The Great 2020 Free-For-All (Signup/Info Thread)

[Cabbage]

January 20, 2021
Washington

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been an honor for me to serve you these past eight years."

Booming applause sounded as President Mitt Romney waved to the crowd that had come to witness the inauguration of his successor. As he stepped down from the podium, he shook the next President's hand, and sat down. The 46th President took the stage, and all was quiet.

Chief Justice Roberts spoke solemnly: "Please raise your right hand, and repeat after me."

"I,..."

Welcome all to the great 2020 free-for-all!

This election game will take place in real time, meaning that candidates are free to make daily, weekly, or monthly campaign schedules (preferably no longer intervals than a month, however).

Gameplay will begin at 18:00:00 UTC on 19 January 2019 and end with the general election next November.
 
Candidates may be chosen from the lists provided below or requested by PM if not listed.
(Note: Ridiculous and/or impossible candidates (i.e. FDR, Justin Bieber, or your creepy relative) can and will be rejected.)

Original characters will be allowed if they have not held any prior office higher than US Representative, and are not just characters literally designed to win a presidential election. (A good example of a strong and acceptable candidate is Celia Curtis, created by TrumanJohnson.)

No further candidates will be allowed after February 1st.

Schedules may be anything from daily breakdowns of candidate activities to monthly generalizations, but failure to post a schedule for more than three months will be considered a withdrawal.

PM me for endorsements, and polls will be posted monthly until the primaries (when they will become weekly affairs).

Endorsement system: credits awarded at 1 per week for every 5% a candidate attains in the polls.
1 credit: "minor" endorsement: US House or state legislator
2 credits: former: Cabinet officials, Senators, Governors
3 credits: sitting Senators and Governors (sitting Cabinet officials will not endorse in the primaries); political organizations (i.e. AFL-CIO, NRA, etc.)

Ads will be limited to one per player per week to prevent overload until there are fewer than 10 candidates.

Differences between this timeline and OTL:

Senate Balance: R 54-46 D
Different Senators:
AL: Jeff Sessions (R) remains in his seat. No special election.
MT: Denny Rehberg (R) unseats Jon Tester (D) in 2012, holds seat in 2018.
ND: Rick Berg (R) defeats Heidi Heitkamp (D) in 2012, holds seat in 2018.
NC: Kay Hagan (D) holds her seat in 2014.
CO: Mark Udall (D) holds his seat in 2014.
NH: Kelly Ayotte (R) holds her seat in 2016.
FL: Bill Nelson (D) holds his seat in 2018.
AZ: Jeff Flake (R) does not retire; holds his seat in 2018.
UT: With Mitt Romney being the President, Rep. Mia Love (R) wins Hatch's seat in 2018.

House Balance: R 226-209 D
Different Congresspeople:
If you don't think it's obvious, ask.

Governors' Balance: 25-25
Different Governors:
MT: Rick Hill (R) defeats Steve Bullock (D) in 2012; holds seat in 2016.
IL: Pat Quinn (D) holds his seat in 2014, retires in 2018; J.B. Pritzker (D) still elected governor that year.
KS: Paul Davis (D) unseats Sam Brownback (R) in 2014; holds seat in 2018.
FL: Alex Sink (D) unseats Rick Scott (R) in 2014; holds seat in 2018.
IN: Mike Pence (R), no longer the GOP VP nominee, holds his seat in 2016.
GA: Stacey Abrams (D) defeats Brian Kemp (R) in 2018.

