Hail, Columbia! (The Election of 1856)

[Cranberry]

Juan Álvarez' election in 1852 was notable on many counts: he was not only the first Spanish speaker elected to the presidency since the grand Hidalgo in 1792, sixty years prior; he was also the first Whig since the ever popular Blanchet in 1824, nearly thirty years earlier. His presidency was from the start one set with a different tone. Equipped with just a narrow majority in the Senate, and facing a Liberal majority in the Commons, he was nevertheless one of the capital's more experienced faces, and determined to evade letting his proposals die in the halls of the Capitol.

His agenda centered on Whig-ish principles of free trade and inlcusory principles, in the mould of his predecessor Blanchet. Already in his first year in office, the new president oversaw the "Trade Relations Act of 1853", which significantly reduced tarrifs on trade between the Commonwealth and European nations, and opened trade possibilites with the colonies in Asia and Africa. Álvarez sent out navy commander Matthew C. Perry to Japan in order to force the Shogun to agree opening the Japanese ports for the trans-pacific trade, at the same time, the Commonwealth also opened relations with Qing China, Vietnam and Siam.

On the domestic scene, the President's achievements did not take much longer: much to the joy of his party's base and the frontier populace, the Commons, after long bickering and hard negotiations, passed the "National Bank Act of 1855", replacing the national bank with a group of five banks, based in Mexico City, Franklin, New York, Montreal and Dearborn, and dubbed the Commonwealth Reserve. Meanwhile, a cititizenship act that provided ways for the citizenship for American Indians was met with less resistance and passed both chambers easily, just as did the asmission of six provinces in total, between 1853 and 1857: Baja California, on the western coast; Sacramento, around San Francisco Bay and in a boom due to a gold rush; Arkansas, on the edge of the Rockies, and home to more than half a million recently freed slaves; Kansas, to the east; Winnebago and Superior, to the west of the great lakes.

For all his achievements, President Álvarez however was not able to keep his party united: increasing opposition to his immigrant and free trade policy by especially Southeastern Whigs led to them run a seperate ticket, claiming to be "True Whigs" as opposed to Álvarezian and Blanchetesque interpretation of the word, headed by famous and popular general, Robert Edward Lee of Virginia. Simultaneously, while mostly supporting President Álvarez' policies, liberal-leaning Quebecois and Canadiens are running François-Xavier Garneau, a poet and former mayor of Ville Quebec, on a "Canadien ticket".


President Juan Álvarez of Mexico [Official Whig]
The President is seeing mild levels of approval, and is thus running for reelection for his party. His campaign revolves around his experience and sucess, and his agenda includes popular bullet points for the "Whig System": expansion of citizenship rights to both Natives and immigrants, expansion of free trade and reform of the penal code to include more "humane" provisions, in imitation of the British Liberals.


Senator James Buchanan of Pennsylvania [Commonwealth Liberal]
The Liberal Party reformed after loosing the 1852 elections, and with the inclusion of the old conservative elite, now call themselves the Commonwealth Liberals. Their policies have moved in direction of the Continentals, and include a renewed National Bank, stronger tariffs for the industries to be formed, and a tightening of naturalisation laws.


General Robert Edward Lee of Virginia [True Whig]
The True Whigs around General Lee are, while all still technically members of the Whig Party, clearly in opposition to the president. They especially oppose his policies in regards to immigrants, call for tight immigration laws, as well as for an opening of the Indian territory for white people, and for the deportation of the former slaves to Arkansas.


Former Mayor François-Xavier Garneau of Quebec [Canadien]
The Canadien ticket represents the liberal francophone elite in Quebec and some other northeastern provinces. They support many "humanist" policies of the president, such as the easening of immigration laws and the reform of the penal code, but hope to give more headlight on Quebec-specific issues when their votes are possibly needed in the runoff.

3 days

[Zioneer]

This is an easy vote, Alvarez has been both successful and humane.

EDIT: Also, I've really been enjoying this series, it's really fascinating to see how the parties and the issues line up, and the alternate history careers of so many historical people.

[bagelman]

voted to re-elect Álvarez.

[Mr. Smith]

Hard-call between Buchanan and the Canadian,...went with the Canadian.

[Goldwater]

Reelect the President!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Bump. There certainly are a lot of Whigs out there - if you combine Lee and Alvarez's totals, the Party of Blanchet is winning 79% of the vote currently.

[Murica!]

Garneau.

[VPH]

Garneau.

[Intell]

This is an easy vote, Alvarez has been both successful and humane.

EDIT: Also, I've really been enjoying this series, it's really fascinating to see how the parties and the issues line up, and the alternate history careers of so many historical people.

[Intell]

Reelect the President!

[Kingpoleon]

Torn between the Francophone and Lee. As a German immigrant's child, I don't really like Garneau, but he's the best option. Lee's my second choice.

[Cranberry]

The poll is locked, round 2 up shortly.