New Project: The 2019 U.S. Legislative Election (Israeli system)

[Arson Plus]

The Pink Lady, Helen Douglas was defeated by Richard Nixon in OTL in the 1950 senate race, will she be more featured? She had a love affair with LBJ in OTL.

[America Needs R'hllor]

The Pink Lady, Helen Douglas was defeated by Richard Nixon in OTL in the 1950 senate race, will she be more featured? She had a love affair with LBJ in OTL.

Will take it into account, thanks!

[America Needs R'hllor]

The 2019 Election (Part III- first half)

After claiming mainstream media is "leftist fake news" and "enemy of truth", Gingrich's party launches 'Unity TV' with controversial artist Ted Nugent as anchor


Source: Wikipedia Commons

One of the major themes in the 2019 election was the attacks by Prime Minister Newt Gingrich and his Unity Party on institutions deemed to be controlled by "egg-sucking liberals" who treat him unfairly. The media, in particular, was a target of such attacks, as well as law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the Justice Ministry. Controversial Unity Party Minister Barbara Comstock, for example, considered one of the prominent fire-breathing conservatives and Gingrich loyalists in the party, accused the media of being "inflirated and controlled by communists who hate our country and our wonderful leader". And so, following the attacks, the ruling party launched its own social media network airing in live Facebook and Instagram videos, called 'Unity TV'. The "news reports" were anchored by controversial conservative artist Ted Nugent, who interviewed Newt and Callista Gingrich and figures close to them such as coalition chairman Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Rep. Lou Barletta, Energy Minister Jack Kingston and former Construction Minister Michael Flynn. Already, the network produced one major controversy- one of its anchors, right-wing activist Joe Wurzelbacher said that "McRaven is left, and left is dangerous" in a video with a picture of gravestones of 9\11 victims edited to appear behind him. That sparked a firestorm of outrage from both left and right, with Stars and Stripes number 2 Chris Cuomo saying that "Gingrich is unhinged and crossing all the red lines" and All of Us leader Susan Collins denouncing the "disrespect towards victims of terrorism and their families". Even Casey Cagle, the National Party leader, said that "terror victims should never be part of political propaganda".

Gingrich alliance with far-right attacked by the center-left, past statements by ANF leaders used in ads


Source: Flickr

The attacks on Prime Minister Newt Gingirch's pushing of an alliance between the Christian Home and the far-right, so far fringe American National Front Party. The alliance, which brought the ANF into the mainstream, was considered unprecedented, considering the fact that the party was formerly shunned by all major parties and the speeches of its infamous leader, David Duke, in the House of Representatives were boycotted by their representatives. Labour Rep. Katie Hill and the Progressive Party especially lead the charge against the ANF, with Progressive leader Mary Newman stating that "Gingrich is bringing neo-nazis and white supremacists through the backdoor", and Hill condemning the ANF as "the vilest of the vile". Additionally, Stars and Stripes started running ads featuring Gingrich along with quotes by the ANF candidates- party leader Steve King saying that "the white people of this country are under attack by dark forces"; attorney Chris McDaniel holding the car symbol from a motorcade of former Prime Minister Robert Francis Kennedy in 1990, a year before his murder, and threatening that "we've reached your car, we'll reach you too"; racist activist Roy Moore saying that the "dogs are trying to conquer us from within" referring to people of color; and Bryan Fischer, the leader of the racist and homophobic People's Flame organization which was often accsued of violence, saying he'd "beat up" any non-white person who dated his daughter and calling LGBTQ activists "terrorists".

Past therapy and psychological treatment leads to personal attacks on McRaven, creating debate on mental health


Source: Flickr

The election season was also considered a new low, with many personal attacks from both sides, although it seemed like the one suffering the most was Stars and Stripes leader William McRaven. It included stories by anonymous sources about mistakes and blunders made during his time in the army, and later was accused of sexual assault by a woman who studied in the Theodore Roosevelt High School at the same time he attended. The claim was considered non-credible by most Americans after the woman, whose social media was full of right-wing partisan attacks, was scrutinized, and after it was discovered that aides to Culture and Sports Minister Barbara Comstock helped the woman reach out to the media. Comstock, a "master of oppo research", was considered behind much of the anonymous stories against Gingrich opponents like McRaven and Cuomo. Then, a new low in mud-slinging was reached when it was leaked that McRaven attended therapy and sought psychological treatment following and during his time in the army. It lead to his fitness for office being questioned by many Unity supporters online, including spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway who tweeted that McRaven is "half-baked". The attacks created outrage and a debate around mental health, with many leading psychiatrists saying that "mental health should never be a political attack" and Labour Rep. Katie Hill defending McRaven, saying that "I'll feel safer if every government official sought psychological treatment and treated their mental health as seriously as the physical health", revealing that she too went to a psychologist. Even so, after stuttering in an intreview and being depicted as "crazy" in many internet memes, it seemed like the attacks stuck in a way, at least amongst Unity supporters.

Workers Party leader Eric Holder creates more controversy after proclaiming "Mao did nothing wrong"


Source: Flickr

One of the most controversial politicians on the American left, attorney and Rep. David Holder, created yet another controversy when he was asked by supporters about his opinion on the infamous leader of China, Mao Zedong, after several high-ranking members of his party endorsed the Chinese communist. Holder replied defiantly, stating that "Mao brought equality to China. For workers, for women, for members of all parts of Chinese society. Nowadays, his legacy was spoiled by the capitalists that control China, but it is a legacy I endorse, even if some of the tactics were problematic. Mao did nothing wrong." The statement was condemned by the entire political spectrum, from Progressive Party leader Mary Newman, who said that "Mao slaughterd millions and Holder should be ashamed of himself", to UCP leader Rick Santorum who said that "the communists continued to try and infliterate our party and take our freedom, and the left is co-opting them". Libertarian leader Larry Sharpe used it especially well, saying that "we're the only counter for these terrifying people, the only ones who are truly willing to defend liberty and the free market". Holder remained unapologetic, telling journalists that he's a "proud Maoist".

U.S. Legislative Election, 2019 (Polling Average)
Stars and Stripes (William McRaven)- 97 Seats
Unity Party (Newt Gingrich)- 95 Seats
Labor (John Hickenlooper)- 38 Seats
Union of Christian Parties (Rick Santorum)- 29 Seats
The New Right (Tom Cotton&Nikki Haley)- 21 Seats
All of Us (Susan Collins)- 19 Seats
Progressive Party (Mary Newman)- 15 Seats
The National Party (Casey Cagle)- 13 Seats
American Workers Party (Eric Holder)- 12 Seats
The Bridge (Loretta Sanchez)- 11 Seats
Libertarian Party (Larry Sharpe)- 10 Seats
(Threshold: 2.8% or 10 Seats)

Right-wing Bloc (Unity, UCP, New Right, National Party, Libertarian Party)- 187 Seats
Left-wing Bloc (S&S, Labor, Progressives, AWP)- 162 Seats
The Bridge- 11 Seats

[America Needs R'hllor]

The Slide into Vietnam- the McCormack Ministries

Sources: Wikimedia

After the retirement of Sam Rayburn before the 1960 election, the main focus of the political map was on who would likely become the next Prime Minister- the next leader of the American Labor Party. There were two main candidates running for the position- Finance Minister and Dep. Prime Minister John W. McCormack, a powerful Labor figure and power-broker, and Foreign Minister Stuart Symington, a respected politician, veteran and former Dep. Defence Minister. While McCormack had support from much of the party establishment, Symington was running with the unofficial but well-known support of former Prime Minister, and current President, Harry S. Truman. Other candidates were running, but were of less consequence- Labor Minister and rising star Hubert Humphrey, populist Justice Minister Estes Kefauver, and the old progressive lion, Commerce and Industry Minister Henry Wallace, who said that he'd retire if he didn't win the position.

As expected, McCormack and Symington advanced to the second round. There, it was a tight race in which both sides had to work hard to jockey for support from delegates, but in the end McCormack's establishment advantage was just too powerful, and he was elected Labor leader- and, most likely, the first Catholic Prime Minister in the history of the United States. Later in the party list election, Symington was unsurprisingly elected second, but the popularity of the Kennedy brothers showed too as Education Minister John F. Kennedy was elected to the third place, before stars like Defense Minister James Roosevelt II or Hubert Humphrey, with his brother Robert advancing to 8th.

Labor Leadership Election, 1960 (First Round)
Finance Minister John W. McCormack (LAB-MA)- 31.9% ✓
Foreign Minister Stuart Symington (LAB-MO)- 29.3% ✓
Health Minister Estes Kefauver (LAB-MN)- 15.4%
Labor Minister Hubert Humphrey (LAB-MN)- 12.1%
Commerce and Industry Minister Henry Wallace (LAB-IA)- 11.3%

Labor Leadership Election, 1960 (Second Round)
Finance Minister John W. McCormack (LAB-MA)- 53.8% ✓
Foreign Minister Stuart Symington (LAB-MO)- 46.2%

In the Republican Party, following another loss, Earl Warren decided to step down from the leadership. Party leaders tried to recruit the fresh New York Governor Nelson Rockfeller to run for leadership, but he decided to finish out his second term, which would end in 1962, before trying national politics again. So running for leader were only two people- former leader Thomas E. Dewey, promising that he'll retire from political life if he can't bring the party back on its feet, and the Dirksen-backed Prescott Bush, running from the party's right side. The end result surprised no one- a decisive mandate for one more Dewey term.

