Bill Clinton's third term

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Congress approves use of force against Iraq , if they dont let inspectors back in Iraq and agree to follow all UN resolutions by November 10th

[OSR stands with Israel]

Secretary of State Joe Lieberman announces sanctions on Syria:





Lieberman : Despite all of our warnings to the Syrian Government to stop their WMD program, renounce their ties to Hamas , and apologize to the Israelis for those ties , they have not done so . Due that we will impose an economic embargo on Syria, ban all imports from Syria, sanction  Syrian financial institutions ,   and impose an almost total ban on selling aircraft or repair parts to Syrian aviation companies. If the Syrian Government wants these sanctions lifted they must adhere to all our demands, or face even stricter sanctions in the future.

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC releases battle ground map for 2002 Governors races:

Light Blue= Republican Gain
Blue= Republican Hold
Pink = Democratic Gain
Red= Democratic Hold
Green = Tossup


Tim Russert: This battleground map is stunning, as this amount of potential turnover is unprecedented.

[OSR stands with Israel]

So Syria instead of Iraq

Depends on if suddam complies with UN resolutions or not . If yes the focus will be more on Syria though it doesn't mean the first steps to deal with Syria will be an US led  invasion .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Why did Bill Clinton pick one of his strongest critics within in the Democratic Party (Joe Lieberman) for one of the most important cabinet positions?

Bill Clinton in OTL did support Lieberman in the 06 primary: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-clinton-campaigns-for-lieberman/


Also Lieberman mainly criticized Clinton on his personal behavior , which many democrats criticized him for . Remember during Clinton's impeachment, many democrats were willing to vote to censure Clinton as long as the Republicans dropped the impeachment charges .(https://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/020699impeach.html).

[OSR stands with Israel]

Tom Brokaw : We have some breaking news to report to you today, the Iraqi Government has just agreed to comply to UN resolutions .  Suddam Hussain while not wanting to do this realized he had no choice, as he realized that the UN was not bluffing they actually meant to go through with their threats. The reason he realized this, is that UN forces are building up an invasion force of up 750,000 troops in Kuwait .

[OSR stands with Israel]

New Polls on Clinton's Approval (8/12/02) and other polls:

Clinton's Approval


Approve : 74%
Disapprove : 24%

New Senate Map:

pink = Democratic Pick Up

[OSR stands with Israel]

President Clinton and Prime Minister  Blair Give Joint Press Conference :






Tony Blair: I want to start of this press conference by thanking the President for inviting me to the white house.

Clinton: Honor is mine Mr. Prime Minister

Blair: I also want to let the people of both our countries knows that the UK stands behind the US in their war on terror , and our government will also impose sanctions on Syria

Reporter: What sanctions will you impose

Blair : The same one the US imposed

Reporter: Mr . President there are many people who believe this type of action will make war more inevitable not less. How do you respond to that


Clinton: The fact is these sanctions will make the Syrian government weaker to a point that if they try to invade their neighboring countries, they will fail to do so. Appeasement is a failed policy, and we will not make those same mistakes.

Reporter: The Iraqi sanctions failed , why will these one work

Clinton: The Iraqi sanctions did indeed succeed , as we weakened Suddam's Millitary capabilities with those sanctions, and now we are trying to do this with Syria so we can make their military weaker as we. Thank you and that that will be all the questions

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: August's jobs numbers shows little improvement , unemployment rate still at 5.7% and Commerce Secretary Mineta to give a reaction to the news



 Secretary Mineta: The fact is that the unemployment rate has gone down since peaking a few months ago at 6%, showing that the economic policies of this administration have indeed worked. The fact is that within a year  , unemployment will be blow 5% again.

[OSR stands with Israel]

President Clinton campaign schedule:


October 1st : Manchester, NH campaigning for senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen

October 3rd: Campaigning in Little Rock,AK for Senate Candidate Mark Pyror ,and  Gubernatorial Candidate Jimmie Fisher

October 4th : Campaigning in Atlanta, GA for Senator Max Cleland and Governor Roy Barnes

October 10th: Campaigning in Detroit , MI for Senator Carl Levin and Gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm

October 12th: Campaigning in St.Paul, MN for Senator Paul Wellstone

October 20th: Campaigning in Denver, CO for Tom Strickland

October 21st : Campaigning in Rapid City, SD for Senator Tim Johnson

October 23rd : Campaigning in Hillsboro, OR for Senate candidate Bill Bradbury and   Gubernatorial candidate  Ted Kulongoski



Campaign Schedule after this date will depend on polling data after October 24th

[OSR stands with Israel]

Congress gives President Clinton more powers to deal with Syria




Summary:

- Allows the administration to impose any sanction they want on the Syrian Government

- Gives the administration power to stop sending foreign aid to countries  which remains allied with the  Syrian Government

