The Democracy Amendment

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

The 2008 Executive Elections

The Republican nomination

During his second term, Bush’s popularity had been in constant decline. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq. The Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy earned wide coverage. Substantial changes to social security policy and immigration failed. The Bush-administration had become unpopular among independents and Democrats. This was a major hurdle for Vice President Giuliani, who had been the initial front-runner in the Republican primaries but had lost his widespread appeal to liberals due to his support for the Bush administration. He launched his campaign for president, as expected, but his nomination was in no way guaranteed. Senator John McCain launched a campaign focused on his moderate stances and his bipartisan appeal. Former Governor Mike Huckabee ran to the right of both McCain and Giuliani, emphasizing conservative social issues. Former Congressman Ron Paul ran a libertarian campaign, he was, however, not considered a serious candidate. Giuliani had somewhat departed from his socially liberal positions but was nevertheless blasted by his opponents for these stances.

Sen. McCain: “What puzzles me, is-- that-- look, I stand for a type of conservatism that reaches over the aisle to all Americans, but I am, and I have always made that very clear, a conservative. Concerning the vice president, with all due respect, he sometimes gives me the feeling that he is more Kerry than Bush. He is not a conservative on social issues, he is a liberal, and while he is entitled to his opinion, I believe that--”

Vice-Pres. Giuliani: “That is not true.”

Sen. McCain: “--as a Republican--”

Vice-Pres. Giuliani: “I am not a liberal.”

Sen. McCain: “Well, Mr. Vice President, as Mayor of New York City, you championed abortion, you were anti-traditional marriage and you sued gun manufacturers. I believe that we need a president who protects every human life, who believes in the traditional American family and who defends the right to bear arms.”

Vice-Pres. Giuliani: “The truth is, while Senator McCain has now been in the Senate for twenty years, he’s never had to make a consequential decision during his whole political career. While he was giving speeches in the legislature, I was working in City Hall, working hard on behalf of my community, arguing, negotiating, and sometimes making compromises with the Democratic legislature to actually get things done. I am a George W. Bush-ite conservative, I have proven that in the last four years, but as mayor, I have proven that I am capable of doing the bipartisan work that the Senator always calls for.”

Huckabee became the surprise winner of the Iowa caucus. McCain humiliated Giuliani by putting him in second place in New Hampshire. The vice president, however, was able to rebound with a surprise victory in Michigan, which substantially cut McCain’s lead in Nevada. Giuliani’s victory in South Carolina guaranteed him the momentum he needed to win the important Florida primary and most of the southern states on Super Tuesday. Giuliani slowly emerged as the presumptive nominee, but not without dangerous wounds from the nomination fight.

The vice presidential field consisted mainly of Former Governor Mitt Romney, Congressman Ron Paul, Governor Tim Pawlenty, Senator Sam Brownback, and former Senator Rick Santorum, with various other candidates declaring short-living candidacies and drawing low polling numbers. Many observers saw the race as very confusing, as the debates had a rather high number of participants and most candidates, with the distinction of Ron Paul, had mostly similar views. This resulted in fairly volatile polling numbers, however, the press very early declared Mitt Romney as the front-runner and the most likely nominee. Romney was attacked by his opponents for shifting his positions to the right, while Romney defended his record. He portrayed himself as a successful entrepreneur who was able to connect with voters who disdained the Bush administration. This argument worked, as he was able to very early build a lead in the delegate count which granted him the nomination.

The Democratic nomination

The apparent front-runner in the presidential primaries was Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton, the former second lady of the United States, pursued a political career on his own and successfully ran for the United States Senate in Arkansas in 2002. Clinton was elected as a conservative, but served in the Senate as a moderate Democrat and quickly became part of the party establishment. Her main challengers were Senator Barack Obama, Senator John Edwards, and Governor Bill Richardson, however, the field quickly shrank to just Clinton and Obama, who had gathered important establishment support and who was more popular among Democratic activists, who saw Clinton as too conservative and were energized by Obama. The contest remained competitive for longer than expected, and neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority. It was only in early June after Obama had received enough support from superdelegates that the Democratic Party had found its presidential candidate.