Republican Leadership Election, 1960
Opposition Leader Thomas Dewey (R-NY)- 59.4% ✓
Rep. Prescott Bush (R-CT)- 40.6%

In the Democratic Party, the contest was not unusual- Eastland was running for another term as leader, while against him ran Rep. Long, who said there wasn't enough emphasis on economic populism, and Samuel Green who ran on an extremist white nationalist platform. Eastland, with support from most of the party, beat them both in the first round.

Democratic Leadership Election, 1960
Rep. James Eastland (D-MS)- 51.1% ✓
Rep. Russel B. Long (D-LA)- 38.5%
Fmr. KKK Grand Wizard Samuel Green (D-GA)- 10.4%

The main opposition party, the Conservatives, didn't even hold a leadership primary- Barry Goldwater had a strong hold on the party after his success in the previous election, having the support of all its different factions, and no one dared challenge him.

Labor Party top 10 for the 1960 Election
1. Finance Minister John W. McCormack
2. Foreign Minister Stuart Symington
3. Education Minister John F. Kennedy
4. Defense Minister James Roosevelt II
5. Labor Minister Hubert Humphrey
6. Transportation Minister Birch Bayh
7. Justice Minister Estes Kefauver
8. Dep. Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy
9. Speaker of the House Lyndon B. Johnson
10. Fmr. Governor Adlai Stevenson II

Conservative Party top 10 for the 1960 Election
1. Rep. Barry Goldwater
2. Rep. Leslie C. Arends
3. Rep. Richard Nixon
4. Rep. William F. Knowland
5. Rep. John W. Bricker
6. Rep. John Jacob Rhodes
7. Rep. George H. Bender
8. Governor Cecil H. Underwood
9. Rep. William Miller
10. Rep. Norris Cotton

Republican Party top 10 for the 1960 Election
1. Rep. Thomas E. Dewey
2. Rep. Joseph W. Martin Jr.
3. Opposition Leader Earl Warren
4. Rep. Everett Dirksen
5. Rep. Charles A. Halleck
6. Rep. Wayne Morse
7. Rep. Gerald Ford
8. Rep. Thomas Kuchel
9. Rep. Edward Brooke
10. Rep. Alf Landon

Democratic Party top 10 for the 1960 Election
1. Rep. James Eastland
2. Rep. Harry F. Byrd
3. Rep. Strom Thurmond
4. Rep. Samuel Ervin
5. Rep. Richard Russell Jr.
6. Rep. Russell B. Long
7. Rep. John Sparkman
8. Rep. John C. Stennis
9. State Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
10. Rep. J. Lister Hill

In the election, McCormack ran on the legacy of his predecessors, promising to continue the New Deal-type welfare state and the containment of communism of Rayburn, Truman and FDR. Goldwater, meanwhile, continued building up his base with a strongly conservative but not radical message, appealing to liberal Republicans with his relatively moderate social views and fiscal responsibility, to Democrats with his defense of the constitution and State's Rights, and to McCarthy's former supporters with his staunch anti-communism. Dewey tried to recover some of his support, claiming that his party is the best way to dethrone Labor and evoking images of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, but in the end it wasn't enough. The Republicans continued their slow and steady decline, the Conservatives ticked up, though not surging as they hoped, and actually lost three seats if accounting for the eight AFF members who joined them, and Labor remained with a solid majority.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1960 (Results)
Labor Party (John W. McCormack)- 217 Seats ↑ (+6)
Conservative Party (Barry Goldwater)- 63 Seats ↑ (+5)
Republican Party (Thomas E. Dewey)- 43 Seats ↓ (-4)
Democratic Party (James Eastland)- 32 Seats ↑ (+2)
Socialist Party (Vincent Hallinan)- 5 Seats ↓ (-1)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

McCormack's first term wasn't very different from Rayburn's two terms. He continued advancing reforms cementing and expanding the New Deal, competing with the Soviets in a Space Race, and importantly, slowly sliding into the mud in Vietnam. By the time his first term was over, Vietnam was already widely regarded a war- U.S. soldiers were fighting for the South in their thousands, and dying in their hundrerds. In 1964, as the election was approaching, a North Vietnemese fast attack craft crashed into a U.S. destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin. This lead to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, further expanding the power of the Prime Minister to wage war, and the staunchly anti-communist McCormack officially brought the nation into Vietnam with full force, almost 200,000.

But by 1964 Labor and McCormack still had the sympathy of the voters. A year before that America was struck by tragedy when its beloved and charismatic Foreign Minister, John F. Kennedy, who was widely considered the likeliest heir to McCormack, was shot and killed by a suspected communist sympathizer in a state visit in a state visit to Britain. Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home heavily condemned the incident, but neither the British police nor the CIA were able to find the culprit. A man named Harold Smith was arrested in suspicion of the murder and was widely believed responsible, but he was killed by a man outside the airport in Washington, D.C. when he came to be tried in the U.S., so the murder is considered a mystery until this day. So, come 1964, McCormack was still very popular with the country uniting behind his policies. In the same year, he was to choose a successor to President Harry S. Truman, who was appointed in 1957. He chose carefully to make sure that it was a politically popular choice- at first Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of the popular deceased Foreign Minister, was offered the job but he turned it down. The next choice accepted- James Roosevelt II, who was nominated Ambassador to the United Nations when his job, Defense Minister, was instead given to Stuart Symington. Thus America received, technically, its third Roosevelt President.

Only one of of the parties held competitive leadership races. No one in Labor presented a challenge ot the popular McCormack, despite many pro-peace activists hoping for one, and Goldwater managed to prevent anyone running against him in the Conservative Party. In the Democratic Party, despite its leader retiring, there was no primary. After Rep. Harry F. Byrd, a very powerful inner-party figure who was considered by many the true power behind the party leaders, ran for leader despite his old age when former leaders Eastland and Russell Jr. explicitly asked him to, he was able to clear the field just by entering. No one, from neither part of the party, was willing to challenge such a powerful man with a reputation of helping friends and destroying enemies. And in the Republican Party, the race to replace Dewey who retired from politics was on.

Running to replace Dewey were former New York Governor Nelson Rockfeller, who was finally pressed to run and was the preferred choice of Dewey and Warren; Rep. Charles Halleck, a close friend and ally of Everett Dirksen running on his platform of merging with the Conservatives; Wayne Morse from the party's left side, promising to rail against McCormack's Vietnam War; the 73 years-old Alf Landon who was running on a progressive platform and promised to get back to power by uniting the Repuclians with moderate elements of Labor; and once again, Rep. Harold Stassen. Shockingly, "Rocky" managed to muster enough support to win the leadership on the first round, crushing the competition as the party's new hope.

Republican Leadership Election, 1964 (First Round)
Fmr. Governor Nelson Rockfeller (R-NY)- 53.8% ✓
Rep. Charles A. Halleck (R-IN)- 22.5%
Rep. Alf Landon (R-KS)- 14.6%
Rep. Wayne Morse (R-OR)- 7.8%
Rep. Rep. Harold Stassen (R-MN)- 1.3%

Labor Party top 10 for the 1964 Election
1. Prime Minister John W. McCormack
2. Defense Minister Stuart Symington
3. Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy
4. Home Minister Birch Bayh
5. Speaker of the House Lyndon B. Johnson
6. Labor Minister Hubert Humphrey
7. Transportation Minister Adlai Stevenson II
8. Rep. Stephen M. Young
9. Rep. Ted Kennedy
10. Rep. Eugene McCarthy

Conservative Party top 10 for the 1964 Election
1. Rep. Barry Goldwater
2. Rep. Richard Nixon
3. Rep. John Jacob Rhodes
4. Rep. William F. Knowland
5. Rep. Leslie C. Arends
6. Rep. John W. Bricker
7. Rep. William Miller
8. Rep. John W. Byrnes
9. Rep. Cecil H. Underwood
10. Rep. Hiram Fong

Republican Party top 10 for the 1964 Election
1. Governor Nelson Rockfeller
2. Rep. Everett Dirksen
3. Rep. Margaret Chase Smith
4. Rep. Gerald Ford
5. Rep. Edward Brooke
6. Rep. Thomas Kuchel
7. Rep. Charles A. Halleck
8. Rep. Alf Landon
9. Rep. Wayne Morse
10. Rep. Hugh Scott

Democratic Party top 10 for the 1964 Election
1. Rep. Harry F. Byrd
2. Rep. Strom Thurmond
3. Rep. Richard Russell Jr
4. Rep. Samuel Ervin
5. Rep. Russell B. Long
6. Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
7. Rep. James Eastland
8. Rep. John Sparkman
9. Rep. John C. Stennis
10. Rep. J. Lister Hill

In the election, the Republicans under Nelson Rockfeller ran a strong and disciplined campaign, putting their leader in the front and touting his accomplishments. Meanwhile, Labor and the Conservatives continued their previous campaigns, with Goldwater arguing he's the only ideological alternative to Labor and McCormack saying that his party was a stable hand for the country and there was no sense in switching it.