Cabinet of President Romney:

Vice President: Paul Ryan

Secretary of State: Former Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts (since 2017)
Senator from Indiana and Former Ambassador to Germany Dan Coats (2013-2017) (Republican Todd Young won a special election for his seat)

Secretary of the Treasury: Jerome Powell (since 2016)
John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo (2013-2016)

Secretary of Defense: Marine Corps General Robert Magnus

Attorney General: Sean Doherty, Corporate Managing Director, Bain Capital (since 2018)
Former Governor of Virginia Jim Gilmore (2013-2018)

Secretary of the Interior: Mary A. Bomar, Director of the National Park Service 2006-2009 (since 2016)
Karenna Gore, daughter of Al Gore, director of the Center of Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary (2013-2016)

Secretary of Agriculture: Sonny Perdue

Secretary of Commerce: Greg Mankiw, popular economist and economic adviser to Presidents Bush and Romney (since 2019)
Rick Santorum, US Senator from Pennsylvania 1995-2007 (2015-2019)
Gary Johnson (2013-2015) (this was a bid to bring libertarians more into the fold)

Secretary of Labor: Economist David Neumark (performed study that found minimum wage increases decreased employment)

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Bill Frist, physician and Senate Majority Leader 2003-2007
Atul Gawande, famous physician (2013-2017)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Secretary of Transportation: Elaine Chao

Secretary of Energy: Edward D. Breen, CEO of DuPont (since 2016)
Steven Chu (Obama holdover; 2013-2016)

Secretary of Education: Kevin J Worthen, President of Brigham Young University (since 2017)
Margaret Spellings (2013-2017)

Secretary of Veterans' Affairs: US Representative Barry Loudermilk from Georgia's 11th Congressional District (since 2017)
Bob McDonald (2013-2017)

Secretary of Homeland Security: John Bolton (since 2017)
Judge Reed O'Connor (2013-2017)

Supreme Court Appointments:
Neil Gorsuch (2016)
Amy Coney Barrett (2018)

Candidates
Democratic
Stacey Abrams, Governor of Georgia - Governor Speaker Peanut
Michael Bennet, US Senator from Colorado
Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States 2009-2013 (endorsed John Kerry)
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City 2002-2013
Cory Booker, US Senator from New Jersey
Sherrod Brown, US Senator from Ohio - Barron
Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana - Never Gabbard (dropped out; endorsed John Kerry)
Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas 2009-2017; Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas in 2018
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State 2009-2013; US Senator from New York 2001-2009; Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016 (endorsed Stacey Abrams)
Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York
Celia Curtis, businesswoman from Louisiana; former talk show host and celebrity - TrumanJohnson (dropped out Jan. 29, 2019)
Paul Davis, Governor of Kansas
Tulsi Gabbard, Assistant US House Minority Leader, US Representative from Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District - GoTfan (dropped out Jan. 30, 2019; endorsed Sherrod Brown)
Kirsten Gillibrand, US Senator from New York (endorsed Stacey Abrams)
Kamala Harris, US Senator from California - domcons (dropped out; endorsed Alex Sink)
John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado - DemsForLife (as pundit)
Eric Holder, US Attorney General 2009-2013
Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington - Sherrod Brown 2020 (dropped out; endorsed Sherrod Brown)
Tim Kaine, US Senator from Virginia, Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2016
Joe Kennedy III, US Representative from Massachusetts's 4th Congressional District (endorsed John Kerry)
John Kerry, US Senator from Massachusetts 1985-2015 - JacksonHitchcock
Amy Klobuchar, US Senator from Minnesota (endorsed Sherrod Brown)
Terry McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia 2014-2018
Jeff Merkley, US Senator from Oregon (endorsed Sherrod Brown)
Chris Murphy, US Senator from Connecticut (endorsed Jay Inslee, then Sherrod Brown)
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California (endorsed Alex Sink)
Beto O'Rourke, US Representative from Texas's 16th Congressional District 2013-2019; Democratic nominee for US Senate in 2018 - NOTTYLER (dropped out; endorsed John Kerry)
Tim Ryan, US House Minority Leader, US Representative from Ohio's 13th Congressional District (endorsed John Kerry)
Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont (Independent) (endorsed Sherrod Brown)
Adam Schiff, US House Minority Whip, US Representative from California's 28th Congressional District (endorsed John Kerry)
Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks
Alex Sink, Governor of Florida - jakobisgood
Eric Swalwell, US Representative from California's 15th Congressional District
Elizabeth Warren, US Senator from Massachusetts (endorsed John Kerry)
Maxine Waters, US Representative from California's 43rd Congressional District


