The Presidency of America's Maverick

[BigVic]

CNN's Very Early look at the 2008 map:

Blitzer :When CNN covers the upcoming presidential election this year we will have a new feature to make following the election easier . Let’s go over to John King who will explain more about

King : Yes the feature is something we are calling the magic wall and as you can see right now it’s showing you the map of the 2004 election but we can show you every election map going back to 1980. Let’s just do that right now , as you can see 1980 and 1984 were massive landslides for President Reagan , 1988 was a semi landslide for President Bush , 1992 and 1996 were pretty decisive wins for President Clinton , 2000 was a close win for President McCain and 2004 was a solid win for the President.



King : Now what we can also do is click on a state , and given many of our hosts  are from New York more than any other state let’s go with that . As you can see New York went to Senator Biden by a solid 13 point margin in 2004 and the last time a Republican won that state was back in 1984. As you can see there was a lot more red on the map in 1984 than 2004 and now lets look at some of the counties in the New York and Long Island Areas. One county is Nassau county which is a county which was basically 50/50 in 2004 while if you go back to 1984 , you can see Ronald Reagan won that county by nearly a 24 point margin. By the way from 1984 to 2004 the entire state moved 21 points towards the Democrats so there you begin to see why New York is so Democratic now. Now lets look at Queens one of the 5 broughs in New York and you can see while yes in 1984 the Democrats won that county it was only by 7 points while fast forward 20 years later the Democrats won that county by a whopping 39 points.

So now looking at this map you can see why New York has become so solidly Democratic and on these election nights when we are going through these battlegrounds we will go through these counties coming in and then compare it to how those counties were like in not only 2004 but in previous elections as well. This will give us a good idea of how actually a state is going versus just relying on the overall numbers.

Blitzer: So John how is next year's presidential election map shaping up to be

King: Keep this in mind that we are still a long way out so things can change massively especially since we dont know how the economy will look like then but if I had to roughly move every state that I believe could be winnable outside a landslide this is how Id just the map so let me move these states to tossup.




King: Now while some may argue that Colorado isnt really a battleground and neither is West Virginia my response is while yes most likely Colorado will lean Republican by the general election campaign and the same is true in reverse for West Virginia but I could potentially see scenarios where there are tossups.

Blitzer: If assuming the election were this November instead of next what would you say states from here are likely to lean one parties way regardless of candidate in a close race


King: Well in a close race Id say you most likely would see the Republicans win states such as Florida, Tennessee , Colorado and Nevada which would move them up to 219 electoral votes and the Democrats would win states such as West Virginia, Arkansas, Michigan , Maine state wide, and either  which would give the Democrats 184 electoral votes. Now yes that does make their path to 270 harder but keep in mind that the path this far out of an election always looks harder for the party not holding the White House so I wouldnt read much of it especially since a close race means that one of Pennsylvania or New Jersey for sure would lean towards them and for the sake of this argument lets say New Jersey since it was closer in 2004 which would mean Democrats would start out with 199 electoral votes only 20 behind.

Blitzer: Im seeing that a lot of the battleground is in the Midwest a region which many say almost always votes on the economy

King: Yes which is why I will say much of this election depends on how the Republicans deal with this recession cause if they dont deal with it well it could sink them in the Rust Belt and Midwest . If that happens and now suddenly Democrats become favored in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa the Democrats now suddenly have 267 electoral votes meaning they only need one state from the rest of the map to win the presidency.


So while candidates yes matter, Ill say how the McCain Administration and Republican Congress deal with the economy matter more cause if they handle it badly it likely wont matter how good the Republican nominee is.

The 90s coalition holds up well entering the 2008 race

[OSR stands with Israel]

Democratic Leaders call for more Direct Spending in Stimulus Program and Tax Hikes for upper income brackets:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9tKQc7Lxrs

Pelosi: It is my belief that while there are many good items in what the President proposed it is my belief that we need to dole out more direct relief to the American people to help them in this tough time. My belief is we need to expand food assistance, unemployment , job programs so we can help the people in the months ahead as well as boost the economy so we can have a faster recovery.


