British States

[Polkergeist]

Part 7

On April 5 Martin Luther King was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis. His death caused rioting in major American cities, which lasted several days and required President Kennedy to call out the National Guard to help quell.
The event was a deep blow to the civil rights movement, however Robert Kennedy’s spontaneous eulogy for MLK whilst campaigning in Pennsylvania further entrenched him as the favourite for the upcoming presidential election and further identified him as pro-civil rights.


The explosion of Indonesia’s first Atomic Bomb on April 3 had shocked the world. The US administration had not expected the development with the rise to power of Suharto in 1965, which had friendly relations with the West and was stridently anti-communist. However Suharto was first and foremost a nationalist. With the advent the new expanded US and likelihood of Australia and NZ admission in the union, this had spurred Suharto and the Indonesian military to restart their dormant program.

The reaction among Australia’s political leaders however was mixed. PM John Gorton was more inclined to develop Australia’s own atomic weapons to counter the advent of the Indonesian nuclear weaponry. Others in his Liberal-Country party coalition were much more inclined to join the United States. As for the Labor party, Opposition leader Whitlam was initially opposed to either course but realised that one would be necessary to protect the Australian continent. While the Democratic Labor Party was supportive of Australia joining the US.

PM Gorton addressed the House of Representatives on April 10 and stated that he would do whatever it took to protect Australia’s security. This was interpreted as implying Australia would construct her own atomic weapons. This alarmed the rest of the Western World, which was working to contain nuclear proliferation. President Kennedy at this time was also concerned about nuclear proliferation and was alarmed about the situation playing out in South-East Asia. As a result he started negotiations with Suharto and organised for a summit of ANZUS leaders in Melbourne for April 26.

However events in Canberra overtook these developments. In an effort to forestall the development of Australia’s atomic weapons. Labor MP Jim Cairns moved a motion on April 11 in the House to prevent Australia to acquire atomic weapons in the short term and open negotiations with Indonesia for that nation to abandon its nuclear program.  The motion split all parties. The impassioned debate took a twist when Minister for External Affairs Paul Hasluck moved to amened the motion so as to remove the plan for Indonesian negotiations and insert to protect Australia’s security under the American nuclear umbrella.  This swung several Liberal and Country Party MHR’s who were going to vote against the original motion and also some Labor MHR’s who were going to vote for the motion. As the amended motion gained momentum, PM Gorton and Deputy PM Jack McEwen of the Country party both said they would resign if the motion were passed. However despite the threat the amended motion was passed 68-55.   PM Gorton and Deputy PM McEwen carried through with their promises to resign. Governor-General Richard Casey took the extraordinary step of appointing Hasluck as Prime Minister before a Liberal party room vote for a new leader. G-G Casey cited the need for the continuity of Government in a time of national emergency for the quick appointment. On April 15 The Liberal Party room elected Paul Hasluck as its leader 57-25 over Treasurer William McMahon confirming his position. The Country Party on the same day unanimously elected Doug Anthony as its leader. PM Hasluck soon after announced that he would attend the ANZUS summit on April 26 with an open mind to joining the expanded US.


The primaries continued with a contest in Pennsylvania on April 23. Nelson Rockefeller’s comeback win in Wisconsin on April 2 had breathed new life into a faltering campaign. Rocky’s 20-point victory in the Anglia primary on April 16 had confirmed many political analysts opinions that Reagan’s polices were to right wing for voters in the British Isles which had 134 electoral votes at stake this November. As a result of the above perceptions and the fact that PA was home turf for the eastern establishment, Rockefeller started the campaigning in PA well in front.
As for the Dems this was seen as the last chance for John Connally to be seen as a credibile national candidate against RFK. However despite his best efforts the Texas Governor could not get political traction in the primary fight up against RFK whose personal approval ratings were at 70%

The results of the PA primary

Democrat
Robert Kennedy 69%
John Connally 31%

Republican
Nelson Rockefeller 61%
Ronald Reagan 39 %


Part 8 soon…

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Hey Al,
I'm doing the maps for this TL and for the states of England I'm using the following regions as the borders of the states. Tell me if I need to make changes

Wessex: South-west
Anglia: South-east, London
Midlands: East Midlands, West Midlands, East Anglia
Northumberland: Yorkshire and humber, North west and North.

