Hamster
Jr. Member
Posts: 260
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« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2014, 08:15:31 PM » |
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Presidential Election 2016
Democratic Primaries
Hillary Clinton announces her candidacy for president in the spring of 2015. No other 'serious candidates' dare run. On the eve of the Iowa caucus the only other candidates are Brian Schweitzer and Bernie Sanders. However, Democratic bosses are beginning to regret the decision to trust Hillary. She deteriorated as a candidate since 2008. Maybe that concussion really did effect her. She can't handle a debate with Bernie Sanders, for God's sake!
Still, it was a surprise when she lost the Iowa straw poll to Schweitzer. He wasn't supposed to win anything. He ended up with a minority share of delegates, which were split between Democratic Party stalwarts who backed Hillary and Bernie Sanders' supporters who managed to worm their way through Iowa's caucus system to a position of power.
In the debate after Iowa, Hillary completely fell apart and failed to articulate why she was running for president or what exactly it was she wanted to do. It was later leaked to the press that she had been doped up on pain medications for the duration of the campaign. Sanders won New Hampshire.
By this point the Democratic Party was in crisis. It was clear that Hillary was not fit to be President, but there was no way that gun-nut from Montana or a God-Damn socialist would be nominated. A Draft Cuomo movement was launched, an effort backed by the party establishment and big democratic donors. Unfortunately for the party, primary ballot laws prevented a successful late-entrant from winning any delegates. Another candidate could only be nominated at a brokered convention.
The establishment strategy shifted to ensure a brokered convention would happen. Hillary's campaign, by this point entirely out of her control, continued to win primaries despite having a dead-in-the-water candidate due to establishment support. Going into the convention, Schweitzer led in the delegate count, but Sanders delegates seemed more sure to support him after being released. That summer, every politician, pundit, and protester flocked to Atlanta for a historic convention.
The first ballot produced gridlock. The New York delegates, who had been Hillary delegates, called for Andrew Cuomo to accept the presidential nomination. He gave an impromptu speech announcing he would run for president if nominated. On the second ballot, when the delegates were released from their primary committments, all hell broke lose. Cuomo received most Hillary delegates, a lot of Schweitzer delegates, and a few Sanders delegates, but not enough to win the nomination outright. A lot of delegates cast votes for people who were not at that time being considered for president. Al Gore, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Martin O'Malley all got votes. By that point, the protests outside the convention turned into riots as people felt they were being robbed.
Balloting continued, and on the fourth Andrew Cuomo was nominated the Democratic candidate for president. Martin O'Malley was nominated as his running mate. Schweitzer and Sanders both refused to endorse Cuomo. The Green Party convention was held the week after the Democratic Convention, fortuitously for Sanders, who declared his green party candidacy in his "concession" speech. He was easily nominated. Schweitzer, in what might only be described as a fit of rage, endorsed Sanders over Cuomo. Hillary was not heard from.
Republican Primaries
Jeb Bush decided not to run for president. Rather, his wife decided not to run for First Lady and he acquiesced. Thus, the 2015 Republican Invisible primary turned into even more of a circus than 2012. Nobody was particularly surprised when Rand Paul won the Iowa caucuses. After all, he had inherited his father's fanatic caucus operation. Him winning New Hampshire was a surprise, but ever serious pundit called that a fluke and surmised he would be stopped in South Carolina by Ted Cruz. But Paul won South Carolina too, and his momentum carried him through Florida and into the nomination, virtually unopposed. The Republican establishment certainly wasn't happy, but there was f%ck-all they could do.
General Election
A surprising number of Democrats fell in line behind Cuomo. That did not stop Sanders from being the first third party candidate since George Wallace to win electoral votes. His strong candidacy split the left down the center, and allowed Rand Paul to win in a landslide with barely 40% of the vote.
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