Five Decades of Fear & Loathing

[username5243]

I look forward to whatever you have planned regarding China, this could get real interesting.

Who won the governor elections in 1979? I think you missed those.

[Prez_zf]

New Gallup polling is released.

1980 Democratic Primaries (Nationwide).
Ted Kennedy: 40%
Reubin Askew: 17%
Jerry Brown: 14%
Jesse Jackson: 11%
Pat Robertson: 10%
Walter Mondale: 3%
Henry Jackson: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Cliff Finch: 1%
Henry Howell: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1980 Republican Primaries (Nationwide).
Ronald Reagan: 92%
Lowell Weicker: 7%
Harold Stassen: 1%

Why are Jackson, Mondale, and Church all polling so badly, despite being household names, and pretty prominent Senators?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

New Gallup polling is released.

1980 Democratic Primaries (Nationwide).
Ted Kennedy: 40%
Reubin Askew: 17%
Jerry Brown: 14%
Jesse Jackson: 11%
Pat Robertson: 10%
Walter Mondale: 3%
Henry Jackson: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Cliff Finch: 1%
Henry Howell: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1980 Republican Primaries (Nationwide).
Ronald Reagan: 92%
Lowell Weicker: 7%
Harold Stassen: 1%

Why are Jackson, Mondale, and Church all polling so badly, despite being household names, and pretty prominent Senators?

Kennedy is sucking up all of the air in the liberal side of the party, plus the electorate is in a more outsider/radical mood, so regional candidates (Askew) and radicals (Robertson & Jesse Jackson) are gaining more ground. People like Mondale, and particularly Henry Jackson, are considered old news by this point by a primary electorate that wants sweeping change.

[Prez_zf]

New Gallup polling is released.

1980 Democratic Primaries (Nationwide).
Ted Kennedy: 40%
Reubin Askew: 17%
Jerry Brown: 14%
Jesse Jackson: 11%
Pat Robertson: 10%
Walter Mondale: 3%
Henry Jackson: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Cliff Finch: 1%
Henry Howell: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1980 Republican Primaries (Nationwide).
Ronald Reagan: 92%
Lowell Weicker: 7%
Harold Stassen: 1%

Why are Jackson, Mondale, and Church all polling so badly, despite being household names, and pretty prominent Senators?

Kennedy is sucking up all of the air in the liberal side of the party, plus the electorate is in a more outsider/radical mood, so regional candidates (Askew) and radicals (Robertson & Jesse Jackson) are gaining more ground. People like Mondale, and particularly Henry Jackson, are considered old news by this point by a primary electorate that wants sweeping change.

I thought Church wanted to significantly reform the CIA and FBI irl...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Saturday, December 1st, 1979: John Hume announces he and his followers will form their own political party in opposition to Gerry Fitt and his “wets”. The new Northern Ireland Freedom Party (NIFP) is created.
Sunday, December 2nd, 1979: An angry mob sacks the US Embassy in Tripoli, Libya. No American personnel are hurt in the sacking of the embassy, which is subsequently burnt to the ground. President Reagan recalls the American Ambassador and his staff in the wake of the embassy seizure, and accuses Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi of fermenting the crowd.
Monday, December 3rd, 1979: Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before a concert by The Who at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Tuesday, December 4th, 1979: Secretary of State Kirkpatrick and Vice President Bush travel to Iran, where they meet with the young Shah and his Prime Minister, General Azhari, where they reaffirm American support for the regime in Tehran and warn against any Soviet aggression towards the country.
Wednesday, December 5th, 1979: Two fighters, one Soviet and one US, collide while flying around each other (“shadowboxing”) along the Soviet-Iran border. This incident increases the alert level.
Thursday, December 6th, 1979: President Reagan dispatches Ambassador-at-Large Jim Baker to Guatemala, where Baker meets with President Efrain Rios Montt. An agreement to increase American military supply and support to the Guatemalan regime is reached, with President Rios Montt claiming that Cuban backed communist insurgents to be a continuing threat to the pro-American government in Guatemala City.
Friday, December 7th, 1979: Shahriar Shafiq, a nephew of the deposed Shah and cousin of the current Shah, is assassinated in Paris by an unknown gunman who followed him as he walked along the Rue de la Villa Dupont. The 34-year-old Iranian Prince’s assassin is not immediately identified by investigators.
Saturday, December 8th, 1979: The Louisiana gubernatorial runoff election is held.

1979 Louisiana Gubernatorial Election (Second Round)
(D) Fox McKeithen: 55.0%
(R) David Treen: 45.0%
(Democratic hold)
Sunday, December 9th, 1979: Elvis Presley concludes a three-day long revival service in Nashville, Tennessee. The “Weekend of Repentance,” which featured gospel performances by Presley, attracted tens of thousands of Christian worshipers.

The American Independence Party convention is held in Pasadena, California. The party nominates former Senator Orval Faubus of Arkansas for President, and former Congressman and recent gubernatorial candidate John Rarick of Louisiana for Vice President.

The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

Spanish Prime Minister Jamie Milans Del Bosch passes a resolution outlawing communication with external organizations by Spanish citizens. This leads to series of counter demonstrations and in turn to confrontations between demonstrators and police.
Monday, December 10th, 1979: The joint South African and Rhodesian Forces (the “National Resistance Alliance”) mounts a series of offensives through Botswana and into southern Zambia to “cleanse” the area of “resistance elements” in what becomes a brutal war of annihilation between the NRA and the opposing alliance of the ZPLF, Zambian National Army and Botswana National Army. Casualties are not published but are believed to be extensive on all sides. The NAR take advantage of air superiority while ZPLF receives increased support from the Soviet Bloc, along with Cuban troops in support positions. The five-month campaign sees the use of a huge number of chemical weapons by the NRA, which also practices a scorched Earth policy in enemy held areas, creating as a byproduct refugees from dislocation, together with epidemic break-outs in refugee camps and starvation. During this period a South African commando leader, Eugene de Kock, becomes infamous for leading some particularly brutal attacks against civilian areas. De Kock and another South African officer, Craig Williamson, become infamous for organizing death squads.

The result of this campaign is very little territorial change, but a great deal of destruction of once productive farmland, as well as the dislocation of refugees.

Tim Sebastian of BBC News, who makes a covert trip into the war zone to report, describes the scene as “Hell on Earth.” Sebastian compares much of what he sees to historical accounts of German activity on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, although some pro-South African lobbyists in the west accuse him of engaging in hyperbole and propaganda. Sebastian is later awarded a BAFTA award for his reports.

