An American Fiasco (1992-Present)

[Progressive]

1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

President-elect Perot and Vice President-elect James Stockade talk to reporters in Washington, D.C. outlining a cabinet.

Ross Perot     272 Electoral Votes (president-elect)
Bill Clinton     183 Electoral Votes
George Bush* 83 Electoral Votes

Details coming soon

[OSR stands with Israel]

Sounds like a great timeline

[Progressive]

NEW RNC CHAIR BARBOUR: A PEROT WIN IS A REPUBLICAN WIN

February 1993:

"Look we got beat real bad with the candidate bearing our party's name. But the fact of the matter is that conservative ideals and principled constitutionalism won the day that night. President Perot and Vice President Stockade know this. And they know our cause well. Where we support them, we will be there for them. And where we oppose them, we will be fierce in our opposition."

Meanwhile, in early 1993, RNC Chair Barbour and top GOP lackeys met with Perot aides to discuss President Perot essentially merging with the Republican Party as his base of political support. Chair Barbour and top former Bush aides have agreed to share their power network with the Perot White House, much of which is unfilled.

Meanwhile, DNC Chair Ron Brown is running for re-election as DNC Chair, but is expected to face a stiff challenge. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch is thought to be mulling a bid for DNC Chair, as is Hillary Rodham Clinton, the wife of former governor Bill Clinton, the 1992 Democratic presidential election candidate. Early indicators suggest that DNC members would like Koch to serve as DNC Chair.

A full list of potential DNC Chair candidates include:
-DNC Chair Ron Brown* (incumbent) [running]
-former NYC Mayor Ed Koch
-former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
-civil rights activist Jesse Jackson
-former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros

NEXT: Perot cabinet nominees; 1993 DNC Chair election

[Progressive]

ED KOCH WINS DNC CHAIR, PEROT CABINET STILL NONFUNCTIONING

Well, he did good. The rambunctious former New York City mayor was elected on the first ballot to be the newest DNC Chair. Former DNC Chair Ron Brown made a late breaking endorsement of Koch. Koch will name Rev. Jesse Jackson as his "first deputy," and will go on a tour across the country from what he dubbed the "Perot, GOP scary mix of extremism and bad government." Koch said, in his victory speech, that Democrats still hold 57 Senate seats and 258 House seats, and were in good shape to partner with Perot when necessary, and oppose him when necessary. Because Perot recruited virtually no Congressional candidates, an anti-Bush but pro-independent electorate kept Democrats in control of the Congress in 1992.

Spring 1993

President Perot began to consult with RNC Chair Haley Barbour on an almost daily basis about potential cabinet picks. Perhaps most intriguing about Perot's cabinet nominees is the fact that they were largely low-profile or had little experience in government.

White House Chief of Staff:   Andrew Card, former Bush transportation secretary
Secretary of State:               Paul Tagliabue, former NFL Commissioner
Secretary of Treasury:          Donald Trump, New York-based businessman and real estate tycoon
Attorney General:                Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Attorney for Southern District of NY
Secretary of Defense:          Colin Powell, former National Security Adviser
Secretary of the Interior:     Pete Peterson, Democratic Congressman from Florida
Secretary of Agriculture:      Juanita Kreps, former Carter commerce secretary
Secretary of Labor:              Alice Walton, Wal-Mart heiress and member of Wal-Mart governance team
Secretary of Health/Human Services: Elizabeth Dole, former Bush labor secretary
Secretary of Education:        Lamar Alexander, incumbent education secretary
Secretary of HUD:               Xavier Suarez, mayor of Miami, FL
Secretary of Transportation:  Phil Crane, Republican Congressman from Illinois
Secretary of Energy:            Jim Justice, Bluestone Coal executive
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Jack Kemp, former HUD Secretary

President Perot has said that he will not fill the positions of EPA Administrator, OMB Director, National Drug Control Policy, or U.S. Trade Representative, and will instead impute the duties on his Vice President James Stockdale, potentially giving Stockdale, famously uncharismatic, the most visible vice presidential role ever.