But one phenomenon did make it unique. The Socialist Party re-branded itself, renaming it to the American Workers Party, and chose the Marxist author and activist Michael Harrington as its leader. Combining all Marxist elements in the political map- and saying that it was necessary to protect workers and stop the capitalist American Empire from entering Vietnam further, even if there were some disagreements within the party- Harrington lead the Workers Party to surge in many opinion polls. He had many extreme elements in the party, including Lenininst, Trotskyists and even Stalinists and Maoists, as well as black nationalists such as Malcolm X and his protege Louis X, but it proved its worth in the end when the party substantially increased its strnegth.

The rest of the reseult weren't surprising- the Republicans managed to regain some strength, but not much, while the Conservatives ticked up some more and Labor lost some seats, most likely due to Vietnam and the Socialists, but it did not change much.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1964 (Results)
Labor Party (John W. McCormack)- 208 Seats ↓ (-9)
Conservative Party (Barry Goldwater)- 65 Seats ↑ (+2)
Republican Party (Nelson Rockfeller)- 46 Seats ↑ (+3)
Democratic Party (Harry F. Byrd)- 29 Seats ↓ (-3)
American Workers Party (Michael Harrington)- 12 Seats ↑ (+7)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

But soon enough, as McCormack begun his term, the situation started growing worse and worse. The escalation in Vietnam did not move the needle, as the North continued fighting hard and the South became increasingly dependent on American help and life-support. The Soviets and Chinese supported the North, and it also had the support of most Vietnemese, giving them a huge advantage. But McCormack refused to "bow down to Communism" and continued the war, believing that an American campaign of bombing from the air and attacking from the ground will eventually cause the Vietcong to collapse, unable to stand against such a strong force for long.

By 1967, over 30,000 American soldiers had died and over 200,000 were wounded. The opposition was united against McCormack- Goldwater said the war was handled atrociously and without "goal, course, or purpose", Rockfeller said it was a mistake to press on and sacrifice so many soldiers instead of using diplomacy. Richard Russel Jr., chosen caretaker Democratic leader after Harry F. Byrd's death, said the war itself was a "huge mistake" and a "rampage of internationalist liberals", and Michael Harrington railed against it the most, calling it "an evil and dark manifestation of murderous imperialism". Even within Labor there were many voices speaking out against the Prime Minister- Justice Minister Kennedy and Home Minister Bayh, by now well-known intraparty rivals, railed against "the foolish and damaging choice to wade into that mud" while Rep. Eugene McCarthy and his allies were the most opposed to the war, leading protests against McCormack. Indeed, the protests that were mostly restricted to campuses of elite colleges until 1966 were now widespread across the country, from New York City and Washington, D.C. to Seattle and Los Angeles. McCormack's approval ratings fell below 40%, and it looked like Labor might actually lose the next election.

In 1967, the Vietcong and North Vietnam, pressured by immense American involvement, decided to show their enemies that they're still standing, knowing the impact that would have on the American public opinion. And so in January 1967 they launched what was henceforth known as the Tet Offensive. It was a massive attack on the South which, at first, sent the American troops into a retreat before their strength and technological advantage, coupled with more reinforcements, allowed them to quickly beat back the North Vietnemese and inflict heavy casualties upon them. The military victory was America's, but the strategic and political victory was the North's. Huge protests and riots erupted throughout the United States, as the people ceased to believe McCormack's promises that more force will lead to victory. Pressured from within the party and realizing that he became a deadweight, McCormack dissolved the government in February 1967 and called an election for a few months later.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Deep in the Mud- the Symington Ministries

Sources: Wikimedia

After the first early elections since the establishment of the new parliamentary system were called, Labor party leaders realized that something had to be done to stabilize their longtime rule over the United States. The natural successor was Defense Minister Stuart Symington, a heavyweight supported by former President Truman and now the party's establishment, and indeed he announced that he'd run to succeed McCormack. But Symington had to prove that he was different than the unpopular incumbent if he was to be a strong general election candidate, and so he resigned from his position as Defense Minister and announced a new Vietnam strategy- aiming at withdrawal from the Vietnemese mud, but a withdrawal with honour, preserving a status-quo similar to the one in the Korean Peninsula. Announcing his new strategy with allies like former President Truman, Home Minister Bayh, Commerce and Industry Minister Humphrey and Health Minister Young, Symington immediately surged in approval ratings and polls showed a majority supporting his approach.

But within the party, he did not go unchallenged. Rep. Eugene McCarthy, a bitter enemy of Prime Minister McCormack, announced a leadership challenge. Another, bigger threat was looming- Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy, considered one of the most popular politicians in the country, was considering a challenge and opinion polls showed him leading by a landslide. But the voters weren't the ones choosing the leader, even if they influenced the process, and after some pushing from party insiders Kennedy was convinced that it wouldn't be wise to alienate the establishment and enter the race now. Instead, close Kennedy ally Channing E. Phillips entered the race, becoming the first ever black leadership contender in a major party. Speaker of the House Lyndon B. Johnson, a very powerful figure in the party, also briefly contemplated a run but in the end decided that he'd wield much more influence by staying in his position without any adventures.

In the primary itself, despite polls showing him leading amongst voters, McCarthy could not gain the support of enough party delegates. Symington managed to win in the first round, narrowly avoiding a second one.

Labor Leadership Election, 1968
Fmr. Defense Minister Stuart Symington (LAB-MO)- 52.3% ✓
Rep. Eugene McCarthy (LAB-MN)- 38.0%
Rep. Channing E. Phillips (LAB-DC)- 9.7%

It was the last straw for McCarthy and his allies. Right after the convention, giving his speech on the floor, Rep. Eugene McCarthy announced that he was leaving the Labor Party to create a new party- the Alliance for Peace. He was unable to convince Robert Kennedy to lead the party, and thus assumed leadership himself, joined by figures such as Rep. George McGovern, Rep. Don Edwards and Rep. Allard Lowenstein and 9 others. Coupled with the rise of the American Workers' Party, it was a big break from the previous four-party system.

In the Democratic Party, the death of Harry F. Byrd lead to a clash of three figures to succeed him as leader after the end of Richard Russell Jr.'s caretaker term- Harry F. Byrd Jr., the former leader's son and political heir, the controversial and popular Alabama Governor George Wallace, and former South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, a popular firebrand politician in the party. Two other candidates were Rep. Russell B. Long, leading the diminishing left-populist part of the party, and Rep. Sam Ervin who tried to push for a more moderate position. To the second round, Byrd Jr. and Wallace narrowly advanced. There, the prestigious name of the former lost to the popularity and charisma of the latter. But the party did not come out unscathed- Ervin, leading three of the more moderate members, announced that he was leading the strongly segregrationist party and joining Goldwater's Conservatives, with whom they shared the passion for preserving the constitution.

Democratic Leadership Election, 1968 (First Round)
Governor George Wallace (D-AL)- 28.5% ✓
Rep. Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (D-VA)- 26.2% ✓
Rep. Strom Thurmond (D-SC)- 22.9%
Rep. Sam Ervin (D-SC)- 12.0%
Rep. Russell B. Long (D-LA)- 10.4%

Democratic Leadership Election, 1968 (Second Round)
Governor George Wallace (D-AL)- 52.6% ✓
Rep. Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (D-VA)- 47.4%

But the biggest turmoil was in the Republican Party. Nelson Rockfeller did not face a leadership challenge, but for no good reason. Facing immense pressure from within to agree to a merger with the Conservatives and take the opportunity to finally defeat Labor, Rockfeller refused, claiming that he showed he can bring the Republicans back and that "our values are just not compatible". That was the last straw for the Dirksen wing of the party. So far remaining loyal and containing themselves to leadership challenges, the moderate conservative Representative and 13 of his allies decided that there was no use to staying in a dying beast. And so they left the party and joined the Conservatives, where they were guaranteed at least three spots in the top 10 for Dirksen and his allies Charles Halleck and Prescott Bush. And so, the Republican Party finally split again. The Conservatives, meanwhile, didn't change much- no one challenged Goldwater and the only change was the downfall of Rep. Richard Nixon, long thought a possible successor to the party's leader and now indicted for corruption and political extortion charges and retiring from politics, and the retirement of longtime Rep. John W. Bricker. But after the Dirksen-Goldwater agreement, the party changed its name to the United Conservative Party, signaling a new direction.

