The Presidency of America's Maverick

[OSR stands with Israel]

Excerpts from President McCain's 2004 state of the union address:



Souce: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2019/02/RTX6LFXE-1024x683-e1549455385158.jpg

Speaker Hastert: Ladies and Gentleman , its my high honor to welcome to you , the President of the United States!!

Congress Floor: Standing Ovation


President McCain: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Danforth, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: over the past few years our nation has been challenged by war and recession and it is my pleasure to inform you that we so far have been meeting those challenges(Standing Ovation). In doing so we have also liberated the people of Afghanistan and Iraq from tyranny and have put them on the path to democracy. Terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda are being decimated in both nations and with more and more nations in the region making it clear they will not only stop harboring terrorism but cooperate in the global war on terror, it is clear that their days are numbered(Standing Ovation).

That does not mean though  our mission is complete though, and it wont be complete until Afghanistan and Iraq are stable and functioning democracies(Applause). Remember after we defeated the Japanese Empire in WW2 , we had to be there for 7 years after the war to ensure a stable and functioning democracy could thrive in Japan and because we did, today Japan has one of the most successful democracies in the region(Applause). We are in process of doing that in Iraq cause in the 9 months since the invasion we have greatly stabilized the nation, we were able to capture Saddam Hussein as well as kill the leader of the insurgency their, and now are building up institutions that can last there(Applause). Libya a few weeks back announced they will dismantle their WMD program , and has shown the willingness to cooperate in this global war on terror(Applause). If we want to continue this progress  we must stay the course and if we want to finish this goal quicker , other nations should join in on this effort because winning the war on terror is not a win for just  our nation but a win for humanity as a whole(Standing Ovation).

Another critical measure in winning the war on terror is by making sure we remain strong here at home as well . Over the past few years we have recovered from a recession by cutting taxes for middle class families, getting rid of unnecessary regulations , removing loopholes and pork for special interest, and my making it easier for seniors to afford prescription drugs(Applause) and it is something we will continue to do for the rest of this administration whether that is in January of 2005 or January of 2009(Applause).

Now we must face a new challenge that will impact us here at home and around the world and that is the issue of global warming which is why I believe we should implement a cap and trade system to incentivize companies to lower emissions and be able to do so in a market-friendly way as well as I totally reject the notion we have to choose between dealing with global warming and improving our economy because we can do both(Applause). It is my belief we can push this at the same time we can move our nation to become energy independent and that is something this administration will peruse(Applause). It is critical that we invest in the energy sources of today such as oil and natural gas but as the same time we invest in the energy sources of the future such as wind, nuclear and solar energy cause if we do that we can slowly transition to using those sources of energy sources in the future and I believe we will(Applause). As a westerner I can tell you that we have a lot of appreciation for our environment and understand the importance of energy independence  and that is something I intend to pursue as well(Standing Ovation). Thank You may god Bless you and May God Bless America

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Biden and Feingold split Mini Tuesday which cause Siegelman and Landrieu to drop out making it a two way race:

Shaw: Today's mini Tuesday primary has made it clear that the Democratic primary will be a two way race and due to that Governor Siegelman dropped out as well as Senator Landrieu and while it wont come as a big surprise, Governor Siegelman announced hed be endorsing Senator Feingold and Senator Landrieu announced shed be endorsing Senator Biden. Before we discuss the impact of these endorsements lets go over to Wolf to get a recap of the results tonight

Blitzer: Yes lets first look over the contests won by Senator Biden


Contests won by Senator Biden:

Delaware: Biden 83% 15 Delegates Feingold 11% Siegelman 4% Landrieu 2
South Carolina: Biden 34% 15 Delegates Siegelman 26% 12 delegates Landrieu 22% 10 delegates Feingold 18% delegates
New Mexico: Biden 44% 14 Delegates Feingold 42% 12 Delegates Landrieu 9% Siegelman 7%
Arizona: Biden 42% 29 Delegates Feingold 38% 26 Delegates Landrieu 13% Siegelman 7%

Blitzer: Now lets look at the contests won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:

Missouri: Feingold 41% 40 Delegates Biden 35% 34 Delegates Landrieu 14% Siegelman 12%
Oklahoma: Feingold: 35% 16 Delegates Biden 27% 13 Delegates Landrieu 22% 10 Delegates Siegelman 16% 7 Delegates
North Dakota: Feingold 62% 10 Delegates Biden 27% 4 Delegates, Siegelman 6%, Landrieu 5%

Blitzer: Heres the primary map so far, and remember the states colored in red are states that have been won by Senator Feingold while the states in Green are states that have been won by Senator Biden.

Delaware Senator Joe Biden 140 delegates
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: 135 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Greenfield: Wow at how close it is with only 5 delegates separating the two although if you do add in super delegates Senator Biden's lead is higher , but many believe that unless their are special circumstances the super delegates in the end will vote for whoever won more delegates overall so this race cant get any closer

Woodruff: Bill do you think their is any frontrunner after tonight

Schinder: Well in pure numbers, Senator Biden is the extremely slight frontrunner but in reality I would say this is as close to 50/50 as you can get and looking at the results so far Id say we are in for the closest primary contest since at least the 1984 Democratic Primary between Walter Mondale and Gary Hart, and maybe even the 1976 Republican Primary between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan which we all remember people didnt know who even would be the nominee until the delegates at the convention votes.