DNC Chair Ed Koch has vowed to "unite in defeating the crazies and the incompetents" in the Perot cabinet. Meanwhile, Democrats are already mulling a 1996 Democratic comeback. Stay tuned for the next post, which will be a feature profile of potential 1996 Democratic presidential candidates.

[Progressive]

TAGLIABUE CONFIRMED, LIBERALS GEAR UP FOR 1994 AND BEYOND

With the help of 7 Democratic senators and Vice President Stockdale, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was confirmed as secretary of state, launching the liberal political world into fury with mass protests across the country. Secretary Tagliabue promised to deliver unprecedented levels of aid to Russia while cutting off funding to the United Nations unless concessions are achieved from other countries, including China, Mexico, and Canada.

1994 Midterm Elections

- Virginia: U.S. Sen. Chuck Robb (D-VA) announced that he was retiring. Former Arkansas first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had grown active in the Perot resistance movement. Since her husband Bill's 1992 campaign loss, the Clintons have resided in northern Virginia, where Mrs. Rodham Clinton created a non-profit to recruit women to run for local office or attend law school and become trial lawyers. For work, Ms. Rodham Clinton was hired to be the executive director of the Fairfax County Children's Rights Center, where she and her agency represented children in disability, special education, and child abuse suits. Ms. Rodham Clinton is considered a top recruit to run against Republican Lt. Col. Oliver North.

1996 Presidential Elections

A number of names have surfaced as potential challengers to President Perot. Few Republicans have come forward as it is widely expected that President Perot will run for re-elction in 1996 with the support of the GOP.

- Former Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and 1992 presidential nominee has not ruled out a run, though close aides say that he is primarily focused on assisting his wife in a potential bid for U.S. senate from Virginia.

- Former California Gov. Jerry Brown has all but assured past supporters and Democratic insiders that he will seek the presidency in 1996, and will likely choose a woman or person of color as his running mate.

- Texas Gov. Ann Richards is also considered a top contender, but first she must decide if she will run for re-election in 1994, which could be a tough feat.

- Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is also thought to be a potential frontrunner for the presidency, and is rumored to have discussed a potential ticket with Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

UP NEXT: First declarations of candidacy for the 1996 presidential election.

[Progressive]

Thoughts so far?

[Progressive]

THE PRESIDENCY ABOUT NOTHING

PART ONE: 1994 Midterms Revolt About Something

The Perot Administration gained the nickname of the Presidency About Nothing after the popular 1980s/1990s show, Seinfeld, the TV series "about nothing." Democratic governors and mayors spearheaded drastic and in many cases, ground-breaking, social reform programs on a state and local level as a result of severe cutbacks from the federal government and a lack of initiative on health care, education reform, and criminal justice reform. New York and other states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England formed A-HARC (American Health Access and Reform Collective) which essentially provides a public option single payer health care system with portability to those who either qualify for the program or are automatically granted access (depending on the qualifications of the state of residence).

Polls showed that 59% of Americans favored their state to enter into some sort of nationwide or similar agreement, while 36% of Americans opposed their state's entry. President Perot and Health Secretary Elizabeth Dole remained vehemently opposed to what they described as "socialized medicine" and "McHealthCare."

As such, voters provided their own dose of reality to Perot and his de facto GOP support base.

NOTABLE SENATE RACES

ARIZONA
Jon Kyl                (R)      49.8% +1 GOP
Sam Coppersmith   (D)       48.6%

DELAWARE
Charles Oberly    (D)        50.0%  +1 DEM
William Roth*       (R)           48.0%

FLORIDA
Buddy MacKay    (D)        49.9%  +1 DEM
Connie Mack III*    (R)         49.6%

MAINE
Olympia Snowe (R)           50.5% +1 GOP (but Sen.-elect Snowe has said she will likely caucus with Democrats to promote health care reform)
Thomas Andrews (D)            43.2%

PART TWO: REMAINDER OF SENATE RACES AND MORE, COMING SOON

[Progressive]

Worth continuing?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Worth continuing?

Sure.

[BuckeyeNut]

This is a good timeline. I feel you've fallen into the common trap of promoting contemporary players' past roles, in an effort to keep things somewhat familiar, but definitely worth continuing.

[ASPN]

I've enjoyed what's been posted so far. Curious to see what happens.