Labor Party top 10 for the 1967 Election
1. Fmr. Defense Minister Stuart Symington
2. Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy
3. Foreign Minister Birch Bayh
4. Industry and Commerce Minister Hubert Humphrey
5. Speaker of the House Lyndon B. Johnson
6. Transportation Minister Stephen M. Young
7. Rep. Ted Kennedy
8. Governor Terry Sanford
9. Environmental Protection Minister Edmund Muskie
10. Governor Roger Branigin

United Conservative Party top 10 for the 1967 Election
1. Opposition Leader Barry Goldwater (Conservative)
2. Rep. Everett Dirksen (Republican)
3. Rep. John Jacob Rhodes (Conservative)
4. Rep. Leslie C. Arends (Conservative)
5. Rep. William F. Knowland (Conservative)
6. Rep. Charles A. Halleck (Republican)
7. Rep. Samuel Ervin (Democratic)
8. Rep. John Tower (Conservative)
9. Rep. John W. Byrnes (Conservative)
10. Rep. Prescott Bush (Republican)

Republican Party top 10 for the 1967 Election
1. Rep. Nelson Rockfeller
2. Governor George Romney
3. Rep. Gerald Ford
4. Rep. Margaret Chase Smith
5. Rep. Thomas Kuchel
6. Rep. Edward Brooke
7. Rep. Hugh Scott
8. Rep. Mark Hatfield
9. Governor John Chafee
10. Rep. Wayne Morse

Democratic Party top 10 for the 1967 Election
1. Governor George Wallace
2. Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
3. Rep. Strom Thurmond
4. Rep. Richard Russell Jr.
5. Rep. Russell B. Long
6. Rep. John Sparkman
7. Rep. John C. Stennis
8. Rep. James Eastland
9. Rep. Iris Faircloth Blitch
10. Rep. J. Lister Hill

Alliance for Peace Party top 5 for the 1967 Election
1. Rep. Eugene McCarthy
2. Rep. George McGovern
3. Rep. Allard Lowenstein
4. Rep. Don Edwards
5. Fmr. Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas

American Workers' Party top 5 for the 1967 Election
1. Rep. Michael Harrington
2. Rep. Leo Isacson
3. Rep. Huey P. Newton
4. Rep. Dorothy Ray Healey
5. Rep. Eric Hass

The election felt like, for the first time, it was competitive. Goldwater was running a spirited campaign, trying to use the defections from the Republican and Democratic parties to his own to create a wave. But in the end, the public was still reluctant to leave the comforting arms of Labor and Symington's plans of a honourable exit proved too popular to beat. Labor, with a greatly diminished majority, remained in power despite everything. The Conservatives grew substantially,while the Republicans didn't manage to recover despite Rockfeller's promises- they technically gained some seats from their post-defections state but still lost a substantial amount. The Democrats lost strength due to Ervin's defection, while the AfP had a strong success, managing to pass the Workers' Party to become the fifth stronger, carried by the anti-war movement.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1967 (Results)
Labor Party (Stuart Symington)- 191 Seats ↓ (-17)
United Conservative Party (Barry Goldwater)- 81 Seats ↑ (+16)
Republican Party (Nelson Rockfeller)- 36 Seats ↓ (-10)
Democratic Party (George Wallace)- 25 Seats ↓ (-4)
Alliance for Peace (Eugene McCarthy)- 18 Seats (new)
American Workers' Party (Michael Harrington)- 9 Seats ↓ (-3)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

With a lot to prove to voters, Prime Minister Stuart Symington got to work. The administration continued campaigns to bomb North Vietnam and its allies, hoping that the attrition will put pressure on Hanoi, while beginning talks in Paris with the North, the South and the Soviets. But the talks advanced slowly, and there seemed to be no end in the horizon. Pressure increased again, and protests were widespread again, but Symington did not agree to a quick withdrawal, knowing the collapse of South Vietnam and the communist dominance in South East Asia will play into his opponents' hands even more. He hoped to try and install relations with Communist China, but when the news leaked to the press the fierce protests by the opposition forced him to shelf the plans.

One event, concerning two captive American soldiers who will later become very famous, provided the Prime Minister some breathing room in 1971, as the election approached and Labor seemed to be increasingly in trouble. In 1967 John McCain, a naval aviator and son of Navy Admiral John S. McCain Jr., was shot down over Hanoi and taken alive. He would later refuse to be released early thanks to his connections and instead stayed with the others who were less well-connected, earning him great respect. Two years later, in 1969 at the young age of 18, a young woman from Hawaii named Colleen Hanabusa decided that instead of pursuing a career as a lawyer like her family wanted, she wanted to join the army and serve her country in a combat role aboard. Against all odds, she successfully joined the Marines and excelled in the training so much that she was soon sent to the combat area in Vietnam. Thus, she became the youngest female Marine to ever land in a combat zone. In the year 1971, after under two years of deployment, Hanabusa was captured with several of her fellow Marines during a covert mission near Hanoi and was put in the same prisoner of war camp as McCain.

In prison, the bold Hanabusa refused to subject herself to the life of a captive. She wanted to be out there, fighting for her country. So, using pure wits and skills, she devised her plan with her fellow prisoners, including McCain. She waited until one of the guards who seemed to be attracted to her was on duty, seduced him, and when he let her out, cut him with his own knife. Putting the body into the cell, to be hidden by her cellmates, she sneaked through the darkness, found and stole the clothes of a North Vietnemese soldier, cutting her hair and covering her face in enough mud to look like a man. In the following day, no one suspected anything yet as the organization in the camp was fairly loose- it was the middle of February, during the Tet Holiday, and no one noticed a soldier who didn't look out of the ordinary before a closer look. So throughout the day, she moved through the camp, stole various weapons and sneaked them into the cells, until in the evening, they finally had what they needed. Killing the guards on duty, she opened the cells and let the others, armed and prepared, out. Leading the group with McCain, they escaped under the cover of darkness. The soldiers were celebrating Tet and getting drunk, and so before anyone noticed they were out of the prisoner camp. When the soldiers discovered that their most valued American prisoners were out, they sent a group to pursue them, but the former captives already contacted American troops with a stolen communication device. They found the U.S. helicopters waiting for them and as Hanabusa and a few brave others covered for them from behind, repelling the Vietnemese troops who tried to catch them, the soldiers went in. Hanabusa was the last to climb up, in the last moment, sustaining bullet wounds in her thigh and shoulder.

After the story of Hanabusa and McCain fascinated the nation for about a week, it was back to the encroaching election. Surprisingly, for the first time, there was no leadership contest in any party- in Labor, Symington remained unchallenged as everyone willing to do so was in the Alliance for Peace already; Goldwater's leadership was not doubted by almost anyone in the Conservative Union, and after Everett Dirksen's death his allies were practically absorbed into the party; some grumbled about Nelson Rockfeller's leadership in the Republican Party but no one substantial was willing to step up against him; George Wallace was deepening his hold on the Democratic Party, with the biggest change there being the death of original party leader Richard Russell, Jr.; and in the two smaller parties, there were no leadership contests.

Labor Party top 10 for the 1971 Election
1. Prime Minister Stuart Symington
2. Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy
3. Foreign Minister Birch Bayh
4. Speaker of the House Lyndon B. Johnson
5. Home Minister Hubert Humphrey
6. Internal Security Minister Terry Sanford
7. Commerce and Industry Minister Edmund Muskie
8. Rep. Shirley Chisholm
9. Mayor Sam Yorty
10. Defense Minister Henry (Scoop) Jackson

United Conservative Party top 10 for the 1971 Election
1. Opposition Leader Barry Goldwater (Conservative)
2. Rep. John Tower
3. Rep. John Jacob Rhodes
4. Rep. Leslie C. Arends
5. Ret. General William Westmoreland
6. Rep. Charles A. Halleck
7. Rep. Sam Ervin
8. Mr. George H.W. Bush
9. Rep. John M. Ashbrook
10. Fmr. Gubernatorial Candidate Ronald Reagan

Republican Party top 10 for the 1971 Election
1. Rep. Nelson Rockfeller
2. Rep. Gerald Ford
3. Rep. George Romney
4. Rep. Margaret Chase Smith
5. Rep. Edward Brooke
6. Rep. Mark Hatfield
7. Rep. Hugh Scott
8. Rep. Wayne Morse
9. Rep. John Chafee
10. Rep. Thomas Kuchel

Democratic Party top 10 for the 1971 Election
1. Rep. George Wallace
2. Rep. Strom Thurmond
3. Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
4. Rep. James Eastland
5. Rep. John Sparkman
6. Rep. Russell B. Long
7. Rep. Iris Faircloth Blitch
8. Rep. John C. Stennis
9. Rep. John Schmitz
10. Rep. J. Lister Hill

Alliance for Peace Party top 5 for the 1971 Election
1. Rep. Eugene McCarthy
2. Rep. George McGovern
3. Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas
4. Rep. Allard Lowenstein
5. Rep. Marjorie "Midge" Miller

American Workers' Party top 5 for the 1971 Election
1. Rep. Michael Harrington
2. Rep. Huey P. Newton
3. Rep. Dorothy Ray Healey
4. Rep. Leo Isacson
5. Rep. Eric Hass

In the end, the election proved the worst election for Labor to date. Dissatisfaction with the seemingly slow progress of Symington's plan, though "progress it is" as the Prime Minister said, and more and more deaths of soldiers, proved enough to give both the Alliance for Peace and the United Conservatives more strength, while the Democrats remained mostly stagnant and the Republicans continued declining. The most remarkable thing was this- Labor lost its majority in the parliament. For the first time, no party had a majority and a coalition government would have to be created.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1971 (Results)
Labor Party (Stuart Symington)- 173 Seats ↓ (-18)
United Conservative Party (Barry Goldwater)- 87 Seats ↑ (+6)
Republican Party (Nelson Rockfeller)- 34 Seats ↓ (-2)
Democratic Party (George Wallace)- 27 Seats ↑ (+2)
Alliance for Peace (Eugene McCarthy)- 27 Seats ↑ (+9)
American Workers' Party (Michael Harrington)- 12 Seats ↑ (+3)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

After the election, it was thought in Labor that the situation wasn't so bad- with the AfP they still had a 200-seat majority, and with some seats in the Workers' Party, it was clear the left had a strong majority in the country, and the right was just exchanging the same Republican-Conservative votes. But what came as a shock was the refusal of Eugene McCarthy to sign any coalition agreement that didn't include an immediate and full withdrawal from Vietnam- a move that Symington couldn't agree to, for both interpolitical and geopolitical reasons. McCarthy's stubborn refusal to enter the government was met by some fierce opposition and criticism from within his own party, moste notably from figures such as George McGovern and Helen Gahagan Douglas, but they reluctantly accepted the leader's decision and stayed in the party, in exchange for primaries for leader and list being installed to the party's constitution.