The South Africans are believed to be financing the campaign by selling diamonds and nuclear technology, principally to Pakistan and Israel. Israel is reported to be providing weapons and some logistical support. The South Africans are also importing all the mercenaries they can find around the world. The involvement of the Cubans with the ZPLF leads to an influx of anti-Castro Cuban exile volunteers. The South Africans also have at their disposal American and South Vietnamese mercenaries with long experience from the Vietnam War. Chile, also under international embargo, is also involved in trade with the South Africans.
Tuesday, December 11th, 1979: South African President Magnus Malan meets with Secretary of State Kirkpatrick in Cape Town, where Kirkpatrick offers the Reagan administrations quiet support for the recent offensive into Botswana and Zambia to root out ZPLF bases.
Wednesday, December 12th, 1979: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan attempts a coup against the government of President Kim Jong-pil.
Friday, December 14th, 1979: Rhodesia rebuffs the efforts of British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan to negotiate a cease-fire in the Southern Africa conflict.
Sunday, December 16th, 1979: Former President James Gavin leads an American delegation to Moscow to speak with Soviet leaders on behalf of the Reagan administration. The purpose of the Gavin talks is to prepare ground for an official agreement on how to defuse the confrontation in Iran. The reasoning for sending Gavin, rather than the Secretary of State or the Vice President, was that Gavin had an established rapport with the Soviet leadership and was viewed as a more friendly figure than his fiercely anti-communist successor.
Tuesday, December 18th, 1979: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi orders construction on the planned city of Palestinia to halt until Yasser Arafat adopts a more radical policy in regard to Israel. The Eastern Bloc style apartment buildings built in the new city end up sitting vacant for several months as Qaddafi increasingly looks to the PJO rather than the PLO to advance the Palestinian cause. Meanwhile, Palestinian refugees in Libya continue to live in tent camps and hastily erected shanty towns in Libya’s major cities, where grumbling over the lack of investment in the promised city of Palestinia increases.
Wednesday, December 19th, 1979: Siegfried Haag, a former lawyer and member of the Red Army Faction terrorist group in West Germany, is sentenced to 15 years in prison. He would be released seven years later because of illness.
Thursday, December 20th, 1979: Native American activist and 1976 Peace Party Vice Presidential candidate LaDonna Harris announces she will run for the Peace Party presidential nomination in 1980. Harris is not the only left-wing third-party candidate in the race; Professor Barry Commoner, the founder of the Ecology Party, is also pursuing the Presidency in 1980 as an environmentalist candidate.
Friday, December 21st, 1979: Rhodesian Prime Minister Ina Bursey proclaims the Republic of Rhodesia as “completely sovereign” and rejects any further “vestiges of colonial interference”’ from London.

Yasuhiro Nakasone, leader of the New Japan Party, takes office as Prime Minister of Japan after winning the national election. He forms the first non-LDP government in over two decades. The New Japan Party is a more hawkish and economically liberal party than the LDP and was propelled into power thanks to Japanese concern over war with China.
Sunday, December 23rd, 1979: White House Press Secretary Lynn Nofzinger confirms that Vice President Bush and Secretary of State Kirkpatrick will travel to Helinski, Finland, for high level talks with the Soviet Foreign Minister Zorin and Deputy Premier Ryzkov on December 26th. These "follow-up" discussions come after former President Gavin's visit to Moscow.
Tuesday, December 25th, 1979: The Reagan family celebrates Christmas at Camp David; the Vice President does the same with his family at the Naval Observatory, before leaving Washington that evening alongside Secretary of State Kirkpatrick on Air Force Two to travel to Helsinki, Finland.
Wednesday, December 26th, 1979: Vice President Bush and Secretary of State Kirkpatrick meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Zorin and Deputy Premier Ryzkov in Helsinki, where they work out a series of steps to defuse the tension along the Soviet-Iran border.
Thursday, December 27th, 1979: Rhodesian forces set fire to Lupane, literally burning the city to the ground to prevent it from being captured by the ZPLF forces.
Friday, December 28th, 1979: The People’s Liberation Army begins five days of live fire artillery drills outside of Hong Kong. Western intelligence analysts believe that the Chinese ruling troika led by Wang Dongxing and Wang Hongwen are trying to display strength to the outside world as they work to consolidate power within Red China.
Saturday, December 29th, 1979: Pressured by the United States Iranian Prime Minister Azhari concedes that Iranian forces acted with “undo haste” and without “proper consultation” before storming the Soviet Embassy. The Prime Minister promises an investigation will be conducted to determine how it occurred and to hold “any negligent parties responsible.”
Sunday, December 30th, 1979: A state funeral for Mao Yuanxin is held in Tiananmen Square, though the younger Mao’s corpse will not be embalmed and put on display (mainly because it was riddled with bullets). Wang Hongwen delivers the eulogy, and vows to continue the “eternal revolution.” The ceremony concludes with the burial of Mao Yuanxin's coffin and the playing of "The Internationale" before a nationwide moment of silence. There are growing reports trickling out of China being proliferated by defectors that claim a famine on par with the years of the Second World War and the Great Leap Forward is taking place in the countryside.
Monday, December 31st, 1979: Soviet news organizations make statements about the “recalcitrant nature” of the Iranian regime, but otherwise signal the Soviet government’s acceptance of Prime Minister Azhari’s statement. Soviet forces along the Soviet-Iran border begin de-mobilization.

New Gallup polling is released.

1980 Democratic Primaries (Nationwide).
Ted Kennedy: 37%
Reubin Askew: 20%
Jerry Brown: 15%
Jesse Jackson: 10%
Pat Robertson: 10%
Walter Mondale: 3%
Henry Jackson: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Cliff Finch: 1%
Henry Howell: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1980 Republican Primaries (Nationwide).
Ronald Reagan: 92%
Lowell Weicker: 7%
Harold Stassen: 1%

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

New Gallup polling is released.

1980 Democratic Primaries (Nationwide).
Ted Kennedy: 40%
Reubin Askew: 17%
Jerry Brown: 14%
Jesse Jackson: 11%
Pat Robertson: 10%
Walter Mondale: 3%
Henry Jackson: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Cliff Finch: 1%
Henry Howell: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1980 Republican Primaries (Nationwide).
Ronald Reagan: 92%
Lowell Weicker: 7%
Harold Stassen: 1%

Why are Jackson, Mondale, and Church all polling so badly, despite being household names, and pretty prominent Senators?

Kennedy is sucking up all of the air in the liberal side of the party, plus the electorate is in a more outsider/radical mood, so regional candidates (Askew) and radicals (Robertson & Jesse Jackson) are gaining more ground. People like Mondale, and particularly Henry Jackson, are considered old news by this point by a primary electorate that wants sweeping change.

I thought Church wanted to significantly reform the CIA and FBI irl...

He did, and was very involved in this timeline with similar goals. But on the whole, Church will be vindicated by history, not by the ballot box. Though he will win some primaries in 1980 too.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Coming up next: the 1980s! (I have decided to keep this as one continuing thread rather than splitting it up in volumes like originally planned).

Thanks to all the readers for keeping me encouraged and inspired to continue this project into it's second decade. We're about twelve posts away from the first ten year mark!

[hurricanehink]

There’s a lot more fear and loathing we all want to read about!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Tuesday, January 1st, 1980: New Years Day is celebrated around the world as the 1980s begins. Most Americans, according to polls, do not believe that the United States has emerged from the 1970s a stronger nation. In fact, according to Gallup, nearly 81% of Americans believe the country is worse off than it was in 1970.