- Gives the administration the authority to launch airstrikes to destroy Syrian WMD sites, destroy lines of communication between the Syrian Government and Hamas .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Secretary of Defense Sam Nunn on Meet The Press




Tim Russert: Now Joining us will be Secretary Nunn who is here to discuss the issue of Syria today. Thank you Senator Nunn for coming , as you already know congress passed a bill yesterday which gives the President broad powers to deal with Syria. Isnt that bill essentially a declaration of war on the Syrian Government


Nunn: It is not a declaration of war , as it was not an authorization to conduct regime change in Syria

Russert: It allows the president to launch airstrikes against the Syrian Government though, how is that not war

Nunn: It only allows us to launch airstrikes at Syrian facilities creating and keeping Weapons of Mass Destruction , and lines of communication between the Syrian Government and Hamas. It does not allow us to launch airstrikes at other government and military sites, so what this authority gives us is to enforce our sanctions on Syria.

Russert: Airstrikes is still a war


Nunn: Maybe a small scale war like Operation Desert Fox back in 1998 but not a full scale one

Russert: Moving on to Afghanistan , what are the time tables for holding an national election there

Nunn: We are hoping to hold elections there by this time next year , but our main  objectives right now is to continue to help rebuild their country after two decades of civil war , while at the same time clearing out pockets of resistance from the Taliban . 

Russert: How's the training of the Afghanistan military going

Nunn: So far its going well, and in fact they are now fighting along with our troops on anti insurgency missions , and hopefully soon , we will be able to send them on missions all by themselves.

Russert: Ok lastly , in a month there is a Senate and Gubernatorial election in your home state, will you go out to campaign with Max Cleland  and  Roy Barnes

Nunn: I do plan to do a couple campaign rallies with them in the last week of the campaign .

Russert: Nice talking to you Secretary Nunn

Nunn: Always nice to come on here Tim

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC Releases October 24th election polls:

Governors

 Senate

Blue  = Republican Hold
Light Blue = Republican Pick Up
Red = Democratic Hold
Pink = Democratic Pick Up
Green = Tossup

[OSR stands with Israel]

I imagine that under these circumstances, the 2002 midterms would be at least neutral to Dems. Interesting, since Dems lost during FDR's third term.

Great work overall, written with passion. This is definitely among my top timelines here.

I am happy that you have liked it so far, and thank you for the compliments .


In my opinion the Democrats lost in 1942 because of how large their majorities were going in to that election(they held 267 house seats and 65 senate seats heading into that election) so the potential for loses were much larger then and I believe that without WW2(if the dems won in 1940) they  lose the house in 1942.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Senator Paul Wellstone dies in a plane crash






Tom Brokaw : We have some very sad news to report to you today, Senator Paul Wellstone who was on his way to Eveleth , Minnesota to attend a funeral has died in a plane crash. On behalf of NBC I would like to send our condolences to Senator Wellstone family and friends .



The President Releases Statement:


Clinton: Senator Paul Wellstone death was a tragic loss for his family who we all give our prayers out to today, and the country as a whole. His commitment to stand by what he believed was right for the people no matter what the political consequences , and he would lead by example at showcasing that. Today I hope that we follow by his example to honor him memory ,and continue do so in the future .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Former Vice President Walter Mondale to replace the late senator Paul Wellstone on the ballot this November

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC News releases their final battle ground map:


Senate:

Governors :

Blue= Republican Hold
Light Blue = Republican Pick Up
Red = Democratic Hold
Pink = Democratic Pick Up
Green = Tossup

House of Representatives:

Republicans : 211
Democrats: 208
Tossup : 16

Tim Russert: The main reason for the election going from being another 1998 for the Democrats to likely being their version of 1990 where the incumbent party suffers mild losses , is  due to fact that the state of the economy started to become discussed more over the passed few months which moved the polls more in the direction of the Republicans.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I think Cleland would win reelection tbh.

It was a 7 point win for the GOP OTL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2002

I dont think even with Clinton he holds on in 2002, remember Clinton lost that state in 1996 and 2000(in this timeline) and his approval rating has dropped from what it was in August of 2002 .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Bill Clinton's Approval on election day

Approve : 65%
Disapprove : 33%


How do you approve of Clinton's Handling of Foreign policy:

Approve: 85%
Disapprove : 14%

How do you approve of Clinton's Handling of  Economic Policy:

Approve: 46%
Disapprove : 52%

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour one):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c


Tom Brokaw: Welcome , I am Tom Brokaw and tonight from beginning to end NBC news will cover the results of this year's midterm elections which will determine which party will control congress for the next two years , along with who will be the governors elected tonight in which is shaping up to be a historic night there. NBC news is now ready .