And so Symington was forced to turn to the next option- the Republican Party. Realizing that a coalition agreement with Labor was the only way to bring his party back to some power, block the segregrationist Democrats (Symington's next option) from government and possibly prevent another election, Rockfeller agreed, in exchange for the Foreign Ministry for himself and several other protfolios for his party. They also chose the next President, who was to be appointed that same year, together. Former Prime Minister John W. McCormack was considered, but his controversial handling of Vietnam removed him as an option and instead the respected Home Minister Hubert Humphrey was selected as President.

But quickly enough, it turned out to be a disaster-. In late 1971, after another offensive by the North Vietnemese showed they aren't going anywhere and the peace talks continued to be stalled, Symington finally succumbed to the demands of the opposition and many protesters and appointed a Commission of Inquiry into the conduct of his and his predecessor's administrations in the war, lead by the widely-respected former President James Roosevelt II and with representatives of all parties. In 1972, the committee released its report- and it was devastating.

The Symington government continuously misinterpreted and outright hid details from the war and the Paris negotiations, not telling the public that the North wasn't getting close to collapse, that the South was on life support and that the negotiations were completely stalled, the Vietnemese knowing that waiting is their best course of action. The optics were nightmarish- Symington lied to the nation, and was targeted by the commission as the responsible for these half-truths and hidden details. And so, his approval ratings plunging to the teens and half his own party, lead by Robert Kennedy, in open rebellion, Prime Minister Symington submitted his resignation and called a Labor leadership election for mid 1972, just a mere year after his second term begun. That leadership election would decide the next Prime Minister, as Nelson Rockfeller already announced he's likely to preserve the coalition for the sake of stability.

[America Needs R'hllor]

The Goldwater Revolution

Sources: Wikimedia

Following the historic resignation of Prime Minister Stuart Symington in 1972, Many thought that a new election might be called, just two years after the former. But none of the coalition partners wanted it- the only one who might benefit would've been Barry Goldwater- and so, they decided to keep the government going, just with a new and different Prime Minister who'll strive to earn the voters' renewed trust for the next 3 years. The Labor leadership election would thus decide the next Prime Minister, and it wasn't a big question who'd win. With massive popular support, Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy, the party's number 2 on the list, entered the leadership. But he wasn't alone- Foreign Minister Birch Bayh, long thought a rival of Kennedy, also entered with considerable establishment backing and some popular support. Another candidates were Defense Minister Scoop Jackson, running on a more spirited foreign policy that'll end the Vietnam war with strong and quick force; Transportation Minister Sam Yorty; and Rep. J. William Fulbright. Unsurprisingly, Bayh and Kennedy advanced to the second round. There, a tight race ended with a Kennedy win, and a rivalry that was sure to continue for the years to come.

Labor Leadership Election, 1972 (First Round)
Foreign Minister Birch Bayh (LAB-IN)- 37.7% ✓
Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy (LAB-NY)- 36.3% ✓
Defense Minister Henry (Scoop) Jackson (LAB-WA)- 15.6%
Rep. J. William Fulbright (LAB-AR)- 6.3%
Transportation Minister Sam Yorty (LAB-CA)- 4.1%

Labor Leadership Election, 1972 (Second Round)
Justice Minister Robert F. Kennedy (LAB-NY)- 50.8% ✓
Foreign Minister Birch Bayh (LAB-IN)- 49.2%

Upon becoming Prime Minister, Robert Kennedy outlined two major focuses his administration would have- the first is reaching a sustainable and honourable agreement in Vietnam, and the second is enacting and implementing the existing civil rights laws to ensure segregration is wiped out from the face of the country. On the former, he achieved limited success- eventually, with the Vietnemese and their allies seeing the popular support the Prime Minister had, an agreement was signed in 1973. It would create two countries- South Vietnam and North Vietnam- and seperate the forces. But many feared that with the U.S. withdrawing, the North would break the agreement attack their unstable neighbours, and some limited skirmishes between the sides continued, but Kennedy warned the South not to restart the war if they want continued U.S. support.

On the latter goal, the Kennedy administration had massive success. In closed talks, Kennedy was heard to say that he was afraid "the era of the left's dominance was coming to an end" and so there was need for "massive and quick action regarding civil rights". A second Voting Rights Law, aiming to implement the previous one passed during the Rayburn administration, was implemented in order to force all U.S. states to not discriminate against black Americans' right to vote. Other anti-discrimination laws were passed on the issues of housing, education and public transportation, as well as the Equal Rights Law that guaranteed gender equality in America. The protests from the United Conservative Party, which was split between more moderate members who supported the legislation and the small-government Goldwater supporters who opposed it, weren't strong enough. The Democratic Party, while protesting the new laws fiercely and heavily, wasn't strong enough to stop it as the laws passed with Labor, Republican, American Workers', Alliance for Peace and some United Conservative support. At the signing day of the second Voting Rights Law, Kennedy appeared with black activist Martin Luther King Jr., and it seemed like the era of racism in America was over. Polls showed massive support for the legislation, and the Democrats seemed to be losing strength as many among their base started moving away from segregration, even as some serious racism remained an issue.

Kennedy also advanced an important cause when he reformed Labor Party's consitution and finally implemented national popular vote primaries for both leadership and the list, making it the first "small d" democratic party in America. And lastly, he made progress on LGBT rights by passing several laws that prevented discrimination for LGBT teachers and recognized LGBT people as "equal Americans", moves that were done jointly with a party rising star, Rep. Harvey Milk, a Kennedy ally and the first ever openly gay representative.

In 1975, as the Prime Minister prepared to run for reelection, a damaging report was suddenly released by the New York Times, detailing how his wife, Ethel Kennedy, established a bank account owned by the couple in Switzerland during an official visit with her husband there. The couple initially claimed the account had only 2000 dollars, but later it was leaked that there was a sum of 90,000 dollars. While Kennedy insisted that he did not know about the account or the sum, and most reports seemed to corroberate it, and Ethel claimed she was ignorant when establishing the account and was convinced that it would be a good way for the couple to save money, it still lead to much criticism. Defense Minister Birch Bayh was considered likely to run against Kennedy in the primary- and this time possibly win. But Prime Minister Kennedy made a move earlier, and shocked the country when he declared that he'll resign from his position effecitve immediately, handing it down to Deputy Prime Minister Bayh, and from leadership of the party, citing "terrible optics" and "a serious mistake" that he made. It was considered an admirable move that restored much of his reputation, taking responsibility for what, in the end, amounted to a minor scandal. The new Prime Minister, Birch Bayh, remained unopposed as the party's leader, with no one seriously considering a challenge to such a powerful figure.

But possibly the most impactful political development before the election was on the right. In the Republican Party, Foreign Minister Nelson Rockfeller finally attracted a serious primary challenge- Internal Security Minister Gerald Ford also ran, representing the old Dirksen wing of the party and saying that the party couldn't continue running alone and ignoring its declining strength, and that the voters had appetite for a united center-right. With the party's leader facing a challenge, Culture and Sports Minister Margaret Chase Smith, the first female Minister in American history, also decided to run with a promise to change the party's direction to become properly socially liberal; and Rep. Wayne Morse, recently surviving a health scare, also ran from Rockfeller's left. In the primary, Rockfeller became increasingly in trouble as polls showed the party plunging as voters left it after serving as a junior coalition partner to controversial Labor Prime Ministers. Still, Ford and Rockfeller advanced to the second round. Then, operatives close to Goldwater called Republican delegates constantly, promising a good merger deal for the party if they'd elect Ford. And so, it was decided. Ford upset the Foreign Minister by a surprisingly large margin, becoming leader of the Republican Party.

Republican Leadership Election, 1975 (First Round)
Foreign Minister Nelson Rockfeller (R-NY)- 39.6% ✓
Internal Security Minister Gerald Ford (R-MI)- 39.2% ✓
Culture and Sports Minister Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME)- 16.7%
Rep. Wayne Morse (R-OR)- 4.5%

Republican Leadership Election, 1975 (Second Round)
Internal Security Minister Gerald Ford (R-MI)- 54.9% ✓
Foreign Minister Nelson Rockfeller (R-NY)- 45.1%

Negotiations with the Conservatives weren't long, as the two parties agreed to merge into a brand new party- the Unity Party. Ford and his allies would receive four spots in the party's top 10 list, and in later cycles face a primary like every one else. That primary was changed, too, to become a popular vote primary, as did the leadership primary, mimicking the move Kennedy implemented in Labor. But not the entire Republican Party willingly merged into the Conservatives- Rep. Wayne Morse, the party's left-wing standard-bearer, left the party to join Labor, while Margaret Chase Smith founded the Liberal Party, joined by John Chafee, Mark Hatfield, Edward Brooke and Thomas Kuchel.