Reid: The reason we believe this is necessary is most of the tax policy changes wont benefit the people until early next year while these programs will help the American people right now. We also believe that the cost of this program instead of being financed through deficits should be financed through raising the top marginal tax rate on people making $250,000 or more. While many who oppose this may say it will harm the economy, or is us punishing successful people all Id like to say is that we view this as an investment for them. A faster economic recovery will result in the profits of their businesses, and  value of stocks go up which will make them more money in the long run then these tax increases will cost them now.


Blitzer: We are being told that every democratic candidate in the race is backing Pelosi and Reid on this but Trump has gone a step further asking for the Democrats to filibuster any stimulus plan that isnt being paid for . Bill would such a plan work

Schnider: Senator Feingold pointed out that a filibuster really wouldnt work given this stimulus package is something the Republicans can pass through a process known as reconciliation which lets them by pass the 60 vote rule and pass the bill with a simple majority. Now the only thing using reconciliation instead of passing it through normal measures is that the provisions in the bill would expire after 10 years but given the issue I dont think that will be much of a deterrance to using the reconciliation process.


The reason I think Mr.Trump is trying to use this issue is hopes of breaking out and establishing himself as the clear progressive candidate in the race which would give him a better chance of taking on Senator Clinton in the primaries who has established herself as the clear frontrunner in the polls so far. Now Senator Feingold has his own plan which is to force an amendment that includes tax increases on the board and hope maybe more liberal Republican Senators like Lincoln Chaffee, Olympia Snowe, and Christine Todd Whitman vote for it.


Breaking News: Feingold Amendment fails as every Republican except Chafee including tax increases in bill



Blitzer: An Attempt by Russ Feingold to include a tax increase in the stimulus bill failed as every Republican except Senator Lincoln Chaffee voted it down which made the vote 50/50 and of course Vice President Danforth in his tie breaking vote , voted down the amendment. Now the only question is how many Democrats will vote for the final bill it self

Schnider: There are already many who have said they would , them being: Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Inez Tenenbaum, Mary Landrieu , Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pyror, Harold Ford, Max Baucus meaning that if every Republican holds they would be 59 votes for this bill, so only one other Democrat needs to vote yes for this to pass using normal rules as well.

[UWS]

So even at that time, Trump was among the rare Democrats opposing tax increases.

[OSR stands with Israel]

So even at that time, Trump was among the rare Democrats opposing tax increases.

Nope, he is asking for Democrats to filibuster any stimulus plan that isnt paid for as He is trying to take the progressive lane of the party from Feingold.

[OSR stands with Israel]

President's Stimulus Plan Passes without use of reconciliation as 10 Democrats vote for bill and President McCain signs it into law:


Blitzer: The President's stimulus plan passed without the use of reconciliation as 10 Democrats voted for the bill. The 10 Democrats who voted it were : Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Inez Tenenbaum, Mary Landrieu , Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pyror, Harold Ford, Max Baucus, Dianne Feinstein, and Tim Johnson. With it the bill got 61 votes and the stimulus bill passed without the use of reconciliation.

Many Democrats believe that the stimulus bill was not enough which is why more Democrats did not vote for this. According to polls 45% of Americans support the bill while 40% oppose it with 15% saying they are unsure.  When asked the people who are unsure most just said they want to wait and see if it helps speeden up the recovery before judging.


McCain's approval jumps up 5% after passage of stimulus bill:


McCain's Approval:

Approve: 42%(+5)
Disapprove: 56%(-4)

House Generic Ballot:

Democrats: 48(-1%)%
Republicans: 43(+3%)%

Blitzer: The President's approval that has taken a massive beating over the past many months , dropping to a record low 37% a couple weeks back has now slightly rebounded back to 42% . The Republicans in our house generic ballot have tightened the deficit though they most likely would still lose the house if the election were held today on those numbers

[BigVic]

Colbert and Trump in the Democratic Primary! Grabs popcorn.