The vice presidential field saw several Democratic grandees. Senator Joe Biden ran as a Kerry-ite, Former Governor Mark Warner ran as a unifier with executive experiences, Senator Evan Bayh ran as a centrist. The party’s enthusiasm, however, was with Senator Al Gore. Gore entered politics as a social conservative but has moved sharply leftwards in recent years, which lead to him almost being unseated by Llamar Alexander in 2002. He especially emphasized the issue of climate change, which granted him much support from the party’s left. Also due to the lacking enthusiasm for his opponents, Gore won the primary contest in a landslide.

The General Election

Originally being one of the most popular politicians in the country, Giuliani’s ardent support for the Bush administration has had a disastrous effect on his approval ratings. Especially his hawkish stance on the war in Iraq proved to be very unpopular with the national electorate. Vice President Giuliani ran on a message of stability and national unity, while Obama ran on a message of hope and change. Giuliani tried to distance himself from the Bush-administration, however, the very nature of his office and Obama’s relentless attacks prevented him from credibly doing so. The economic crisis hurt Giuliani’s standing even further so that Obama was able to head onto election day with a double-digit lead.

In the vice-presidential race, Gore had the advantage of a higher name-recognition than Romney. He employed an economic populist message while emphasizing the need for climate action. Romney called himself a pragmatist and campaigned on his moderate record as governor of Massachusetts. However, his career at Bain Capital was heavily scrutinized and attacked by the Gore campaign. Romney tried to use his business experience to portray himself as a hard-working, independent-thinking entrepreneur, however, after the economy has dramatically worsened, this image seemed to hurt him. While Gore was seen as an experienced politician who talked about popular issues, Romney was often portrayed as a rich businessman who was out of touch with the electorate.

Fmr. Gov. Romney: “What I would do, concerning the automobile industry, is to force these companies to go through the regular process of bankruptcy so that they have a chance to reorganize themselves and become more resilient to these kinds of situations. What we are telling the CEOs of the automobile industry is that they can do whatever they want, they can mismanage their businesses however they want because the taxpayers will bail you out. But if we force these businesses to go through bankruptcy, they can come out stronger than they went in. I want to save these jobs. Senator Gore, with his radical environmentalist agenda, wants to abolish them.”

Sen. Gore: “Well, first of all, on that last comment, the transition to green infrastructure and green automobiles would create more jobs than we are expected to lose during the recession. Besides that, the governor’s answer still doesn’t make any sense. If he lets Detroit go bankrupt, there will be no safety net for all the workers who are going to be laid off. That’s the truth. The workers in the plants should not be the victims of this horrible economic situation. That is why I will fight to save manufacturing. That is why I will fight to put social security in a lock-box so that our welfare system will stay intact. And that is why I will fight for an initiative to create new, good-paying jobs in the energy sector.”

Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) – 54.5% - 394 Electoral Votes
Vice President Rudy Giuliani (R-New York) – 43.9% - 144 Electoral Votes

Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

Senator Al Gore (D-Tennessee) - 57.3% - 429 Electoral Votes
Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) - 41.9% - 109 Electoral Votes

Senator Al Gore was elected Vice President of the United States.

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

The 2012 Executive Elections

The Democratic nomination

Obama's term started promising. He was granted high early approval ratings and a Democratic legislature. However, his approval numbers increased as he was forced to make several controversial decisions. In response to the economic crisis, his administration passed a heavy stimulus package. His healthcare reform was heavily criticized by the GOP, which subsequently gained control of the house of representatives. His administration had several foreign political successes, such as the assassination of Osama bin Laden as well as a substantial troop withdrawal from Iraq. However, the economic recovery was slow and unemployment remained high. Obama was unanimously renominated by the Democratic Party, but most were aware that he had to fight a hard battle.