More turmoil occured in the Alliance for Peace Party. Many members heavily disagreed with McCarthy's decision to refuse cooperation with Labor, saying that it was a "huge missed opportunity", as retiring Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas called it. And so a challenge was presented by popular Rep. George McGovern, who's always been close to Prime Minister Kennedy and a rival or McCarthy. After the party's leader said he'd "prefer" Goldwater over Bayh as Prime Minister, his popularity further plunged. In the subsequent election, the leader and founder of the party lost the election by a landslide and proceeded to leave the party and found his own "Peace and Freedom Party".

Alliance for Peace Leadership Election, 1975
Rep. George McGovern (AfP-SD)- 64.7% ✓
Party Leader Eugene McCarthy (AfP-MN)- 35.3%

In the Democratic Party, while there was appetite for a challenge to Rep. Wallace, no one actually wanted the job- with the party declining in the polls and seemingly powerless against the sweeping changes made by Labor, many began to grumble that the new party system actually harmed them and that they should seek to influence the ruling party from within or reform. And so, Wallace, who promised to expand the party's appeal by running a more economically populist campaign, went unchallenged again.

Labor Party top 10 for the 1975 Election
1. Defense Minister Birch Bayh
2. Fmr. Prime Minister Robert F. Kennedy
3. Home Minister Edmund Muskie
4. Justice Minister Henry (Scoop) Jackson
5. Rep. Frank Church
6. Housing and Construction Minister Terry Sanford
7. Rep. Carl Albert
8. Dep. Home Minister Shirley Chisholm
9. Rep. Tip O'Neill
10. Rep. Wayne Morse

Unity Party top 10 for the 1975 Election
1. Opposition Leader Barry Goldwater (UCP)
2. Rep. Gerald Ford (Republican)
3. Rep. John Jacob Rhodes (UCP)
4. Rep. John Tower (UCP)
5. Rep. Geroge Romney (Republican)
6. Rep. Leslie C. Arends (UCP)
7. Rep. Hugh Scott (Republican)
8. Rep. Robert H. Michel (UCP)
9. Rep. Howard Baker (UCP)
10. Rep. Richard Schweiker (Republican)

Democratic Party top 10 for the 1975 Election
1. Rep. George Wallace
2. Rep. Strom Thurmond
3. Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
4. Ret. Admiral Curtis LeMay
5. Rep. James Eastland
6. Rep. Russell B. Long
7. Rep. Iris Faircloth Blitch
8. Rep. James Allen
9. Rep. John Sparkman
10. Rep. John C. Stennis

Alliance for Peace Party top 5 for the 1975 Election
1. Rep. George McGovern
2. Rep. Allard Lowenstein
3. Rep. Bella Abzug
4. Rep. Ron Dellums
5. Rep. Marjorie "Midge" Miller

Liberal Party top 5 for the 1975 Election
1. Rep. Margaret Chase Smith
2. Rep. Edward Brooke
3. Rep. Mark Hatfield
4. Rep. Thomas Kuchel
5. Rep. John Chafee

American Workers' Party top 5 for the 1975 Election
1. Rep. Michael Harrington
2. Rep. Dorothy Ray Healey
3. Rep. Huey P. Newton
4. Rep. Leo Isacson
5. Rep. Bill Epton

The election itself didn't seem that different from the past elections. Goldwater and the Unity campaign emphasized on the failures of the previous administrations, pointing to a slowing economy and a growing deficit, the numerous corruption scandals and shady deals by Labor operatives, and hammering on the Roosevelt Report, broadcasting in their ads and speeches quotes about the misconduct of the administrations of John McCormack and Stuart Symington, of whom Defense Minister Bayh was a close ally. They also employed a "Southern Strategy", trying to gain support from Democratic voters by quietly noting Goldwater's support for state's rights, despite his personal opposition to segregration which was more apparent in the Unity campaign in the rest of the country.

Labor, meanwhile, ran its usual campaign, pointing to the relative stability on the world stage and the domestic successes, and trying to appeal to the African American voters with the help of former Prime Minister Kennedy, who was very popular with them. But despite knowing that their strength is likely to decline, the party hoped that it would be softened by African Americans voting in larger numbers and wasn't worried about a majority for their opponents, knowing they could always create a coalition with the Liberals and Alliance for Peace. But on election night, the nightmares of Labor operatives materialized when CBS anchor Walter Cronkite proclaimed with shock "ladies and gentlemen, an upset". Goldwater and Unity won a clear plurality, surpassing Labor which fell sharply, and with the Liberals and Democrats, they achieved a majority.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1975 (Results)
Unity Party (Barry Goldwater)- 159 Seats ↑ (+72)
Labor Party (Birch Bayh)- 134 Seats ↓ (-39)
Liberal Party (Margaret Chase Smith)- 23 Seats (new)
Democratic Party (George Wallace)- 17 Seats ↓ (-10)
Alliance for Peace (George McGovern)- 16 Seats ↓ (-11)
American Workers' Party (Michael Harrington)- 11 Seats ↓ (-1)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

Following the election, the inevitable happened- with the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party reluctantly agreeing to join the government together, Goldwater established a wide coalition of 199 representatives and relegated Labor to the opposition for the first time in many years.

[America Needs R'hllor]

The 2019 Election (Part IV- second half)

Another suicide bombing killing two U.S. soldiers in Iraq raises the issue of foreign involvement in the election


Source: Wikipedia Commons

15 days before the election, another sucide bombing killed two U.S. soldiers in Iraq, furthering the death count of the American involvements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanista, by now numbering in the hundreds. This time, the fanatic insurgent ISIS took responsibility for the terror attack, though many other organizations have previously attacked U.S. forces. This raised the question of American foreign involvement abroad again. After 9\11 rattled the American people, the public became increasingly radical and in favour of "using American strength" to defend it abroad. Further terror attacks did not lead most of the public to support a withdrawal, but rather continued involvement to prevent such attacks. Newt Gingrich and his Unity Party are the leading force for maintaining the status-quo, maintatining a steady and strong presence in all threatening countries, but parties from the right and the left wish to change it- from the New Right's plans to create an America-lead autonomy in the countries and the Christian Home's plan to annex them as U.S. territories with American Governors to the left's support for a withdrawal and leaving local, independent governments, with varying levels from the Progressive Party's support for full withdrawal to Star and Stripe's more gradual approach. Following the attack, all parties (save for the American Workers' Party) sounded off and condemned the terrorists, but also reiterated their plans, with the right attacking Unity for a "weak approach" and the left for "creating this disaster".

New Right, National Party and Bridge campaigns appear to be floundering, party leaders attempt to salvage the situation


Sources: Wikipedia Commons

As the election approaches, several parties, some of whom started with promising campaigns, appear to be reaching a dangerous situation. Foremost amongst them is the New Right, the party created by former Christian Home leaders Education Minister Tom Cotton and Justice Minister Nikki Haley. Starting strong and polling, sometimes, as the third biggest party, they gradually declined as many supporters left them for the revived United Christian Parties or for Unity, and now are polling dangerously close to the threshold of 10 Seats. Trying to avert the disaster, they released several ads- in one, Cotton was holding a dove and telling it, referring to pro-peace leftists that "we've seen that you don't understand anything", promoting the party's autonomy plan. In the other, Haley promoted the party's judicial reform, filming what looked like an ad for a "fascism perfume", in which, in the end, she said that the party's reform, giving the government more power in appointing judges, "smells like democracy". The bizarre ads did not seem to help the party recover. Casey Cagle's National Party, meanwhile, despite being a longstanding political force, has fallen below the threshold in many polls, but Cagle appears unworried and, according to sources, believes the party's original demographic, secular authoritarians, is large enough. Lastly, the Bridge Party, which looked like the election's promise at the start, has been consistently below the threshold and now looks unlikely to pass it. Still, leader Lorretta Sanchez said they're conducting a "campaign of love and compassion", and that if all those who supported her voted for the party they'd "win more than 20 Seats".

Larry Sharpe becomes election star as marijuana-focused campaign helps Libertarian Party rise above the threshold in most polls and surge upwards


Source: Wikipedia Commons

A surprising figure has risen up to become one of the election's stars, someone who was given no chance to pass the threshold before- Larry Sharpe, leader of the revived Libertarian Party. With a campaign focused on dismantling the "unsustainable" welfare state created by many years of Labor dominance, religious and civil liberties, and especially highlighting the issue of marijuana legalization as a key plank of the party's platform, he managed to attract many small-government young Americans fascinated by the rigidly capitalist, free market platform which wasn't seen in America for years, and many more who view marijuana legalization as their important issue. Now the party has risen above many others, exceeding the threshold and more than that, and it seems like Sharpe might become the deciding factor in the next government, who's needed for a majority. But many have pointed out dangerous planks and figures in Sharpe's party- white supremacists endorsers, and even several on the list after being elected in its open primary; and a sometimes extreme libertarian approach that many warn would "destroy many Americans and their livelihood".

