Edward Rourke Donnell was born on June 5th, 1978 to a middle-class family in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was fascinated with politics from 1990, breaking down and crying when he learned he was too young to vote for Ross Perot.
In 2001, Donnell joined the US Army and two years later was deployed to Iraq, scoring 101 kills and becoming known for his excellent aim. At the time, Donnell was a Paleoconservative, but later became a conservative similar to John McCain, although more socially conservative.
Donnell ran for US Senate in 2008 after John Warner decided not to run. During the general election, Donnell distanced himself from the national GOP, not doing appearances with John McCain, and promised healthcare reform, cap and trade and tax breaks for small businesses if elected to the Senate. He defeated Mark Warner by four thousand votes in an upset.
As a Senator, Donnell became known for his support for bipartisanship, working with Democrats on climate change, affirmative action, and campaign finance reform, while voting against Obamacare, the Dodd-Frank Act and the no-fly zone in Libya, and supporting an extension of the Bush tax cuts. His fairly moderate views caused Senator Donnell to be reelected by a landslide in 2014, and he soon considered a run for President. Donnell's bill on cap and trade was signed by Barack Obama.
Ed Donnell kicked off his presidential campaign on March 5th, 2015, with a rally in Blacksburg. Donnell's positions included reforming healthcare through the free market, tax cuts, a tax credit for small businesses, legalizing marijuana, renegotiating NAFTA, free-market solutions for climate change, and education reform. He alternated in the polls with Donald Trump.
Donnell clinched the nomination after the Trump campaign's suspension following the Indiana primary.
In the general election, Donnell used an optimistic tone of youth and American renewal, focused on his healthcare (deregulation, tax credit, malpractice reform), small business, and trade policies, to win support among swing voters. He attacked Hillary Clinton on her emails, the tactics she used against Bernie Sanders, and being a flip-flopper. The Senator was falsely accused of rape, and chose Scott Walker as his running mate, but still pulled through.
Major pieces of legislation signed by Ed Donnell include:
• Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (included tax credits and deductions for those creating new businesses)
• American Healthcare Act (repealed and replaced Obamacare through healthcare vouchers, a $35,000 tax credit, malpractice reform, the deregulation of private insurers, doubling HSA deductibility, and boosting the bargaining power of small employers with insurers)
• Education Reform Act (expanded abstinence-based sex ed programs, provided $5 billion in funding for the construction of trade and charter schools, ended Common Core, and expanded school vouchers)
• Treaty of Amman (Requires the United States to withdraw its forces from Iraq, and for the United States and Iran to respect freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf)
• Protect the Unborn Act (bans abortion nationwide after 24 weeks)
• Trans-Pacific Partnership (has significant changes from its original version)
• Climate Solution Act (expands tax credits for renewable energy development, provides favorable tax treatment for companies producing electric vehicles, provides funding for the construction of one nuclear power plant, and expands fracking outside of populated areas)
Donnell was extremely popular until the COVID-19 pandemic, when Donnell took a libertarian stance and defended anti-lockdown protesters. However, Donnell always wore a mask and physically distanced himself. The President ran for reelection highlighting the accomplishments of his first term, promising to continue them and do even more, while focusing on internet and TV campaigning, His wife Stella W. Donnell caught COVID-19 on October, which helped the President somewhat. Donnell lost the general election and quickly conceded.