Quebec Premier Rene Levesque confirms that an independence referendum will be conducted in the Francophone majority province on May 20th, resulting in the government of Prime Minister Peter Lougheed denouncing the Parti Quebecois government in the province for acting unilaterally.
Wednesday, January 2nd, 1980: At a press conference in London, British Labour Party MPs Barbara Castle and Tony Benn announced that they would lead a group of 21 Labour MPs in exiting the party, announcing the formation of the Socialist Labour Party, which they claim will govern to the left of the Labour Party if elected. Despite the largescale walkout of the Labour left, Prime Minister Healey’s majority in the House of Commons is not affected, and he continues on as Prime Minister despite Benn and Castle’s calls for a general election.
Thursday, January 3rd, 1980: The U.S. alert level returns of DEFCON 3. Meanwhile, Chinese troop movements near Hong Kong suggest a drawdown of PLA forces, which Secretary of National Intelligence Casey briefs President Reagan about. It is believed by the Department of National Intelligence and the CIA that the troops are being redeployed to China’s coastal cities, particularly Shanghai, which is a hotbed of radical Maoism and firmly under the control of the Red Guards.

Elections are held in India; the Janata Party, led by Ram Sundar Das, narrowly defeats the Indian National Congress in a close and tense election. The defeat of the Indian National Congress effectively stops Indira Gandhi from returning to power, though the Janata Party remains fractured along factional lines.
Friday, January 4th, 1980: The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which has been seriously damaged by the civil war in Lebanon and the growth of the PJO holds a “national congress” in Tunis, Tunisia, during which Yasser Arafat and the many in the leadership are criticized for allowing the PJO to form and for their co-operation with Phalangists (and the Israelis) during the Lebanese War.
Saturday, January 5th, 1980: North Korean state television increasingly begins airing footage of Kim Ill Sung, the longtime North Korean leader, with his son Kim Jong Ill. There is some speculation at the CIA and in South Korea that the younger Kim is being groomed for a role in the governing Workers Party ahead of the scheduled party congress in October.
Sunday, January 6th, 1980: The President of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is killed by the Mafia.
Monday, January 7th, 1980: The talks called by Terrence Boston, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, got under way at Stormont. As part of the wider Boston talks a constitutional conference was arranged at Stormont involving the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the Alliance Party (APNI). The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the newly formed Northern Ireland Freedom Party (NIFP) refused to take part in the conference. Boston conceded a parallel conference which would allow the SDLP to raise issues, in particular an 'Irish dimension', which were not covered by the original terms of reference. The DUP refused to get involved with the parallel conference, but the NIFP did send “observers."
Tuesday, January 8th, 1980: In Mecca, ten captured Iraqi soldiers who had been taken prisoners of war by the Ikhwan are publicly beheaded. In response, Iraqi forces deploy mustard gas against insurgents in the besieged village of Radifah. Both the beheadings and the retaliatory use of chemical weapons are widely condemned in the west.
Wednesday, January 9th, 1980: Senator Kennedy and former Governor Reubin Askew both hit the ground in Iowa as the caucuses loom, with the Reverend Pat Robertson harnessing the power of Iowa’s evangelical population and rural populists to propel his candidacy to the top of the polls in the Hawkeye State.
Friday, January 11th, 1980: George Meany, former President of the AFL-CIO, dies at the age of 85.

In the Khmer Republic (Cambodia) General Lon Non and Sisowath Sirik Matak overthrow an increasingly erratic President Lon Nol, who in turn is “shot while attempting to escape custody” and dies of his wounds several days later. (There is evidence that Lon Nol may have ordered the execution of his brother, and that this prompted Lon Non to act). Lon Non becomes the new President of the KR, with Siri Matak taking over the role of Prime Minister. The privileged position of the Reverend Moon and his followers in the country remains unchanged.
Saturday, January 12th, 1980: Father Ezzati organizes a series of general strikes against public transit across Spain. These strikes start out as protests against the rise in bus fares, but soon extend to protests against the government in general. Over the course of two months the street protests become an on-going general strike which all but shuts down Spain’s economy.

From the Vatican the Pope endorses the general strike but calls on the demonstrations to remain peaceful. Cardinals Vicente Enrique y Tarancón and Emilio Benavent Escuín in turn inform Prime Minister Milans that the Church will not endorse any violent action by the government against the protestors. While the Milans government attempts to keep these talks secret, word of their content leaks out, further emboldening the protest movement.
Sunday, January 13th, 1980: Ram Sundar Das is inaugurated as the next Prime Minister of India, taking office following the Janata Party’s narrow victory in the election held ten days earlier.

“The natural course of India has been capitalism, of course. In fact the Indian trader and businessman is a creature of the free market. Long before the Europeans were open capitalists, long before Adam Smith was ever born, India was a center of free market trading and economics. Perhaps you have heard of the Silk Road? It should come as no surprise that when the Europeans came here they were mercantilists, dedicated to creating great empires under state control, but when they left, they were free marketers. This enthusiasm for business and the free flow of goods they acquired here, in India. So when you say to me, how can I bring this foreign capitalism into India, I reply, no you have the question wrong. Capitalism and free markets are the birth right of India and so we shall embrace what has been ours all along.”

Monday, January 14th, 1980: Pat Robertson is endorsed for the Democratic presidential nomination by pro-life activist Ellen McCormack, who made a longshot presidential bid in 1976. Though the Democratic Party is increasingly pro-choice in their outlook on abortion, with the party implementing pro-Roe planks in the platform in 1976, Robertson’s candidacy has been a (perhaps frustrating) reminder to the liberal wing of the party that the forces that nominated Wallace and McKeithen are still powerful in the party.
Wednesday, January 16th, 1980: Friar Sergio Navia begins attracting followers in the rural provinces of Chile, where under his guidance peasants are beginning to resist the forces of the Pinochet government. Fr. Navia, a Dominican and eloquent speaker, is becoming a Liberation Theology revolutionary resisting the authoritarian regime in Santiago, Chile.
Thursday, January 17th, 1980: Abu Ali Mustafa of the PFLP is named to replace Yasser Arafat as the Chairman of the PLO, whose membership has become dissatisfied with the PLO leadership under Arafat. Mustafa’s main mission is to rebuild the PLO as a political and fighting force. Arafat himself is ironically retired to a quiet life in Libya, who has been a major benefactor of his opposition in the PJO.
Friday, January 18th, 1980: Chinese state radio announces that the People’s Liberation Army has arrested dozens of prominent members of the Red Guards for “anti-socialist deviation.” The PLA also moves into China’s most radical cities to disarm the Maoist militias, to prevent the followers of the late Mao Yuanxin from further plunging Red China into civil war.
Sunday, January 20th, 1980: Super Bowl XIV – Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Miami Dolphins (5-3) in the so-called “All Sunshine State Super Bowl.” (Also called “The Fruit Bowl” by some detractors).
Monday, January 21st, 1980: The Iowa caucuses are held.

1980 Iowa Democratic Caucus: 3,139 Precinct Delegates, 50 Delegates.
Pat Robertson: 27.49% - 862 votes, 19 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 26.15% - 820 votes, 18 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 15.62% - 490 votes, 13 delegates.
Walter Mondale: 10.27% - 322 votes.
Jerry Brown: 9.42% - 295 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 3.61% - 113 votes.
Henry Jackson: 2.28% - 71 votes.
Frank Church: 1.94% - 60 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.79% - 56 votes.
Henry Howell: 0.89% - 27 votes.
Cliff Finch: 0.54% - 16 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Pat Robertson: 19 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 18 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 13 delegates.

1980 Iowa Republican Caucus: 68,590 Votes, 38 Delegates.
Ronald Reagan: 82.29% - 56,442 votes, 38 delegates.
Uncommitted: 10.27% - 7,044 votes.
Lowell Weicker: 7.44% - 5,103 votes.