[OSR stands with Israel]

McCain defends tough policies against Russia in interview:



Schiffer: Mr. President thanks for having coming on. Lets get right to it, many have criticized your policies towards Russia has being stuck in the Cold War so what do you have to respond to it

McCain : Well one thing we have to remember is that one the Soviet Union was not the only expansionist Russian state in history, as so was the Russian Empire that preceded it. It is no secret that Russia intends to believe that it should control the desinty of Eastern Europe and while that may be through different means from the old days when they directly controlled that region vs now when they intend to bully their neighbors what is important is both are unaccetable.

Schiffer: Many are saying though isnt policies such as enacting trade barriers with Russia couter productive towards that goal as that would only make them insular.

McCain: No because we made it clear the more they show from their actions they intent to work as a member of the global community more , stop bullying their neighbors as well as expand liberties for their citizens we will remove those barriers. In fact in each one of my orders, it is also said that they will be instantly ended when Russia shows they can do the above. I also understand that not all of it can be done immediately which is why we also have made it clear we would gradually remove the trade barriers as they gradually become a responsible player in the global community.

Schiffer: What about people who say the arm shipments to Ukraine and Georgia are taking too much of a provokive stance against the Russians

McCain: I disagree as what we have sent them are defensive weapons not offensive weapons meaning if those nations get invaded they can defend themselves not only from Russia but from other threats as well. We have made it clear though that these weapons are not to be used for offensive purposes so I do not think they are provokive.

Schiffer: Thank You for coming on, Mr.President

McCain: Any time

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYtnM2_Bj4


Hillary Clinton bucks Progressives in Party by mostly backing President McCain Russia policy

Blitzer: Senator Clinton has gotten many heat from progressives in her party given the fact she has mostly backed the President's policies to Russia saying that Putin poses a potential threat to his neighbors and the US must address it. As you all know the President unsuccessfully has pushed to expell Russia from the G-8 but has succeeded in putting up trade barriers between Russia and the US and has provided arms to nations like Ukraine and Georgia. She claims that the latter isnt necceraily anti Russia but just providing smaller nations with tools of self defense when she voted for budget measures that did so.

On the other hand progressives like Senator Feingold have called for what he calls a Russian Reset in  which the US tries to reestablish relations with Russia and works with them to solve common problems while Trump has called for Russia to become our allies which is a comment that has gotten lots of critisms. Even Senator Kerry has called to work to get better relations with Russia saying that the President's hawkish stance has alienated much of our European Allies who we need to work on many issues such as terrorism and the environment together.

[President Johnson]

Excellent work! I think it reads pretty realistic and there are aspects of McCain's presidency I'd approve like on Russia.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Preview of the 2007 Gubernatorial Races:

Kentucky: Governor Ernie Fletcher(R) vs Businessman Bruce Lunford(D) - Likely Democratic Gain

Mississippi: Governor Haley Barbour(R) vs Attorney John Eaves(D)- Safe Republican Hold

Louisiana: Governor Kathleen Blanco(D) vs Representative David Vitter(R)- Tossup


Blitzer: With the gubernatorial elections for this year in 3 states up in less than a month lets look at the races. John so in Kentucky it looks like the Democrats are gonna pick it up

King: Yes Governor Fletcher is very unpopular and remember while Kentucky leans Republican at a federal level, it leans democratic at the state level so at this point Governor Fletcher is clearly the underdog. It is also why we are told that Democrats pushed Steve Beshear to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the senate next year rather than the gubernatorial race this year.

Blitzer: What about Louisiana in which Representative Vitter was considered the favorite early on this year before his campaign was engulfed in scandal and while he was still able to make the runoff due to the scandal being released after the filing dealing now seems like a tossup

King: Yes Governor Blanco's approvals keep in mind dropped after a very mixed reaction from the public to her response from Katrina and then fell into negatives are many unsuccessful fights with the state legislature but the scandal by Mr.Vitter made it seem like shed win reelection but the polls have tightened up again due to attack ads by Mr.Vitter.