In accordance with the Cuomo-Clinton-playbook, Vice President Gore became the public ambassador for the Obama administration in the country, making frequent visits in southern and rural states in which the president was not popular. Gore’s approval rating remained high and his trustworthiness and knowledge were thought to aid the Obama administration’s public standing. Before the nominating process, there had been media speculation about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton possibly challenging Gore for the nomination. However, she declined, and Gore was unanimously renominated.

The Republican nomination

Their victory in the midterm elections and the rise of the tea party had energized the Republican party, but it lacked a clear front-runner. John McCain had been interested in running but was forced to admit that his chances were quite slim given the radicalization of the party’s base. Mike Huckabee was reported to lack the financial means needed for a national campaign. The early field consisted of businessman Herman Cain, former Governor Gary Johnson, and former Senator Rick Santorum. Governor Mitch Daniels entered the race as the choice of the establishment but was only temporarily able to establish himself as the front-runner. Governor Rick Perry ran to the right of Daniels and saw high polling numbers in the summer, however, poor debate performances and inconsistencies in his public statements quickly stopped his momentum. Instead, another candidate was able to permanently gain substantial support: former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who ran as an intellectual conservative. Gingrich particularly campaigned for the vote of tea party supporters within the Republican Party, which were known for their enthusiasm. By fall, Gingrich had positioned himself as the main alternative to Daniels, permanently attacking the Indiana governor for allegedly not being a true conservative.

Fmr. Speaker Gingrich: “For the last three and a half years, this country has had to carry the colossal weight of the president's thoughtless fiscal policy. It has overburdened small and middle-class families. It has overburdened business owners. I am, frankly, shocked that Governor Daniels, knowing that this country is in such a grave situation, has argued for tax increases – not decreases, increases – that would seriously hurt all the ordinary people watching this program tonight. No Republican can oppose President Obama and support Governor Daniel’s plan.”

Gov. Daniels: “Let me get the facts straight: This is not the official stance of my campaign, this--”

Fmr. Speaker Gingrich: “So you’ve changed your position?”

Gov. Daniels: “You want to talk about taxes? Let’s talk about taxes. When I entered office in Indiana in 2005, I found a 200 million dollar deficit. I turned it into a 1.4 billion dollar surplus, without raising a single tax. Speaker Gingrich talks about fiscal responsibility, I enact it. I increased the average salary in Indiana by five thousand dollars. I created sixty thousand new good-paying jobs. I knew how to do it as governor, and I know how to do it as president.”

The Iowa caucus, however, was neither won by Daniels nor Gingrich but by Santorum. Santorum put Daniels to a close second, with 30% to 27%, while Gingrich gained 21% of the vote. Daniels won the New Hampshire primary with 35% to Gingrich’s 25%, Gingrich, however, won 55% and every county in the South Carolina primary. With the important Florida primary next, the rivalry between Daniels and Gingrich intensified, with Daniels accusing Gingrich of contributing to the strong political polarization of America and Gingrich calling Daniels a “phony conservative”. Gingrich won the Florida primary against Daniels, 45% to 40%. Gingrich was no polling way better than Daniels and was able to compete in contests that were assumed safe for Daniels, such as Nevada, Colorado, and Michigan, in which the latter was only able to win by single-digit margins. Super Tuesday was an overwhelming win for Gingrich, especially his win in Ohio, which he used to prove his electability outside of the South. In early March and late April, however, Daniels had decisive victories in Illinois and Wisconsin, but by the end of April, surprising Gingrich-victories in New York and Pennsylvania granted Gingrich an important delegate advantage which subsequently granted him the Republican nomination.