Greenfield: I will agree for now there is no frontrunner with both candidates pretty much splitting the tossup primary contests of Missouri , Arizona and New Mexico but I think we will have a frontrunner by Super Tuesday since California and New York both will vote that day and both are considered tossups as well . The question is also how will the endorsements of Senator Landrieu and Governor Siegelman impact the race and that we should know in the contests leading up to Super Tuesday although there is no real tossup contest other than the Nevada Caucus.

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Breaking News: San Francisco to begin issuing  marriage licenses to same sex couples

Woodruff: We have some breaking news to report to you and that is the city of San Francisco has decided to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in violation of California law. We are told by legal experts that almost certainly the courts will reverse the decision but it does bring the issue of same sex marriage back into debate again in at least California if not nationally

Shaw: Yes you could very well see potentially a referendum on the California ballot this year or two years from now asking this question of what we should do with the issue of same sex marriages but for now it probably will be reversed by the courts. The President also released this statement


McCain: The issue of marriage has long been an issue that has been decided by the states and should remain that way and cities should not be permitted to violate state law and the federal government shouldnt be permitted to intervene either. The decision of what marriage law should be in California should be decided by the state of California and the voters of California.


Shaw: Not a surprising reaction but a one that probably satisfies both Social conservatives and moderates in the party

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Just wondering, what's the unemployment rate thus far?

5.2%

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Feingold takes leads with wins in primaries in the lead up to Super Tuesday

Woodruff: With a few days to go until Super Tuesday lets look at the results since Mini Tuesday to see how the race stands. The contests were considered to be more favorable to Senator Feingold and thats how it turned out so lets go to Wolf to get a detailed look at the results

Blitzer: Yes first lets look at the contests won by Senator Biden

Contests won by Senator Biden:

Tennessee: Biden 61% 42 Delegates Feingold 38% 27 Delegates
Virginia: Biden 58% 48 Delegates Feingold 41% 34 Delegates
District of Columbia: Biden 69% 11 Delegates Feingold 30% 5 Delegates


Blitzer: Now lets look at the contests won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:

Michigan: Feingold 54% 69 Delegates Biden 45% 59 Delegates
Wisconsin: Feingold 83% 60 Delegates Biden 16% 12 Delegates
Idaho:  Feingold 73% 13 Delegates Biden 26% 5 Delegates
Utah: Feingold 54% 13 Delegates Biden 45% 10 Delegates
Nevada: Feingold 50% 12 Delegates Biden 49% 12 Delegates
Washington: Feingold 62%  45 Delegates Biden 37% 27 Delegates
Hawaii: Feingold 69% 14 Delegates Biden 30% 6 Delegates

Blitzer: These wins by Mr.Feingold have given him an 55 delegate lead in the primaries so far but of course there is a long way to go so lets look at the overall map to see how the primaries have gone so far and what contests are still left.

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  427 delegates
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 372 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Blitzer: So Jeff would you say these wins made Mr.Feingold the frontrunner

Greenfield: I think it is still 50/50 as first remember that these contests were supposed to favor Senator Feingold and they did with the one real tossup contest being the Nevada caucuses which basically ended up a tie so at this point I dont think you can say who is the frontrunner especially with Super Tuesday coming up and both California and New York two of the three largest states in the union voting.

Schneider: Id like to add not only havent California and New York not voted yet but neither have any of the 7 largest states so it is in my opinion really premature to really make any assessment on who is the favorite and given we still have much of the south left which usually favors more moderate candidates up. Now of course we still have many states that we can call Feingold country coming up as well but thats the point and that its still way to early to say who the frontrunner is


Shaw: So could this nomination battle go all the way to the convention still


Schneider: It is unlikely as the super delegates have basically made clear they will publicly support whoever wins a majority of the pledged delegates which would mean that we will know who the nominee by the time the primaries are over.

Shaw: What if one candidate wins the popular vote but the other wins the pledged delegates, what will happen in that scenario

Greenfield: In that case we probably wont know who the winner is after the primaries but I would say its still likely we will know before the convention begins as campaigns will be making a case to the super delegates ahead of time and they likely will publically announce who they will vote for at the convention so we should know who the nominee is before the convention no matter what.

