New Democrats

[True Democrat]

After the shocking announcements that both Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri announced they would not be seeking the Presidential nomination, a void was left for who was going to take on presumed Republican candidate Vice President George Bush.  Moderates (and Dukakis) urged Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas to run, which he decided to do with his announcement on Demeber 28, 1987.  Clinton, aged only 41, was seen as a young JFK type candidate for the race.

However, the liberal wing of the party was not happy with Clinton, who was seen as economically conservative even in DLC circles.  Although some liberals have rallied behind Senator Paul Simon, many feel an outsider is needed.  On January 4, 1988, they get their wish, when consumer activist Ralph Nader announces he is running for President.

In the Iowa primary on February 8th, Clinton wins easily:
Clinton: 41%
Nader: 27%
Simon: 19 %
Jackson: 8%
Others: 5%

[True Democrat]

Although New Hampshire is much closer than Iowa, Governor Clinton uses his momentum and the endorsement of Michael Dukakis to pull out a win:

New Hampshire Primary (February 16)
Clinton: 35%
Nader: 32%
Simon: 21%
Jackson: 9%
Others: 3%

Clinton goes on to win South Dakota with a majority of the vote.

However, in Vermont on March 1st, Nader pulls an upset:
Nader: 32%
Clinton: 30%
Jackson: 19%
Simon: 18%
Others: 1%

Many call on both Jackson and Simon to leave the race (as the total "liberal" vote in Vermont was actually 69%).

March 8: Super Tuesday
This is the last chance for Nader to cement his place in the race.

[True Democrat]

Clinton Wins: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Idaho

Jackson Wins: Alabama, North Carolina

Nader Wins: Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Nevada, Washington

Although Nader clearly wins some big states, Clinton still has the momentum.

Here is a map of the results so far:



Clinton: 15 States
Nader: 6 State
Jackson: 2 States

[True Democrat]

March 15:

With a win in Illinois, Clinton can lock the race up, however, after Simon throws his support to Nader, Clinton falters:

Nader: 44%
Clinton: 32%
Jackson: 22%
Others: 2%

On March 29th, Connecticut and South Carolina hold their primaries, which Clinton and Nader each taking one:

Connecticut:
Nader: 61%
Clinton: 25%
Jackson: 11%
Otheres: 3%

South Carolina:
Clinton: 48%
Jackson: 36%
Nader: 15%
Others: 1%

On April 5th, Wisconsin also casts its votes for Nader.

Although New York originally had its primary scheduled for April 19th, the DNC decided to move it to one of the last primay spots, hoping it would not become a crucial state.

April 26: Pennsylvania, close Nader win
Nader: 39%
Clinton: 38%
Jackson: 19%
Others: 4%

Clinton has nearly lost his momentum at this point.

May 3rd: Clinton rallies to stay in the race:
Indiana: Clinton majority win
Ohio: Clinton with 10 point win over Nader
DC: Easy Jackson win

May 10th:
Clinton cements his momentum with easy wins in both West Virginia and Nebraska.

May 17th: Oregon
Nader wins won after a long dry spell:
Nader: 55%
Clinton: 39%
Jackson: 4%
Others: 2%
After this primary, Jackson quits, throwing his support behind Nader.

June 7th: Second Super Tuesday: California, New York, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico
Clinton easily wins New Mexico and Montana, while Nader cleans up in New Jersey.

California: Clinton enlists the help of Hispanic leaders to barely beat Nader.
Clinton: 52%
Nader: 45%
Others: 3%

Nader knows he must win New York in order to stay in the race.  The networks cannot call the state until the next morning, and it is a slight Clinton win:
Clinton: 47%
Nader: 46%
Others: 7%

Clinton goes on to win the nomination and the most of the remaining primaries.

Here is a final map:


Clinton: 33 States
Nader: 15 States
Jackson: 3 States

Up Next: The Convention

[Nym90]

Hopefully Clinton will win the nomination and the election. In real life, I think he would have narrowly beaten Bush in 1988 if he had run.

[True Democrat]

July 18th

By the first night of the convention, nominee Clinton has still not announced a Vice-President, surprisingly.  Many have called on him to choose Nader, or even Jackson to balance the ticket, but he has since refused.