Republican
Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas
Justin Amash, US Representative from Michigan's 3rd Congressional District - NyIndy
Kelly Ayotte, US Senator from New Hampshire (endorsed Lisa Murkowski)
Charlie Baker, Governor of Massachusetts - VirginiaAaron (dropped out Jan. 28, 2019; endorsed Phil Scott)
Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida 1999-2007
Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon
Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey 2010-2018
Bob Corker, US Senator from Tennessee 2007-2019
Tom Cotton, US Senator from Arkansas
Ted Cruz, US Senator from Texas (endorsed Rick Santorum)
Mark Cuban, investor and businessman from Texas
Joni Ernst, US Senator from Iowa (endorsed Rick Santorum)
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard - terp40hitch (dropped out; endorsed Justin Amash)
Jeff Flake, US Senator from Arizona
Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina 2011-2019 - MassachusettsModerate
Rick Hill, Governor of Montana
Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland (endorsed Phil Scott)
Jon Huntsman, Jr., Governor of Utah 2005-2009 (endorsed Lisa Murkowski)
John Kasich, Governor of Ohio 2011-2019 (endorsed Rob Portman)
Alveda King, Georgia State Representative 1979-1983; niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. - New Tennessean Politician
Lisa Murkowski, US Senator from Alaska - Mycool
Rand Paul, US Senator from Kentucky (endorsed Justin Amash)
Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana
Austin Petersen, perennial candidate; runner-up in the 2016 Libertarian primaries
Rob Portman, US Senator from Ohio - ClassicGOPer
Marco Rubio, US Senator from Florida
Paul Ryan, Vice President of the United States - CTConservative
Mark Sanford, US Representative from South Carolina's 1st Congressional District
Rick Santorum, US Secretary of Commerce 2015-2019; US Senator from Pennsylvania 1995-2007 - PAPolitics
Ben Sasse, US Senator from Nebraska
Phil Scott, Governor of Vermont - KaiserDave
Tim Scott, US Senator from South Carolina
Ben Shapiro, conservative political commentator - x-Guy
Donald Trump, CEO of the Trump Organization
Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin 2011-2019 (endorsed Rick Santorum)


Other Parties/Independents
Rob Manfred, Commissioner of the MLB - Jaguar4Life
Others upon request

That said, don't forget the most important rule: have fun!

[Huey Long is a Republican]

Can I have Tim Scott perhaps?

[Cabbage]

You got it.

[Peanut]

You know what, I guess I can handle like 200 games at the same time. I'd like to have Governor Abrams, please.

[Cabbage]

Got it.

[terp40hitch]

Can I be former Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH)

[Cabbage]

Absolutely.

[TrumanJohnson]

Are original characters permitted?

[Cabbage]

If you mean "can I pick a politician/general/celebrity not already on the list," then yes, absolutely.

If you mean a character you made up yourself, with restrictions; all political positions of the character must be laid out ahead of time, and they can't hold any positions of power before announcing (i.e. can't magically be the Governor of Virginia, Secretary of HHS, etc.). Non-political fame and fortune are allowed (so as to give the character some semblance of a chance), but cannot be extreme (i.e. can't be "the most popular person in all the world" or "worth $500 billion").

[TrumanJohnson]

Can you explain what you mean by can’t hold positions of power before announcing? Is a created character allowed to have been a governor or senator, etc?

[Cabbage]

By that, I mean that original characters cannot currently occupy, or have occupied in the past, any government position higher than US Representative, as, in this scenario, history is assumed to have taken the same course up to 2012, with only the changes listed in the initial post in the gubernatorial and senatorial areas thereafter. With US Reps and state legislators, I'm willing to be more open, since I wasn't so specific in that area. So, if you want to create your own Rep in a district you believe could have a completely different candidate (such as NY-22 or NE-02), go right ahead. However, I must draw the line on major statewide offices (i.e. Governor, Senator). Sorry if this kind of throws a wrench in your idea.