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Attorney General Lindsey Graham announces he will be stepping down from the position to run for the Senate seat in South Carolina and President McCain announces replacement will be Deputy Attorney General James Comey



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NQQk1XXwgE

McCain: 3 years ago when I was elected, it was my high honor to nominate my good friend Lindsey Graham to be our nation's attorney general and over the past 3 years he has shown over and over why it was the correct decision . Earlier today he let me know that he would be stepping down from the post to run for the Senate seat in South Carolina and I let him know that the Department of Justice will miss his leadership but that he will make a great senator and that he has my endorsement for the South Carolina election. To replace Attorney General Graham, I have decided to nominate Deputy Attorney General James Comey to become the next Attorney General as he has done a great job as Deputy Attorney General for the past 3 years and will do a great job as Attorney General

Graham: It has been the honor of my life to serve this nation as its attorney general over the past 3 years and my honor to work with many of the great employees of the Department of Justice over that time . The past 3 years have been one of the most important periods in this department's history as this department has had to transform into being ready to successfully prosecute some of the worst terrorists in the world to ensure we can win the war on terror and so far the great employees of this department have done exactly that. As someone who has worked with James Comey for the last 3 years I can tell you that he will do an excellent job as our next attorney general of our nation. Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless America


Comey: I want to start by thanking the outgoing attorney general Lindsey Graham for the great work he has done here and wish him well for his future. I also want to thank the President for giving me the honor for nominating me to represent our nation as the next attorney general of this nation and want to let him now that I will work tirelessly to show our nation that I can do a good job as our next Attorney General. Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless america

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Biden narrows deficit on super Tuesday despite Feingold winning more states due to wins in California and New York

Shaw: This has been another close night with both candidates going back and forth in many states and it seems like we have ended tonight in the same place as we begun , with us having no idea whatsoever who the frontrunner in this race will be. Senator Biden tonight won less states but larger ones which is why he was able to narrowly reduce the lead Senator Feingold has overall. Lets go over to Wolf to get a summary of the results before we leave tonight

Blitzer: Yes it was an exciting night indeed, but lets start by looking at the states won by Senator Biden

Contests won by Senator Biden:

New York: Biden 55% 141 Delegates Feingold 44% 113 Delegates
Maryland: Biden 60% 42 Delegates Feingold 39% 27 Delegates
Georgia: Biden 64% 56 Delegates Feingold 35% 30 Delegates
California: Biden 52% 194 Delegates Feingold 47% 176 Delegates


Blitzer: Now lets see the contests won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:


Vermont: Feingold 61% 9 Delegates Biden 38% 6 Delegates
Massachusetts: Feingold 55% 52 Delegates Biden 44% 41 Delegates
Connecticut: Feingold 50% 25 Delegates Biden 49% 24 Delegates
Rhode Island: Feingold 56% 12 Delegates Biden 43% 9 Delegates
Ohio: Feingold 54% 76 Delegates Biden 45% 64 Delegates
Minnesota: Feingold 73% 53 Delegates Biden 26% 19 Delegates


Blitzer: Alright now lets look at the overall picture to this date and look how close it is as only 32 delegates seperate Senator Feingold and Senator Biden so this race just could not get any closer. So Jeff what are your thoughts on the night and the primary race going forward

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  1000 delegates
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 968 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Greenfield: Well it makes it clear that this primary will very likely go all the way to June as at this point as there is no realistic way for any candidate to really pull away now given what happened tonight. I think at this point given these results the Deep South as well as North Carolina will very likely be going to Senator Biden while the rest of the West and the state of Maine goes to senator Feingold.


Schnieder: While I think now the primary almost certainly will go till June, i believe in two weeks we could really know who the frontrunner of this race will be as Texas, Florida and Illinois all 3 major delegate rich states will be coming up and I think they could tell us who the frontrunner is because at this point thats where I think the primaries will be decided in these mega rich delegate states as all the smaller states seem to be breaking one way other the other

Blitzer: Could then Pennsylvania give Senator Biden an edge given most polls have him up in a mega rich delegate state

Schneider: It very well could but thats where I think these other 3 primary states will come in cause Senator Feingold could potentially upset Senator Biden in Pennsylvania if he picks up momentum with say win in a place like Texas but on the other hand if Senator Biden wins Illionis he may have the momentum to really put distance between the two candidates with a pretty decent sized win in Pennsylvania.

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Biden and Feingold end March tied in delegates after both candidates win in Key contests  :

Shaw: With all the primaries from this month have being wrapped up, we are still unable to figure out who the frontrunner in this race really is as both senator Biden and Senator Feingold keep countering each other with wins in other contests. For example three weeks ago it looked like Senator Biden had gotten the frontrunner status with strong performances in major states like Texas and Florida but since then Senator Feingold has countered back with a strong performance in Illinois and other states and we are literally  even. Lets go over to Wolf to get a summary of the contests each candidate has won since Super Tuesday

Blitzer: Yes and first lets start with states won by Senator Biden which all basically happened on the same night which many thought 3 weeks ago made him the frontrunner

Contests Won by Senator Biden:

Florida: Biden 59% 105 Delegates Feingold 40% 72 Delegates
Mississippi: Biden 69% 23 Delegates Feingold 30% 10 Delegates
Louisiana: Biden 64% 39 Delegates Feingold 35% 25 Delegates
Texas: Biden 54% 106 Delegates Feingold 45% 89 Delegates
American Samoa: Biden 61% 2 Delegates Feingold 38% 1 Delegates