I used this map for the regions:
http://www.graphicmaps.com/webimage/countrys/europe/special/ukreg.htm

In 1968 the traditional counties were still being used... there are some maps of constitunacy boundaries at: http://www.election.demon.co.uk/... and there is also a map showing the old counties on www.wikipedia.org
---
Northumbria would be the easiest to do... all counties north of the Humber-Mersey line: basically (Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire).
With regions, it's the ones you said, but chop off the south side of Humbershire [North Lincolnshire] and also Cheshire.

Wessex is all counties west of (and including) this line: Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset. Basically the SW Region will do.

Mercia is basically East+West Midlands+Cheshire+North Lincolnshire

Wales is Wales, Scotland is Scotland... Anglia is what's left over

[Polkergeist]

Part 8

On April 24 the day after the PA primary, John Connally announced that he would end his campaign citing the inability to garner support outside the south. He said that he had no interest in being a purely sectional candidate at the convention. Whilst Connally endorsed RFK he warned about the growing liberalism within the Democratic Party and how it risked losing the South forever.

Governor of Alabama George Wallace announced his intention to run for President as an independent on April 25. With both of the major party front-runners being liberals, Governor Wallace decried the rampant liberalism in American life and stressed that he would be running his campaign on the platform of domestic law and order and states rights.

 The ANZUS Summit in Melbourne on April 26 between President Kennedy, Prime Minister Hasluck of Australia and Prime Minister Keith Holyoake of New Zealand went long into the night. It was not until 1 am the next day that the 3 leaders released a joint communiqué announcing that a statehood referendum would go ahead in both nations on June 7. If the referendum were successful then the US would provide immediate nuclear protection for both nations. Both PM’s went on TV the next day to announce their support for joining the US. As with Canada, trade issues also weighed heavily on both leader’s minds fearing that they would be locked out from the British market with US tariffs, but the security issue was what had tipped the scales. However as Australia required a referendum to amend their constitution a referendum was required to join the US. Initial polls suggested that the yes vote was well in front.

The next primary was slated for Massachusetts on April 30, the primary however was a non-event with only one serious contender left in the Democratic race and Ronald Reagan preferring to skip another eastern primary and concentrate on the May 7 primaries of Indiana and Ohio.  Those states saw heavy campaigning by Reagan. A month ago he was an even chance of garnering the nomination but now was fighting to stay in the race after heavy defeats in PA and AN (Anglia). These conservative states were fertile ground for a Reagan insurgent comeback. With the latest polls showing George Wallace running between 15-20% this was attributed to public concern about law and order. Reagan jumped on board speaking about his support for tougher sentences and the death penalty.  This paid dividends on May 7:

The results of the IN primary

Republican
Ronald Reagan 58 %
Nelson Rockefeller 42%

The results of OH primary
Republican
Ronald Reagan 56 %
Nelson Rockefeller 44%

Rockefeller also carried the DC primary by 34-points. However, May 7 put Reagan back in the race as a serious contender. Polls showed that in a hypothetical match-up Reagan could take between 5 to 8 points of support off George Wallace. The next set of primaries set for May 14 saw races in NE and WV. Rockefeller refused to be drawn to a showdown in Nebraska so campaign in WV where he had a chance of winning. However events were to intervene.

Students in France had been protesting through May against the government and had come close to toppling it, this inspired American radicles to start their own protests in New York where they occupied and shut down Columbia University from May 10 for one week, this inspired other isolated riots from radical groups in NYC. Rockefeller who was Governor of NY called out the police to address the situation but the students and radical groups could not be  quelled easily. This spilled over in the law and order debate, which saw Reagan make a late dash to WV to try to cause an upset. As the results came in on May 14 it became clear……

Results
NE
Ronald Reagan 71%
Nelson Rockefeller 29%

WV
Ronald Reagan 52%
Nelson Rockefeller 48%

……that the Reagan momentum would go on.

