“So help me God”

“Congratulations, Madame President.” It was a surprise to some that after President Sarah Palin has just been sworn in, that Senate President pro tempore Patrick Leahy would be the first to offer congratulations. The Senator, a noted liberal Democrat from Vermont, was privately loathe to offer congratulations, given how vitriolic the Vice President and her supporters had been to some of his most esteemed colleagues in the Senate, but he also realised that now was a time to display national unity, even if the new Acting President being in the Oval Office for an as yet undetermined amount of time worried most in the Senate.

“Thank you, Senator” the Acting President replied, nodding courteously. She knew that she had to be solemn and respectful given the circumstances, even though inside she was eager for her new responsibilities. The nation was in crisis, President Huntsman had been shot and lay wounded in a hospital bed, the culprit as yet unknown, whilst on the other side of the world, the forces of evil continued their insidious attacks on freedom loving citizens. Yes, Sarah Palin thought to herself, this crisis required strong leadership and hot damn was she going to give it. Her thoughts turned to Ronald Reagan, specifically what he would have done in this scenario. Feeling inspired, President Palin spoke.

“Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for being here today” she said at first, looking to the small assembled group of congressional leaders and Cabinet secretaries. “Especially to Todd and my family, for such support during these dark hours” she further continued, turning to a family that was smiling. The photographers and cameramen had just left, meaning the Palin family could now portray their happiness at their new found position. Whilst they were good friends of the Huntsman’s, they found it hard not to be pleased that Sarah was now in charge.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I wish to meet with the National Security Council, we gotta start finding the guys who did this to Jon, bring those freedom hating evil do-ers to justice.” Whilst the Palin family continued to smile, the officials assembled bristled slightly, given that it wasn’t yet clear whether the attack on President Huntsman had been ISIS inspired or simply a random attempt. In particular, White House Chief of Staff Steve Schmidt, already worried about the volatile Vice President now being in charge, especially given her conduct after the shooting had occurred, found himself beginning to sweat. Secretary of Defense Jim Talent leaned over and whispered, given the two men were sufficiently away from Palin to not be overheard, “To quote the VP; you betcha we got a problem”, to which the Chief of Staff replied, “Damn straight, god help us Jim"
 

RepMR

Chapter 1
Part 1

Eight Hours Earlier
October 29th 2014, 1:23pm
Alexandria, Virginia

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President Jon Huntsman sat in the secure confines of the presidential limousine, alternating between waving at the crowds that had gathered along the route of Main Street, Alexandria to hear him speak and talking with his Communications Director, Matt David and Senior Advisor Ed Rollins. It was now less than a week to go until the midterm elections and the Republicans were doing everything in their power to ensure that the results wouldn't be as bad for them as predicted. It had been two years since Jon Huntsman had scored an upset win over Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election after a much hard fought campaign, and now the first real electoral test of Huntsman's presidency was looming. His approval ratings stood in the high forties, down from initial mid fifties ratings during the initial months of his presidency. Given this, the main aim of the Republicans was to retain the House, but with polls showing many swing seats neck and neck, they knew it would be close, even if the general trends showed them retaining the House for another two years. The Senate was another matter entirely, they had no chance of taking it, so it was simply a matter of ensuring they were in a stable minority position, which at that moment looked increasingly tenuous.

"So, Mr President, when we arrive at the auditorium, we'll be greeted by Ed where the press will get some nice shots of the two of you shaking hands" Matt said, looking down at the schedule for the day. As the President still held some sway in swing states like Virginia, which he'd taken in 2012, he had agreed to undertake a whistlestop campaign tour in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia over the final week to help out their Senate candidates. "Then you'll move into the auditorium, where you'll make your remarks about the importance of the election in deciding the future of the economy, stability of the nation, health care, immigration and so forth" Matt David continued, "After that, you'll introduce Ed and he'll continue with his speech."