After long fall, Labor campaign gains new energy and party rises in the polls


Source: Wikipedia Commons

Despite a very rocky start, including several gaffes by new leader Hickenlooper and the sudden breaking up of the alliance with Hillary Rodham and her Liberal Movement, which got the ancestral ruling party close to the threshold, the party has revived its campaign. With a new and energized campaign, putting the party's list including Wesley Clark, Chris Pappas, Katie Hill, Marcia Fudge and Michelle Lujan Grisham in the front. Labor also presented the most policy-oriented campaign in the left, presenting a plan of several points for withdrawal from the Middle East, for promoting LGBTQ rights and for making the prices in the country more manageable for young Americans. In its ads, the party's list members talk about the plans, with security-oriented figures such as Clark and Sestak talking about the withdrawal plans and the others talking about the economic and social plans. The campaign earned support from the left-wing activist base, viewing the party as a vehicle to make sure a Stars and Stripes government wouldn't veer too much to the right but would be a viable government partner of more moderate parties too (unlike the Progressives). And so, the party rose up in the polls, currently polling as the third biggest. Still, many are worried that the party's voters will flock back to Stars and Stripes once election day arrives and the fear of a Gingrich victory sets in.

In the final few days before the election, Unity, Stars and Stripes attempt to absorb votes from all other parties and become the biggest party


Sources: Wikipedia Commons

The race between the two largest parties according to the polls- Prime Minister Gingrich's Unity and retired Admiral McRaven's Stars and Stripes- are racing to become the largest party after the election. In the final few days before the election, a concentrated campaign is conducted by the two parties to absorb as many votes as possible from within their camp, with Unity hoping to take away votes from New Right, UCP, the Libertarian Party and the National Party, and Stars and Stripes targeting Labor and the Progressives. Gingrich said that "only a vote for Unity will ensure a right-wing government", while American Future leader Chris Cuomo said that "we're the only option to defeat Gingrich". With this traditional vote-absorption campaign underway, many of the smaller parties are afraid that their votes will be drunk so much that they'll fall below the threshold, and are trying a last-second "SOS!" campaign. New Right leader Tom Cotton warned voters that "we might disappear and the right might lose if you fall for Unity's deception", while Labor candidate Conor Lamb sounded the alarm that "the party is indanger, and might even get wiped out" if people don't vote for it. The Progressive Party begun a large campaign among minority communities in the northeast, trying to cut into the American Workers' Party base, and the UCP is relying on its traditional, white southern Christain base, as well as the hardline ANF base of white supremacists and nationalists. Now, it remains to be seen what the election will result in.

U.S. Legislative Election, 2019 (Polling Average)
Unity Party (Newt Gingrich)- 117 Seats
Stars and Stripes (William McRaven)- 93 Seats
Labor (John Hickenlooper)- 47 Seats
Union of Christian Parties (Rick Santorum)- 22 Seats
Libertarian Party (Larry Sharpe)- 16 Seats
The New Right (Tom Cotton&Nikki Haley)- 16 Seats
Progressive Party (Mary Newman)- 14 Seats
All of Us (Susan Collins)- 12 Seats
American Workers Party (Eric Holder)- 12 Seats
The National Party (Casey Cagle)- 11 Seats
(Threshold: 2.8% or 10 Seats)
The Bridge (Loretta Sanchez)- 0 Seats (below the threshold)

Right-wing Bloc (Unity, UCP, New Right, National Party, Libertarian Party)- 194 Seats
Left-wing Bloc (S&S, Labor, Progressives, AWP)- 166 Seats

[Tron1993]

I really like this timeline. You should consider doing a collaborative timeline with OSR

[America Needs R'hllor]

A New Era- the Goldwater Ministries

Sources: Wikimedia

The Great Upset of 1975 changed the American political system forever. The Unity Party replaced Labor as the ruling party, and though it wasn't known back then, it would win the majority of elections following that year. Barry Goldwater escalated the fight against communism- he supported some right-wing authoritarian regimes to prevent communists from taking over, he invested heavily in the military and forced the Soviets to an arms race that heavily strained their economy. Symington's and Kennedy's Détente policies were over, and America would have no talks with the USSR. Goldwater also refused to engage meaningfully with Communist China, but did allow secret meetings between Foreign Minister John Tower and the Chinese, meetings that were leaked to the Russians in order to pressure the Soviets, whose relations with their huge southern neighbour soured. In Vietnam, Goldwater unleashed the full American strength with a huge campaign of bombings in North Vietnam and its allied countries in the region. The campaign, killing tens of thousands finally broke the Vietcong and they agreed for a Korea-like agreement.

Domestically, the Goldwater administration attempted to lead a market liberalization, taking many steps back from the social-democratic Labor policy which made America a European-style welfare state. But the changes, spearheaded by Finance Minister Gerald Ford, weren't as extreme as some in Unity wished, because Ford, and Goldwater as well, were afraid that if they cut the budged too much and lower taxes too muchv at once it would lead to a recession. On civil rights, the status quo was kept- the Democratc initially demanded more state's rights and less enforcement of desegregration, but with the Liberals being a stronger junior partner in the coalition, they had to compromise and realized that the status quo was better than even new laws. Instead, his policies lead to a marked improvement in economic growth, which was fairly slow during the past few terms. In 1978, the coalition also supported his candidate for President, set to replace President Hubert Humphrey, who died in January that year, a few months before the end of his term. For the first time since the establishment of the new system, the President was from the right rather than a Labor member- George Wilcken Romney, former Michigan Governor and current Home Minister, a moderate consensus choice who received bipartisan support. This was after the Liberals and Margaret Chase Smith stressed that they'd not accept a controversial, hard-right choice.

All-in-all, the first Goldwater term proved to be what the people asked for when they brought him into power- a more liberal economy, and a much stronger anti-communist foreign policy, decisive and unrelenting. The huge loss of life it caused in Vietnam and other countries, and the international condemnations from allies in Europe that followed, did not seem to bother the public, and Goldwater headed to the 1979 fairly popular. He was uncontested for the Unity Party leadership. Following the party's survival and relative success in 1971, the Liberals also decided to keep their leader, Justice Minister Margaret Chase Smith. The Alliance for Peace also kept their course with McGovern, and despite ramblings from the more radical parts of the party, the American Workers' Party saw no challenge to Rep. Harrington.

Labor, meanwhile, had a contested primary, as was expected. Opposition Leader Birch Bayh, the incumbent leader, ran for reelection, but he was challenged by Rep. Scoop Jackson, who argued that a more anti-communist line while maintaining the social-democratic economic policies was the winning recipe, and by the pro-peace Rep. Frank Church from the left, who argued for a stronger line against Goldwater's foreign policy. In the end, Bayh dispatched the opposition in the first round, and became the party's leader again.

Labor Leadership Election, 1975
Opposition Leader Birch Bayh (LAB-IN)- 56.8% ✓
Rep. Henry (Scoop) Jackson (LAB-WA)- 21.9%
Rep. Frank Church (LAB-ID)- 21.3%

But the real turmoil happened within the Democratic Party. With segregration laws seemingly extinct, and only de-facto segregration still widespread, it felt like the party lost its purpose. Many in the south lost interest and hope in re-instating such laws after they saw no movement in that direction in the current right-wing government, especially after Goldwater stated that "desegregration and civil rights laws will not be reversed under any circumstances".

The Democratic Party felt stale and irrelevant, but a new movement was rising from the rotting confederacy in the south- the Christian Right. Lead by conservative preachers and former segregrationists, the new movement warned against the "moral degradation of American society". The Kennedy reforms, that enshrined abortion rights, advanced the first LGBT protections and defended equality for women, fueled this movement, and they railed against the "sodomizers and sinners taking over our nation". They also attacked the "misguided" Prime Minister Goldwater, who was a strong supporter of personal liberty, opposed religious intervention in the affairs of the state, and described himself as a supporter of abortion rights. One such leader was Jerry Falwell, a Southern Baptist pastor and televangelist, who founded an organization called "Moral Majority" to promote the religious right and Liberty University, a private evangelical university promoting his values. There was also civil rights attorney and minister Fred Phelps, who opposed the racist Demcoratic policies but was a frevent opponent of the recent trend of LGBT rights in the Kennedy and Goldwater terms. Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church as a vessel for his beliefs, which were different from Falwell's.

Another movement in the Democratic Party was that of its leader- Internal Security Minister George Wallace, claiming to be a "born again Christian now", renounced his hardline segregrationist views, standing in front of his home and saying that "I was wrong". He still believed "extreme desegreration is reckless and harmful" and was a strong proponent for state's rights, but his new position enraged the more radical elements in the party. Running for the party's leadership again on his new and more moderate platform, Wallace was challenged from two directions- Jerry Falwell running as an outsider, pledging to make the party "a new and fresh vessel for Christian Americans", while former leader James Eastland ran on a staunchly segregrationist platform, accusing Wallace of "betraying the south". Wallace advanced to the second round against Eastland after a very close three-way race, and then managed to narrowly survive due to his control on the party's organization. But it was too late- while Eastland retired, fellow segregrationist Strom Thurmond left the party to found a new "Dixiecrat Party" along with his allies. Meanwhile, Falwell also left the party, and though he didn't run himself, he founded the Christian Home Party, giving its leadership to Rep. Jesse Helms who left the Democrats.

