The Presidency of America's Maverick

[Roll Roons]

Did the CA recall happen?

[OSR stands with Israel]

Did the CA recall happen?

No since Riordan gets elected governor in 2002

[President Johnson]

Did the CA recall happen?

No since Riordan gets elected governor in 2002

He would have been an awesome governor.

[OSR stands with Israel]

2004 Democratic Primary Polls: Russ Feingold Surges to Frontrunner status after taking national poll lead along with holding a lead in Iowa and taking lead in New Hampshire


Woodruff: With 6 weeks left to go to the Iowa caucus , and with primary polling remaining as tight as ever lets go over to Jeff Greenfield too see how the race is going

Greenfield: Well the nation polls are still very very tight but we do have a new frontrunner in the race and that is Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold after taking the lead in our latest national poll as you can see in our latest poll and the reason for that is in a large field like this the populist energy he has unleashed on the campaign trail has allowed him to surge ahead .

National Polls:

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold 21%
Florida Senator Bob Graham 18%
Representative Dick Gephardt 15%
Deleware Senator Joe Biden 14%
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 12%
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu 7%
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 7%
Georgia Senator Zell Miller 2%
Congressman Dennis Kucinich 2%
Reverend Al Sharpton 1%


Greenfield: As you can see Feingold as dispatched Senator Graham and the 2000 Vice Presidential Nominee , Bob Graham from frontrunner status but remember these national polls really dont matter as we do our elections state by state and in a primary it matters even less as so much of a primary matters about momentum so lets look at the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire to see if he really is the frontrunner


Iowa Polls:

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold 29%
Representative Dick Gephardt 21%
Florida Senator Bob Graham 15%
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 13%
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 9%
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 6%
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu 4%
Congressman Dennis Kucinich 2%
Others 1%

Greenfield: Mr. Miller and Mr.Sharpton arent showing up here as both are failing to even register 1% in the polls here. So in Iowa as you can see currently Senator Feingold has a solid lead and now lets look at New Hampshire


New Hampshire :

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold 24%
Florida Senator Bob Graham 20%
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 17%
Representative Dick Gephardt 13%
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 11%
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu 8%
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 5%
Others 1%

Greenfield: Basically at this point whats interesting is Governor Dean is trying a similar strategy as President McCain did in 2000 and that is going all in New Hampshire in hopes he can use the momentum for that to propel him to the nomination. Keep in mind though much of the support of Senator Feingold and Governor Dean are similar and if Senator Feingold wins Iowa that could blow Governor Dean strategy out the window and cause many of his supporters to go to Senator Feingold giving him a win there


Woodruff: Bill do you think if Senator Feingold wins both Iowa and New Hampshire he is the clear frontrunner even if they are close

Schneider: If he wins both Iowa and New Hampshire not only do I think that he will be the clear frontrunner, the nomination would almost be close to over because after New Hampshire will be mini Tuesday and the momentum that carries over from those two states could pretty much cause him to dominate there. Many Democrats in Senator Graham, Senator Landrieu and Governor Siegelman were hoping to have South Carolina  have its primary on its own day before mini tuesday which if it did happen would mean that momentum from wins in Iowa and New Hampshire could be halted in South Carolina but it wont happen as South Carolina is just one primary on mini tuesday.

The Key thing though is there is still 6 weeks left which is a long time in politics and the lead is not that big so the reason Ill say that he isnt a clear frontrunner is because that lead can easily be wiped out in that period but if this result holds he very likely will be the Democratic nominee in the fall

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Former Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein captured by American forces


Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QYy4h2QOdN0/maxresdefault.jpg

Shaw: We have some breaking news to report and that is US forces have captured former Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein who was deposed by US and allied forces back in March but has been a fugitive ever since then. Lets bringing in CNN's military correspondent who will tell us more

CNN Military Correspondent: Yes we are told that Suddam Hussain was in one of his secret hideaways but after months of US forces conducting a manhunt for him he was finally found and captured. This capture is a further sign that Iraq is on a path towards becoming a democracy but as the President has said multiple times there is still many years till the overall mission will be accomplished but this news increases the likelihood of the mission being accomplished.