The vice-presidential field lacked many high profile Republicans, as it was speculated that a solid portion of famous national politicians was waiting to launch presidential campaigns in 2016. This lead to the vice-presidential field consisting of many individuals which were initially unknown to a national audience: Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian who had garnered a large and enthusiastic internet-following, Governor Sarah Palin, who was running on a tea-party platform, former Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr., competing for the moderate lane with former Governor George Pataki. In the summer, Senator John Thune, the establishment choice, announced his candidacy, expecting an easy way to the nomination due to the low name recognition of his competitors. However, the vice-presidential field had taken an unforeseen dynamic. The lesser-known candidates relied on extreme and controversial statements to take notice of themselves. Palin once stated that she wanted to pursue a “crusade against anti-American forces in this country”, Paul spoke of a “necessary destruction of the government”, Pataki warned against “cultural fascism from left and right”. This lead to the vice presidential debates becoming media spectacles, in which the candidates and the media were most interested in producing headlines than substantial policy discussions. The Thune-campaign had not anticipated the level of chaos and polarization in the contest. Thune, once seen as a capable and charismatic politician, saw his poll numbers dropping behind those of Palin and Paul.

In November, after several chaotic debates, the RNC intervened and called for new, strict debate rules and a stronger focus on policy issues. In the first debate after the intervention, Thune was able to distinguish himself from the other candidates due to his policy knowledge and temporarily gained momentum. However, his competitors then used the intervention of the RNC to their benefit:

Gov. Palin: “It’s nice to see Senator Thune again and I’d like to congratulate him on his recent polling numbers. The RNC did its best to support their candidate and it seemed to be successful, for now. I think it was inappropriate for the Steele-Prebius faction to step in, and I think, in the end, it won’t matter. The elections we have won in 2010 were not won by the Steele-Prebius faction, the momentum we’ve gained as a party since then was not produced by the party elite, but it was created by a popular movement of devoted conservatives who have transformed the Republican party. 2010 was their election, and 2012 will be theirs as well.”

By January, Thune's poll numbers had again slipped back in third place. The Iowa caucus was won by Paul with 22%. Palin came second with 20%, while Thune gained 19%. Thune won the New Hampshire primary with 29% of the vote, while Palin won South Carolina with 35% and Florida with 36%. Palin had gained considerable momentum since then, with Thune only winning Minnesota and Wyoming before March – a worse record than Paul, who had barely won Nevada and Missouri but amassed more delegates than Thune. By now, however, the Senator had almost vanished from the public eye, as he lacked volunteers, good headlines, and donations. Super Tuesday was his death-blow, and it was Palin’s coronation.

The General Election

Both the Obama and Gingrich campaign broke records in terms of negative campaigning and money spend in the election, as the Supreme Court had previously facilitated the usage of huge amounts of money by corporations in election campaigns. Gingrich tried to depict the President as weak, Obama characterized Gingrich as a conservative extremist and attacked him for the “harm he has done to the American political discourse”. Gingrich faced a much more moderate electorate than in the Republican primaries and was forced to walk back some of his former statements, which did not change the fact that he was relentlessly attacked by the Obama campaign for these stances. Especially his previous statements about “gay and secular fascism”, his comparison of Muslims and Nazis, and his statement about Obama’s “Kenyan thinking” was heavily criticized by the President’s campaign. Gingrich did very well in the first debate but did very poorly in the second debate due to his exaggerated statement on the issue of Benghazi.

Fmr. Speaker Gingrich: “Here’s what happened: There was a terrorist attack against American citizens. Americans have lost their lives. And it is the failure of this, so-called, commander-in-chief. That is what I have criticized the president for. There is no need for an apology on my part. He is the one who should apologize. He is the one who should talk to the families and admit that he has failed to understand the situation. The truth is, there is a war, not just against America, but against Christian values. If the president is ready to jeopardize Christian values, it should tell you a lot about the president himself.”