"You think my remarks are sufficient enough?" the President asked, not so specifically to Matt David but to Ed Rollins as well, as the Senior Advisor gazed out of the reinforced limousine window. "They're great, sir" Matt reassured whilst Ed replied with "They're pretty much what people expect, they'll do the job." In these situations, the President wasn't much surprised by their responses. Matt had always been the optimistic of the two, whilst Ed with his many years in politics had the harder edged cynicism required to balance that out. The car stopped outside the auditorium and the President flashed a brief smile, remarking "Showtime" as the door was opened for him.

He stepped out, immediately raising his hand to wave at the crowd and photographers, beaming with that perfect pearly white grin of his, the kind that had allowed him to rival Barack Obama. After waving once more, he began walking towards the entrance where Senate candidate Ed Gillespie was waiting for him. That was when the first shot rang out, the sound was a thick crack in the air, and people who had heard it had only just begun to wonder what it was in their minds when they saw President Huntsman be pushed backwards by an invisible impact. His coiffed silver hair flew out of place, his body twisting about 90 degrees as he then began to fall back. A second shot rang out, this time impacting with the side of the limousine, making a visible crack in the pane of reinforced glass that Ed Rollins has been gazing out of mere minutes before. At this point, it became clear what was transpiring.

Absolute pandemonium followed, with screams and shouts permeating the air. Civilians and journalists in the crowd began diving for cover, a mass of bodies rushing to avoid wherever the shots were coming from. The cameramen had a different objective, their shaky movements trying to capture the action as they also went for cover. The Secret Service, weapons drawn and rushing to cover the President, were trying to identify the source of the shots. A third shot rang out, quickly followed by a fourth. The third hit President Huntsman, as the already wounded leader was being pushed back into the limousine by the Secret Service. The fourth hit one of the agents in the shoulder, although this ended up saving Huntsman's life as if the agent hadn't been there, it would have impacted with the side of the President's head.

Two more shots would ring out after the wounded President Huntsman had been pushed into the limousine and sped away from the scene, but by then the focus was on whether the President would survive.

Part 2​

October 29th 2014, 1:51 pm
Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alexandria, Virginia​

The scenes in the emergency room of Inova Alexandria Hospital had swiftly changed from an hour before. At 12:51pm, it had been the steady stream of usual cases that any ER department would have to deal with, but now they were all gone, shepherded out to another wing while the department dealt with the crisis that had suddenly enveloped them. A mass of Secret Service agents, interns, surgeons and nurses swarmed around the wing, as the stream of injured and wounded were tended to.

So far, there had been five injured, not including the President. The Secret Service agent who had been shot in the shoulder; two civilians who had broken bones from falling during the rush; a cameraman with a bloody head wound and finally another Secret Service agent who had been shot in the back. Teams of doctors worked on the five of them, but the main focus was on President Huntsman. He was in a secluded section of the wing, behind curtains and surrounded by a team of doctors. It had been established that one bullet had impacted in his chest, the other in his head. He had been lucky to survive at all, but even now, his life still hung in the balance. The surgeons knew that they had to act precisely, quickly and correctly to save the life of the 45th President.

"Do you hear me, Mr President, you may not die"

"Mr President, stay with me"

"We need to stabilise him"

Those were just some of the phrases that Matt David and Ed Rollins heard from outside the area where the President was being treated. It had barely been half an hour, yet events had moved so quickly. As the Senior Advisor, Rollins was in contact with the White House and specifically Chief of Staff Steve Schmidt, who in turn was co-ordinating the NSC response to the developing crisis. Meanwhile, David was keeping abreast of the situation with the President, asking the doctors at five minute intervals what the situation was. The Secret Service detail, or rather what remained given they had two wounded agents themselves, formed a protective unit around the area.

"We don't know exactly what the situation is yet, according to Matt, POTUS is being stabilised but it's touch and go, we could lose him" Rollins reported down the phone to Schmidt. "It seems worse than Reagan in 81" he further commented, his mind flickering back to that day. "From what I understand, it's gonna be at least a few hours, they're gonna take him into surgery and establish how best to proceed... which means we've got another issue on our hands" he continued, knowing that both Matt David there and Steve Schmidt on the other end of the line would understand what he meant.