Shaw: Does anyone know what will happen with Suddam Hussain now, so will he be also be tried by a court in Iraq, will he be  extradited to nations like Kuwait for his crimes , could be brought here to stand trial for his attempted assassination of former President George Bush or will he be tried by the International Criminal court

Correspondent: We dont know about that right now but we are getting word that the Secretary of State will make a statement about the capture in just a few moments

Shaw: Yes and lets head over to the White House to hear from Secretary Powell


Secretary of State Colin Powell: Saddam Hussein to be handed over to International Criminal Court to stand trial for the numerous war crimes he committed


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghdG_iwjBEs

Powell: I want to start of by thanking the hard work the men and women did in our uniform to find and capture Saddam Hussein. For the past two and a half Saddam Hussain has committed numerous war crimes both against his own people and among other nations as well and while it may have taken a long while to bring him to justice for his crimes , he will finally be brought to justice for all the crimes he has committed. Given he committed crimes against the people of Iraq, Israel, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and many other nations across the region along with the crimes he committed against the United States,  he will be extradited and will be tried by the International Criminal Court for all the crimes he has committed.

[UWS]

And it was after Saddam Hussein was captured, more precisely just five days later, that Gadaffi’s Libya agreed to dismantle its WMD program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disarmament_of_Libya

[2016]

Still think Gephardt will win Iowa. He was basically leading Howard Dean in the OTL for more than a year before Kerry & Edwards finally emerged.

[TransfemmeGoreVidal]

Excited about the possibility of a McCain vs Feingold race. I was a huge Feingold fan when I was younger and really disappointed when he didn't run in 2008. Feingold-Gephardt or Feingold-Graham would both potentially be strong tickets.

[OSR stands with Israel]

President McCain approvals surge after news about Suddam’s capture and Libya dismantling its WMD program

Shaw: In the wake of the news about Suddam capture and Libya dismantling its weapons program , President McCain’s approval have once again surged up to 69% the highest it has been since the spring of this year .

McCain’s Approval:

Approve : 69%(+8%)
Disapprove : 29%(-7%)

Shaw: In the House generic ballot republicans have taken a 7 point lead which is also the highest it has been in months

House Generic Ballot:

Republicans : 52%(+2%)
Democrats: 45%(-3%)

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Why can't this be reality?

[darklordoftech]

Why can't this be reality?

Because GOP primary voters thought McCain conceived his daughter with a prostitute.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Why can't this be reality?

Because GOP primary voters thought McCain conceived his daughter with a prostitute.

It was more an open-ended semi-rhetorical remark at the state of my party.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Why can't this be reality?

Because GOP primary voters thought McCain conceived his daughter with a prostitute.

While I do like George W Bush as a person, that South Carolina push polling campaign was extremely dirty and I hope he apologized to McCain at some point for it

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Why can't this be reality?

Because GOP primary voters thought McCain conceived his daughter with a prostitute.

While I do like George W Bush as a person, that South Carolina push polling campaign was extremely dirty and I hope he apologized to McCain at some point for it

It is entirely possible that Bush didn't actually do it and it was a member of his campaign team. He wasn't always known to surround himself with the best people (see CHENEY, DICK and RUMSFELD, DONALD)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Conference Committee comes to agreement for prescription drug reform bill after 3 months of negotiations

Woodruff: After 3 months of negotiations we are told the congressional conference committee was able to come to an agreement and reconcile the differences between the senate and house version of the prescription drug reform bill , and now the bill is expected to go to both houses for a final vote where it is expected to pass and then will be signed into law by the President.