This was widely seen as a slip-up on Gingrich’s part, which played into Obama’s hands. In the last presidential campaign, Obama summarized:

Pres. Obama: “Former Speaker Gingrich is turning 1950s-thinking in 1990s-solutions for 21st-century problems. The thing is: It doesn’t work. Practically and in the political discussion. Speaker Gingrich has often criticized me for calling out the offensiveness in his statements. If he wishes an America in which everyone is offensive to one another, that’s his choice. But I will fight to have a president that does not use language which a child should apologize for when caught by their parents.”

In the vice-presidential campaign, the incumbent had been the favorite from the start. Palin faced an electorate that did not know her or was generally off-put by her political extremism. She relentlessly attacked Gore in TV-ads, however, the vice president refrained from responding and instead focused on a positive campaign, emphasizing his experience and his work in the administration. Gore found it a very profitable strategy to let Palin’s statements stand by themselves. As the campaign progressed, many spectators began to have serious doubts about Palin’s qualifications, as she proved to lack knowledge of important facts. Gore, on the other hand, used this to his advantage and presented himself as a policy expert. In his debate performance, he famously said during his closing statement: “This election is not about electing the activist-in-chief behind the president. This is about the second-highest office in the land. One of us will be one heartbeat away from the presidency. It is one of the most consequential decisions you will make in November,” which was considered one of his best moments. After hurricane Sandy hit, Gore traveled with Obama to the affected regions, leaving Palin without a final opportunity to stand out.

President Barack Obama (D-Illinois) – 52.0% - 348 Electoral Votes
Fmr. Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) – 46.1% - 190 Electoral Votes

President Barack Obama was re-elected President of the United States.

Vice President Al Gore (D-Tennessee) – 57.3% - 410 Electoral Votes
Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) – 43.5% - 128 Electoral Votes

Vice President Al Gore was re-elected Vice President of the United States.

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

The 2016 Executive Elections

The Democratic nomination

President Obama’s second term started rocky. The Democrats had retained their majority in the Senate but had to cooperate with a Republican majority in the House. The administration was plagued by several foreign-political crises: the Ebola-outbreak, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the Syrian civil war, the rise of Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and northern Africa. The failed launch of the healthcare program became an embarrassment for the administration. When the Republicans regained the Senate, Obama’s agenda was blocked. When former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the first Democratic candidate in March, she implicitly endorsed a break from the Obama administration and a new, “common sense” approach to politics. Senator Bernie Sanders ran on a radical left agenda. When Vice President Gore announced his candidacy, he was forced to find a position that conciliated both approaches while setting his own, independent agenda which distinguished him from the unpopular Obama-administration. He focused on climate change and working-class issues, echoing the message of Sanders while omitting his radical flair. Before the first debate, Clinton and Gore were essentially tied in the polls with both gaining approximately 30%, with Sanders polling at 20%. The event, which took place in October and thus fairly late in the cycle, was heavily anticipated, both Gore and Clinton were regarded as Democratic heavyweights and pundits were unsure how Sanders would affect the race. There was no clear winner in this debate, however, every candidate was believed to have benefited because everyone has been able to establish a clear profile for the first time.

Sen. Sanders: “We have seen in the last thirty years a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top 0.1 percent. This happened during the Bush administration, this happened during the Obama administration. The American people have lost their trust in both parties because they have been struggling under blue governments and red governments. Let me tell you something: I had great hopes in President Obama. I supported his legislative agenda in the Senate. I think he is a good president. But he did not – and you, Mr. Vice President, did not as well, enact the radical change and fight the income inequality that is plaguing our country for far too long now.”

Vice-Pres. Gore: “Bernie, let me tell you something about myself. When I was elected Vice President of the United States, I pledged loyalty to President Obama. I am not the president, he is. He gets to decide the agenda. And if you ask me, if you take into consideration that during six of eight years, he had to deal with severe GOP obstructionism, he’s done a pretty good job. But I am running for president now. I want to lead a Democratic Party that speaks to the minds and hearts of those that have suffered under the heartless eat-or-be-eaten economic policy of the last thirty years. That, by the way, is the message I ran on four years ago, and guess what: I won! And I won in states that are considered far out of for Democrats. I won in states in which the GOP had made substantial gains in Congress. I want to build a national coalition with passionate candidates, retake the White House and Congress, and pass bold and needed policies.”