Matt David was certain he overheard a curse word from Steve Schmidt, before Rollins resumed talking to him. "Well, obviously Jon's not gonna be in any shape to invoke Section 3, so it's likely to be a case of Palin having to invoke Section 4. He was shot in the head, he's lucky to be alive at all and even if he does live today, he's not gonna be able to run the country for a while, if ever again." Such grim analysis from Rollins, based on what he'd both seen and overheard from the doctors, made unsettling thinking for all three advisors.
 
Fleetlord

Fleetlord

So is the POD in 2012 or 2008? I have a hard time seeing OTL Palin being anything but an anchor on Huntsman's ticket, but if McCain had gone with someone else in '08, I could maybe see a two-term governor Palin working to balance the ticket, especially if the campaign team had had more than a week to vet her and knew to keep a tight leash on her during the campaign.
 

RepMR

Fleetlord said:
So is the POD in 2012 or 2008? I have a hard time seeing OTL Palin being anything but an anchor on Huntsman's ticket, but if McCain had gone with someone else in '08, I could maybe see a two-term governor Palin working to balance the ticket, especially if the campaign team had had more than a week to vet her and knew to keep a tight leash on her during the campaign.
Click to expand...

PoD is 2007, I'll elaborate in later chapters but McCain wasn't the 2008 GOP nominee in this timeline, hence Sarah Palin was not the 2008 VP nominee, so a different scenario transpired as to how she came to be chosen by Huntsman in 2012.

Also, thank you to everyone for all the comments so far!
 

RepMR

Chapter 1
Part 3

October 29th 2014, 1:30pm
Colorado Springs, Colorado

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"Do you have the Vice President? I repeat, do you have the Vice President?"

The sounds of a Secret Service coordinator coming through the radio only intensified the situation for Sarah Palin. Mere minutes before, she had been walking off stage from addressing a rally for the Colorado Senate candidate when she had literally been swept off her feet by her Secret Service detail and bundled into her limousine, which was speeding towards their destination much faster than it usually went. In those few minutes, the Vice President had been able to gather that someone had fired shots at the President and that he had been hit. Whether Jon was dead or alive, she didn't know, but in her mind, racing with thoughts, one kept coming back to her, she could be the President now.

"Where are we heading?" she asked the Secret Service agent who'd bundled her into the back of the limousine, skewing her hairdo and causing her glasses to come off, which she'd since put back on. "Air Force Two, ma'am, our orders are to take you airborne and then to a secure location back in Washington" the agent replied. "What about my family?" she asked, and while she knew in the back of her mind that Todd and the kids would be somewhere safe, Sarah needed reassuring. "They're safe at the Observatory" the agent replied, to which the Vice President nodded courteously, as her mind got back to the racing thoughts she was having about her position and what would happen in the next few hours. The limousine stopped abruptly, and the Vice President looked up to see that they were at the airfield, the large blue and white structure of Air Force Two, or would it be Air Force One now? looming over them. Sarah was quickly moved from the car and up the steps of the plane, barely having time to salute the Marines that saluted her in return. Did they think she was President now? Did they know something she didn't?

Almost immediately, the Vice President was hurried to a seat and told to buckle up. In the fracas of the last ten minutes, she had missed quite a few things, only now noticing her staff had suddenly appeared with her as well. Already, the plane was beginning to move and she had only just buckled in when the pilot said over the intercom, "Madame Vice President, I apologise in advance, this is gonna be the roughest takeoff you've ever felt, ma'am, we're gonna put this bird at thirty thousand feet in 45 seconds." And by damn did she feel it when the plane moved off, lurching upwards into the sky in a fast, steep climb, forcing her back against her seat as it scrambled into the air. It seemed like an age, but in fact was only two minutes before they were at sufficient height that they were allowed to get out of their seats.

