The Presidency of America's Maverick

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I'm glad that Codey gets a shot in this timeline. He was so much better than Corzine.

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Apparently, at the start of the 2006 cycle in OTL, Democrats didn't think they had a chance of taking control of the House, and they only needed 15 seats. The thought was hopefully Democrats would gain some seats and build enough momentum to take it in '08. I'm thinking McCain is going to be relatively popular throughout his presidency, but it's something to keep in mind.

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Still very good timeline, looking forward to the rest of it. I'm surprised to see Jim Blanchard surface. Did he attempt a comeback in 2002 like in OTL?

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So Democrats didn't win the Senate because they lost Rhode Island and Maryland.

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So Democrats didn't win the Senate because they lost Rhode Island and Maryland.

Basically, though keep in mind IRL Chafee lost by less than 30k votes and Maryland was a 3 way race here too. I originally was considering doing MD going D and TN going R but I think the other way is more interesting and isn't unrealistic either especially in a world where the state's partisan loyalties are much less hardened.

I know it's realistic, but that doesn't make it unremarkable. IRL Chafee only lost by 7 and Steele by 10 without a third candidate. With McCain instead of Bush in the White House, there's less polarization and McCain is also more popular, so it's easy to see those two races going the way they went. To be perfectly honest, the result I'd most likely overturn if I had to make it more realistic would be WA-SEN but even then it's easy to see Inslee beating Gorton given the fact that he's Republican leader.

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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.

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If Trump wins the nomination, I'm bolting the party, at least this year at the presidential level. Nevertheless, great work as always!

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So, how does Don Siegelman avoid getting his OTL fate in this timeline?

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So, how does Don Siegelman avoid getting his OTL fate in this timeline?

Well a lot of his OTL case had prosecutorial misconduct and wasnt their rumors it was poltically motivated in some ways. I dont think that would happen in a McCain justice Department

There were a lot of accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, I thought that's what it might be, I wasn't sure if you believed there was prosecutorial misconduct. The accusation was that it was driven by Karl Rove so it almost certainly would not have happened in a McCain DOJ.

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Jay Rockefeller is a great choice for VP and love Jim Hunt for the Senate. That will be one of the biggest single party upgrades for a Senate seat.

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Like where this is going, but I have to ask, who are the candidates in the North Carolina special Senate election? Is Jim Hunt one of them?

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Looks like Bush is favored right now. I have to say, considering the map in 2010, if he wins it could be a bloodbath for the Republicans.

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Hillary seems to have the stronger case, if Bush wins, the midterms are going to be a bloodbath for the Republicans especially considering the fact that they have so many more senate seats from 2004. If Hillary wins, the midterms could be pretty bad for the Democrats. Either way, I'm probably getting way ahead of myself. Good work!

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I know the Republican Party is different than OTL, being a bit more moderate, but I wonder if that's going to change now in the wake of this defeat. Also, is Mike Castle going to face a primary?