Democratic Leadership Election, 1979 (First Round)
Internal Security Minister George Wallace (D-AL)- 34.2% ✓
Dep. Home Minister James Eastland (D-MS)- 33.7% ✓
Pastor Jerry Falwell (D-VA)- 32.1%

Democratic Leadership Election, 1979 (Second Round)
Internal Security Minister George Wallace (D-AL)- 50.8% ✓
Dep. Home Minister James Eastland (D-MS)- 49.2%

The Democratic Party did not come out whole, though. Two new parties emerged as segregrationists and Christian ideologues left Wallace's Democrats in large numbers. Rep. Strom Thurmond, an avid segregrationist and racist, was made the leader of the new Dixiecrat Party. Meanwhile, Jerry Falwell funded and created a new party, giving its leadership to Rep. Jesse Helms, who had been described by former Prime Minister Kennedy as a "rabid bigot, homophobe and extremist". The new party would be named the Christian Home.

Labor Party top 10 for the 1979 Election
1. Opposition Leader Birch Bayh
2. Fmr. Prime Minister Robert F. Kennedy
3. Rep. Frank Church
4. Rep. Carl Albert
5. Rep. Henry (Scoop) Jackson
6. Rep. Edmund Muskie
7. Rep. Tip O'Neill
8. Rep. Shirley Chisholm
9. Rep. Terry Sanford
10. Rep. Mo Udall

Unity Party top 10 for the 1979 Election
1. Prime Minister Barry Goldwater
2. Finance Minister Gerald Ford
3. Foreign Minister John Tower
4. Defense Minister Alexander Haig
5. Education Minister Howard Baker
6. Commerce and Industry Minister John Jacob Rhodes
7. Rep. Hugh Scott
8. Speaker of the House Robert H. Michel
9. Transportation Minister Robert P. Griffin
10. Rep. Ted Stevens

Democratic Party top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. George Wallace
2. Rep. Russell B. Long
3. Rep. David Pryor
4. Rep. Price Daniel
5. Rep. Dante Fascell

Dixiecrat top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. Strom Thurmond
2. Rep. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
3. Rep. John Sparkman
4. Rep. John C. Stennis
5. Rep. Iris Faircloth Blitch

Christian Home top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. Jesse Helms
2. Televangelist Pat Robertson
3. Rep. Trent Lott
4. Pastor D. James Kennedy
5. Mr. James Dobson

Alliance for Peace Party top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. George McGovern
2. Rep. Bella Abzug
3. Rep. Allard Lowenstein
4. Rep. Ron Dellums
5. Rep. Marjorie "Midge" Miller

Liberal Party top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. Margaret Chase Smith
2. Rep. Edward Brooke
3. Rep. Mark Hatfield
4. Rep. John Chafee
5. Rep. Thomas Kuchel

American Workers' Party top 5 for the 1979 Election
1. Rep. Michael Harrington
2. Rep. Huey P. Newton
3. Rep. Dorothy Ray Healey
4. Rep. Bill Epton
5. Rep. Leo Isacson

The election was very different from previous elections, as the many new small parties fought the larger parties and each other, and it looked like the next government would definitely be a coalition in the end. It was a close affair at the top between Labor and Unity, but in the end Goldwater's popularity availed him and he won more seats. Following the election, the aging Justice Minister and Liberal Party leader Margaret Chase Smith retired from politics, and replacing her was Dep. Foreign Minister Ed Brooke, the first black man to lead a major party. However, building a coalition would be challenging.

U.S. Legislative Election, 1979 (Results)
Unity Party (Barry Goldwater)- 151 Seats ↓ (-8)
Labor Party (Birch Bayh)- 140 Seats ↑ (+6)
Christian Home (Jesse Helms)- 16 Seats (new)
Liberal Party (Margaret Chase Smith)- 14 Seats ↓ (-9)
Alliance for Peace (George McGovern)- 13 Seats ↓ (-3)
American Workers' Party (Michael Harrington)- 12 Seats ↑ (+1)
Dixiecrat (Strom Thurmond)- 8 Seats (new)
Democratic Party (George Wallace)- 6 Seats ↓ (-11)
(Threshold: 1.1% or 4 Seats)

With 195 seats of possible coalition partners, Goldwater had to juggle between very different ideologies. The first coalition agreement was signed with the much-weakened Democratic Party, which without a clear ideological direction lost a lot of seats, but was also the most comfortable partner for Goldwater despite his moderate economic populism and social conservativism. The next step towards the magic 180 was harder- Ed Brooke and the liberals announced that they were unwilling to sit with the Dixiecrats, while Strom Thurmond called the other party leader the n word and other insults, so they were impossible to seat together. The Prime Minister knew that bringing in the Dixiecrats in the expense of the Liberals would create backlash in a country where a large majority was opposed to racial segregration and could revive a floundering Liberal Party, so the Dixiecrats were left out. But now he had to console between the strongly socially conservative demands of the Christian Home and the status quo demands of the Liberals. In the end, in exchange for both parties sitting together, only the anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQs and women passed during the last term were repealed, and they were practically declarative in the first place. And so, the Unity-Christian Home-Liberal-Democratic government was formed.

Goldwater's second term was far more challenging than the first. The new Christian Right movement continued its mounting pressure, protesting en-masse against any normalization of LGBTQs or abortion, and the Christian Home kept pressuring Goldwater to give in to their newest demands. Abroad, the agreement in Vietnam unceremoniously collapsed in 1980 as the North renewed its offensive against the South. Additionally, a new phenomenon begun- terrorism at home. Terrorists loyal to the Vietcong attacked American citizens around the worlds and in the U.S. itself, with weapons ranging from suicide bombs to knifes. The American public was outraged and crying for blood, its reluctance to intervene forgotten. Unwillingly, Goldwater's government intervened again, this time sending large ground forces into the country. The attack surprised the Vietcong and their allies, while the Chinese and especially the Soviets, whose economy was reeling from large defense expanses, were in no state to help much. Soon enough the American forces controlled much of the North, reaching very close to Hanoi where they stopped. And so it continued, with thousands of American soldiers coming back in coffins every year.

By 1983, Goldwater was very tired. The contant political pressure and the knowledge that he was responsible for that war weighed heavily on his mind, despite his popularity in the general public. When approached by allies to ask if he'll run for reelection to a third term, Goldwater had only one sentence to say- "I can no longer go on." And so, in 1983, a new election was called, without an incumbent Prime Minister, and all parties were preparing for a hard fight.

[Captain Chaos]

Looks like Barry Goldwater is the Menachem Begin analogue.

[Tron1993]

Can’t wait for the next update

[Stranger in a strange land]

I have to say, Gingrich as Bibi in this TL is pretty brilliant.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Can’t wait for the next update

Soon enough I'm a bit more enthusiastic about Israeli politics rn, so when my interest in America comes back I'll write more.

I have to say, Gingrich as Bibi in this TL is pretty brilliant.

Thanks! I thought about it quite a lot

[Tron1993]

Can’t wait for the next update

Soon enough I'm a bit more enthusiastic about Israeli politics rn, so when my interest in America comes back I'll write more.

I have to say, Gingrich as Bibi in

Thanks! I thought about it quite a lot

As a fellow Israeli I agree with you. I feel hopeful again

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Dante Fascell

[America Needs R'hllor]

So, I'm probably not gonna continue this. It was fun and I might, but not for a while. So in case I don't continue this, gonna drop a spoiler here and show you all the list of American Prime Ministers and elections in this TL. So this is the list of Prime Ministers elected in each election year:

1940- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Labor)
1944- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Labor)
1948- Harry Truman (Labor)
1952- Sam Rayburn (Labor)
1956- Sam Rayburn (Labor)
1960- John W. McCormack (Labor)
1964- John W. McCormack (Labor)
1967- Stuart Symington (Labor)
1971- Stuart Symington (Labor), resigns in 1972 due to a damaging Vietnam report and Robert F. Kennedy becomes Prime Minister
1975- Barry Goldwater (Unity)
1979- Barry Goldwater (Unity)
1983- Phil Crane\Birch Bayh Rotation Agreement (Unity\Labour)
1987- Phil Crane (Unity)
1991- Robert F. Kennedy (Labor), assassinated in 1994 and replaced by Birch Bayh
1995- Newt Gingrich (Unity)
1999- Colleen Hanabusa (Labor)
2001 Special- John McCain (Unity)
2003- John McCain (Unity, later Forward)
2006- George Pataki (Forawrd)
2009- Newt Gingrich (Unity)
2013- Newt Gingrich (Unity)
2015- Newt Gingrich (Unity)
April 2019- No Government
September 2019- No Government
2020- William McRaven (Stars and Stripes)

If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them! Also feel free to tell me which Prime Minister is the analogue to Israeli Prime Ministers and what do you think about these analogues. I might continue at some point, but maybe I'll ditch the modern timeline and just make historical effort posts that include in the end the more modern elections. But maybe not