Fmr. Sec. Clinton: “Al--, Al, excuse me, but it is a fiction that there are just neutral voters laying on the sidelines that are just waiting for somebody to finally pick them up. There is a reason why we lost these votes. There is a reason why we have lost both Houses. Al, you can’t govern against half of the country. You can’t blame them for voting, in your eyes, in the wrong way. You have to rethink your positions, and--”

Vice-Pres. Gore: “That’s exactly what I said.”

Fmr. Sec. Clinton: “--and show a willingness to reach across the aisle and work in a bipartisan way, speak to those voters, but also speak to those senators, because that’s what the people want us to do: stop the partisan bickering and take joint responsibility.”

Vice-Pres. Gore: “Hillary, you’ve been in the Obama administration for four years. So you know quite well that this is what we did. When I was in the Senate, I worked across the aisle. I am willing to do that. But you can’t do that with today’s Republican leadership, because they want you to fail. I’m not blaming anyone for voting Republican, I am making an offer to everyone who wants to put this country back on track.”

By the end of 2015, Gore’s standing in the polls had substantially increased. This was in part due to various Clinton-related scandals that emerged in the press, but also due to a surprising rebound of the approval ratings of the Obama-administration. Gore won the Iowa caucus with 34%. Sanders took second place with 30%. In New Hampshire, Sanders surprisingly trounced his opponents with 40% with Clinton barely putting Gore in third place, 29 to 28 percent, however, Gore managed to win Nevada and South Carolina. Super Tuesday cemented his front-runner status, and Sanders subsequently dropped out and endorsed the Vice President. By April, Gore’s win had become inevitable, causing Clinton to also end her campaign and endorse Gore.

The Vice Presidential field was very crowded and consisted of several well-known and lesser-known candidates. By mid-2015, former Governor Martin O’Malley, former Senator Jim Webb, former Governor Lincoln Chaffee, Secretary Julian Castro, Governor Steve Bullock, Senator Amy Klobuchar, former Governor Deval Patrick, Congressman Tim Ryan, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur had announced their candidacies. In sharp contrast to the Republican vice-presidential primaries in 2012, all candidates tried to appear as adaptable and uncontroversial as possible, which lead to many political commentators to describe the race as boring and unspectacular. By the end of 2015, Castro and Klobuchar were polling in the low twenties, Kaptur was polling in the mid-tens, Gillibrand, Patrick, and Bullock were polling in high single-digits, while the other candidates did not successfully stand out. Klobuchar won the Iowa caucus, while Kaptur was able to pull off a razor-thin victory in New Hampshire. Castro won Nevada and South Carolina by decent margins. The primaries became a two-way race between Klobuchar and Castro. While the former was successful in winning rural and industrial states, Castro was able to secure the support of minority voters, which were a powerful voting block in the Democratic primaries and which, after a long nomination fight, made him the Democratic nominee.

The Republican nomination

After eight years of exclusion in the executive, the Republicans found themselves in a very favorable position, having won the majority in the Senate and the control of most governorships and state legislatures. Still, Gore and Clinton were regarded as very competent opponents. A quite large number of Republicans ran to win the White House back. The initial front runners were former Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Rand Paul, Governor Chris Christie, Governor Scott Walker, and Senator Marco Rubio, however, no one of these candidates was able to permanently establish themselves as the leader in the polls. The race was drastically shaken up when businessman Donald Trump entered the race. His populist positions and unfiltered language generated an enormous amount of medial attention and Trump quickly became the front-runner. The Republican debates became a spectacle, as Trump’s blunt attacks on his competitors left his opponents often without an effective rebuke. By November, another candidate had also surged in the polls: Senator Ted Cruz, who ran a staunchly social conservative campaign and who eventually won the Iowa Caucus. However, Trump was able to energize many working-class voters who were apathetic towards the other Republican candidates. The establishment struggled to contain Trump’s success, much to the horror of many Republican officeholders, who were faced with a very polarizing and, among the general public, quite unpopular candidate.