Shaw: Yes and from the details we are getting it seems like the bill has a mix of what both sides wanted with the senate side getting the means testing parts in the bill and the house part getting more of the regulatory part and the coverage parts , both sides got around what they wanted. So lets look at the details of this bill:


- Has a deductible based on income meaning wealthier seniors will have a higher deductible as well

-  Provides a subsidy for large employers to discourage them from eliminating private prescription coverage to retired workers

- Allows medicare advantage to offer part D plans

- Wealthier Seniors will also be required to pay higher copays, higher premiums

- Lower income seniors will have 80% of every prescription drug transaction above $35 be covered by medicare and 90% of every transaction covered above their yearly deductible by medicare

- Middle class seniors will have 80% of every prescription drug transaction above $100 be covered by medicare and 80% of every transaction covered above their yearly deductible by medicare

- Wealthier seniors will have 80% of every transaction covered above their yearly deductible by medicare


Shaw: From what we are told this bill will also allow the government to create a formulary as they want and also have the power to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies .




House and Senate pass reconciled bill and President McCain signs it into law:


Woodruff: The House and Senate passed the reconciled healthcare bill into law earlier today and the President signed it into law calling it a huge win for seniors all across the nation and here are some of his other remarks


McCain: I want to start of by thanking members of both parties here today who without their hard work to not only making sure reform passes but to working together in a bipartisan manner this day wouldn't have happened. Thanks to their work today we are able to finally deliver a victory for seniors all across our nation as after nearly 10 years of debating we finally are able to get prescription drug coverage added to medicare coverage and we can finally ensure no senior has to choose between food and their medicine again. Thank You may God Bless You and may God Bless America

[OSR stands with Israel]

Any Final predictions for Iowa and New Hampshire(will post update by Wednesday  night)

[President Johnson]

Predicting a Graham win in New Hampshire, by a narrow margin over Feingold.

Anyway, McCain's reelection is assured.

[UWS]

For Iowa, I predict Russ Feingold wins.

For New Hampshire, Howard Dean will likely finish in the top 3 finishers as this state neighbors his home state of Vermont.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Feingold wins Iowa and Biden finishes a surprise 2nd



Attribution: scott feldstein from waukesha, United States (direct link), CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Woodruff: To recap the Iowa caucus , Senator Feingold won like he was expected to but Senator Joe Biden finished a surprise second after a strong debate performance and basically going all in Iowa as well. Senator Graham finished a disappointing third but there is still some time to go.


Iowa Caucus:
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: 26% 12 delegates
Delaware Joe Biden 19% 9 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 16% 7 delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 15% 7 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 9% 4 delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 7% 3 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu 6% 3 delegates
Congressman Dennis Kucinich 1%
Others 1%

Shaw: In Response to a disappointing 4th place finish in Iowa, Representative and Former Minority Leader Dick Gephardt announced he would be dropping out of the race and endorsing Delaware Senator Joe Biden for President calling Mr.Biden's qualifications impressive and also talking about how their approach towards politics and the world is pretty similar.

Also Congressman Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the race and endorsed Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold calling him a strong populist anti war figure that he believes would make a great president. Lastly another candidate who dropped out was Georgia Senator Zell Miller who basically knew Iowa would be his last stand given how little money the campaign has left and their campaign was hoping to to do well enough to fix that problem which obviously didnt materialize . Senator Miller hasnt endorsed anyone and many believe he very well may endorse President McCain for his re-election bid but hasnt made up his mind on that yet.


Feingold and Biden essentially tie in New Hampshire

Woodruff: Senator Biden after receiving the endorsement of Congressman Gephardt surged in the polls following that and another good debate performance but Senator Feingold manages to maintain his frontrunner status with a very narrow win over Senator Biden and seems to have potentially knocked Governor Dean out of contention who absolutely needed a win in New Hampshire to continue .  