Blitzer: Now lets look at the contests since then which have all been won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:

Maine: Feingold 66% 16 Delegates Biden 8 Delegates
Illinois: Feingold 56% 88 Delegates Biden 43% 68 Delegates
Kansas: Feingold 67% 22 Delegates Biden 32% 11 Delegates
Wyoming: Feingold 61% 8 Delegates Biden 38% 5 Delegates
Alaska: Feingold 65% 9 Delegates Biden 34% 6 Delegates
Democrats Abroad: Feingold 62% 4 Delegates Biden 37% 3 Delegates


Blitzer: Now lets look at the overall picture of the race and just look at that. Both candidates are tied , tied with most of the state have already voted, so it literally cant get any closer then this

Delaware Senator Joe Biden 1344 delegates
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  1344 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Greenfield: I never thought id ever see a primary like this cause at this point it looks even more back and forth than the 1976 Republican primaries though whether it ends up that way is yet to be seen. I agree with Bernard though that predicting who the frontrunner would be would be a guess at this point and we really cant make a guess at all.

Schinder: Well if you look at the delegates left in the West which is expected to be Feingold country you have 153 delegates there and if you add in Indiana where from looking at the results we can infer will very likely go to Feingold you get to 220 Delegates from which Senator Feingold will net delegates , while for Senator Biden if you give him the rest of these southern states has 180 delegates he will net delegates from. So while yes Senator Feingold may look to be the frontrunner form that, the fact Senator Biden has done really good in these big states bodes well for him in Pennsylvania and New Jersey which would make him look like the frontrunner so yes i agree there is no frontrunner left.

Greenfield: In that case Puerto Rico may decide who the nominee is

Schinder: Very much could

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Any predictions for who will be nominee and how close it will end up being

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Interesting how both of the final candidates are people who considered themselves close friends of McCain. This probably means the election will be significantly more civil than irl 2004.

Indeed, though the Super PACs might do the job of attacking the candidates for the candidates they raise money for with Feingold being the only Senator to vote against the Patriot Act after 9/11 and Biden having voted against Operation Desert Storm. But indeed it would also be good to have a more positive campaign than IOTL.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee#Super_PACs

Super PACs really didnt really exist until Citizens United and with stricter campaign finance reforms passed than OTL campaigns will be pretty different in general.

Though you are absolutely right the actual campaign wont be anywhere near as dirty as the OTL 2004 campaign was, given the relationship McCain and Biden/Feingold have , which would definitely  be good thing.

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DNC announces last second rule changes regarding Super Delegates as Biden and Feingold camps come to agreement to ensure contested convention is recorded



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee

Woodruff: With the primary race a literal tie between Senators Biden and Senator Feingold , it seems pretty likely that under current rules that a contested convention would be inevitable which is something the DNC is trying to avoid . Due to this we are told they reached out to both the Biden and Feingold camps and asked them to come up an agreement to avoid this very scenario and we are told this is what they came up with.

Agreement:
1. If one candidate ends the primary season up in leading the pledged delegate and popular vote count

- The losing candidate in this case we are told has committed to dropping out of the race and endorsing the leader in this case.

Woodruff: This we are told was expected and we are told that former President Clinton also plans to endorse whomever is ahead in this scenario as well. Now here though is where the DNC decided to make rule changes in accordance to both camps


2. If one candidate is ahead in the pledged delegate count but not ahead in the popular vote

- The Super Delegates will be required to officially announce who they plan to vote for on the first ballot by July 16th which is 10 days before the convention and that announcement will be binding for the first ballot

- Any Super Delegate which does not officially announce who they plan to vote for , then they will not be permitted to vote on the first ballot


Woodruff: Of course if this scenario takes place we will cover the Super Delegate primaries on July 16th here on CNN . For anyone saying isnt asking if this is changing the rules in the middle of the game , well remember this was done with the approval of both the Biden and Feingold camp and these rules changes wont effect the actual primaries. Now we are told the Biden and Feingold camp also came to an agreement on the VP Pick


3. Having a ticket that unites the primary

- If Senator Biden wins the primary we are told he has committed to picking someone from the populist progressive wing of the party although we are told Senator Feingold has ruled himself out from becoming VP.

- If Senator Feingold wins the primary we are told he has committed to picking someone from the more moderate wing of the party and like Senator Feingold we are told Senator Biden has ruled himself out from becoming VP.

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If Feingold is the nominee or the VP nominee, I guess that makes his senate seat more competitive. Which candidates does the NRSC have in mind to recruit to run for Feingold’s seat?