Republican Delegate Count:
Ronald Reagan: 38 delegates.
Tuesday, January 22nd, 1980: Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN) drops out of the presidential race after a disappointing fourth place showing in Iowa. Mondale, who harbors ambitions to one day serve as Senate Majority Leader, throws his endorsement to Senator Kennedy, whom he believes is the strongest liberal standard-bearer to take on President Reagan in 1980. Governor Cliff Finch, who only entered the race in early November, also drops out of the race after a last place performance in Iowa.
Wednesday, January 23rd, 1980: President Reagan delivers the State of the Union address in Washington before a joint session of Congress, in which he paints a picture of an increasingly unstable world, citing dangers lurking in Arabia, China, South Africa, and Central America. Reagan also announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics if the Soviet Union continues to finance and support international communist movements.
Thursday, January 24th, 1980: Anti-fascist protesters storm the Spanish embassy in Guatemala, angering the country’s authoritarian and anti-communist President Efran Rios Montt, who orders the military to open fire on the protesters whom he described as “red agitators” and “Marxist militants.”
Friday, January 25th, 1980: Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist, and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.
Sunday, January 27th, 1980: Declaring the “purification” of the revolution to be complete, Premier Wang Hongwen announces that the Chinese Communist Party will lead the People’s Republic through “the next step forward” – the phrase sticks as a description for the internal chaos of the PRC in the early 1980s and is the first (tacit) step away from the Cultural Revolution and imposed isolationism of the Mao eras. Chinese embassies are to be reopened in “fraternal” nations (i.e., socialist or communist regimes), particularly in neighboring nations like Burma, North Korea, and most consequentially, the Soviet Union. Diplomatic relations with Mongolia, North Vietnam, and Laos are not reestablished immediately.
Monday, January 28th, 1980: The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, backed by the Somali and Soviet regimes, manages to capture the provincial capital of Asmara. Led by 34-year-old Isaias Afwerki, the rebels turn their attention to capturing the critical port city of Massawa, which will allow them greater access to international support.
Wednesday, January 30th, 1980: Reports reach Hong Kong through Chinese defectors of a massive famine taking place in the countryside; the ruling Chinese troika is busily engaged with suppressing public discontent over food prices and rationing, with the state media broadcasts making no reference to the widespread hunger in rural China.
Thursday, January 31st, 1980: The White House confirms that President Reagan and General Secretary Andropov will meet again, this time in Geneva. French President Mitterrand, and Prime Ministers Lougheed (Canada), Healey (UK), Berlinguer (Italy) and Chancellor Khol (West Germany), along with their foreign and defense ministers and delegations from several other countries will attend this summit, which is set to address, among other issues, the apparent coup in China, the Iraqi occupation of eastern Arabia and Kuwait, and the Islamic revolution in the former Saudi Kingdom.

[anbarret]

Pat Robertson leading the Democratic nomination. Now this is a Gumboverse scenario!!!

[anbarret]

The real interesting question for this TL, which Drew implied may have been Reagan's fate if he was elected in 1976, is whether he will ironically get the Jimmy Carter treatment in this TL.

Unlike OTL 1984, the Gipper definitely won't be able to present a "Morning in America" narrative. The domestic economy is still tougher than OTL 1980 (and OTL 1984) and the foreign situation is MUCH more chaotic!

[anbarret]

Can China in this TL revert from "Pol Pot" to merely OTL Kim Dynasty North Korea?

If so, at least China won't be a chaos zone in the TTL 1980s like in the original Gumboverse.

[anbarret]

Interesting how in your scenario, unlike in the original Gumboverse, the assassination attempts on Princess Anne and Queen Elizabeth II fail.

Is George Lucas still alive at this point. In the original Gumboverse, he died in a motorcycle accident in 1976, resulting in Star Wars just being a Ralph Bakshi cartoon.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Pat Robertson leading the Democratic nomination. Now this is a Gumboverse scenario!!!

Thanks for the great comments and welcome to the forum! Yes, it's quite an early upset. Hard to imagine Pat Robertson a Democrat, but in this timeline, Wallace managed to keep the more populism inclined evangelicals in the Democratic Party. Reagan also ran more as a libertarian leaning conservative, who while strong on social issues, was still more concerned with economic policy as opposed to cultural issues.

Can China in this TL revert from "Pol Pot" to merely OTL Kim Dynasty North Korea?

If so, at least China won't be a chaos zone in the TTL 1980s like in the original Gumboverse.

The problem with the collapse of China in the original timeline is that America would not have the manpower to even occupy the coastal cities, so yes, China becomes more like the Kim dynasty (albeit without a single dynasty/bloodline in charge) as the more pragmatic radicals like Wang Hongwen reach ascendency. The Deng faction had been entirely liquidated by the Mad Mao by this point.

The real interesting question for this TL, which Drew implied may have been Reagan's fate if he was elected in 1976, is whether he will ironically get the Jimmy Carter treatment in this TL.

Unlike OTL 1984, the Gipper definitely won't be able to present a "Morning in America" narrative. The domestic economy is still tougher than OTL 1980 (and OTL 1984) and the domestic situation is MUCH more chaotic!

Yes! Reagan is on the verge of being the next Hoover, but there is still time to turn things around, especially if the Democrats screw the pooch. Stay tuned!

Interesting how in your scenario, unlike in the original Gumboverse, the assassination attempts on Princess Anne and Queen Elizabeth II fail.

Is George Lucas still alive at this point. In the original Gumboverse, he died in a motorcycle accident in 1976, resulting in Star Wars just being a Ralph Bakshi cartoon.

I felt like the royal family being slaughtered one by one was a bit overkill. I preserved the various incidents (Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen) but decided to keep them in place. In fact, the Queen will live through 2022 as in OTL (I don't mind spoiling this). This is in part due to my affinity for the late Queen, and also because I liked the idea of the Queen being a constant witness to history over the decades.

I honestly forgot if I killed Lucas off, I haven't really followed pop culture too closely. I think I did kill him off because I don't know enough about Star Wars to give my own interpretation of it.

[anbarret]

Reagan as the next Hoover. I wonder what the OTL neocons will think of that! (See the Project for A New American Century).

[anbarret]

Even if China avoids the post-Lesser Mao collapse and the US avoids the breakdown of the two-party system and the Rumsfeldia -CV period, it looks like India, Arabia, and South Africa are still collapsing into Chaos zones as in the original Gumboverse (Malan has come to power in this TL as well).

[Continential]

Yahweh ben Yahwho?

This guy.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yahweh ben Yahwho?

This guy.

Probably meets the same fate. Nothing too crazy. Chances are he'll really hate the President I have planned taking office in 1988.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Friday, February 1st, 1980: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands announces her intention to abdicate the throne in favor of her daughter Princess Beatrix, who is set to ascend to power as monarch on April 30th.
Saturday, February 2nd, 1980: President Reagan hosts President Mobuto of Zaire at the White House, where the two discuss the vitality of keeping the Soviet Union out of Africa. President Mobuto in particular warns President Reagan of Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi African ambitions, claiming that the Libyan leader seeks to spread his message of Islamic socialism and anti-western agenda across the third world.