July 19th

Clinton makes a surprise appearance to announce his Vice-Presidential chioce.  In the crowd, there are numerous "Draft Nader"signs from NE delegations and "Jackson for VP" from many Southern delegations.  The convention delegates are significantly more liberal than the Democratic primary voters who picked Clinton.  In his speech, Clinton first dismisses Jackson for Vice-President, calling him "unqualified."  Then, Clinton respectfully refuses Nader.  In the end, Clinton chose former Governor Chuck Robb of Virginia, another founding member of the DNC.  With this announcement, many Nader and Jackson supporters proceeded to walk out of the convention, although Clinton was still officially nominated by the party.

August 20th
After the Bush/Quayle ticket has been officially nominated by the Republican party, the first poll is released:

Bush/Quayle: 41%
Clinton/Robb: 34%
Other/Undecided: 25%

The poll also asked the question with the following chioces:
Bush/Quayle: 40%
Clinton/Robb: 31%
Generic Liberal Candidate: 12%
Other/Undecided: 17%

Many see this as an oppurtune time for Nader to jump in, which he does with an announcement on August 28th.  Although many expect him to choose Jackson as his runningmate, he does not, instead choosing Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders, who helped found the Progressive Party of Vermont.  Jackson refuses to endorse Nader, and calls upon all African-Americans to stay home, leading to record low turnout for the Black community.

[True Democrat]

Election day has come.  The latest polls have indicated a tight race between Bush and Clinton while Nader has dropped to about 7%.  Many believe that this is an underestimation of his support, however.  As the results start streaming in, it is evident that Nader is doing very well in the Northeast, causing many Clinton losses.  However, in the South, Clinton does very well among Whites, though low turnout among African-Americans will surely hurt him.


Bush/Quayle: 46%, 386 electoral votes
Clinton/Robb: 42%, 152 electoral votes
Nader/Sanders: 11%, 0 electoral votes
Other: 1%

A couple notes about the election:
The supposed low African-American turnout was false, with only 3% lower turnout.  Nader overperformed on the West Coast and in the NE, though he did much worse than expected in the Mountain West and the Upper Midwest.

Best States:

Clinton (besides DC):
1. Arkansas (58%)
2. West Virginia (56%)
3. Kentucky (54%)

Bush:
1. Utah (62%)
2. Idaho (59%)
Nebraska (58%)

Nader:
1. Massachusetts (32%) Bush win 37-32-31
2. Vermont (28%) Clinton win 37-35-28
3. Oregon (24%) Bush win 39-37-24

Based on exit polls, Clinton would have probably won the two way race 52-47-1, while winning the electora college 319-219 with this map (note: some Nader supporters would actually have voted for Bush out of spite for Clinton, though 30% of Nader voters would not have shown up):

[True Democrat]

Just to let everyone know, this will really focus on elections and not really focus on policy or what happens between elections.

In the first two years of the Bush presidency, most things run smoothly with few great accomplishments, but with a great deal of domestic legislation.

Although the Democrats gained minimally in the 1990 midterms, the party was plagued with infighting in the primary between DLC Democrats and liberals now calling themselves "Nader Democrats."

In 1991, a U.S. led coalition launched a successful liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq, though they did not take Saddam out of power.

With President Bush's approval rating holding steady at 65%, the 1992 Democratic primary approaches. . .

[Archangel_Mikey]

Please continue.

[True Democrat]

By December of 1991, both Clinton and Nader have announced a rematch.  However, there are no other major figures in the party who have declared their intentions.  On February 10, 1992, the Iowa caucus  takes place.  This was very helpful to Clinton last time and gave him his beginning momentum.  However, this time, Nader easily wins because he attacks Clinton as the candidate who "can't beat Bush."

Iowa Caucus Results:
Nader: 54%
Clinton: 35%
Others: 8%

Clinton says that if he does not have a respectable showing in New Hampshire, he will drop out of the race.

New Hamspshire Primary Results (February 18th):
Nader: 62%
Clinton: 27%
Others: 11%

On February 19th, Clinton announces he will leave the race, leaving Nader as the presumptive nominee.  However, Clinton refuses to endorse Nader.  Along with many other DLC Demcrats, he begins to call other potential candidates to run against Nader.  By the next week, only Gore and Nunn say they have any intention of entering the primaries.  On Feburary 24th, Sam Nunn announces he will run against Ralph Nader for the Democratic nomination.

With Nunn's announcement only the day before, Nader easily wins South Dakota 58-40-2.

On March 3rd, the first Super Tuesday happens, where Nunn does surprisingly well.

Nunn takes Colorado, Georgia, and Idaho, while Nader wins Maryland and Minnesota.  A week later, Nunn easily wins his bordering state of South Carolina.