I believe that Feingold would be allowed to run for reelection even if he was on the ticket given Paul Ryan was allowed to run for reelection


But the NRSC is trying to recruit either Margaret Farrow or Jack Voight to run for the Senate Seat

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Breaking News: Former NFL Player, Pat Tillman, who joined the Marines after the September 11th attacks killed in friendly fire in Afghanistan:



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman

Woodruff: We have some real tragic news to report and that is Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals player who left millions of dollars on the table to join the Marines after the September 11th attacks has been killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan . The President who is also a Cardinals fan released this statement

McCain: It with sadness we have all come to know the death of Pat Tillman, someone who is truly an American hero. He was someone who was able to achieve a lifelong dream of many Americans by being able to play in the NFL and as a fan of the Cardinals I can tell you that he was a great player to watch and someone who I believe would have been a star for many years to come . Despite this , Pat put aside his dream and millions of dollars as to him serving his nation came before anything else and that makes him a true American Hero and someone who is an inspiration to all of us.

I also want to offer my condolences to his family who will need it in these tough times and offer my support to them as well. It is tough whenever someone who serves our nation dies but especially when it came through friendly fire and while we are still investigating the matter further , at this point we havent found any criminal behavior that led to this friendly fire incident.

Lastly I have ordered our flag to be flown at half mast in honor for Ranger Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr.

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With wins in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Biden establishes himself as narrow frontrunner in primaries

Shaw: With a solid win in Pennsylvania tonight thanks to a strong performance in the Philadelphia and Scranton Areas , Senator Biden has taken a 27 Delegate lead in the race so far it looks like he may have take narrow front runner status but before we discuss that lets go to Wolf to get a summary of the results tonight and over the past month

Blitzer: Yes first lets look at the wins by Senator Biden over the past month which were highlighted by major wins in North Carolina and tonight in Pennsylvania

Wins by Senator Biden:

Virgin Islands: Biden 68% 2 Delegates Feingold 31% 1 Delegate
Pennsylvania: Biden 58% 88 Delegates Feingold 41% 63 Delegates
North Carolina: Biden 56% 51 Delegates Feingold 43% 39 Delegates
Guam: Biden 57% 2 Delegates Feingold 42% 1 Delegate

Blitzer: Now lets look at the wins by Senator Feingold

Wins by Senator Feingold:
Colorado: Feingold 61% 33 Delegates Biden 38% 21 Delegates


Blitzers: These wins as you can see have propelled Senator Biden to a 27 Delegate lead , primarily fueled by a 25 delegate win in Pennsylvania tonight. 

Delaware Senator Joe Biden 1508 delegates
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  1481 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Blitzer: So would you agree with Bernard that Senator Biden is the frontrunner

Greenfield: I would agree though I also agree that he is only a narrow frontrunner given he only has a 27 delegate lead but the fact is there are two southern states that can further pad Senator Biden's lead and can make up for losses in the West and even the Midwest but the real reason why id say he is the frontrunner is the fact that he has managed to consistently win in these non Midwestern large states and with New Jersey and Puerto Rico up id say he is the frontrunner now

Schneider: I agree with Jeff But let me add that it could easily change thats why its only the narrow frontrunner. The fact is though at this point Senator Biden is definitely favored in New Jersey and probably in Puerto Rico which is why he is the frontrunner of this race though things can absolutely change .

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Feingold takes one delegate lead as primaries enter final week

Shaw: Well the primaries will go down to the final day as with one week to go only one delegate separates the two candidates. All the contests went as people expected them to go and currently in the popular vote Senator Feingold holds a very narrow lead as well so its very possible this contest could come down to the Super Delegate primary day in July. Lets go to Wolf first to see the results over the past month

Blitzer: Yes first lets look at the contests won by Senator Biden

Contests won by Senator Biden:

Alabama: Biden 65% 35 Delegates Feingold 34% 19 Delegates
Arkansas: Biden 56% 20 Delegates Feingold 43% 16 Delegates

Biden nets 20 Delegates(leads by 47)

Blitzer: Now lets look at the contests won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:

Indiana: Feingold 63% 43 Delegates Biden 36% 24 Delegates
Kentucky: Feingold 53% 25 Delegates Biden 46% 24 Delegates
West Virginia: Feingold 55% 16 Delegates Biden 44% 12 Delegates
Nebraska: Feingold 64% 16 Delegates Biden 35% 8 Delegates
South Dakota: Feingold 68% 10 Delegates Biden 31% 4 Delegates
Oregon: Feingold 61% 28 Delegates Biden 38% 18 Delegates

Blitzer: As you can see only one just one delegate now separates Senators Feingold and Biden

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  1654 delegates
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 1653 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates

Blitzer: So Jeff do you think the race is back to being 50/50

Greenfield: Im not really sure because the fact is none of these results were really a surprise at all so nothing really changed about the race from a month ago, as we still dont know if Senator Feingold has the ability to win these major delegate states outside the Midwest and he will have to win Puerto Rico if he wants the nomination and do decently well in New Jersey so id say Senator Biden is still the frontrunner at this point.


Schneider: Not only is that true but let show you this exercise I just did on the screen where lets say for assumption Senator Feingold wins Montana 68%-31% like he did in South Dakota, at for this hypothetical say he wins Puerto Rico 55-44 and then loses New Jersey by the same amount . If he does that he will win 86 delegates next Tuesday while Senator Biden will win 87 Delegates meaning the overall delegate math will be tied. So in that case the nomination becomes 50/50 and we head to super delegate primary day to see who wins the nomination, as at this point I think whoever has the lead in overall delegates gets the popular vote too so the only way we get to that day is in this scenario.