The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot takes place; 33 inmates are killed, and more than 100 inmates injured.
Sunday, February 3rd, 1980: The FBI announces the conclusion of “Operation Abscam,” an FBI sting operation targeting corruption in Congress. A number of Congressmembers are reported to have been targeted in the operation, in which undercover agents posed as Arab businessmen offering bribes.
Monday, February 4th, 1980: Perhaps inspired by events in Iran and Guatemala, a crowd of rabid Qaddafi supporters storm the French embassy in Tripoli, Libya, after being egged on by the “Brother Leader” of Libya in a fiery anti-western speech.
Wednesday, February 6th, 1980: President Reagan, Soviet President Andropov, French President Mitterrand, and Prime Ministers Lougheed (Canada), Healey (UK), Berlinguer (Italy) and Chancellor Khol (West Germany), along with their foreign and defense ministers and delegations from several other countries meet at a summit in Geneva to discuss a common approach on the crisis over China, the Southern African War, and the Iraqi occupation of eastern Arabia.

It was clear from the outset that the Americans planned the Geneva summit as a cover for their aggressive policies. Though the Americans had collaborated with us over out of a common concern for security in Asia, it was clear from the Reagan administration’s aggressive actions to root out revolutionaries across the globe that they were no friend of the Soviet Union.

Iran had proved to be an embarrassment, and it was one we would not repeat. The Americans had crowed about their victory over so-called “Soviet aggression” in what had been our just and rightful move to avenge the insult that had been done to the Soviet people and our Revolution by the reactionary black ass bandits in Iran. If this was the path they wished to take, then we were more than ready to stand for recognition and respect against their so-called peace initiatives.

But China loomed larger over the summit than the brief debacle in Tehran; we had understood Lop Nur as a joint signal to the lunatic nephew of Mao that his time had come. Many hardliners in the Kremlin had stated at the time that the Americans would use it as an excuse to press their interest in re-colonizing the Chinese mainland, and in Reagan’s so-called security plan we saw just such a policy come into being. We were determined to prevent this, however odious the bandit regime in Peking was. There was hope in the Kremlin that the course of the Chinese Revolution could still be corrected with time, and the downfall of the younger Mao only seemed to boost this spirit of socialist optimism. Any further action against China, we argued, would be unreasonable and unjustified. The American President seemed to take our warning seriously, and all further discussion of regime change in Peking was dropped.

Africa and Iraq were separate matters. Africa was a principled struggle for freedom by oppressed people’s, who were throwing off the vestiges of colonial imperialism and its racist fellow traveler. There could be no question of compromise when the clear path forward was for the European colonizers to leave and restore to the native people their rightful lands. Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, acting as spokesman for the ailing Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, made this point clear in the round table discussions. The Soviet Union was happy to facilitate a series of talks through our fraternal ties with the revolutionary movements, but the goal of such talks could only be the liberation of Southern Africa. The fact that the imperialist powers could not get their colonial puppets to behave as they said they wished them too indicated either that the puppets were out of control, or that the imperialists were stalling. In either eventuality, entering into talks would be pointless if our fraternal allies were talking to those who had no control (or were unwilling to exercise it) over the other side. From this point an all out assault by the revolutionary forces seemed the better approach, to force the racist colonialists to the table by a strong revolutionary victory.

On Iraq there was more of a consensus, if only in all candor we were the ones with less control over our allies. The return of exploitive western oil companies was to be expected, as even Iraq did business with these pirates. Of course, as Nikolai Ivanovich argued ad nauseam, this opening would create an opportunity for our own state run petroleum unit to gain access to the Arabian fields through a commercial front of our own. Many of the old timers were skeptical of this sort of tilt toward capitalism, but Nikolai Ivanovich and his acolytes made the case that it would serve the national interest and secure our position in the Middle East in conjunction with our Iraqi allies. The proposal was mooted to do this through the proxy of several of our Eastern European comrades, so as to dilute the appearance of direct Soviet involvement, but in the long run we agreed to the French proposal to continue talks with the Iraqis while restoring the viability of the Arabian oil fields.

This was a time of great uncertainty for us, though we wished to disguise it from the imperialists. Yuri Vladimirovich was ill, a serious coronary episode had taken much out of him. Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov and Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov were now in ascendance, but even as they consolidated effective power, they were in disagreement amongst themselves over a number of issues. A hard line on China was Grigory Vasilyevich’s firm view, and it was necessary to placate hard-liners of the old generation who still clung to the past. Nikolai Ivanovich took the lead on Iraq, while together Viktor Georgiyevich and Grigory Vasilyevich pushed forward an African policy which would maintain our international revolutionary credentials, and one we could effectively pass on to Castro to implement with actual troops.

During Yuri Vladimirovich decline this kept the ship of state in balance, though it pleased few at Geneva, least of all the Americans.

Unknown, Behind the Fortress Walls., 1983
Friday, February 8th, 1980: President Reagan returns to Washington from Geneva, with the recent summit failing to achieve any substantial progress between the United States and Soviet Union towards the numerous global crises underway. The Geneva summit is widely seen as an international failure on the United States part, with the President’s intransigent attitude towards the Soviets being criticized by rivals Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Reverend Jackson as being dangerous.
Saturday, February 9th, 1980: At the Vatican Pope Pius XIII announces the foundation of the Papal Council for the Reclamation of Dignity in Human Affairs. “The Dignity Council” [DC] is widely regarded as the Pope’s efforts to involve the Church more directly in the political development of nations around the globe within the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The DC, with a specific vision of the Pope’s to help initiate a situation where popular democracies can be formed around Church views and values. Specifically the Pope’s vision is to offer an international network that will support a third way between the extremes of Liberation Theology and Marxism on the one side, and predatory capitalist economics on the other. Developments in Spain and the Basque Country are seen as the test cases for the DC and Pope Pius’ vision.

While the RC is lead by a Cardinal [Albino Luciani of Venice] who shares the Pope’s ideals on the matter, as a matter of status within the Church hierarchy, much of the development of the DC is lead by Fr. Ricardo Ezzati Andrello who is deeply involved in the Spanish project and will later be involved in ecclesiastical outreach by the Church.
Sunday, February 10th, 1980: Chancellor Roy Jenkins announces that state benefits for striking workers will no longer be paid to strikers. According to Jenkins it will be the responsibility of the Trades Unions themselves to take care of their striking members (this does not include their citizen benefits under National Health etc., just strike benefits). Barbara Castle, leader of the breakaway Socialist Labour Party, condemns the “betrayal” by Chancellor Jenkins and Prime Minister Healey.

The Maine caucuses are held. President Reagan wins the Republican caucus overwhelmingly, as Weicker’s campaign failed to make the ballot after submitting several petitions with unverifiable signatures on them.

1980 Maine Democratic Caucus: 33,326 Votes, 22 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 43.22% - 14,403 votes, 12 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 19.36% - 6,451 votes, 6 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 15.89% - 5,295 votes, 4 delegates.
Henry Jackson: 10.47% - 3,489 votes.
Henry Howell: 5.55% - 1,849 votes.
Pat Robertson:  2.26% - 753 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 1.41% - 469 votes.
Frank Church: 0.94% - 313 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.90% - 299 votes.
Tuesday, February 12th, 1980: Walter Cronkite announces he will retire from CBS in 1981; the network confirms that Dan Rather will replace him as the anchor of their nightly news broadcast.
Wednesday, February 13th, 1980: The 1980 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid; the summer games are scheduled to take place later in the year in Moscow.
Friday, February 15th, 1980: Yasser Arafat is found dead in his apartment in Tunis, apparently from natural causes, though it is widely suspected amongst the Palestinian diaspora that Arafat was assassinated by the Mossad. He is later given a state funeral and buried in Tunis, where numerous Palestinian Liberation Organization figures have settled in exile.
Saturday, February 16th, 1980: With the assistance of Toureg allies, the PJO (Palestinian Jihad Organization), and the army, President Sekou Bamako declares Mali to be an Islamic Republic.