May of 1968 saw the American public become aware of the troubles in Northern Ireland for the first time. A growing civil rights movement in Northern Ireland highlighted discrimination that was faced by Catholics. This included discrimination in public housing and gerrymandering of  political boundaries to disadvantage the Catholic community. The leaders of the civil rights movement John Hume and Austin Currie met with President Kennedy in Washington on May 16 to present him with a petition of grievances with the state government of Ulster. President Kennedy accepted the petition and expressed sympathy with their plight, but told them the leaders that they should go through the courts to rectify their grievances as present laws and constitutional safeguards were adequate for their cause.

On May 28 primaries were held in OR and FL. Rockefeller after the WV debacle need a circuit breaker to stop Reagan’s growing momentum. As FL was a southern state that Reagan would romp home in,  Rocky targeted OR. While OR was west coast and nominally Reagan territory. It was also home to a significant liberal constituency averse to the new right policies of Reagan, with the Democrat race sewn up; Rocky was eying off the significant Ind and Dem cross over votes. In the day preceding the primary, Rockefeller denounced Reagan as a zealot and extremist. These comments tipped the race in OR however they alienated the growing new right constituency that was growing in the GOP.

Results of May 28 Primary
FL
Republican
Ronald Reagan 66%
Nelson Rockefeller 34%

OR
Republican
Nelson Rockefeller 55%
Ronald Reagan 45%

Many commentators now looked to the CA primary on June 4 which looked like shoe in for Reagan but now was looking vulnerable to liberal backlash.

Part 9 later.

[Polkergeist]

Canadian EV's in 1968

AB:6
BC:7
MB:4
NB:3
NF:3
NS:4
ON:19
QB:16
SK:4

Total ev: 758  

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Canadian EV's in 1968

AB:6
BC:7
MB:4
NB:3
NF:3
NS:4
ON:19
QB:16
SK:4

Total ev: 758  

Excellent!

[Polkergeist]

Part 9
June 1968

GOP Nomination
Nelson Rockefeller's fightback in OR had curtailed the Reagan momentum and spurred an unlikely contest in Reagan's home state of California. The campaigning in the week before was frantic as both candidates travelled across the state stumping for votes. Rocky kept with his winning formula of portraying Reagan as an extremist and as a person who would take the US too far to the right. However unlike in OR, Reagan fired back, he claimed that Rockefeller was too much like a Democrat and that his record as Governor of NY showed that. His tendency for large-scale programs for NY showed that he was in fact a supporter of big government, Reagan claimed.

The fight in CA was so intense that both candidates neglected other races in SD and NJ, although GOP primary voters were affected by the national media coverage of the CA primary.

When the day came Reagan's home state advantage proved decisive.

GOP Primary results of June 4:

CA
Ronald Reagan: 51.7%
Nelson Rockefeller: 48.3%

SD
Ronald Reagan: 58%
Nelson Rockefeller: 42%

NJ
Nelson Rockefeller: 63%
Ronald Reagan: 37%

The CA result was a victory of sorts for both men. Reagan had turned back the Rockefeller challenge in his home state whilist Rocky had done extrordinarily well in the home state of his opponent. The SD result confirmed Reagan's hold on conservatives but also revealed the distrust conservatives held for Rockefeller after his savage campaign against Reagan in the last 2 weeks. The NJ results was expected in an eastern GOP liberal stronghold.

Both candidates contested the final primary of the season In Illinois on June 11. It had now become clear that for the GOP presidential nomination the primaries had been inconclusive. But the depths to which this contest had been competitive between the two men meant that they both contested the IL primary to extract any small popular legitamacy that they could get for a race that would not deliver either man the nomination.

