American News Network Election Special

[Newsman]

The American News Network is prepared to call the results of several races now.

In District 1, the race is too close to call.  Naiton leads blerpiez 9-8, but voting is not over and court challenges may rule some votes as invalid.

In district 2, we are projecting that Beet will retain Senate his seat.

In District 3, we are projecting that hughento will easily retain his Senate seat.

In District 4, we are projecting that StatesRights will retain his Senate seat.

In District 5, we are projecting that John F. Kennedy will retain his Senate seat.

We are projecting that the Southern Constitution will be ratified.

Here is the big one.  ANN is prepared to call the Presidential race to Secretary of Sate Gustaf Lundgren.  Congratulations to him.

[Newsman]

If any voters think that we are calling the race too quickly, we apologize.  But, we at ANN felt that the lead Gustaf had was large enough to make our call now.

[Newsman]

Some analysis:

Gustaf is an incredibly popular figure on this board, and trying to defeat him is like trying to defeat Colin Powell or John McCain or Rudy Giuliani would be in real life.  They are people popular across party lines and it would be nearly impossible to defeat one in a general election.

What kind of President will Gustaf be?  Well, we don't really know.  The truth is we know far more about what he will do based on his posts outside the fantasy board than his posts during this campaign.  Nym90 had a comprehensive economic plan, he dealt with foreign policy crises, he formed a cabinet, we knew exactly what we had.  Obviously, people weren't too happy with what we had, because the Forum has just chosen to go to an unkown quantity, to some extent.

I think if I asked people to name three themes of the Lundgren campaign, most forum goers, even those who voted for Gustaf, would have trouble naming three major themes.  Voters seemed to agree tht Nym won the debates as well, but none of this affected their judgement about who to vote for.  Gustaf won a solid victory with 54% of the vote after an instant runoff in spite of Nym running more ads, winning the debate, and having a definable record.  Why?  Because Gustaf is so incredibly popular, that it didn't matter.  Nothing the President did mattered.  Nothing StevenNick did mattered.  This election was Gustaf's to lose, and he didn't lose it.

[Newsman]

Mr. President Elect, when I said unknown quantity I only meant that your platform was somewhat unknown.  I apologize for any offense taken.  That said, now it's time for some needlessly premature speculation!

Who will the Democrats nominate for President in 4 months?  Well, migrendel hs announced his candidacy.  If UL members are allowed to vote in the primary, his chances of being the nominee are increased, obviously.  Nym90 has said he will not run again.  His Vice President, Al, obviously, has an inside track to be nominated, as does his ex-VP, Harry.  Then there is always the chance that someone comes out of nowhere to run, a dark horse that no one is thinking of.  Could Senator Michael Z or Governor NickG fit this bill?

Who will the Republicans nominate?  PBrunsel is probably their best liked member, having earned the respect of those across the aisle.  This doesn't necessarily make him the most formidable candidate, though.  Josh22 has demonstrated the mabition required to run for President, as has StevenNick.  Reaganfan might run, to.  In my opinion, their best candidate is either Brunsel or StatessRights, if they get him to rejoin and give up on his own third party.  If you want a Republican dark horse who no one is talking about, how about Mr. Fresh, who has made a recent comeback on the board.  He lacks the advantage of having held office though.

This is all the needless speculaton I can do for tonight.