Now let me remind you that the polls in Puerto Rico show basically it as a pure tossup meaning in this scenario hed lose the nomination as he currently is losing New Jersey by around 12-13 points in the polls. So unless he can win Puerto Rico by more than he loses New Jersey , and at that point it seems unlikely so due to that Senator Biden is definitely still the frontrunner.

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Breaking News: Former President Ronald Reagan passes away



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

Shaw: Ronald Reagan , the 40th president of the United States, who presided over the end of the cold war has passed away. In many ways President Reagan's career embodied in many ways the dream many kids have as he went on to have a job as a sports announcer, then became a hollywood actor and later on became the Governor of the largest state of the union and capped it of by being the President of the United States.  We at CNN want to offer our condolences to Nancy Reagan and his kids for their loss and let them know our thoughts are with them at this moment.


Woodruff: In honor of former President Reagan we will later tonight and tomorrow afternoon play a documentary we have made about the 40th president and then play back his most memorable speeches.



President McCain's eulogy at President Reagan's funeral:

McCain: Mrs. Reagan and all the members of the Reagan family , I want to begin by letting you know that the thoughts of all of us is with you tonight in what must be a hard time for you. While we all know Ronald Reagan is in a better place now as he no longer will have to suffer from Alzheimer's , we as a nation will miss him. His leadership helped guide us through really critical moments in the cold war and through the worst economic times we had faced since the Depression and left our nation stronger than it has ever been thanks to guiding us through those moments. He did it while challenging conventional wisdom and working bipartisanly to make the type of reforms to fix the structural problems facing our nation at the time even if it required taking on the special interests opposed to it at the time. I first entered congress and later the senate under his presidency and I can tell you he was a great mentor to me and for the freshman members of congress and the senate
as well.

Thank You , May God Bless President Reagan, his family and may god Bless America

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Senator Joe Biden wins the Democratic Nomination after wins in New Jersey and Puerto Rico make him pledged delegate and popular vote winner:

Shaw: We have a major projection to make and that is in addition to the fact that Joe Biden will have the most pledged delegates, we can also project he will win the national popular vote as well meaning CNN Can now project that Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. of Delaware will be the Democratic Nominee and will go on to face President John McCain in the November election. The reason we can project that is due to last minute DNC rule changes agreed to by both Biden and Feingold if one of them win both the pledged delegate and super delegate count that the one who won them would be the nominee.

Blitzer: To recap this night where Senator Biden became the Democratic Nominee lets look at the results, first the contests won by Senator Biden

Contests won by Senator Joe Biden:

New Jersey: Biden 57% 62 Delegates Feingold 42% 45 Delegates
Puerto Rico: Biden 51% 26 Delegates Feingold 48% 25 Delegates

Blitzer: Now lets look at the Contest won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Russ Feingold:

Montana: Feingold 66% 10 Delegates Biden 33% 5 Delegates

Delaware Senator Joe Biden 1746 delegates
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold:  1734 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Greenfield: It definitely is a heartbreaking loss for the Feingold camp to lose the pledged delegate county by only 12 and the popular vote by so little as well. If he performed better in a couple of these big states he may have been the nominee but he wasnt so Senator Biden barely won it

Schneider: Yup, now lets go over to the Senator Feingold camp where he will give his concession speech


Senator Russ Feingold Concession Speech:


Feingold: I just got off the phone with Senator Joe Biden to congratulate him on winning the Democratic nomination and told him that I look forward to campaigning for him to ensure that our party can take back the White House this November. Coming this close to winning the nomination does make it tougher to lose but there can only be won one winner and Senator Biden is the rightful winner and we must unite our party to help him win the Presidency. For the people who like the President a lot, I can tell you I understand that feeling very well because President McCain and I are good friend and have been for many years but at the end of the day what matters is not what candidate you like more but which candidate's policies you think would help our nation more and for me that is definitely Senator Biden.

 For people doubting that lets look at some of the key policies: On healthcare: President McCain opposes expanding Medicaid while Senator Biden supports it, Senator Biden believes that strong unions are critical to growing the middle class while the President and his party do not, Senator Biden believes it is time to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes while the President opposes measures that would do that and Senator Biden supports making more investments in our future generations than the President does which is why we need to support Senator Joe Biden this November become the next President of the United States. Thank You and May God Bless You and May God Bless America


Greenfield : It was a gracious concession speech by Senator Feingold and made it clear that he looks to immediately try to unite the party

Schneider : though not as VP as we are told the republicans will be contesting this seat with a strong challenger so he will be putting all his attention on that race . Now let’s head over to Biden headquarters in New Jersey to hear his victory speech

Senator Biden’s Victory Speech:

Biden : Thank You Thank You(Crowd Cheers USA USA), a short while ago I spoke with Senator Feingold and congratulated him on a very hard fought primary campaign and told him I look forward to working with him to unite our party in this campaign(Applause) as our party is stronger when ideas from all aspects of our party can unite in an effort to make our nation a better place . That includes working with senator Feingold in finding an appropriate Vice Presidential nominee that can ensure party unity as well(Applause) as it is critical in order for us to win this important election. Like I have said many times on this campaign trail the soul of our nation is not the men and women at the top but the working men and women in this nation and it is high time we reinvest in them again(Applause). In order to remain as great as we are we must keep our soul strong and that is what I plan to do as president by expanding Medicaid , increasing  funding for our colleges and trade schools , and yes in order to fund these programs we will ask the wealthy to pay a little more in taxes . They through their hard work succeeded and we commend them for it but we need them to also invest some of that money into our nations future and that is what we will do( Applause ).

We will work with the world to make sure we can win the war on terrorism and meet every threat of the 21st century. May God Bless you and May God Bless America

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Biden's Potential Vice Presidential Picks:

Schnider: Now lets go over some potential Vice Presidential Picks that people close to the Biden campaign has floated. Just to let people know, Senator Feingold has ruled himself out as a potential Vice Presidential Pick so that is why he wont be on this list.

The Favorites:

Howard Dean:



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Dean

Don Siegleman:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Siegelman

Jay Rockefeller:



Tom Harkin:



Brian Schweitzer:



Barbara Boxer:



The Wildcards:

Mark Dayton:



Sherrod Brown:





John Kitzhaber:





Schneider: As you can see all of these candidates hail from the liberal or populist wing of the party which is no surprise given Biden pledged to name a running mate from Feingold's wing of the party back in April

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Granholm is not eligible

Oof my bad , I’ll try to fix the post by  tonight then . Thanks for pointing this out  

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House Passes Cap and Trade Legislation on bipartisan basis:

Woodruff: The House earlier today with the support of over 80% of Democrats and around 35% of Republicans passed a bill that would implement a cap and trade system and would implement a cap that would require emissions to return to 2000 levels by 2010 and 1990 levels by 2015. To achieve this R&D funding for Alternative energy sources will also be increased.

This is a bill where the President has gone against the majority of his party as we can see, but the only question is will this bill be able to pass the senate which generally has members that follow conventional wisdom more than the house does.

Shaw: Many are calling this the President McCain's welfare reform moment where the President has gone against the wishes of the majority of the party to go ahead with this. Though we are told that the President has agreed due to these differences will not ask the Republican Leadership to Whip Votes for this bill . He has also agreed to push the debate on this bill to the lame duck session in November.

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VP shortlist for Senator Biden Released:

Howard Dean:



Strengths: Would fully help bring Feingold's liberal base to the Biden Fold and brings a lot of energy to the ticket

Weaknesses: Doesn't provide any regional diversity for the ticket and could alienate conservative Democrats

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Dean

Don Siegleman:



Strengths: Could help put more southern states in play and could help ticket make a populist play in the campaign

Weakness: While he could help expand the map, he doesn't put any battleground states in the Biden camp.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Siegelman

Jay Rockefeller:




Strengths: Would help ticket greatly in Appalachia which is critical in OH/PA and generally wouldn’t turn off any potential voters

Weaknesses: Wouldnt bring much  energy to the ticket and wouldn’t help appeal to young voters

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Initial 2004 Election Map Battleground Map:

Shaw: Lets go over now to Bill Schnider to look at the very first battleground map. So Bill how does it look so far

Schnider: President McCain does start out with the advantage as if you add up the electoral votes in states we have assigned as lean and Safe for each candidate you see that President McCain is up 215 to 153. Now this isnt much of a surprise given how incumbents usually have an easier path to winning than the challenger especially this early on but as you can see the President would currently need to win 55 Electoral votes from here vs 117 for Senator Biden.

McCain/Danforth 215
Biden/? 153


Shaw: Wouldnt people in either camp say that states like California and Georgia while you can find a plausible way for either candidate to get within 5 points in either state, there is really no plausible way for the President to win California or Senator Biden to take Georgia.

Schnider: Sure , but given how early it is in the election cycle we want to be a little more conservative in our ratings and given both states were decided by single digits last time and have governors from the other parties we have assigned them as Lean for now. If the election was just a month away , we would assign them as Safe but there is still a long way to go so we wont mark them as safe even though they probably will be Safe.

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Breaking News: Biden picks long time senator Jay Rockefeller as his running mate



Source : https://youtu.be/necfW5Dj5UQ

Shaw: We have some breaking news to report and that is Senator Biden has selected Senator Jay Rockefeller to be his running mate for the November election and now lets go over to Charleston, West Virginia to hear the announcement.

Biden: Thank You,  Thank You. One of the most important decisions, if not the most important decision a presidential candidate has to make is to pick a running mate as if they win that person will become the Vice President of our nation for the next 4 to 8 years. They must be someone the President can trust to be their main governing partner and advisor for that time, someone who has the experience to take on important responsibilities as well. I know better person who can do that more than my friend, your senator and our next Vice President Jay Rockefeller(Applause).