March 10th brings the second and larger Super Tuesday, where again, Nunn goes in with momentum and actually competes with Nader:

Nunn Wins: Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Missouri
Nader Wins: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, Hawaii, Delaware

Although many call on Nader to drop out for party unity, he believes Nunn's success is only because Super Tuesday was concentrated on Southern states.

Nader's prophecy comes true on March 17th when he wins Illinois and Michigan.  Nader has the momentum and goes on to win Connecticut (24), 3 out of 4 on April 7th, Pennslyvania (28th), and 2 out of 3 (May 5th).  After this set of primaries, Nunn announces he will drop out.  Nader goes onto to win most of the rest of the primaries, with this being the final map:


Nader: 38 States
Nunn: 13 States

[True Democrat]

On the Republican side, Bush faces a tougher than normal time in the primaries.  Pat Buchanan takes 40% in New Hampshire and even goes on to win a few primaries, barely.  Eventually, Bush takes the nomination, but with a split party.  He may be hurt among social conservatives in the general election.  By June 92, approval is down to 55%.

At the Democratic convention in New York, Nader wins overwhelming support from the delegates.  Although a few moderates try to lead a walkout as Nader did in 1988, it doesn't work.  Many call on either Clinton or Nunn to run as an Independent, but they both refuse, citing low support in internal poling.  For Vice-President, Nader does not make the same mistake as last time and chooses to nominate the Reverend Jesse Jackson.  Bush renominates Quayle for Vice-President.

In late August, the race looks like this:
Bush/Quayle: 45%
Nader/Jackson: 41%
Undecided/Other: 14%

With a high number of undecided, the race is anyone's to win.

Bush immediately goes on a huge anti-Nader advertising blitz.  By September, he is leading 50-42.  He characterizes Nader as being too liberal and brings to light Jackson's "Hymietown" comments in the 1984 Democratic primary.  In the three presidential debates, Bush clearly beats Nader in the first two, while the public considers the last one a tie (which was the one concentrated on domestic policy, Nader seemed strong on helping the recession).  In the Vice-Presidential debate, Quayle sweeps Jackson.  By election day, Bush is leading 55-45 (even though his approval is only 52%), but many think Nader can pull it off because of his underestimation last time.

However, as the results stream in, Bush is doing even better than expected.   Nader is only strong in the Northeast and the Pacific coast.  Even in the Midwest, he falters.  However, his only bright spot of the evening is the South.  Southerners, unhappy with Bush after Buchanan's accusations in the primary, do not show up for him (turnout among Whites is record low).  African-Americans on the other hand, have record high turnout (around 75%).  This enables Nader to be competitive in the deep South, though in the Outer South (where the African-American population is much lower), Bush does extremely well.  This is seen as a very weird occurence.  In the Northeast, Nader underperforms by about 10%.  Bush's best area is the Mountain West.

This is the final map:



Bush/Quayle: 64%, 525 electoral votes
Nader/Jackson: 35%, 13 elecotral votes

In this election, Bush even surpasses Reagan and Nixon in his vote.

Nader's overpolling was later blamed on young voters, who polled for him 65-35, but had record low turnout.

Here are the Democgraphics, by party:

Republicans (33% of the voters):
Bush: 88%
Nader: 10%

Independents (30% of the voters):
Bush: 61%
Nader: 39%

Democrats (37% of the voters):
Nader: 54%
Bush: 45%

[True Democrat]

With Nader's loss, also came the loss of the House by the Democrats for the first time since the 50s.

Here is the new makeup of the House:
Democrats: 216
Republicans: 218
Indepedents: 1 (caucuses with Republicans)

And the Senate:

Democrats: 48
Republicans: 52

[True Democrat]

As the 1996 presidential election approached with a split Congress (the Democrats recaptured the Senate in 1994 but not the House), the Democrats were once again wondering who to nominate.  The two factions of the party were not officially at all out war (the battling prevented the party from retaking the House with split primary winners).

By this time, still Governor Clinton was now the head of the DLC, while Nader lead the newly created PDC (Progressive Democratic Caucus).  However, most analysts did not expect either of these people to actually run for president.

On the Republican side, Dan Quayle is the frontrunner for the nomination, but he does not yet have the support of the party insiders, who are crucial to winning any Republican nomination.

On October 24, 1995, Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo of New York announces he is running for President.  Cuomo, who easily won reelection the preceding year against George Pataki, is immediately endorsed by the PDC.

[True Democrat]

Although Governor Clinton was a very close supporter of Cuomo, he knew that he could not support him in the primary.  Instead, he encouraged Senator John Breaux of Louisiana to jump.  Even with Breaux's experience and respect, Clinton knew it would be a long shot to defeat Cuomo.