Before late summer, a political newcomer had surprisingly emerged as the front-runner in the vice-presidential contest: Dr. Ben Carson, a well-respected neurosurgeon, who ran a staunchly social conservative, but very unoffensive campaign. He was trailed by businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who ran a traditional conservative campaign, Governor John Kasich, who tried to depict himself as a moderate, and Senator Lindsey Graham, who called himself a “McCain-conservative”. Other candidates included former Governor Bobby Jindal, former Governor Rick Perry, and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who was polling in low single-digits, and many other minor candidates, who were barely represented in the polls. The rise of Trump, however, led to a sudden decrease of Carson’s polling numbers and an improvement of Kasich’s and Graham’s position, as they were able to make a convincing argument against two outsider-candidates.

Gov. Kasich: “Think about Trump whatever you want, think about Ben Carson whatever you want. The situation is that there is a real possibility that Mr. Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. Do we really want the Republican Party to nominate two individuals who have no prior knowledge about how government works, who have no prior knowledge about how to win an election, or do we want to show the voters that we do not just understand the problems in this country but also know how to fix them--”

Mr. Carson: “Well, let me tell you, Governor, the fact that Mr. Trump and I are leading in our respective contests has maybe something to tell about the solutions that the people don’t want.

Gov. Kasich: “So-- yeah, I think it is very ambitious to say that! Say what you want about Vice President Gore, but this guy knows not just how to win an election, but also how the political process works. We need a Republican vice-presidential candidate who is not going to be outsmarted by this man in case of a divided government. Someone who knows the process, who knows how the government works, and who can successfully stand up for reasonable conservatism.”

Carson, as expected, won the Iowa caucus, but was put in third place by Kasich and Graham in New Hampshire. After Graham won South Carolina, the field had narrowed down to three candidates. By then, Trump had been able to establish himself as the front-runner for the presidential contest and overshadowed the vice-presidential primaries. He was engaged in a public feud with Graham, who tried to run as the anti-Trump candidate. Carson was not insubstantially aided by the rise of Trump but lacked the charisma and the rhetorical skills to overshadow his blunders, which had cast doubts about his qualifications for the office. He thus relied on heavily underscoring his support for Trump and attacking his opponents on that basis.

Mr. Carson: “Trump has given millions of Americans an opportunity to articulate their concerns, to show that they are fed up with this government and the way the government has been treating them--”

Sen. Graham: “But you can’t govern just--”

Mr. Carson: “--he’s finally speaking what we all have been thinking--”

Sen. Graham: “--you can’t just govern by repeating phrases and bashing the establishment--”

Mr. Carson: “--well, the way it has been done before was not good enough, and Trump will be a different president, a totally different president. Let me tell you something, Senator Graham: this party is changing. You will soon find yourself an ardent Trump supporter, but I can promise you, I am the Trump supporter number one, and I will be Trump supporter number one as vice president.”

Gov. Kasich: “That’s just a very problematic understanding of the office.”

Mr. Carson: “Sou, you’re saying-- Governor, please, say it now loud and clear: Will you support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president and as president of the United States?”

Gov. Kasich: “Well, as vice president, you have to work across the aisle and with people who have different opinions than you, and frankly, you can’t stand up conservative principles against Al Gore if you’re just a fan of another politician.”

Mr. Carson: “So the Governor will not support Trump if he becomes the nominee--”

Gov. Kasich: “I will support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee, I will.”

Super Tuesday was a disappointment for Graham, who then decided to endorse Kasich over Carson. The subsequent contests remained close, although Kasich mostly had the upper hand and went on to win a majority of delegates.