New Hampshire Primary:

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold 25% 7 Delegates
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 25% 7 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 22% 5 Delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 15% 3 Delegates
Lousiana Senator Mary Landrieu 6%
Alabama Governor Don Sieglman 6%
Reverend Al Sharpton 1%


Shaw: Yes you are right and Howard Dean has decided to drop out of the race and endorse Senator Feingold for the nomination claiming it clear that voters from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party want him to represent them and he will drop out due to that

Senator Graham also dropped out after another disappointing finish and endorsed Biden claiming Biden is the experienced pragmatic leader we need to lead us. Another candidate who dropped out was Reverend Sharpton who has decided not to endorse anyone for the primary

So Jeff is this a two way race

Greenfield: Well it sure looks like it but Siegelman and Landrieu have gone all in the mini Tuesday states so we will see but it looks like a two way race between Feingold and Biden with an advantage to Feingold at this point . Before we leave here is how the race stands at this point

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: 19 delegates
Delaware Senator Joe Biden 16 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 4 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  3 delegates

[UWS]

With Graham and Gephardt dropping out of the race, McCain's chances of re-election have further increased.

This nomination is between Feingold and Biden. While Feingold won IA and NH, the primaries more in the South like South Carolina may be more difficult for him and more favorable for Biden or Southerners like Landrieu and Sieglman.

As for Howard Dean, he never really had so much momentum in this scenario (unlike IOTL) as he ran as an anti-war candidate in a time in which the War on Terror is on the right track with Bin Laden killed and the Iraq War better being handled.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Excerpts from President McCain's 2004 state of the union address:



Souce: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2019/02/RTX6LFXE-1024x683-e1549455385158.jpg

Speaker Hastert: Ladies and Gentleman , its my high honor to welcome to you , the President of the United States!!

Congress Floor: Standing Ovation


President McCain: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Danforth, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: over the past few years our nation has been challenged by war and recession and it is my pleasure to inform you that we so far have been meeting those challenges(Standing Ovation). In doing so we have also liberated the people of Afghanistan and Iraq from tyranny and have put them on the path to democracy. Terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda are being decimated in both nations and with more and more nations in the region making it clear they will not only stop harboring terrorism but cooperate in the global war on terror, it is clear that their days are numbered(Standing Ovation).

That does not mean though  our mission is complete though, and it wont be complete until Afghanistan and Iraq are stable and functioning democracies(Applause). Remember after we defeated the Japanese Empire in WW2 , we had to be there for 7 years after the war to ensure a stable and functioning democracy could thrive in Japan and because we did, today Japan has one of the most successful democracies in the region(Applause). We are in process of doing that in Iraq cause in the 9 months since the invasion we have greatly stabilized the nation, we were able to capture Saddam Hussein as well as kill the leader of the insurgency their, and now are building up institutions that can last there(Applause). Libya a few weeks back announced they will dismantle their WMD program , and has shown the willingness to cooperate in this global war on terror(Applause). If we want to continue this progress  we must stay the course and if we want to finish this goal quicker , other nations should join in on this effort because winning the war on terror is not a win for just  our nation but a win for humanity as a whole(Standing Ovation).

Another critical measure in winning the war on terror is by making sure we remain strong here at home as well . Over the past few years we have recovered from a recession by cutting taxes for middle class families, getting rid of unnecessary regulations , removing loopholes and pork for special interest, and my making it easier for seniors to afford prescription drugs(Applause) and it is something we will continue to do for the rest of this administration whether that is in January of 2005 or January of 2009(Applause).

Now we must face a new challenge that will impact us here at home and around the world and that is the issue of global warming which is why I believe we should implement a cap and trade system to incentivize companies to lower emissions and be able to do so in a market-friendly way as well as I totally reject the notion we have to choose between dealing with global warming and improving our economy because we can do both(Applause). It is my belief we can push this at the same time we can move our nation to become energy independent and that is something this administration will peruse(Applause). It is critical that we invest in the energy sources of today such as oil and natural gas but as the same time we invest in the energy sources of the future such as wind, nuclear and solar energy cause if we do that we can slowly transition to using those sources of energy sources in the future and I believe we will(Applause). As a westerner I can tell you that we have a lot of appreciation for our environment and understand the importance of energy independence  and that is something I intend to pursue as well(Standing Ovation). Thank You may god Bless you and May God Bless America

[OSR stands with Israel]

Biden and Feingold split Mini Tuesday which cause Siegelman and Landrieu to drop out making it a two way race:

Shaw: Today's mini Tuesday primary has made it clear that the Democratic primary will be a two way race and due to that Governor Siegelman dropped out as well as Senator Landrieu and while it wont come as a big surprise, Governor Siegelman announced hed be endorsing Senator Feingold and Senator Landrieu announced shed be endorsing Senator Biden. Before we discuss the impact of these endorsements lets go over to Wolf to get a recap of the results tonight

Blitzer: Yes lets first look over the contests won by Senator Biden


Contests won by Senator Biden:

Delaware: Biden 83% 15 Delegates Feingold 11% Siegelman 4% Landrieu 2
South Carolina: Biden 34% 15 Delegates Siegelman 26% 12 delegates Landrieu 22% 10 delegates Feingold 18% delegates
New Mexico: Biden 44% 14 Delegates Feingold 42% 12 Delegates Landrieu 9% Siegelman 7%
Arizona: Biden 42% 29 Delegates Feingold 38% 26 Delegates Landrieu 13% Siegelman 7%

Blitzer: Now lets look at the contests won by Senator Feingold

Contests won by Senator Feingold:

Missouri: Feingold 41% 40 Delegates Biden 35% 34 Delegates Landrieu 14% Siegelman 12%
Oklahoma: Feingold: 35% 16 Delegates Biden 27% 13 Delegates Landrieu 22% 10 Delegates Siegelman 16% 7 Delegates
North Dakota: Feingold 62% 10 Delegates Biden 27% 4 Delegates, Siegelman 6%, Landrieu 5%

Blitzer: Heres the primary map so far, and remember the states colored in red are states that have been won by Senator Feingold while the states in Green are states that have been won by Senator Biden.

Delaware Senator Joe Biden 140 delegates
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: 135 delegates
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu  23 delegates
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman 23 delegates
Florida Senator Bob Graham 10 Delegates
Vermont Governor Howard Dean 8 Delegates
Representative Dick Gephardt 7 delegates


Greenfield: Wow at how close it is with only 5 delegates separating the two although if you do add in super delegates Senator Biden's lead is higher , but many believe that unless their are special circumstances the super delegates in the end will vote for whoever won more delegates overall so this race cant get any closer

Woodruff: Bill do you think their is any frontrunner after tonight

Schinder: Well in pure numbers, Senator Biden is the extremely slight frontrunner but in reality I would say this is as close to 50/50 as you can get and looking at the results so far Id say we are in for the closest primary contest since at least the 1984 Democratic Primary between Walter Mondale and Gary Hart, and maybe even the 1976 Republican Primary between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan which we all remember people didnt know who even would be the nominee until the delegates at the convention votes.

Greenfield: I will agree for now there is no frontrunner with both candidates pretty much splitting the tossup primary contests of Missouri , Arizona and New Mexico but I think we will have a frontrunner by Super Tuesday since California and New York both will vote that day and both are considered tossups as well . The question is also how will the endorsements of Senator Landrieu and Governor Siegelman impact the race and that we should know in the contests leading up to Super Tuesday although there is no real tossup contest other than the Nevada Caucus.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: San Francisco to begin issuing  marriage licenses to same sex couples

Woodruff: We have some breaking news to report to you and that is the city of San Francisco has decided to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in violation of California law. We are told by legal experts that almost certainly the courts will reverse the decision but it does bring the issue of same sex marriage back into debate again in at least California if not nationally

Shaw: Yes you could very well see potentially a referendum on the California ballot this year or two years from now asking this question of what we should do with the issue of same sex marriages but for now it probably will be reversed by the courts. The President also released this statement


McCain: The issue of marriage has long been an issue that has been decided by the states and should remain that way and cities should not be permitted to violate state law and the federal government shouldnt be permitted to intervene either. The decision of what marriage law should be in California should be decided by the state of California and the voters of California.


Shaw: Not a surprising reaction but a one that probably satisfies both Social conservatives and moderates in the party

[UWS]

Just wondering, what's the unemployment rate thus far?

[OSR stands with Israel]

Just wondering, what's the unemployment rate thus far?

5.2%