At the Fianna Fáil (FF) conference in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Charles Haughey, then the new Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), called for a joint initiative, on behalf of the British and Irish governments, to try to find a political solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Israeli jets manage to drop several bombs on Arafat’s funeral in Tunis. Israel is condemned for this action while the United States is condemned by many nations for allowing it to happen. (The Israelis had to re-fuel over the Mediterranean and the U.S. was almost certainly aware of this activity as it was happening but did nothing to prevent it).
Sunday, February 17th, 1980: The United Nations Security Council approves a resolution which requires Spain not to invade or use military force against the Basque country. The resolution stops well short of recognizing Basque independence. A group of UN observer troops drawn from Finland, Fiji, Canada, Mexico, and India are set-up to provide border security for the Basque Republic along its borders with Spain.
Monday, February 18th, 1980: With just over a week to go ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Kennedy campaign goes into full gear, with the Massachusetts Senator and the Democratic frontrunner spending the next seven days on the ground in the Granite State. Knowing that a defeat in the New Hampshire primary could cripple his campaign, Kennedy spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on television, radio, and print advertisements.
Tuesday, February 19th, 1980: AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott dies from alcohol poisoning in the backseat of a car in South London.
Wednesday, February 20th, 1980: Former Senator Lowell Weicker (R-CT) again challenges President Reagan to debate him ahead of the Republican primary. Reagan refuses to debate Weicker, instead choosing to ignore his primary challenge all together as Nixon had done when facing Congressmen Ashbrook and McCloskey in 1972.
Friday, February 22nd, 1980: Actress Jodi Foster endorses Reverend Jesse Jackson for President while appearing on the Tonight Show to promote her latest film. An obsessed fan named John Hinckley Jr. watches this interview at his parent’s home in Colorado and becomes determined to shoot a politician (either Reagan or Kennedy) in order to impress Foster, taking inspiration from the 1976 film Taxi Driver starring Foster. Hinckley was also inspired by the actions of Mark David Chapman, the so-called Democrat Killer, who stalked Washington area Democratic politicians in the mid-1970s.
Sunday, February 24th, 1980: The New Hampshire Union Leader endorses President Reagan and Senator Jackson (D-WA) in their respective primaries as New Hampshire prepares to vote on Tuesday.

A coup in Suriname ousts the government of Henck Arron; coup ringleaders Desi Bouterse and Roy Horb replace the previous government with a National Military Council.
Tuesday, February 26th, 1980: The 1980 New Hampshire primaries are conducted.

1980 New Hampshire Democratic Primary: 111,595 Votes, 20 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 51.56% - 57,538 votes, 14 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 15.90% - 17,743 votes, 6 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 9.42% - 10,512 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 5.86% - 6,539 votes.
Henry Jackson: 5.51% - 6,148 votes.
Henry Howell: 4.69% - 5,233 votes.
Pat Robertson: 3.39% - 3,783 votes.
Frank Church: 2.45% - 2,734 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.22% - 1,361 votes.

1980 New Hampshire Republican Primary: 89,426 Votes, 23 Delegates.
Ronald Reagan: 67.09% - 59,995 votes, 15 delegates.
Lowell Weicker: 32.66% - 29,206 votes, 8 delegates.
Harold Stassen: 0.20% - 223 votes.
Virgil Lee Griffin: 0.05% - 44 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 44 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 19 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 19 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 10 delegates.
Wednesday, February 27th, 1980: After a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary, Senator Henry Jackson (D-WA) suspends his presidential campaign and endorses Senator Kennedy. Jackson, a leading hawk in Washington and one of the most inflexible anti-communist members of the Democratic Party, had previously mounted unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1972 and 1976.

The INLA attempts to assassinate Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Terrence Boston with a bomb planted next to the roadway he uses to travel from the airport to Stormont. A faulty detonator causes the bomb to go off after Boston’s car has passed the spot. The bomb kills two security force escorts but leaves the Secretary unharmed.
Thursday, February 28th, 1980: Chinese state radio announces that Li Xiannian, one of the last surviving “eight elders” of the Communist Party of China, has been appointed as Chairman of the Presidium (head of state) of the People’s Republic of China. The position had been vacant since 1978, when Jiang Qiang (who previously held the position of head of state under the title of President) had been purged by Mao Yuanxin. China’s new ruling clique has yet to reveal the actual fate of the late Mao Yuanxin, whose mysterious death continues to be the source of immense speculation inside China and out.

The Basque National Council – an interim government for the Basque area, calls on the ETA (the armed Basque Nationalist/Terrorist group) to lay down arms and integrate into a peaceful political process.
Friday, February 29th, 1980: Former Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon dies at the age of 61.

Former Senator Lowell Weicker (R-CT) abandons his primary challenge to President Reagan after a disappointing showing in the New Hampshire primary. Weicker does not immediately endorse President Reagan, but states firmly that he is opposed to Senator Kennedy as well. There is some speculation that the former Senator might mount an independent presidential campaign, which could severely hamper the President’s reelection effort. Weicker does not comment on the rumored independent candidacy.

[anbarret]

It would certainly be an interesting plot device if Ted Kennedy was nominated in 1980 and successfully defeated Reagan only to be successfully assassinated by John Hinkley Jr in 1981 (that would really send Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories through the roof)!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Saturday, March 1st, 1980: One of the leaders of the PJO, Mahmoud al-Zahar, meets with Colonel Qaddafi in Libya to sign an agreement for mutual recognition and trade. (Al-Zahar is one of a collective leadership of the PJO, a shadowy group whose complete membership is largely unknown in the West. Al-Zahar appears to function as the foreign minister for the group).

Over the spring and summer of 1980 the PJO influenced regime in Mali begins to encroach on the territory of Mauritania and Niger, spreading Islamic revolutionary ideals in both countries. At this point the PJO is being armed and financed in part by Qaddafi, who has made a deal with the PJO that in essence allows it to attack any other Arab or non-Arab state it wishes, as long as it leaves Libya alone. Qaddafi may also be using the PJO to carry-out his personal foreign policy without any obvious Libyan state involvement. (This alliance is not ideological, since there are great differences between Qaddafi’s quasi-socialist philosophies and the Islamist PJO, this is strictly a pragmatic partnership for the PJO).
Sunday, March 2nd, 1980: At the request of King Felipe VI of Spain, the deposed former King Juan Carlos (the teenage King’s father) returns to Spain to act as his son’s regent. Juan Carlos replaces King Felipe’s Falangist regents who are dismissed from royal service. The Prime Minister threatens to resign from office in protest of the former King's defacto return to power.
Monday, March 3rd, 1980: Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) is heckled by supporters of Lyndon LaRouche while campaigning in his native Massachusetts over the Chappaquiddick incident of 1969; Kennedy is forced to prematurely abandon a campaign stump speech at a rally in Boston due to the aggressive nature of LaRouche’s supporters.