Rockefeller: Thank You , Thank You. I want to start out by thanking Senator Biden for giving me the honor of being his running mate and look forward to working with him to ensure my friend Joe Biden will become our next president(Applause) . Senator Biden has been one of the most decent hard working person I have known and I know he will work hard every day to make sure the soul of our nation , the great working class of our country gets even stronger(Applause). He understand those are the people who built our nation and it is time we once again implement policies that help the working people of this nation . That is why he must be elected our next president and I look forward to helping him achieve that goal . Thank you may god bless you and may god bless America

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2004 DNC: Democrats unite behind Biden in hopes of an Upset victory in November:

Notable Speakers:

Former President Bill Clinton: Compared and Contrasted economic record of past 4 years vs the economic record of the 8 years he was in office

Former Vice President Al Gore: Talked about need to work with the global community more to win the war on terrorism and combat Global Warming

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: Talked about the need to give House control back to the Democrats

South Dakota Senator Tom Dahsale: Talked about his friendship with Senator Biden and the need to give Senate Control Back to the Democrats

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: Energized the Liberal Base by talking about issues such as healthcare, and on why Democrats will reverse outsourcing

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry: Talked about the need to create a new type of NATO to win the War on Terrorism

Alabama Governor Don Siegelman: Talked about the need to pass education reform

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean: Energized young voters in the audience by talking about how the government should invest in the jobs of the future

Excerpts of Jay Rockefeller Speech accepting the Vice Presidential Nomination:



Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-rockefeller-idUSBRE90A0P620130111

Rockefeller: Thank You, Thank You. It is a great honor to be nominated for Vice President by this great party and I accept you nomination(Applause). Our party throughout our history has stood with those who need help the most and I am proud to be part of this great party and if elected will do all I can to help President Joe Biden put in place policies that will reduce poverty, and make healthcare more affordable to those who need it(Applause). The President and Republicans 4 years ago talked about doing so and in the past 4 years we haven't seen the President push for comprehensive Healthcare reform even once or the Republicans even once try to get such a bill out of committee(Boos), haven't seen them do it for education reform either and I can promise you if you elect Senator Biden to the White House , he will at the very least push to do both those things(Applause) .

Our party has also throughout our history has stood for international cooperation from President Wilson with the League of Nations , to President Roosevelt with the UN and President Truman with NATO and now its time to work with the global community again to create alliances and organizations to take on Terrorism and deal with the issue of climate change(Applause). While it is important to work with our allies on an individual basis like the President has done , that is not enough and history shows this. Thanks to the UN we were able to prevent World War 3 from ever happening and thanks to NATO we were able to win the cold war without ever going to war as well(Applause) and if we want to really win this war on terror we need to create a similar organization to deal with Terrorism(Applause).

Thank You, May God Bless you and May God Bless America


Excerpts of Joe Biden's speech accepting the Democratic Nomination for President



Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/12-conventions-48-years-joe-bidens-history-democratic/story?id=72426330

Biden: Thank You Thank You. It is an honor to be nominated by this great party that has produced so many great Presidents like Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton and I accept your nomination(Standing Ovation). While the policies of our party has changed throughout our history, one thing has remained the same and that is that the purpose of our party is to help the common men and women in our nation and that is exactly why I am proud to be a member of this party(Applause). Today the working men and women of this nation face a crises of seeing their healthcare costs go up, education opportunity becoming more unequal, and many jobs being outsourced and it is time we have an administration that addresses these issues to ensure that the middle class can become stronger than ever. Like I have said many times on this campaign the soul of our nation is not those at the top but the workers and that is exactly what this campaign is about and If I win that is what I pledge that is what this adminstration will be about(Applause).

4 Years ago my friend John McCain and his party came in promising to return power to the people but unless we can make healthcare affordable again, make middle class blue-collar jobs more accessible again, and fix our education system to make sure every kid no matter their race, gender or socioeconomic status gets the same opportunity to a good education , power cannot be considered to be restored to the people(Applause). This should be common sense but our Republican friends have not even once used their power to fix these issues(Boos) which is exactly why it is time for a change.

Now as we all know for our nation to be prosperous not only do we have to improve our economy but strengthen our national security as well which is exactly why I believe it is time to create a new sorta of NATO to deal with terrorism. Terrorism is an issue that doesnt only effect one nation or one region but the whole world which is why we need a global solution to solve it(Applause). That requires working with our friends and adversaries across the world to counterterrorism because on that issue it effects all of us and it is in the best interests for all of our people to destroy terrorism(Applause).  Thank You May God Bless You May God Bless our Troops and May God Bless America.


Race tied after Biden surges in Polls post Convention:

McCain/Danforth 47% 196
Biden/Rockfeller 47% 189

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Has Zell Miller officially announced who to endorse in this election?

He will endorse McCain but not as enthusiastically as he did OTL for George W Bush . There will be another democrat who will enthusiastically endorse McCain at the RNC though