Rockefeller concentrated on Reagan's foreign policy stances which he derided as 'dangerous for their belligerence' Reagan countered by saying that  Rockefeller was 'soft on the Soviets'. In the end Rockefeller eeked out a narrow victory

IL Primary
Nelson Rockefeller 51.1%
Ronald Reagan 48.9%

Both candidates without a knockout blow now took their campaigns to the back rooms of the state party machines to secure the nomination.

Australia and New Zealand

The referendums on June 7 were sucessfull in both nations by similar margins; 58-42 in New Zealand and 60-40 in Australia with yes votes carrying all states.  The prime reason that won the day was the increased security admission to the US would bring.  The new states would be admitted on 1 August.

Part 10 later

[Emsworth]

Might I ask if each Australian state would be an American one? Also, what would be done with the Northern Territory, the ACT and the British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories?

[Polkergeist]

 Each Australian state will be admited as an American state. The ACT will become a federal district as it would become a place for suitable federal government offices. NT would become a territory.

As for British colonies they would become territories and those who wishes independence could go and those who wanted to stay. The larger colonies could become states, for example Hong Kong.  

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Part 10...
June 3rd 1968

In a speech at a political rally in Brixton, Enoch Powell (R-MR) delivered his infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech, violently attacking Black immigration.
The speech was immediately condemmend by the Governer's of Anglia (Ted Heath) and Mercia (Roy Jenkins), but welcomed by Presidential candidate, George Wallace as a "welcome new idea for dealing with the N*gger problem"

June 4th
George Wallace flies to the U.K in an attempt to convince Powell to be his running mate in the Presidential Election

June 5th
Powell agrees to be Wallace's running mate.
Meanwhile in Brixton, notorious Black leader, Louis Farrakhan claims that Powell is "the Devil incarnate" and calls on Blacks to "rise up and destroy your enemies".

June 5-6th
Violent race riots between supporters of Farrakhan and supporters of Powell leaves 20 dead (including 3 police officers). The riots die down on the 6th of June.

June 8th
Farrakhan shot dead.
Fresh riots begin in Brixton, and 14 people die.
Governer Heath declares a state of emergency

June 9th
Wallace and Powell hold a rally in Bermondsey, attended by over 50,000 people.
In an apparent responce to this, riots sweep through Bermondsey and over 50 people are killed, including 12 police officers and 3 children, in just one day.

June 10th
Governer Heath sends in the National Guard in an attempt to stop the riots.
---
End of Part 10

[Polkergeist]

 Al, How much of the UK vote do you see Wallace-Powell taking?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Al, How much of the UK vote do you see Wallace-Powell taking?

Dunno yet... I'd guess that they'd win Ulster... and poll strongly in Mercia... possibly second place.

[UK Stu]

I reckon that if the UK did join the US, whether as 1 state or 4 separate states, it would almost certainly mean a sustained period of democratic rule.  The policies of the republicans (maybe with the exception of promoting regional power) are all seen as very archaic and extreme. None of our parties would dream of campaigning for the death penalty, for gun ownership, or against abortion. Not even the Tories.

Therefore it could never happen because even if we decided we wanted to join - unlikely at the best of times (look at our reluctance to get involved more in Europe) and less likely now with the anti-Bush (and therefore anti-America) feeling that exists - there would certainly be enough republican votes in the House and the Senate to block it.  Its exactly the same reason why DC and Puerto Rico won't become states.

Can anyone think of other Republican policies that I dont know that may appeal to British voters?

[ilikeverin]

I reckon that if the UK did join the US, whether as 1 state or 4 separate states, it would almost certainly mean a sustained period of democratic rule.  The policies of the republicans (maybe with the exception of promoting regional power) are all seen as very archaic and extreme. None of our parties would dream of campaigning for the death penalty, for gun ownership, or against abortion. Not even the Tories.