On December 1, 1995, John Breaux announced he was running for President.  Within days, the DLC endorsed him.

Republicans, who knew that both Breaux and Cuomo would make extremely strong candidates for the Democrats, decided that Quayle just wasn't going to cut it.  At first the Republicans want Senator Bob Dole to run, but they fear he is too old and unexciting.  Instead, they asked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.  Although Ridge had only been a Governor for a little over a year, he had served as a Congressman for years and had a 100% success rate in winning elections.  Even though Ridge was pro-choice and was seen as a moderate, the Republicans believed this was their best chance for a win.  In addition, the Republicans actually influenced Quayle not to run, who instead has decided to run for Governor of Indiana.

As the Iowa caucses approached, there was again all out war between Breaux and Cuomo.  A poll taken in early January 96 in Iowa showed the following:

Who do you support for the Democratic nomination:
Breaux: 21%
Cuomo: 22%
Would rather have a different candidate: 45%
Other/Undecided: 12%

By this time, only one other major candidate has declared his intention to run: Senator John Kerry of Masschusetts.  Kerry, who is a member of neither the DLC or PDC, is seen as a moderate in the party, but not too conservative.  He well-liked by both sides.  Weeks before the primary, Kerry has enlisted the support of fellow Senator Ted Kennedy, who comes to Iowa to campaign for him.  Kerry begins to run ads, and by election, voters have started to warm up for him, though he is not expected to win.

Iowa Caucus Results:
Kerry: 35%
Breaux: 31%
Cuomo: 28%
Other: 6%
Kerry wins a surprise upset, which gives him the momenum he needs for New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Results:
Kerry: 37%
Cuomo: 37%
Breaux: 19%
Other: 7%
Although New Hampshire is much closer, Kerry still pulls out a win.

As for the rest of the primaries, Kerry goes on to win most states, as he is seen as the moderate choice for the party.  Voters are now tired of the fighting between the DLC and PDC.

Here is a final map of the primaries:


Kerry: 36 States
Cuomo: 9 States
Breaux: 6 States

Ridge wins every single Republican primary with no major opposition.

The crucial decider for the party is who Kerry picks for Vice-President.  He has the choice between DLC and PDC Democrats.  The DLC wants him to pick Breaux, while the PDC has put forward Governor Howard Dean of Vermont.  Both groups are demanding that Kerry pick their candidate.  Instead, at the convention Kerry pulls a curveball.  He goes with someone neither faction has supported or opposed.  Kerry picks Independent Governor Angus King Jr. of Maine.  King is seen as center-left, but is supported by memers of the both parties.

At the Republican convention, Ridge picked Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin for Vice-President.

After the two conventions, the first poll is released:
Kerry/King: 40%
Ridge/Thompson: 39%
Other/Undecided: 21%

Although the race is a statistical dead heat, much of the undecideds come from the Democratic party, where liberals and conservatives alike are unhappy with the ticket.  This ticket is losing support by the day by refusing to support the PDC or DLC on any issue.  Many analysts believe the Kerry is playing it too safe.

Meanwhile, Ridge and Thompson goes on cross country tours advocating their tenures as Governor as plans for what they would do in office.  Both men have extremely high approvals in their own states from both sides of the aisle.  Furthermore, Ridge and Thompson both come from swing states, while Kerry and King come from safely Democratic states.

By mid October, Ridge has taken the lead:
Ridge/Thompson: 48%
Kerry/King: 43%
Other/Undecided: 9%

Ridge is near 50%, which is key to having enough momentum for the election.

The Kerry campaign has stalled, and Democratic turnout is expected to be very low with extreme liberals and conservatives in the party not supporting Kerry.

The last polls before election day show the following:
Ridge/Thompson: 50%
Kerry/King: 45%
Other/Undecided: 5%
Although Kerry could still win, it seems unlikely.

On election day, Ridge wins decisively, with Kerry underperforming in the South and Midwest, while doing better than expected in the Northeast and out West.  Kerry does much worse in rural areas than other Democratic candidates, but gains in rich suburbs in the Northeast, even winning New Jersey.


Ridge/Thompson: 53%, 381 electoral votes
Kerry/King: 46%, 157 electoral votes
Other: 1%

At this point, the Democrats have not won a presidential election since 1976, though this is the first time they've gotten over 45% since 76.