Blitzer: So what can we expect from the next few weeks

King: Really this campaign is shaping up to be one of the most negative gubernatorial campaigns in recent memory and all I can expect is the mudslinging and negative attacks to get worse and who wins really is any body's question.

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

McCain's not-terrible Katrina response might save Blanco, ironically.

[LAB-LIB]

McCain's not-terrible Katrina response might save Blanco, ironically.

There were allegations that the Bush Administration helped Mississippi more because they had a good relationship with Haley Barbour and not much of a relationship with Blanco. I imagine that the McCain Administration dealings with the governors would be less partisan.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Stephen Colbert attacks cable news coverage of this election in interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos :



Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0fwkv9CNbY

Stepehanoplos: So Mr.Colbert, you have in recent weeks taken a more critical take on the cable news media , why is that

Colbert: Well the issue is here you have 3 major 24 hour news networks who instead of taking about the different issues facing our nation, or analyzing in detail the policies of all the candidates in this race we are getting more talk about the horserace over and over again. For example almost every day we get the same discussion of can senator Clinton be beaten for the nomination, or the rhetoric of Mr.Trump rather than the issues. Same is true on the Republican side where every day is who will win Senator Bush or Governor Giuliani rather than a real discussion of the issues

Stephanopoulos: What do you think can be done to fix that


Colbert: Well in my opinion it is by using this campaign to increase awareness of this problem and to encourage people to watch shows that actually talk about the issues. In my opinion one of the lessons I have learned while campaigning for president is how we have to really improve the civic involvement in this nation and the only we can do that is if we have truly an informed public.

In my opinion to do that we need to do 3 things: One have a media that truly informs us on the issues we face internationally, nationally and locally, Two improve civic education in our schools and three making it easier to vote.


Stephanopoulos: Thank You For coming on

Colbert: Any time George

[UWS]

McCain saw through Putin better than most leaders today. No wonder that he said that when he looks into Putin's eyes, he sees three letters, KGB.

[OSR stands with Israel]

CNN: Election Night in America 2007:



Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/haRo8uLQNok/hqdefault.jpg

7:00:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchmoqssrQw&t=0s

Blitzer: Good evening and welcome to CNN's coverage of the 2007 off year elections. While much of the polls closed in Kentucky an hour ago , the polls have fully just closed in the state and CNN can now project that the Democrat Bruce Lunford will defeat Governor Ernie Fletcher to become the next governor of Kentucky.



As you can see with around half the precincts in , Mr.Lunford currently holds a 57% to 43% lead and we at CNN believe that lead now is safe. So John why is that

King: Well its pretty simple if you compare the map from 4 years ago to today and you can see its far more blue all across the board. So really there really isnt one specific area Governor Fletcher did worse in as he pretty much did worse across the board which is why he is gonna lose by a pretty signifcant margin tonight.


Begala: Its not really surprising given how unpopular Governor Fletcher is but its nice to know that he no longer will be the governor of the great state of Kentucky. Keep in mind looking at the map that Governor Flethcer isnt winning those northern Cincanatti Suburban Counties that usually are heavily republican which shows you how badly he is doing.


8:00

Blitzer : The polls have just closed in Mississippi and we can now project that Governor Haley Barbour will be re-elected . This isn’t a surprise but another example of  how solidly Republican the state has become over the past two decade .




Crowley: Keep in mind Haley Barbour is also the man who many credit for creating the ground work for the eventual Republican successes in Mississippi during the late 70s and early 80s so its really a culminating of decades of hard work for him.

9:00:

Blitzer: The Polls have closed currently in Louisiana and at this time we can say that the race in Virginia is unsurprisingly way too early to call. So John what are some of the keys for both campaigns in this race

King: Well if you look at the map you can see 4 years ago Governor Blanco won the overwhelming amount of counties but in the big suburban Parishs New Orleans such as Jefferson Parish you can see now Senator Jindal won by over 25 points and generally did very well in the South Eastern part of the state which is also where the district Mr.Vitter represents is located. So he at the very least must keep those margins there , and the make pretty large inroads in the rural parts of the state to win.