The General Election

Trump turned out to be the least-popular presidential candidate in modern history, while Gore was able to rely on positive favorability ratings. While Trump’s populist message had helped him in the primaries, it did not help him in the general election, as Gore had a better and longer-lasting relationship with those voters. Also, Trump struggled to find a suitable attack-strategy against the vice-president besides his usual attacks on the Obama administration. Gore tried to convey an image of himself as an experienced, seasoned statesman, contrasting Trump’s inexperience. Gore held a steady and comfortable lead in the polls, which was only widened after the Access-Hollywood-tape was made public. After that incident, establishment Republican support for Trump dwindled and many moderate voters broke heavily for Gore. In the last weeks of the election campaign and the last debate against Gore, Trump began to shadow doubts over the eventual outcome of the election and threatened to not accept the election results.

Mr. Trump: “Look, I want a fair election, a fair election. Unfortunately, the media has been very unfair to me. The media does everything to make it look like we’re losing. When I look at my rallies and the thousands, it’s really ten thousand people who are there-- that does not look like I’m losing! And I know from various serious insider sources that this administration will try to let thousands, if not millions, illegal aliens vote to support Swampy Al Gore, and what’s wrong to wait after the election and have a good look at the result?”

Vice-Pres Gore: “I have nothing to respond, except that I am very glad for our country that this will be over very soon.”

The vice-presidential campaigns struggled to break through and to gain media attention. Castro, who emphasized his youth and his background, was often faced with the question of experience. Kasich, who ran on his experience as a successful governor, often had to respond to statements made by the Republican presidential nominee. In fact, both were regarded as bland and uninspiring during the campaign, and both hoped for breakthrough moments in the vice-presidential debate.

Sec. Castro: “Calling Mexicans rapists and criminals, which I found personally insulting, being the leader of the birther movement, insulting a judge based on his Mexican descent, insulting Muslims, insulting a disabled reporter--”

Gov. Kasich: “All right--”

Sec. Castro: “I mean, as vice president, you have to be a unifier. You have to be able to look people in the eye, even if they did not support you, and say to them: ‘I support you too!’ But the fact that you still support a man who has said and done all these things-- I mean, how are you able to do that with people who your presidential candidate believes are inferior citizens, inferior human beings in this country? What has to happen until you finally come out of your right-wing corner and stand up for decency and human dignity?”

Gov. Kasich: “I can assure you, Secretary Castro, I am not in a right-wing corner. I can also assure you that I am my own candidate. We are not running to be the president’s assistant, we are running for an office that is honorable and important in its own right. If you want to talk about presidential politics, that’s fine-- I want to talk about my vision for this country. And yes, I will vote for Donald Trump. He uses some rhetoric that I disagree with, but if you want a government with a reasonable course, a government that will put this country back on track, then you can’t support Al Gore, because he will be more of the same.”

Only two days after the debate, the Access-Hollywood-tape was made public, which hurt Kasich’s polling numbers as well. He decided to publicly revoke his support for Trump, becoming the first vice-presidential nominee to not support the presidential nominee of their party. The Trump campaign, then, recruited Ben Carson to run a Trump-endorsed write-in-campaign. However, Carson did not meet the filing deadlines in various states and was thus only an official write-in-candidate in Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. However, even Trump-supporting Republicans warned from pursuing this option and proceeded to back Kasich.

Vice President Al Gore (D-Tennessee) – 54.5% - 369 Electoral Votes
Mr. Donald Trump (R-New York) – 41.0% - 169 Electoral Votes

Vice President Al Gore was elected President of the United States.



Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio) – 275 Electoral Votes – 46.5
Secretary Julian Castro (D-Texas) – 263 Electoral Votes – 48.4%
Mr. Ben Carson (I-Maryland) – 0 Electoral Votes – 3,7%

Governor John Kasich was elected Vice President of the United States.