In the party breakdown, the Republicans outnumbered Democrats for the first time in decades, though the Democrats are more uniformly voting for their candidate (due to anti-Kerry Democrats not showing up).

Republicans (38% of the voters):
Ridge: 83%
Kerry: 17%

Independents (30% of the voters):
Ridge: 56%
Kerry: 42%

Democrats (32% of the voters):
Kerry: 85%
Ridge: 15%

[Bacon King]

Surely the Republicans will loose eventually.

[MasterJedi]

Surely the Republicans will loose eventually.

Of course they will, only a matter of time.

I can't wait for an update!

[True Democrat]

I'll update this soon guys, sorry, but teachers are trying to cram everything in before the year ends.

[True Democrat]

2000 Election:

After the assasination of President Ridge on September 28, 1997 by a disgruntled Latino immigrant at a rally in San Antonio, newly sworn in President Thompson had sky high approvals (in early October, they were 75%)  This translated into a huge win for the Republicans in the 1998 midterms (Thompson's approval was still 65%).  After the election, this is how the Senate and House looked:

Senate:
Republican: 53 (+2 since 1996)
Democrat: 45 (-3)
Indepedent: 2 (both caucus with Republicans) (+1)

House:
Republican: 240
Democrat: 194
Indepedent: 1 (caucuses with Republicans)

However, with a newly found conservative majority, President Thompson puts forward a number of proposals, including partical privitization of social security and a new international agenda to root out evil dictators, including Saddam Hussein and Slobadan Milosevic.  And with the okay from Congress in June 1999, President Thompson ordered the bombing of military targets in Serbia.  Although this was popular at first, the war dragged on for months, and in December, Thompson ordered troops to move into Montenegro and Kosovo to stop Milosevic.  This was extremely unpopular (due to lack of NATO cooperation) and after the invasion, Thompson's approval dropped to 55%.  To add to his woes, Thompson's appointed VP, Tim Hutchinson, former Senator and Congressman from Arkansas, resigned in January 2000 due to a sex scandal involving the divorce of his wife.

[True Democrat]

By 1999, infighting in the Democratic party had gotten even worse.  Kerry, who left the Senate after his loss to become DNC Chairman, has not been able to keep the DLC and PDC from fighting with each other.  Even though Thompson is an easy target, the Democrats fear that they may not be able to defeat him due to lack of unity.  In late 1999, Kerry's term expired, and the election to replace him becamse fanatic.  On one hand, PDC Chairman Ralph Nader has put his own name foward, while Clinton and the DLC backed former Senator Sam Nunn.  But due to stacking of state committees and avid recruiting of delegates, Ralph Nader captured the Chairmanship.  Many see this as a move towards his presidential ambitions for 2000.  Clinton refuses to jump into the race for the Democratic nomination citing Nader's systematic control of the party and his assured win.  The only DLC member to challenge Nader is Representative Dave McCurdy of Oklahoma, but he fails miserably in the early primaries.  In Iowa, Nader wins 75-20 because most moderate and conservative Democrats stay home.  This is a final map of the primaries, where Nader wins every single state with the exception McCurdy's home state of Oklahoma and Clinton's home state of Arkansas.



Nader: 49 States
McCurdy: 2 States

[MasterJedi]

Good update! Now if Nader wins I really don't see how it's possible. He's just too liberal.

[True Democrat]

On June 3, 2000, DLC Chairman Bill Clinton announces he is running for President as an Independent.  This is widely expected as state organizations have been working for months to get his name on the ballot.  It is believed that at this time, Clinton will appear on all 51 state ballots.  A week later, Clinton announces that he is forming a party, instead of running as an Independent.  Although many want him to name it the "New Democratic Party", this is too close to the name of the Democratic party.  Instead, Clinton chooses the name "American Freedom Party" and announces that the convention will be held in late August.  At the same time, numerous Congressman leave the Democratic party for the American Freedom party, producing this setup of Congress (some Independents and even a few Republicans joined Clinton):

Senate:
Republican: 53 (+/-0 from before)
Democrat: 32 (-13)
American Freedom: 14 (+14)
Independent: 1 (-1)

House:
Republican: 238 (-2)
Democrat: 99 (-95)
American Freedom: 98 (+98)
Independent: 0 (-1)

[MasterJedi]

Interesting, Go Thompson! He's obviously superior to the other candidates.

[True Democrat]

At the Democratic convention in mid August in San Francisco, Ralph Nader selected Paul Wellstone, the liberal Senator from Minnesota, for Vice-President.  Nader also politely called on Clinton to come back to the party so they could work out their differences, but he went on a tangent and eventually called the DLC/American Freedom Party "traitors like their Southern ancestors".  Analysts now knew that reunification was not possible.