Therefore it could never happen because even if we decided we wanted to join - unlikely at the best of times (look at our reluctance to get involved more in Europe) and less likely now with the anti-Bush (and therefore anti-America) feeling that exists - there would certainly be enough republican votes in the House and the Senate to block it.  Its exactly the same reason why DC and Puerto Rico won't become states.

Can anyone think of other Republican policies that I dont know that may appeal to British voters?

Nice post.  Welcome to the boards

Anyway, this has the UK coming into the Union in the 60s (right?  50s?  Hmmm), so you never know...

[7,052,770]

will yall make a map of the 1968 election when yall get to it?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

will yall make a map of the 1968 election when yall get to it?

Sure

[7,052,770]

or, actually, i'll make one for yall if you give me the data

[Filuwaúrdjan]

or, actually, i'll make one for yall if you give me the data

Maybe... I've not got that far yet though.
Actually... yes. Some maps. For this to look good it needs an insane amount of maps.
Thanks

[ilikeverin]

You guys are doing a very good job with this!

>: D

[UK Stu]

I haven't read the book, but if its in the 50s or 60s, maybe there would have been a better chance. I guess in the 50s we may have gone republican, due to cold war tensions. Did the dems have enough congress seats to block any such move in the Eisenhower era?
Also, how did it look after the Johnson landslide of '64? As we went labour from '64-'70, it could maybe have been possible then.

Its quite worrying to see so much anti-Americanism around in the UK and on the continent, and I reckon that can only change if Kerry is elected this November. Are Americans generally bothered about relations with other western countries and what other countries think, or is it not a major issue? Has Kerry been campaigning along those lines?

Also, does anyone know if I can have D-International on my profile, like on the prediction map thing?

[UK Stu]

Yeah, just read the profile thing properly and it says I can't have 'D-Int' yet. Why do I never read these things properly the first time?!

[ilikeverin]

Its quite worrying to see so much anti-Americanism around in the UK and on the continent, and I reckon that can only change if Kerry is elected this November. Are Americans generally bothered about relations with other western countries and what other countries think, or is it not a major issue? Has Kerry been campaigning along those lines?

1.  Most people aren't bothered.  In fact, most people don't see beyond their immediate locale... something like 80% of high schoolers couldn't identify Iraq on a map last year.

[Polkergeist]

or, actually, i'll make one for yall if you give me the data

Maybe... I've not got that far yet though.
Actually... yes. Some maps. For this to look good it needs an insane amount of maps.
Thanks

Oh yeah ! There will be maps. If you want to make the maps Harry, I will send you the data.

[UK Stu]

Im looking forward to seeing these maps, though Im not convinced by the choice of English regions.  Just think, if it were true, Gore would be coasting to re-election now......

[7,052,770]

or, actually, i'll make one for yall if you give me the data

Maybe... I've not got that far yet though.
Actually... yes. Some maps. For this to look good it needs an insane amount of maps.
Thanks

Oh yeah ! There will be maps. If you want to make the maps Harry, I will send you the data.

cool yeah--i'll make the maps.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Part 11...

June 11-14th
The riots begin to die down after Governer Heath sends in the National Guard and arrests the Head of the Anglian branch of "Wallace for President", Nicholas Ridley.
President Kennedy praises Heath's handling of the riots "even though he's a Republican".

June 15th
George Wallace condemns the arrest of Ridley and calls Heath a "n*gger lovin', Pointy-headed scumbag".
Powell claims that Heath has "betrayed a thousand years of Anglo-Saxon Democracy".

June 16
The Speaker of the Northumbria Legislature, Ernest "Ernie" Armstrong announces that he intends to run for Governer in November.
Polls show Heath's approval ratings at over 60%

June 20th
The Mayor of London, Desmond Plummer (R-AN) confirms that he will run for Senate.
A poll shows Rockefeller leading Bobby Kennedy by 5% in Anglia, but Kennedy leading Reagan by 7%

June 21st
The Northumbria Legislature passes Ernie Armstrong's plan for Congressional, State Senate and State House districts.

--end of part 11--