Hart for America

[True Democrat]

Inspired by the other thread on Gary Hart, I decided to create this:

April 17, 1987

Gary Hart, the former Senator from Colorado, officially declares his candidacy for President of the United States.  Hart is immediately put down by analysts has a loser candidate.  After losing the 1984 election with Walter Mondale, Hart was counted out of having any future in politics.  Hart was selected as Mondale's VP over NY Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, as Hart nearly beat Mondale to the nomination.  Although Hart is still the frontrunner for the nomination, many are looking towards Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis or Tennessee Senator Al Gore to win.

Late April 1987

After rumours about an extramarital affair leak to the press, former Senator Hart immediately goes on the attack, claiming the media is completely wrong.  The public views the attack as unfair and Hart's popularity rises.

October 1987

A national poll released shows the following:
Hart: 35%
Dukakis: 12%
Gephardt: 11%
Jackson: 9%
Gore: 7%
Undecided/Other: 26%

Already attracting nearly triple his closest competitor's support, Hart is clearly still the frontrunner.

Iowa Caucuses: February 8th
Suprisingly, Hart actually finishes first, just barely ahead of regional favorite Gephardt.

Hart: 31%
Gephardt: 30%
Dukakis: 17%
Gore: 11%
Jackson: 4%
Other: 7%

In New Hampshire, Hart wins over Dukakis on February 16th:

Hart: 37%
Dukakis: 32%
Gephardt: 15%
Gore: 13%
Jackson: 1%
Others: 2%

Hart went on to easily win the nomination, losing only a couple of Southern and homestate primaries.

On the Republican front, Vice-President George H. W. Bush won the Republican nomination after an unexpected surge of support for candidates such as Dole and Robertson.

At the Democratic convention in Atlanta, Hart makes the expected choice and picks elder statesman Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen for VP.  This is seen as an expected move to shore up Democratic establishment support for the ticket.

At the Republican convention in New Orleans, Bush makes an unexpected choice for VP and chooses Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.

As the campaign proceeds, Hart runs on his appeared youth (even though he is only a few years younger).  Also, Hart is seen as a new type of Democrat, much like Carter in 1976.

In September, most polls look something like this:

Hart/Bentsen: 48%
Bush/Quayle: 41%
Other/Undecided: 11%

Although at one time Hart was leading by as much as 18% but that lead was brough down by an agressive campaign by Bush focusing on Reagan's popularity.

In the presidential debates, Hart thoroughly wins on domestic policy, though it's a tie on foreing policy.  In the VP debate, Bentsen clearly defeats the inexperienced Quayle.

The last polls before election day show this:

Hart/Bentsen: 51%
Bush/Quayle: 45%
Other/Undecided: 4%

As returns come in, Hart is clearly leading.  In the Northeast, Bush does better than expected, as well as in the South.  However, in the Midwest and West, Hart does very well.  The electoral vote is closer than expected.


Hart/Bentsen: 52%, 279 electoral votes
Bush/Quayle: 47%, 259 electoral votes

Each candidate's best five states:

Hart:
1. Rhode Island (59%)
2. Iowa (57%)
3. Massachusetts (56%)
4. Colorado (55%)
5. Maryland (55%)

Bush:
1. Utah (62%)
2. Wyoming (59%)
3. New Hampshire (58%)
4. Idaho (58%)
5. South Carolina (57%)

[True Democrat]

1992 Election:

In late June 1991, Hart officially announes his intention to seek reelection.  Since the beginning of Hart's term, a number of big events have happened, including the end of the Soviet bloc in Europe and most recently a slowdown in the economy.  One last thing happened too.  On February 12, 1991, Vice-President Lloyd Bentsen, died of a heart attack, one day after turning 70.  This was completely unexpected.  After a period of mourning, President Hart had to nominate a replacement.  First, he asked former Massachusetts Governor and rival Michael Dukakis.  However, Dukakis didn't want the position and instead suggested moderate Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.  Clinton gladly accepted and was confirmed by a Senate vote of 87-12-1 on May 2, 1991.