Meanwhile, President Thompson still refused to appoint a Vice-President after the resignation of Tim Hutchinson.  Thompson even refused to name a running mate until the convention.  After the Democratic convention, Thompson's approval was at about 43%.  Finally at the Republican convention, a week after the Democratic one, Thompson selected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as his running mate.

Meanwhile, at the American Freedom Party convention, Clinton has a wide range of experienced candidates for Vice-President.  He considered Sam Nunn, Al Gore, Dave McCurdy, and John Breaux.  But in the end, he chose Montana Senator and American Freedom Minority Leader Max Baucus.

After the American Freedom Convention, the first poll is released:

Thompson/McConnell: 37%
Nader/Wellstone: 26%
Clinton/Baucus: 25%
Other/Undecided: 12%

Thompson Approval:
Approve: 39%
Disapprove: 48%
Undecided: 13%

In the next couple weeks, Clinton runs an extremely aggressive campaign, mainly targetting Nader.  Meanwhile, Thompson barely campaigns at all, as he is focused on dealing with the situation in Serbia (think Carter in 1980).  Nader chooses to not reach out to the middle and stresses liberal ideals.

By mid-September, Clinton has made gains:

Thompson/McConnell: 34%
Clinton/Baucus: 30%
Nader/Wellstone: 23%
Other/Undecided: 13%

Thompson Approval:
Approve: 40%
Disapprove: 54%
Undecided: 6%

[True Democrat]

A final poll by Gallup before election day showed the following:

Thompson/McConnell: 35%
Clinton/Baucus: 32%
Nader/Wellstone: 30%
Undecided/Other: 3%

With such a low number of people to influence the election, it seemed as though Thompson was assured the most electoral votes, though not necessarily a majority.

As results streamed in on election night, Nader was ahead in the Northeast; Thompson in the Midwest; Clinton doing extremely well in the South.  In the Mountain West, all three were nearly tied, while on the West Coast Thompson was being crushed.  In the South, Nader captures of majority of the African American vote, but not much else.  Clinton gets about 40% of the Black vote and a good percentage of the white vote, which enables him to beat  Thompson in many states (who is suffering from a loss among social conservatives still from Ridge being pro-choice and Thompson's lack of position on many social issues).


Thompson/McConnell: 35%, 223 electoral votes
Clinton/Baucus: 34%, 158 electoral votes
Nader/Wellstone: 31%, 157 electoral votes

With no one getting a majority of the electoral votes (as expected), the vote falls to the new House and Senate, which are as follows:

House:
Republicans: 199 (-39)
American Freedom: 154 (+55)
Democrats: 82 (-16)
Independents: 0 (+/-0)

This gain among members of the American Freedom party can be explained in a coupel of ways.  First, Republicans lost because of Thompson's extremely low approval and  general mood of the country.  Seeing a moderate choice besides the Democrats, many Republicans voted American Freedom.  As for the Democratic loss, before the American Freedom Party was formed, many of its members had already won their respective Democratic primaries, and the DLC decided to not run independent candidates.  In races where the Democratic candidate was very liberal, Clinton and the American Freedom Party did run Freedom candidates, causing a split in the vote (which meant either a Republican or Freedom victory).

Senate:
Republicans: 48 (-5)
Democrats: 32 (+/-0)
American Freedom: 19 (+5)
Independents: 1 (+/-0) (caucuses with Republicans

Note: The Democrats did not necessarily not win or lose any seats, it just balanced out.

After the electors official cast their votes, it went to the House to elect a President and the Senate to elect a Vice-President (though Wellstone was not eligible to be VP).  As much as Nader hated Clinton, Clinton and Thompson hated Nader even more.  However, none of the candidates had enough votes to get a majority of the state delegations, so a deal is brokered.  Clinton will instruct the American Freedom House members to vote Thompson, if Republicans in the Senate vote for Baucus.  When the new Congress meets, Thompson is elected President and Baucus Vice-President.  The Republicans and Freedoms also agree to caucus together in both houses, to form this new majority:

House:
Republican-Freedom: 353
Democrat: 82

Senate:
Republican-Freedom: 68
Democrat: 32

Clinton is also given the position of Secretary of the Treasury.

[MasterJedi]

Very good update. It reminds me of the Hayes-Tildon election though still good. Thompson gets to stay in as President and Nader and the Democrats don't get anywhere.