We can project that in

Kentucky - Mitch McConnell will be reelected in a landslide  

in Virginia - John Warner who didnt even have a democratic challenger will also win in a landslide

in South Carolina - Congressman Lindsey Graham will be elected

In New Hampshire- we project it is currently to close to call

Here's the map so far

Democrats 36
Republicans 33


For the governors we can project that in

Florida- Former Vice Presidential Candidate and current governor Jeb Bush will be reelected by a conformable margin

and in New Hampshire - the Republican candidate Craig Benson will be elected in a landslide

in Georgia, Vermont ,and South Carolina it is currently too close to call

Tim Russert: So far the results arent that surprising and the exit polls too closely reflect what the polls have been saying to this point.


7:30


Tom Brokaw: Polls have closed in 3 more states and we are ready to make more projections in both the senate and governors race

We can project that Elizabeth Dole wife of former Senator and former Presidential Candidate Bob Dole as been elected as Senator of North Carolina

and in West Virginia- Jay Rockerfeller has been reelected in a landslide

and In the Governors race we are ready to project that Bob Taft as been reelected as Governor of Ohio


Russert: So far there have been no surprises , and so far in both Georgia races the Republicans are leading

Brokaw: That is true , but the democratic states havent come up yet so democrats shouldnt get worried yet

Russert: Of course not as the results are reflecting the pre election polls so far, and lets show the map now

Senate :

Democrats : 37
Republicans : 34

Governors :

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour Two):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c

8:00

Tom Brokaw: Its 8 PM the east and NBC ready is ready to make many projections for both the Senate and the Governors races. In the Senate NBC news is ready to project that

in Delaware - Senator John Carney who replaced Attorney General Biden as Delaware Senator last year will win a full term as the senator of Delaware , in Maine- Senator Susan Collins will easily be reelected  ,in Massachusetts- Senator John Kerry will be  reelected in a landslide ,in Michigan - Senator Carl Levin will easily be reelected  in a landslide , in New Jersey - Former Senator Frank Lautenberg will be headed back to the Senate, and In New Hampshire- It is too close to call

Going down south , we can project that in Alabama - Senator Jeff Sessions will be reelected by a conformable margin, in Illinois-  Senator Dick Durbin will be reelected by a conformable margin , in Kansas-  Senator Pat Roberts who did not have a democratic challenger will be reelected , in Mississippi - That Cochran will be reelected easily , in Oklahoma - Senator  Jim Inhofe  will also be easily reelected , in Tennessee - Former Secretary Lamar Alexander will be elected ,  in Texas- John Cornyn will be elected. Missouri and Georgia are too close to call


Heres how the map looks so far

Democrats: 42
Republicans : 41


For the Governors races:

In Connecticut - John Rowland will be reelected, in Pennsylvania- Former Mayor Ed Rendell will be elected , in Illinois - Congressman  Rod Blagojevich will be elected , and in Texas- Governor George W Bush and potential Presidential Candidate will be reelected in a landslide

In Alabama , Kansas , Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,Oklahoma, Tennessee we cannot make a projection as they are too close to call  

Tim Russert- The amount of potential turnover on the governors side is stunning , and many of these governors may become future candidates for the presidency. It may be possible that this election is precursor to Realignment some time in the future.


8:30:


Tom Brokaw: NBC news is ready to make some more predictions

In the Senate we can project that in the home state of the president Arkansas- Mark Pyror as been elected Senator, and in Georgia we can project that Representative Saxby Chambliss will unseat Max Cleland

Democrats : 43
Republicans : 42

In the Governors races we can project that in Arkansas Mike Huckabee has been reelected as governor , in Kansas - Kathleen Sebelius has been elected governor , in Maine - Representative John Baldacci has been elected.

Tim Russert: So far things are going as polls have predicted, but like I said earlier the turn over in the Governor races will be stunning , I mean look at the states which are flipping Kansas flipped and Oklahoma looks close to as well both sold GOP states. Also In Georgia a state the Republicans havent won a gubernatorial election since reconstruction, its safe to say that they are now favored to win that state.

 

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour Three):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c


9:00

Tom Brokaw: Its 9 in the east and NBC news is ready to make some more projections

In Rhode Island we can project that Senator Reed will be reelected in a landslide , in Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel will be reelected with possibly more than 80% of the vote, in New Mexico senator Pete Domenici will easily be reelected  ,and in Wyoming Mike Enzi will be reelected . Also we will be moving New Hampshire from too close to call into the GOP column as NBC news is ready to project that Congressman John Sununu the son of former governor who was also named John Sununu will be elected.