By December 1991, all of the major Republican contenders have announced  their intention to seek the Republican nomination.  This list includes former VP candidate Dan Quayle, Senator Bob Dole, Senator Arlen Specter, and Pat Buchanan.

In Iowa, Dole wins, while Specter is second and Quayle is third.  Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Specter pulls out a victory with Quayle getting a distant third.  Quayle drops out after New Hampshire.  Buchanan stays in a while, but Christian fundamentalists move their support to Dole.  Specter and Dole battle it out for a while, but on Super Tuesday, Dole sweeps Specter and wins the nomination.  At the Republican convention in Houston, Dole chooses former Delaware Governor Pete DuPont, another party establishment candidate, for Vice-President.

At the Democratic convention, Hart and Clinton are renominated unanimously.

Meanwhile, Independent billionaire candidate Ross Perot has mounted a challenge, focusing on balancing the budget and stopping free trade agreements.  Although at first Perot got nowhere, due to his funds and loyal supporters, Perot quickly rose through in the polls.

In June 1992, the first poll with all the candidates is released:

Hart/Clinton: 33%
Perot/?: 30%
Dole/?: 26%
Undecided/Other: 11%

Surprisingly, Perot is in a close second to Hart.  Throughout the summer, both Hart and Dole release ads attacking Perot, many times personally.  Just before the Democratic and Republican conventions, Perot drops out of the race.  After the conventions are over, this poll is released:

Hart/Clinton: 41%
Dole/DuPont: 32%
Other/Undecided: 27%

Hart Approval:
Approve: 59%
Disapprove: 38%

With such a high number of undecided former Perot supporters, the race could be won by Dole.  In early September, Perot considers coming back into the race, but internal polling shows his support slipping and he reconsiders.

In February of 1992, Saddam Hussein launched a massive attack into Kuwait, taking over the country.  The SC gave him a deadline of 7 months to get out of the country or else he would be forced.  As the deadline approached, Hussein had no intent of leaving.  On September 22, a US-led coalition entered Kuwait and ousted the Iraqi forces within 200 hours.  The US did not pursue Saddam into Iraq.  Because of this, Hart's approval immediately shot up:

Approve: 72%
Disapprove: 25%

Hart also massively leads Dole:
Hart/Clinton: 58%
Dole/DuPont: 34%
Other/Undecided: 8%

In the debates, Hart sweeps Dole, while Clinton does even better against DuPont.  Dole gains only slightly by election day, and Hart wins reelection in a Reagan/Nixon/Johnson style reelection.


Hart/Clinton: 63%, 501 electoral votes
Dole/DuPont: 33%, 37 electoral votes
Perot/Stockdale (Write-in): 3%, 0 electoral votes

Best States:

Hart:
Rhode Island: 72%
Hawaii: 71%
Massachusetts: 71%
Maryland: 69%
West Virginia: 67%

Dole:
Utah: 56%
Kansas: 54%
Idaho: 53%
Nebraska: 53%
Alabama: 51%

Perot:
Maine: 8%
Nevada: 6%
Montana: 6%
Utah: 5%
Alaska: 4%

[True Democrat]

Any comments?  I think I might have gone too far on the 92 election thing.

[J. J.]

No way Spector wins; put Pitchfork Pat in there. 

[Lincoln Republican]

Any comments?  I think I might have gone too far on the 92 election thing.

To add a new dimension to this story, if I may.

Two scandals emerge involving President Hart, both coming out the same day, October 2, 1992. 

One scandal involves a clandestine rendesvouz that took place in the summer of 1991 between the President and a young 18 year old female model, complete with film footage, taken on the deck of a yacht off the coast of Catalina.  The film footage was only showing them holding hands.

The other scandal reveals that President Hart, using his knowledge as President, in the spring of 1991, had advised a corporate executive friend of his of a government policy coming into effect the following week, which would cause the large banks stock share prices to rise significantly in about a week.  His corporate friend bought $4,000,000.00 of shares one day later in two of the large banks, and turned it around within one week into $20,000,000.00.  The details of this scandal are documented in documents seized from this corporate friend of the President.  The documents are the corporate executives record of the proceedings.

What then happens in this 1992 election?