The Vice President moved immediately, standing and beginning to pace around her cabin as her staff joined her. "Any update on the President?" she asked to her Chief of Staff, who told her that Huntsman was at a hospital and beginning to be looked at by doctors. He was alive, but according to reports, only barely. She nodded, her hair having become even more dishevelled than before due to the evacuation and sudden take off. "So, uh, what.. uh.. happens now?" she asked, looking at her staffers. In truth, none of them seemed to know and the general consensus was that she should wait to get back to Washington, meet with Schmidt and the NSC for an update.

"But what if we're under attack?" she posed, "What if Jon's shooting was just the start? No, no, I need to be in control from here, get me uh.. the.. get me Schmitty, and um.. Jim Talent as well, on the phone." To her staff, she seemed to be trying to rationalise but failing, flailing even in the heat of the situation. Still, they did as she asked and in a few minutes, Sarah Palin was on a secure conference call with the White House Situation Room, at present being manned by the Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor. Yes, now she was beginning to feel she had a grip on things, like she could easily assume charge when needed. Very easily indeed...
 

OnlyAlb

I'm thinking it won't be a dystopia because Palin has been VP for a yearand has the cabinet to guide her.

If she does fuck up, it means that Huntsman will go down in history as a Republican JFK.
 

RepMR

Chapter 1
Part 4

October 29th 2014, 1:45pm
The Situation Room, White House, Washington D.C.

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The Situation Room was buzzing with activity, mostly from staffers and military aides rushing in and out while the power players hovered around or sat at the table, discussing the situation at hand. Amongst the group were White House Chief of Staff Steve Schmidt, the former senior strategist for Huntsman 2012 who had since become the President's right hand man; Secretary of Defense Jim Talent, the ex Missouri Senator and Huntsman campaign chairman; Secretary of Homeland Security Condoleezza Rice, who with eight years as National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State under her belt, was one of the most qualified in the room; National Security Advisor Dan Senor, who had cut his teeth on Wall Street and then as chief spokesman for Iraq's coalition authority post invasion; and finally, Senior Counselor to the President, Mike Leavitt, a former HHS Secretary under Bush and one of Huntsman's predecessors as Governor of Utah. Between them, the group had much experience in government and crisis management, whether it be on a political, foreign policy or governing level, and the current problem was one on all three fronts.

"Sir, the Vice President is in the air, headed back to Washington, at full speed it'll be about 3 hours before she lands. Speaker Boehner and Secretaries McClellan, Fiorina, Love, Putnam and West are en route to Site R, remaining cabinet secretaries are on their way here, where we'll set them up in the Cabinet Room" said a remarkably professional and cool White House aide, whom Steve Schmidt remembered as having a similar demeanour on the campaign, and one which was definitely needed right now. "The Secretary of State is currently in the air over Poland, he's headed to Ramstein, where he'll take a military flight back here; the Joint Chiefs are set up in the Pentagon situation room while Director Hayden is set up at Langley" the aide continued, finalising where the key players were in this crisis. It had only been some twenty minutes since the shooting had occurred, and already the continuity of government programmes were in effect, a testament to the quick responses developed after 9/11.

In the scenario, Secretary of Defense Talent was the ranking official, especially as he was second in command on military matters in the absence of the President. A close ally of the 2008 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, he had been a latecomer to Huntsman's camp during the election, but his national security policy advice had proven useful during the campaign and he worked well together with a President who was more foreign policy orientated that his predecessor. In addition, with much experience in Washington as a Congressman and Senator, Jim Talent was one of the people who was commonly agreed by the White House staff to be good in a crisis. "Alright, set us up with video links to the Pentagon, Langley and Site R as soon as possible, we'll need to make sure this whole thing is coordinated, I'm not having any 'I'm in charge here' moments or confusion like we had in 81" Secretary Talent said, to the agreement of those in the room.

"Sir, the Vice President is calling" said the same professional aide, causing a look of concern from the Chief of Staff and some of the assembled officials. It hadn't escaped their attention that Palin was next in line here, and with Jon slipping between life and death, it was now a very real possibility that she'd be President. "Connect her on Line 1" Secretary Talent said, taking a seat at the conference table, with Secretary Rice and Mike Leavitt next to him and Schmidt with NSA Senor on the other side. Within a few seconds, Sarah Palin's image appeared on the screen. Her hair was noticeably dishevelled, her eyes seeming a tad more alert. "Madame Vice President" Talent began, to be met with "So, what's the situation gentlemen?"

