Fictional election series (2012 General Election thread)

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2012 Primary Results & General Election

Democrats

Blythe's challenge seemed doomed from the start. Despite his falling approval ratings, Underwood was the sitting President, and as such, enjoyed the backing of the majority of the party. However, Blythe hammered him again and again on "America Works", and saw a rise in the polls. Underwood was finally forced to schedule debates with him, hoping to prove that Blythe was too far left to win a General Election.

This backfired spectacularly. Blythe performed well in the debates, and Underwood floundered. When Iowa came around, Blythe forced a tie in delegates (Underwood won the popular vote by +600). A win in New Hampshire gave him momentum. Suddenly, Underwood was on the back foot. When Labor Secretary Santos resigned from the cabinet to endorse Blythe, the southern populist knew he had a fight in his hands.

A long primary followed, and unsavory things were dredged up about Underwood as it went on. In the end, it came down to California. Underwood was doing surprisingly well there. Then came the nail in his coffin.

A photo of his father at a Klan rally was leaked. Overnight, Underwood collapsed in the polls. Blacks overwhelmingly went for Blythe in the final primaries. In the end, this swung it.

Come the Democratic Convention in Chicago that year, Blythe had done what even the powerhouses of Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy failed to do: He defeated an incumbent President for his party's nomination. Realising that he could be seen as too far left, he nominated the recently re-elected Governor of Colorado as his running mate.

Democratic nominee for President

Congressman Donald Blythe

Democratic nominee for Vice-President

Governor Garrett Walker

Republicans

Incumbent Senate Majority Leader Hector Mendoza foundhimself in a three-way race with McAvoy and Walken early on, as Walken was able to cast himself as Vinick's successor, while McAvoy was able to utilise the outsider image to a great extent. However, no-one predicted what happened next.

First, Former Defense Secretary James Heller and Governor Ray Sullivan, both considered strong contenders, flopped badly, both withdrawing before Iowa. The Republican Iowa caucuses however, allowed another candidate to burst onto the scene: Governor Will Conway of New York. Conway ran himself as a conservative who could win in Democratic states; perhaps even putting northeastern states in contention; he did enjoy high approval ratings as Governor.

Soon though, Conway's charge came to an abrupt halt, and Mendoza picked up steam. He won a full half of the delegates on Super Tuesday, and cruised to the nomination after Conway and McAvoy withdrew.

Mendoza then began considering his VP choices. It came down to Conway and McAvoy. Conway seemed good; he was a two-term conservative Governor from an otherwise liberal state, young, charismatic and a very good speaker. However, he was ambitious. Mendoza's close friend and 2008 nominee Senator Vinick referring to him as "The Republican Underwood". McAvoy had some good points too; he was known to the electorate having run twice, was also an excellent speaker, a skilled debater and could play the outsider card well; which would come in handy against Blythe and Walker, but he was also obstinate, argumentative, and not a team player. It was a hard choice, but one that had to be made.

Republican nominee for President:

Senator Hector Mendoza

Republican nominee for Vice-President

Mr Will McAvoy

Independent

Billionaire Raymond Tusk, a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, found himself alarmed by Blythe's left-wing rhetoric, and poured money into Underwood's campaign. When it became apparent that Underwood would lose, he begged his close friend, Governor Garrett Walker of Colorado, to announce himself as a compromise candidate from the Convention floor, arguing that the superdelegates would support him; which Blythe would need to seal off the nomination. Walker declined though; perhaps he knew he was under consideration for the VP nomination.

Enraged, Tusk set about planning a third-party campaign to prevent Blythe from winning the White House. He would focus on Underwood's maligned supporters, combining social moderation with economic populism. He needed to avoid the "America Works" saga though; running as a Blue Dog-esque independent could raise some comparisons to Underwood. He needed a VP candidate who had opposed America Works, preferably a Cabinet Secretary. Santos was the most vocal opponent, but he had endorsed Blythe. In the end, his eyes settled on Underwood's HUD Secretary, whom reluctantly accepted the nod (some say under considerable duress).

Inside, Tusk knew he couldn't win the Electoral College. But maybe, just maybe, he could throw the election to the House, then he could present himself as the compromise.

Independent candidate for President

Mr Raymond Tusk

Independent candidate for Vice-President

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman

The 2012 General Election is now underway. Can Blythe's progressive platform carry him to the White House? Will Mendoza's brand of "liberty-oriented conservatism" retake the White House for the Republicans for the first time in 12 years? Or will Tusk succeed in throwing the election to his favoured stomping ground: The United States House of Representatives?

Who will be the next President and Vice-President of the United States?

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2012 General Election Results

Congressman Donald Blythe (D-NH)/Governor Garrett Walker (D-CO): 329

Senator Hector Mendoza (R-AZ)/Mr Will McAvoy (R-NE): 190

Mr Raymond Tusk (I-MO)/Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman (I-NY): 19

This election would prove to be a most unconventional affair. Blythe was essentially running in opposition to America Works, vowing to kill it the day he entered office. When Mendoza and Tusk both said they would kill it too, Blythe realised that being a single-issue candidate was not going to work. He needed to expand. Fortunately, he could easily find one, given his opponents: money.

Blythe was an ardent progressive, and one of his pet issues was money in politics. The Citizens United decision, handed down in 2010 with minimal opposition from Underwood, served as a rallying point. he accused Tusk of "trying to buy the election" and accused Mendoza of making undeclared speeches to several banks (sound familiar?). Unfortunately, these attacks stuck. Come the debates, Blythe would be in the box seat.

When the debates rolled around, Tusk decided the best form of defense was attack, and being at above 15% in the polls, was allowed into the debates. He relentlessly attacked Blythe, charging that the mild-mannered Granite Stater intended to introduce a socialized education system and abolish private schooling. Blythe counterattacked however, drawing out several points of friction between Tusk and his running mate, Tom Kirkman. Mendoza tried to paint himself as above the fray, but it didn't work. The remaining debates played out similarly. However, the VP debate would be the major turning point for the Blythe campaign.

For all his vaunted debating expertise, McAvoy struggled to leverage the argument that the Blythe/Walker ticket was too far left, while Walker expertly pointed out the many, many areas of disagreement between Mendoza and McAvoy. Among other things, McAvoy's moderate-to-libertarian tendencies didn't sit well with the conservative Mendoza. Tusks' pick of Kirkman proved fatal, as the mild-mannered Secretary wasn't able to effectively present the argument for a third party, largely resorting to an America Works attack, something that actually played decently, as although Blythe had vowed to kill it, Walker had not raised a finger against the bill.

Come election day however, and Blythe and been able to shift the debate into education and Citizens United. This, and Tusk's candidacy, proved decisive, as he was able to hold several states he may not have, and his additional appeal to the industrial states allowed to rack up impressive margins there. Tusk won a handful of states, but not enough to throw the election to the House, while Mendoza said that would be stepping down as Majority Leader after suffering such a hefty loss.

In a series of shocking moves, Blythe nominated Arnold Vinick for Secretary of State, McAvoy for Attorney-General and Santos for Education.

However, news from Connecticut also surfaced that year. In a shock upset, Bartlet's White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Joshua Lyman, and won a surprise victory over Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy in the Democratic Primary for the open Senate seat in Connecticut. Lyman's General Election victory was, likewise, an upset.