[TrumanJohnson]

That’s a lot clearer, thanks. I will post a character.

[NewYorkExpress]

You know... I really don't want to play in three election games at the same time, but the idea of President Obama trying to pull a Grover Cleveland appeals to me for some reason.

[terp40hitch]

Since this is an in-real time game, I am going to not post an announcement speech but I will post Renacci announcing an exploratory committee. If that is ok

[Cabbage]

Since this is an in-real time game, I am going to not post an announcement speech but I will post Renacci announcing an exploratory committee. If that is ok

Yeah, that's fine.

[Cabbage]

You know... I really don't want to play in three election games at the same time, but the idea of President Obama trying to pull a Grover Cleveland appeals to me for some reason.

It's your call, but it'd definitely be an interesting thing to see.

[Cabbage]

It will also be understood that, from context, Governor Abrams's declaration is set in early June, not early January (she announced her gubernatorial bid on June 3, 2017, I believe).

[Peanut]

It will also be understood that, from context, Governor Abrams's declaration is set in early June, not early January (she announced her gubernatorial bid on June 3, 2017, I believe).

Ok, that's fine. Just had a creativity surge for an announcement speech.

[NewYorkExpress]

You know... I really don't want to play in three election games at the same time, but the idea of President Obama trying to pull a Grover Cleveland appeals to me for some reason.

It's your call, but it'd definitely be an interesting thing to see.

I'd love to do it.

Just don't expect a perfect game (at least compared to the two games I'm playing as Hillary Clinton now...though I should be able to get out of one of them relatively soon).

[Peanut]

You know... I really don't want to play in three election games at the same time, but the idea of President Obama trying to pull a Grover Cleveland appeals to me for some reason.

It's your call, but it'd definitely be an interesting thing to see.

I'd love to do it.

Just don't expect a perfect game (at least compared to the two games I'm playing as Hillary Clinton now...though I should be able to get out of one of them relatively soon).

Why? If you're gonna endorse someone in 2004, Gore wouldn't say no!

[Cabbage]

It will also be understood that, from context, Governor Abrams's declaration is set in early June, not early January (she announced her gubernatorial bid on June 3, 2017, I believe).

Ok, that's fine. Just had a creativity surge for an announcement speech.

I understand. The speech was actually really good, by the way.

[Cabbage]

You know... I really don't want to play in three election games at the same time, but the idea of President Obama trying to pull a Grover Cleveland appeals to me for some reason.

It's your call, but it'd definitely be an interesting thing to see.

I'd love to do it.

Just don't expect a perfect game (at least compared to the two games I'm playing as Hillary Clinton now...though I should be able to get out of one of them relatively soon).

That's perfectly fine. This game is in real time, anyway, so there won't be many consequences for less participation early on.

[Peanut]

By the way, wouldn't you be willing to have 2 endorsements per turn? I feel it's better for early coalition-building. It's your call in the end, of course, but endorsements are important to chart your strategy, and they're just a fun addition to the game.

[Peanut]

It will also be understood that, from context, Governor Abrams's declaration is set in early June, not early January (she announced her gubernatorial bid on June 3, 2017, I believe).

Ok, that's fine. Just had a creativity surge for an announcement speech.

I understand. The speech was actually really good, by the way.

Thanks! You know, I'm actually quite liking the idea for this game... an Abrams vs. Obama primary will be awesome. Looking forward to the game!

[Cabbage]

By the way, wouldn't you be willing to have 2 endorsements per turn? I feel it's better for early coalition-building. It's your call in the end, of course, but endorsements are important to chart your strategy.

Well, it'll honestly depend on how many candidates actually enter the field. If there's, say, 15 or 20, having 2 people endorse a week this early is unrealistic, but if it stays fairly small (i.e. 5-10), then I'll ok two endorsements a week.