Now Governor Blanco is more polarizing then she was 4 years ago so you can expect more counties of this map to be Republican but for her to win she must keep much of these rural counties in her camp and then also hope that suburban women who usually vote Republican in this state are turned off enough by Mr.Vitter's scandals in order for her to make inroads there and win.

Now the most important thing for both sides is how much they can turnout their base as keep in mind despite Senator Biden losing the state by 12 points in 2004 he still  got 100 thousand votes more than Governor Blanco did in her win in 2003. Really if any candidate reaches the Biden number
from 2004 they will likely win this race by near double digits so turnout is gonna be importnat

Blitzer: James you are from Lousiana so what do you think will happen

Carville: A Year ago I thought we almost certianly would lose this race but now I think that Governor Blanco will probably win. Keep in mind the last few polls show her leading by 2 to 3 points against Congressman Vitter and I think the fact is Democrats are probably more excited to vote than Republicans are so I think we will win.

Bennett: In my opinion I think this race is a pure tossup and really 2 to 3 points isnt much of a lead at all in the polls as its within the margin of error and in my opinion I think the failures for Governor Blanco in the past 2 years will cost her tonight. We will see though

Blitzer: Ok we will keep updating this race as time goes




10:00:

Blitzer: Around a third of the vote is in and currently Governor Blanco has so far a solid 6 point lead vs Representative Vitter. So John how are things looking

King: Well one area that could be a huge red flag for the Representive Vitter camp is that in Jefferson Parish a place that Senator Jindal won by 25 points 4 years ago is only going to him by around a 15 point margin and keep in mind these are where the votes are. Another red flag is in East Baton Rouge which was place Senator Jindal won 4 years is going to Governor Blanco by 5 points tonight . Add in the fact that in Orleans Parish Governor Blanco is getting over 70% currently , and really despite much of the inroads Mr. Vitter has made in Rural Lousiana Id say things look very bad for him.

Blitzer: James what do you think

Carville: Well I would say things look really really good for Governor Blanco right now and really if you look at the exits its clear she has won over some Republican women voters which is helping. Also Democratic turnout is much higher than Republican as you can see in the question when people are asked who did they vote for in 2004 and the President is only up 6. That shows that Republican turnout is low and I think it is a huge sign the national environment is in our favor.

Bennett: I would wait till all the results come in before we assess that but yes I agree that it doenst look good. Listen the fact is we nominated a flawed candidate and did not do a good job vetting him before he ran and that will probably cost us dearly tonight.

Carville: Well I think that is a sign of the national environment turning against you. You know longer have strong candidates willing to run as much as you did before and candidates who may have survived controversies and scandal before no longer are able to. Does this mean I think Democrats are gonna win in 2008, no but I think its clear we have the edge especially when it comes to the Senate when the map will benefit us greatly.

Bennett: Well we will see as the primaries have the ability to change the national environment in a a second

Carville: Yes I agree but I am saying if it is the same as it is today as nobody can predict how it will be like a year from now.



10:43:

King: Even though around half the vote is in the issue is the fact is it is clear that Represenative Vitter is not being able to hold the Bobby Jindal numbers from 4 years ago in the Republican areas of the state and isnt making major enough inroads elsewhere to win. I at this point cant really see how he manages to overcome this 7 point deficit. Ok Wolf Back to you

Blitzer: CNN has a major projection to make and that is we can project that Governor Kathleen Blanco will win a 2nd term for the position of Governor of Louisiana



King: Not a surprise


Carville: It is so relieving to know that the voters decided to reelect Governor Blanco who I think has done an admirable job in tough circumstances and a relief to know someone like Representative Vitter will not be the governor of my great state. Add in the fact the Tigers are the number 2 team in the nation and in my opinion the favorites to win the BCS Championship, it is clear that it is a good time to be a Louisiana Democrat

Bennett: Well I wouldnt be so overconfident about the Tigers yet given how many upsets have already happened this season. I mean if USC could lose to Stanford anything could happen in a season as crazy like this. Anyway I would say I think this night more or else reflects the fact we nominated bad candidates rather than anything with both Governor Fletcher who was very unpopular and Representative Vitter whose has horrible character.