Australia’s federal election results in Labor Party Prime Minister Bill Hayden continuing in office with a plurality of 63 seats, just one shy of a majority. The Hayden government continues in office after managing to obtain the support of the Democratic Labor Party.
Tuesday, March 4th, 1980: Primaries are held in Massachusetts and Vermont.

1980 Massachusetts Democratic Primary: 907,314 Votes, 112 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 76.30% - 692,280 votes, 112 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 9.80% - 88,916 votes.
Jerry Brown: 3.75% - 34,024 votes.
Reubin Askew: 3.11% - 28,217 votes.
Henry Howell: 2.87% - 26,039 votes.
Pat Robertson: 1.64% - 14,879 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.36% - 12,339 votes.
Frank Church: 1.17% - 10,615 votes.

1980 Vermont Democratic Primary: 39,150 Votes, 13 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 61.28% - 23,991 votes, 13 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 20.55% - 8,045 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 7.89% - 3,088 votes.
Reubin Askew: 3.33% - 1,303 votes.
Henry Howell: 2.77% - 1,084 votes.
Pat Robertson: 1.62% - 634 votes.
Frank Church: 1.51% - 591 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.05% - 411 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 169 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 19 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 19 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 10 delegates.
Wednesday, March 5th, 1980: Tomás Ó Fiaich, then Catholic Primate of Ireland, and Edward Daly, then Bishop of Derry, held a meeting with Terrence Boston, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to express their concerns about conditions within the Maze Prison. A former chairman of the Peace People, Peter McLachlan, resigned from the organization.

Secretary of State Jeanne Kirkpatrick undertakes a five nation African tour of Gabon, Zaire, Malawi, Botswana, and Zambia in an effort to develop a consensus for moving to a “post-colonial reality” in Southern Africa. The real purpose of her trip is to inform these relatively pro-Washington nations (spare Zambia) that the Reagan administration will take a hardline approach to communist activity in the region.
Thursday, March 6th, 1980: In an interview with former White House Press Secretary Roger Mudd on CBS, Senator Kennedy adeptly tackles a number of questions ranging from the Chappaquiddick controversy to why he is running for President. The widely watched broadcast boosts the Democratic electorates confidence in Kennedy as the best chance to restore Democratic rule to the White House.

Fr. Errazuriz organizes an event in New York hosted by Cardinal Cooke (at Vatican request) to bring together overseas Basque supporters to bring money and technical aid to the nascent Basque nation. Among the prominent Diaspora supporters include Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-NV), Ted Williams (retired Major League Baseball player), Roberto Goizueta (President of Coca-Cola), and descendants of the Nobel Laureate Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (Gabriela Mistral). The Basque International Fund is set-up to lobby for support for the Basque Republic with world governments and to raise funds for the Basque Republic.
Saturday, March 8th, 1980: The Soviet Union’s first rock festival takes place in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Sunday, March 9th, 1980: With the “Super Tuesday” primaries nearing, Senator Kennedy continues to capitalize on his momentum as the frontrunner, with the race for second place growing increasingly heated. Reverend Jackson, Reverend Robertson, and former Governor Askew meanwhile find themselves locked in a three-way battle for the south’s delegates to the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Monday, March 10th, 1980: Governor Fox McKeithen, having his eyes already focused on the future, endorses Senator Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. Fox McKeithen, the son of the Democratic 1972 presidential nominee, is hoping to be named to the Democratic ticket in 1980 and endorses Kennedy primarily out of political convenience.

George Wallace endorses Pat Robertson ahead of the Alabama primary, citing his “sincere faith” and “belief in truth, redemption, and justice” as the reasoning for his decision. Wallace’s decision to endorse Robertson over Askew is largely based on the two southern Governor’s mutual disdain for one another going back to the 1976 Democratic primary race.
Tuesday, March 11th, 1980: Super Tuesday primaries are held.

1980 Alabama Democratic Primary: 238,722 Votes, 47 Delegates.
Pat Robertson: 52.24% - 124,708 votes, 47 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 18.34% - 43,781 votes.
Reubin Askew: 10.01% - 23,896 votes.
Edward Kennedy: 9.87% - 23,561 votes.
Jerry Brown: 3.22% - 7,686 votes.
Henry Howell: 3.14% - 7,495 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 2.10% - 5,013 votes.
Frank Church: 1.08% - 2,578 votes.

1980 Delaware Democratic Caucus: 176 Precinct Delegates, 16 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 55.69% - 99 votes, 16 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 12.46% - 21 votes.
Reubin Askew: 10.82% - 19 votes.
Jerry Brown: 9.67% - 17 votes.
Henry Howell: 7.21% - 12 votes.
Pat Robertson: 2.15% - 4 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.37% - 2 votes.
Frank Church: 1.63% - 2 votes.

1980 Florida Democratic Primary: 1,099,069 Votes, 98 Delegates.
Reubin Askew: 53.90% - 592,398 votes, 98 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 20.98% - 230,584 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 10.72% - 117,820 votes.
Pat Robertson: 7.88% - 86,606 votes.
Jerry Brown: 3.64% - 40,006 votes.
Henry Howell: 1.45% - 15,936 votes.
Frank Church: 0.87% - 9,561 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.56% - 6,154 votes.

1980 Georgia Democratic Primary: 384,780 Votes, 63 Delegates.
Reubin Askew: 36.78% - 141,522 votes, 32 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 34.34% - 132,133 votes, 31 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 12.20% - 46,943 votes.
Edward Kennedy: 10.57% - 40,671 votes.
Jerry Brown: 3.00% - 11,543 votes.
Henry Howell: 2.47% - 9,504 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.09% - 4,194 votes.
Frank Church: 0.55% - 2,116 votes.

1980 Oklahoma Democratic Caucus: 5,913 Votes, 42 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 37.20% - 2,199 votes, 22 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 33.85% - 2,001 votes, 20 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 14.41% - 852 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 6.10% - 360 votes.
Jerry Brown: 4.13% - 244 votes.
Henry Howell: 2.35% - 138 votes.
Frank Church: 1.06% - 62 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.90% - 53 votes.

1980 Washington Democratic Caucus: 5,241 Precinct Delegates, 59 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 43.57% - 2,283 votes, 37 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 20.11% - 1,053 votes, 22 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 10.50% - 550 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 7.74% - 405 votes.
Frank Church: 6.29% - 329 votes.
Pat Robertson: 5.46% - 286 votes.
Henry Howell: 4.89% - 256 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 1.44% - 75 votes.

1980 Wyoming Democratic Caucus: 219 Precinct Delegates, 12 Delegates.
Frank Church: 29.52% - 64 votes, 4 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 21.36% - 46 votes, 3 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 17.22% - 37 votes, 2 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 15.77% - 34 votes, 2 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 10.22% - 22 votes, 1 delegate.
Henry Howell: 3.95% - 9 votes.
Jesse Jackson:  1.05% - 2 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.91% - 1 vote.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 225 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 197 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 175 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 12 delegates.
Frank Church: 4 delegates.
Wednesday, March 12th, 1980: Former Virginia Governor Henry Howell suspends his presidential campaign and endorses Governor Askew.
Thursday, March 13th, 1980: Armed men, later discovered to be Loyalists paramilitary members, attempt to shoot their way into a conference on Northern Ireland hosted by Secretary Terrence Boston. They are unsuccessful as several are killed by British security forces and the remainder wounded and captured.