Talent exchanged a look with Schmidt and then Rice before responding, "President Huntsman, from what we know, was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest. He's currently in ER and we're awaiting updates; Ed Rollins and Matt David are at the hospital. Two Secret Service agents were also shot and wounded, there's also some other injuries amongst civilians." Palin continually nodded as she was told the details, before immediately asking once Talent had finished, "So, is this a terrorist attack? ISIS?" The question was admittedly left field, and not what they had expected. Condoleezza Rice elected to answer, given this was more her field than Talent's. "Madame Vice President, we don't yet know who the shooter was or indeed if they have connections to Islamic State, it could just be a lone gunman as much as a terrorist" she said cooly. "Well, I gotta say Condi, seems awfully like ISIS could be behind it, 'specially since we started bombing 'em back in the summer" Palin replied.

"As I said, Madame Vice President, we don't yet know who did this" Rice reaffirmed, just as Steve Schmidt stepped in. "Madame Vice President, it's gonna be some three hours before you're back here in DC, once you are, the Secret Service is gonna take you to a secure bunker" he said, keen to ensure that Palin wouldn't act up as she had a history of doing, both on the campaign and during the White House years. "Oh, see, Steve, I'm the VP, people need to know there's somebody in charge" Palin countered, slowly sitting up in her chair as the rest of the Situation Room officials could feel a confrontation brewing. Schmidt took a deep breath to calm himself before responding.

"At the moment ma'am, constitutionally, Jon Huntsman is the President, he's still alive but we don't yet know his medical condition..." he began before Palin interrupted. "Yeah, but he's been shot Steve, constitutionally the VP is next in line" which was true, but the scenario was much more complex than that. "You're right" Schmidt began, though he was loathe to use those words in reference to Sarah Palin, "But only if Jon Huntsman dies, resigns or is impeached, none of these three have occurred." That seemed to fox her for a good few seconds before she responded again, this time more curtly. "Yeah, but he's been shot" she repeated, causing Schmidt to curse under his breath, "He's not gonna be able to do day to day things in the West Wing, surely in this scenario, we gotta do the um.. Section of the 25th Amendment thingy" Palin elaborated.

Schmidt sighed, although Palin was unable to register this given the separation between the two via the video link, before he said, his tone almost resigned, "Section 4, ma'am, where the Cabinet make you the Acting President, but we must wait until we get word from the hospital." Palin nodded, raising an eyebrow seemingly in victory, "Exactly Steve, I'd appreciate it if you could get on that just in case, ya know? Gotta make sure the American people have stability in this crisis."

Although all of the Situation Room officials had been thinking various different things, in that moment, all of them then collectively thought that Sarah Palin was not one to provide stability in a national emergency. Not at all.
 

RepMR

That's all for today's updates; for those interested, Chapter 1 focuses solely on October 29th 2014, the day of President Huntsman's shooting, at the moment it's moving from the shooting through the day, with the prologue having given an initial snapshot as to how the day ends (namely with Palin sworn in as Acting President). This will continue tomorrow and hopefully that'll conclude Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 will be a series of flashbacks looking at the following
  • How John McCain's 2008 campaign for the nomination failed
  • How Mitt Romney won the 2008 nomination; who his VP pick was and how he fared in the general election
  • How Jon Huntsman came to be the 2012 GOP nominee and how he came to pick Palin as VP
  • How Huntsman beat Obama in 2012, a look at the Huntsman Presidency and Palin's role in it

This will hopefully clearly set the context to why these players are all in these positions before moving onto Chapter 3, which begins the storyline of Acting President Palin and beyond.

Questions; am I portraying the characters well thus far? Especially Palin? Please do give feedback and thoughts on this and the plot thus far, it's appreciated!
 
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