Louisiana,Minnesota ,  South Dakota , Colorado

Republicans 46
Democrats 44

Now for the governors:

We project that in New York- Governor  George Pataki will be reelected ,Rhode Island Mr. Don Carcieri will be elected, in Michigan Mrs . Jennifer Granholm  will be elected, in Minnesota their state house majority leader Tim Pawlenty will be elected , in Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns will be reelected in a landslide , in South Dakota State Senator Mike Rounds will be elected . Out West in Colorado Governor Bill Owens will be reelected , in New Mexico Energy Secretary Bill Richardson will be elected .

 Some states we are ready to take out of two close too call are, Massachusetts where Mitt Romney son of former Michigan Governor and presidential candidate George Romney will win , South Carolina where Mr. Mark Sanford will be elected, in Tennessee where former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen

Arizona , Wisconsin , and Wyoming are too close to call.

Tim Russert: Looking at the senate results so far I have the Republicans taking Oregon, Alaska , Idaho and likely will hold Colorado giving them 50 Senate Seats, and Democrats taking Montana and Iowa while likely holding on to Missouri and Louisiana giving them 49 seats. That means Minnesota , and South Dakota both which were extremely close in our exit polls to decide which party controls the Senate, and not only that if its close enough we may see a fierce court battle.

In the Governors its pretty much surprising to see a Republican resurgence out in the North East and a Democrats winning out in the rural west .



9:41:

Brokaw: NBC news is ready to project that Senator Wayne Allard will be going back to the Senate for another 6 years as Senator of Colorado .

9:52:

Brokaw: NBC News can project that Senator Mary Landrui will hold off late surge by her republican opponent and will be reelected as Senator of Louisiana.

Republicans : 47
Democrats : 45

Tim Russert: The Democrats are sighing a sigh if they lost Louisiana they probably would not only have lost South Dakota and Minnesota as well . Anyway its likely now that we will not know which party controls the Senate at the End of our Election night coverage.


Brokaw: Actually we may know cause Coleman has outperformed the exit polls so far and if he keep this up he may win

Russert: Thats True but race will still be very close

[OSR stands with Israel]

President Clinton worried about election results




Clinton: The fact is currently the Republicans are now favorites to take over both houses meaning this could turn into another 1994

Chief of Staff Ricchetti: No it isnt another 1994 in that election you lost 50+ seats in the house , and 8 in the Senate. This time are majorities were so slim that it was always likely the GOP would have taken both houses

Clinton: But we are popular this election could have easily been another 1998 where we gain seats

Ricchetii: 1998 was a victory because of the Republicans witch hunt against you, this one is more similar to 1990 where another popular president had narrow loses.

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour Four):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c

10:00

Brokaw: NBC news is ready to project that in Iowa- Senator Tom Harkin will be reelected , in Idaho - Senator Larry Craig will be reelected, in Montana- Senator Max Baucus will easily be reelected.

Republicans 48
Democrats 47

Now For the Governors :

In Iowa Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack will be reelected , In Idaho- Governor  Dirk Kempthorne will be reelected, and in Nevada Kenny Guinn will be reelected in a landslide . Also we can project that in Georgia for the first time since reconstruction a Republican will be elected Governor as Sonny Perdue will defeat his democratic opponent . We can also declare that Maryland will be won by the Republicans while the Democrats will win .

Tim Russert: Well the fact that Perdue is the first republican to win in Georgia since reconstruction is big , as now finally say the Nixon and Reagan revolution has trickled down to the state level in the south.


Brokaw: Ok now we will send it to your local stations so you can get results from your local races.

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC NEWS- Decision 2002(Hour Five):

NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c

11:00

Brokaw: NBC news  can project that Gordon Smith will be reelected as Senator of Oregon . We can also project that Jean Carnahan the wife of Mel Carnahan who tragically died in a plane crash two years ago , will be elected to a full term as Senator Missouri .

Republicans 49
Democrats 48



In the Governors races we can project that Gray Davis will be reelected as Governor of California . We can also project that in Wyoming , the  democrat Dave Freudenthal will be elected as Governor .

The Gubernatorial races in Oregon and Hawaii are too close to call.

Russert: Another turnover in the governor race, and that goes to show you that America is not as polarized as we thought due to the 1990s being very polarizing and the 2000 race being very close. I mean other than Utah , Wyoming is the most Republican state in the country and despite that it flipped to the Democrats, and the Same thing happened in Maryland a solid democratic state which flipped to the Republicans.

Brokaw: Yah I think this election shows that people are not interested in party labels as much as the candidates themselves, though that has only happened at the state level yet.

Russert: I think this is a good thing because maybe this can eventually trickle up to the federal level as well.


Tom Brokaw: If you are out west we will be switching over to your local stations for the rest of the hour so you can get the results of your local races.





11:43


NBC election theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvbyDi0I_c

 Brokaw: We can now project that Governor Doug Racine who took over for HHS Secretary Dean , as been reelected as Governor of Vermont.