President Forever results thread...

[dercook]

Played a fan-made 1860 scenario as Breckinridge/Lane of the Southern Democrats.

 
303 EV, 152 to win
Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) / Hannibal Hamlin (R-ME) - 141 EV, 29.5%
John C. Breckinridge (SD-KY) / Joseph Lane (SD-OR) - 118 EV, 30.6%
Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL) / Herschel V. Johnson (D-GA) - 44 EV, 24.5%
John Bell (CU-TN) / Edward Everett (CU-MA) - 0 EV, 14.8%
Liberty Party - 0.6%

Won the popular vote, prevented Bell from getting any EV, and denied Lincoln an electoral majority thanks to Douglas taking NY, although Lincoln was ultimately chosen by the Congress anyway. Might've got Pennsylvania if I'd focused on it earlier. Still an enjoyable game. Note: The split of EV in NJ was not simulated.

[dercook]

1844 as Clay/Frelinghuysen of Whigs

275 EV, 138 to win
Henry Clay (W-KY) / Theodore Frelinghuysen (W-NY) - 204 EV, 50.1% ✔
James K. Polk (D-TN) / George M. Dallas (D-PA) - 71 EV, 47%
James G. Birney (L-MI) / Thomas Morris (L-OH) - 0 EV, 2.9%

Strangely won several Deep South states which I don't think would be historically possible - Clay was disliked in that region. Fun game anyways.

[dercook]

1912 as Roosevelt/Johnson of Progressives (Bull Moose)

531 EV, 266 to win
Theodore Roosevelt (P-NY) / Hiram W. Johnson (P-CA) - 435 EV, 47.9% ✔
Woodrow Wilson (D-NJ) / Thomas R. Marshall (D-IN) - 96 EV, 31.7%
William Howard Taft (R-OH) / Nicolas Butler (R-NY) - 0 EV, 16.3%
Eugene V. Debs (S-IN) / Emil Seidel (S-WI) - 0 EV, 4%

Was on the brink of losing Pennsylvania in the first half, but the result turned out to be better than expected. Deprived Taft of any EV, and somehow penetrated the Solid South (Arkansas not voting Democrats?!). Fun game.

[dercook]

1920 as Cox/FDR

531 EV, 266 to win
James M. Cox (D-OH) / Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-NY) - 270 EV, 50.8% ✔
Warren G. Harding (R-OH) / Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) - 261 EV, 47.3%
Eugene V. Debs (S-IN) / Seymour Stedman (S-IL) - 0 EV, 1.9%

[dercook]

1896 as Bryan/Sewall

447 EV, 224 to win
William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) / Arthur Sewall (D-ME) - 230 EV, 46.8%✔
William McKinley (R-OH) / Garret A. Hobart (R-NJ) - 217EV, 51.2%
National Democrats - 0.8%
Prohibition - 1.2%

This and 1920 were quite close, since historically Republicans had huge advantages. For this one, I even stepped out of the traditional Democrat safe zone in light of previous defeats for trying to hold the South and the mountain states. The result was a mess, with both parties getting states that would've been improbable to carry in that era - McKinley invaded my Solid South and almost got Arkansas and Georgia, while I narrowly broke through a number of industrial states. A slim electoral win with an almost 5% popular vote loss. Intense.

[dercook]

1880 as Hancocks/English

369 EV, 185 to win
Winfield Scott Hancocks (D-PA) / William Hayden English (D-IN) - 188 EV, 49.5%✔
James Garfield (R-OH) / Chester Arthur (R-NY) - 181 EV, 46.5%
James Weaver (G-IA) / Barzillai Jefferson Chambers (G-TX) - 0 EV, 4%

Another close one.

[dercook]

Lincoln/Hamlin 1860

303 EV, 152 to win
Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) / Hannibal Hamlin (R-ME) - 186 EV, 45.9% ✔
John Bell (CU-TN) / Edward Everett (CU-MA) - 70 EV, 13.7%
John C. Breckinridge (SD-KY) / Joseph Lane (SD-OR) - 38 EV, 15.5%
Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL) / Herschel V. Johnson (D-GA) - 9 EV, 24.9%

Got Delaware, and Bell did quite well in the South.

[dercook]

Replaying Breckinridge/Lane 1860 (see #3138)

303 EV, 152 to win
John C. Breckinridge (SD-KY) / Joseph Lane (SD-OR) - 154 EV, 26.4% ✔
Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) / Hannibal Hamlin (R-ME) - 138 EV, 36.5%
Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL) / Herschel V. Johnson (D-GA) - 11 EV, 24.7%
John Bell (CU-TN) / Edward Everett (CU-MA) - 0 EV, 12.4%

Won the election outright while getting 10% fewer popular votes than Lincoln.

[dercook]

Replaying Bryan/Sewall 1896

447 EV, 224 to win
William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) / Arthur Sewall (D-ME) - 238 EV, 52.2% ✔
William McKinley (R-OH) / Garret A. Hobart (R-NJ) - 209 EV, 45.5%
National Democrats - 0.9%
Prohibition - 1.3%

Got 8 more EV than last time.

Seems the viable way to win as the Great Commoner is not to be a commoner. How ironic.

[dercook]

Re-replaying Bryan/Sewall 1896

447 EV, 224 to win
William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) / Arthur Sewall (D-ME) - 230 EV, 52.3% ✔
William McKinley (R-OH) / Garret A. Hobart (R-NJ) - 217 EV, 45.3%
National Democrats - 0.9%
Prohibition - 1.6%

Was sweating as Indiana turned Rep at almost the last minute. Swung Michigan by little over a thousand votes -- wasn't in my plan at all.

Seems, again, trying to hold the west and south while winning the election is out of the question. It's a pain even when you only focus on NY and the midwest.