Carville: Well Id like to end by saying that first a loss is a loss and second that I am confident we will win it all this year.


Blitzer: Alright thanks for joining CNN in our coverage of the 2007 off year elections as we send it back to normal programming

[2016]

@OSR,
Should be Election Night 2007 not 2005 though!

[OSR stands with Israel]

@OSR,
Should be Election Night 2007 not 2005 though!

Yes my bad , thanks for pointing that out

[President Johnson]

I always get confused with your colors, I though Kentucky was a Republican pickup.

Otherwise, great work as usual. I'm still undecided about a favorite presidential candidate, though I lean towards Kerry.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I always get confused with your colors, I though Kentucky was a Republican pickup.

Otherwise, great work as usual. I'm still undecided about a favorite presidential candidate, though I lean towards Kerry.

I’m a fan of Atlas Colors and think they make more logical sense than RL colors given red usually stands for more socialistic/labor friendly polices so it makes sense for a center left party too have that color  while blue tends to stand for more of the law and order and more nationalistic so it makes sense for a center right party to have that color .

Now democrats aren’t really socialist like the Labour Party is  but they are definitely more so than the republicans and while republicans are more American exceptionalists than Nationalists here you can argue that it is still a different form of nationalism in a way .

[OSR stands with Israel]

2008 Democratic Preview: Is Hillary Clinton still unbeatable?

Blitzer : With the Iowa caucuses just a 6 weeks away  , the primary season is getting into full swing so let’s take a look at how the race looks at as of this moment . So this currently is how the race looks for the democratic field

National Polls:

New York Senator Hillary Clinton: 29%
Businessman Donald Trump 21%
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold: 20%
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry: 13%
Former Alabama Governor Don Sieglman 8%
Comedian Stephen Colbert 5%
North Carolina Senator John Edwards 4%

Candidates Who have Already Dropped Out: Chris Dodd, Wesley Clark

Top 3 candidates  from the first four states:

Iowa : Feingold 25% Clinton 23% Trump 22%
New Hampshire : Clinton 26% Trump 24% Kerry :20%
Nevada : Clinton: 28% Trump : 21% Feingold 18%
South Carolina : Clinton 67% (No one else at 15%)


Blitzer : So John how difficult will it be for Mr.Trump or Mr.Feingold to beat Mrs.Clinton for the nomination

King : It absolutely will not be easy and the most telling poll is that South Carolina poll where Senator Clinton is absolutely landsliding the field there and her core strategy from the start really has been to try and get that result all across the old solid south with the possible exception of Florida. Keep in mind that the south has a lot of delegates plus is relatively early in the calendar so it can provide lots of momentum for the other primaries too .

Blitzer : Why is it that she is so dominant in that region

King : Well the fact is the Clintons have spent 30 years building a loyal base among African Americans , Southern White Democrats that didn’t leave the party in the 1980s and breaking that is not gonna be easy at all which is why she is the frontrunner at the moment.


Republican Primary Preview:

Blitzer: Ok lets go over the Republican primary polls and you can see nationally both Governor Giuliani and Senator Bush pretty much are the clear frontrunners at the moment and are neck to neck with each other.

National Polls:

New York Governor Rudy Giuliani: 37%
Texas Senator George W Bush 35%
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 12%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee 8%
Congressman Ron Paul: 5%
Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson: 3%

Already Dropped Out: Duncan Hunter


Top 3 Candidates from the First 4 states:

Iowa: Bush 54% Huckabee 20% Giuliani 13%
New Hampshire: Giuliani 47% Bush 21% Romney 19%
South Carolina: Bush 38% Giuliani 26% Romney: 17%
Nevada: Bush 36% Giuliani 34% Romney 15%

Blitzer: So John does it look like it will be a two way race or can things change

King: Well as you know 6 weeks is a long time in politics and as you can see from those individual state polls Governor Huckabee is a solid 2nd in Iowa and Romney is close to 2nd in New Hampshire. That very well could could shake the race but yes right now it looks like it will be a two way race

Blitzer: So what is the strategy of both the Bush and Giuliani camp right now

King: Well the Bush camp's Plan A is to start things off by winning big in the first 3 of the 4 opening contests and then to use it to ride the momentum to win big Michigan and Florida . If he does that the nomination almost certainly would be his . So first and formest the Giuliani strategy is to basically slow down the Bush train in the first month which then will take the race into Super Tuesday.