A crowd converges on the Royal Palace of Madrid, encircling it with protestors. This soon becomes the focus of the general strike.
Friday, March 14th, 1980: Former Congressman Allard Lowenstein (D-NY) is shot to death by a mentally ill friend named John Sweeney inside his law firm’s Manhattan office.
Sunday, March 16th, 1980: The British war ship HMS Cleopatra is attacked and sunk by Chinese patrol boats in the Pearl River estuary. 50 sailors are killed in the attack, which forces the Allied force in Hong Kong into a status of high alert.
Monday, March 17th, 1980: The night before the Illinois Presidential primary, Senator Ted Kennedy is a passenger in a car which swerves to avoid another vehicle subsequently hits another vehicle. Taken to hospital, a semi-conscious Kennedy is found to have a blood alcohol level three times over the legal limit and traces of cocaine are found on his clothing.

Kennedy’s drinking and the fact that he was involved in another major accident involving alcohol and an automobile revive memories of Chappaquiddick ten years before. Lost in the immediate sensation of this publicity is the fact that while Kennedy was intoxicated, he was not driving the car, and may in fact have been sleeping in the back seat when the accident occurred.
Tuesday, March 18th, 1980: British and Canadian planes out of Hong Kong bomb a Chinese naval facility from which the patrol boats that sank the HMS Cleopatra were based.

The Illinois Primary is held.

1980 Illinois Democratic Primary: 1,201,067 Votes, 181 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 53.18% - 638,727 votes, 181 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 39.24% - 471,298 votes.
Reubin Askew: 3.45% - 41,436 votes.
Jerry Brown: 2.19% - 26,303 votes.
Pat Robertson: 1.14% - 13,692 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.80% - 9,608 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 406 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 197 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 175 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 12 delegates.
Frank Church: 4 delegates.
Wednesday, March 19th, 1980: Ahead of the Virginia Democratic caucuses, Reubin Askew and Pat Robertson find themselves locked in a war with one another ahead of the contest. Robertson accuses Askew of “towing the line of death” (a reference to his alleged position on abortion – Askew, like Robertson, was pro-life). Askew is forced to firmly state his position on abortion as a result for the first time, and though his comments are enough to appease conservative pro-life Democrats, they also alienate liberals and moderates who were looking towards the former Florida Governor as an alternative to Kennedy.
Friday, March 21st, 1980: General Inaldo, Chief of the Spanish Armed Forces, informs Prime Minister Milans that his troops will remain in the barracks and that he cannot further support the government. Urged on by the military Bishop Cardinal Benavent, General Inaldo rejects a Chilean style coup as a resolution to the situation.
More of March + April coming tonight.

[Prez_zf]

I'm surprised "mini-chappaquidick" didn't hurt Kennedy that much...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm surprised "mini-chappaquidick" didn't hurt Kennedy that much...

It happened so close to the primary that the full facts of the situation probably wouldn’t be made available to voters. This is before 24/7 cable news so scandals take some time to sink in.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Sunday, March 23rd, 1980: The Virginia Democratic Party caucuses are held.

1980 Virginia Democratic Primary: 1,938 Precinct Delegates, 64 Delegates.
Pat Robertson: 35.86% - 694 votes, 26 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 30.21% - 585 votes, 22 delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 20.04% - 388 votes, 16 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 10.75% - 208 votes.
Jerry Brown: 1.30% - 25 votes.
Frank Church: 1.30% - 25 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.54% - 10 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 422 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 223 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 197 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 12 delegates.
Frank Church: 4 delegates.
Monday, March 24th, 1980: Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador. At his funeral six days later, a further 42 people are killed amid gunfire and bombs. Right-wing death squads are believed to be behind the assassination and subsequent massacre at his funeral.
Tuesday, March 25th, 1980: Hoping to salvage some vestige of the peace process in Ireland the Healey government announces that it will continue the policy of special status for Republican prisoners in the North. Although there had been a plan to end special status, the jailers became concerned that the prisoners would mount some loud protest which might de-rail or complicate political efforts. The Prime Minister reluctantly agreed that now was not the time to shake the pot.

Primaries are held in New York and Connecticut.

1980 Connecticut Democratic Primary: 210,275 Votes, 54 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 67.89% - 142,755 votes, 54 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 16.45% - 34,590 votes.
Jerry Brown: 9.42% - 19,807 votes.
Jesse Jackson: 3.25% - 6,833 votes.
Pat Robertson: 1.18% - 2,481 votes.
Frank Church: 1.12% - 2,355 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.69% - 1,450 votes.

1980 New York Democratic Primary: 989,062 Votes, 286 Delegates.
Edward Kennedy: 51.28% - 507,190 votes, 184 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 22.45% - 222,044 votes, 102 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 15.40% - 152,315 votes.
Jerry Brown: 6.23% - 61,618 votes.
Pat Robertson: 2.25% - 22,253 votes.
Frank Church: 1.91% - 18,891 votes.
Lyndon LaRouche: 0.48% - 4,747 votes.

Democratic Delegate Count:
Edward Kennedy: 422 delegates.
Pat Robertson: 223 delegates.
Reubin Askew: 197 delegates.
Jesse Jackson: 102 delegates.
Jerry Brown: 12 delegates.
Frank Church: 4 delegates.
Thursday, March 27th, 1980: The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
Friday, March 28th, 1980: The general strike in Spain worsens as the crowds surrounding the Royal Palace in Madrid swell to larger and larger sizes by the day. With troops refusing to crack down on the protesters, the Prime Minister’s authority crumbles as the country’s regent and former monarch Juan Carlos looks towards a post-Falange era in Spain.
Saturday, March 29th, 1980: Jesse Owens dies at 66 in Tucson, Arizona after a battle with lung cancer. The famed Olympian was best remembered for his performance during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Monday, March 31st, 1980: Faced with the inability to govern, Regent Juan Carlos asks Prime Minister Milans to resign. With little support, and military and police increasingly reluctant to use force against increasingly larger crowds of protestors encircling the royal palace, the Prime Minister resigns and decides to flee into exile in Chile.

Juan Carlos appears before the protesting crowds surrounding the Royal Palace of Madrid and announces that “forty years of Falangist government has ended.” Sustained cheering, which goes on for several hours, drowns the rest of his speech out.

[username5243]

Ted Kennedy is clearly the frontrunner, though the question is can he get enough delegates to avoid yet another contested convention. I still think he (or any Dem, aside from maybe of Pat Robertson somehow gets nominated) is probably favored at this point. We have an unpopular president and no major third parties to mess thing up. I read through the original thread's 1980 election posts recently and they reminded me how Drew basically portrayed Rumsfeld as winning only because of so much third-party vote (and Rumsfeld even lost the popular vote). But the only reason third parties got so strong there was because people were alienated from successive terms of both big parties failing to do anything, which you don't have here - I'd expect it to take longer before a third party or independent to do as well as some of them in Drew's 1980 did, although one at some point doing well is probably likely (see: OTL 1992).

Actually, now that I say that: if you're still taking "where are they now?" requests, what's Ross Perot up to?