On Super Tuesday as you know there will be 24 contests this year, 24 so it will be massive. Governor Giuliani is hoping to domiante these North East primaries and then add on that California where he currently has the endorsements of Governors Riordan and Wilson could make him the clear frontrunner. The issue though as you can see is all the Southern and the Mountain West Primaries up as well so really this nomination may at that point be similar to the nomination fight we saw between Senators Biden and Feingold 4 years ago and that is go all the way to the end in June.

Blitzer: Well anything can happen but we do know it will be a very exciting election season

King: Sure will be

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News : Tony Blair to step down as prime minster in Mid January



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJpp7BSKd54

Cooper: We have some breaking news to report to you and that is British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced he will be stepping down as prime minister of Great Britain in Mid January . With us now is Richard Quest who will explain more about the news

Quest: Yes ever since Prime Minster Blair made it clear all the way back in 2004 that he would not lead the party into a 4th general election many have wondered when exactly would he step down and really over the past many months it has been expected he would some time early next year.

Cooper: Who is expected to replace him as Prime Minister

Quest: Well right now the overwhelming favorite to become the next Prime Minister is Gordon Brown but the choice will be decided by the Labour Party in a leadership election that is expected to take place on the 11th of January. Keep in mind though that the deadline to officially be a candidate will be sometime during the first week of December and to be a candidate you need the endorsement of 12.5% of party MP's which in the president parliament is 48.

Cooper: So it is possible we will know the result of the leadership election by then

Quest: Yes if Gordon Brown is the only candidate to receive the endorsement of at least 48 Mps then he will be declared the leader of the Labour Party at a special conference a week later and in that case Mr.Blair has said he will step down as Prime Minster at the end of this year.

Cooper: So there are rumors that Mr.Brown will call an election soon after becoming Prime Minister

Question: Yes Mr.Brown has said if he becomes prime minister he will call for a snap election to take place in May of next year as he believes a new prime minister will also need to get a mandate from the general public in order to properly govern the nation.

Cooper:  We are now getting word President McCain is going to hold a short presser reacting to the news so we will head to Washington now


McCain: I just got off the phone with Prime Minister Blair to congratulate him on his incredible political career and wished him well in whatever his next stage in life will be . I also thanked him for his leadership during the War on Terror and thanked him for the support he has given us during the War on Terror and his work has truly made the special relationship between our nations even more special. It truly has been an honor working with him over the past 7 years on many international issues to make our world a better place and in doing so we have become lifelong friends as well.


Media Member 1: Have you spoken to Gordon Brown yet given he is expected to be the next Prime Minister

McCain: Well from what I have heard, the Labour party has a process to decide who their next leader will be and I do not thing it would be appropriate for me to given any congratulations until that process is complete.


Media Member 2: Are you surprised of the type of a relationship you had with a Labour Prime Minister given usually Labour is considered to be the Democratic Party counterpart of the UK

McCain: No, because I have very good relationships with many Democrats as well and have always had them so I am not at all surprised by that factor.

Media Member 3: Many people are expecting an election to be held in May of next year so do you think that the Conservatives have a chance to win that election and would you give them advice to do so.

McCain: Well I believe that any party has a chance to always win an election so we will have to see. My advice is the same advice I would give to any person interested in winning any election and that is to remember to always keep in touch with the people you are asking to represent and it is an advice I would give to whoever the next Leader of the Labour Party is,  advice I would give to Mr.Cameron and advice I would give to Mr. Clegg. I will not give more than that because that would be inappropriate for an American President to get involved that way. Thank You I will not take any more questions

[OSR stands with Israel]

Canadian Conservative Party wins its first Majority in 19 years in December Snap Elections:



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Conservative_Party_of_Canada_logo_(2020).png

Conservative Party(Stephen Harper) : 157 Seats(+18)
Liberal Party(Stephen Dion): 69 Seats(-33)
Bloc Québécois(Gilles Duceppe): 46 Seats(-5)
New Democratic Party(Jack Layton): 37 Seats(+9)
Independents: 1 Seat

Result: Conservative Majority of 4

King: For the first time in 19 years the Conservatives in Canada have won themselves a majority and while the result of a conservative win was not a surprise , them getting a majority was. So David why did they get a majority

Frum: A lot of that was the fact is the Liberal Party for much of the election had what many said an uninspiring leader and along with vote splitting with the rising NDP party let the Conservatives get their majority.

King: So I heard that the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau ran so how did he do

Frum: His name was Justin Trudeau and he was defeated by his bloc party opponent in a narrow defeat marking another symbolic blow for the once dominant liberal party.

King: What does this mean in terms of foreign policy and US Canadian Relations

Frum: Well were are told the President was hoping for a result like this as keep in mind Prime Minister Harper wants Canada to take a more assertive role in world affairs and holds similar positions on foreign policy the President does. Now of course he wont be able to be as aggressive as the US due to the the fact he doesnt lead a nation anywhere near as powerful but still it is something the President looks out for.

King: Yes we are told that it not only helps move Canada more in a similar path as the US but also helps convince incoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown to continue down the same path as Prime Minister Tony Blair as well. Thanks for coming on David

Frum: Anytime

[OSR stands with Israel]

So for the primary changes here are some couple changes that will be made from OTL:


- Nevada and South Carolina both will take place before Michigan

- Michigan and Florida will have half their delegates stripped from the beginning rather than the controversy that occurred

[BigVic]

Great timeline. A two-term McCain presidency in the 00s.

[OSR stands with Israel]

President McCain calls for MLB to make reforms to policy regarding performing enhancing drugs after release of Mitchell Report:



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3EHr90pkew

Ravech: The report into the use of performing enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball by former Senator George Mitchell which has implicated more than 85 current and former players in using performing enchancing drugs has rocked the baseball world. Included in the list are players such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens who have long been suspected of steriod use but have denied such allegations.

The report also concluded that the MLB was slow to respond to use and the player union was generally uncooperative with the investigation as well . Basically it was an indictment of the entire MLB and believes serious action needs to be taken by the league to stop the use of such drugs. Joining us on Baseball Tonight is the President of the United States who has long been an MLB fan. So Mr. President what is your reaction to this report


McCain: Well has a fan of baseball and sports in general the first reaction is sadness knowing a game I have loved will have its reputation tainted by such use. I do also want to thank a former colleague  of mine Senator George Mitchell for the extensive work he did in making this report as it does in my opinion let us find a way to put the steroid Era behind us. Keep in mind all Senator Mitchell did was inform us of the problem that already existed and the first step to solving a problem is to be informed that it exists so I thank him for that

Ravech: Do you think players such listed in this report should be banned from the Hall of Fame

McCain: In my opinion that is for the Hall of Fame Committee to decide as they will have far more evidence to determine how much the use of these drugs impacted these player's performances more than I did. I do think in the future though their has to be more testing done as well as consequences given for players who test positive to deter future use.

Ravech: We have also been told that Commishnor Selig and executive director of the MLBPA have been called by the House Oversight committee to testify . What do you think they should be asked

McCain: Well my main belief is we need to get answers directly from the about this report so we can find out what more went wrong and how things can go better in the future. I have also talked to both of them and from what I got is they both truly believe that something has to be done, and are committed to ensuing something is done

Ravech: Thanks for coming on Mr.President and hope you come back

McCain: Anytime, and I look to coming on more after my term is up.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Great timeline. A two-term McCain presidency in the 00s.

Thanks , I’m glad you like it