AHC: A president who wins all 50 states and the District of Columbia

[Mort the Reaper]

In light of the current as of this writing nail-biter of an election, I'd like to propose a challenge for something that's basically the polar opposite: a presidential candidate who carries all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

 

[Truenorth14]

you would need some kind of hitler like figure on one side or election fraud of the highest order

 

[naraic]

In light of the current as of this writing nail-biter of an election, I'd like to propose a challenge for something that's basically the polar opposite: a presidential candidate who carries all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Well if you swing 2k Mondale voters in minnesota Regan wins 50 states.

But dc is another thing.

 

[overoceans]

Closest we've had is Reagan. But even if he had run against a Democrat who was not particularly popular in his own state, it seems highly unlikely to me that a Republican of our era could win DC.

And there will always be enough southern states voting against Democrats to make it an impossibility.

 

[Intergallactic]

1976 the economy doesn’t recover as well, Jimmy Carter doesn’t make his playboy gaffes and Ford stays unlikeable due to his Nixon pardon.

 

[kholieken]

What about usual "dead girl or live boy" ?

 

[Brundlefly]

If could be done with a serious and successful third-party candidate, who spoils one of the candidates in his/her core states. Maybe even put in a fourth one who performs relatively well, like at the 1912 POTUS elections.

I wonder if it's possible to have a candidate who wins the popular vote, but only one state - Mondale in reverse, basically.

 

[Nivek]

Not even St Reagan pulled it...washington don't count as was before the requirements

 

[GuildedAgeNostalgia]

1) 1932
- FDR should be able to win in PA, DE, NM, and CT. Getting victories in VT and ME might be hard though.

2) 1964 election
- George Wallace runs as a independent four years early, splitting the conservative vote in the 5 southern states that Johnson lost between Wallace and Goldwater, allowing Johnson to win.

 

[David T]

2) 1964 election
- George Wallace runs as a independent four years early, splitting the conservative vote in the 5 southern states that Johnson lost between Wallace and Goldwater, allowing Johnson to win.

Wallace was not going to run third party as long as Goldwater voted against the civil rights act. And if Goldwater did vote for the act and Wallace did run third party, Wallace would easily get far more votes than LBJ and Goldwater combined in AL and MS at least. and probably in other Deep South states as well.

 

[Alternator]

Fifty states means this is 1960 or later, so there's no option for FDR to win even harder in 1932.

Given that time limit, I honestly think we're looking at "Eat a baby on live television" level scandal, and right before the election.

 

[farmerted555]

Does winning all 50 plus DC mean all electors therein? I imagine there would be a few who would not choose the candidate out of respect for General Washington.

 

[Thisisnotausername]

50 states is easy: just have Reagan get 0.2% more of the vote in Minnesota in 1984. DC is the main problem, as the path to a 50 state Democratic sweep isn't as obvious as the path to a Republican one, and Republicans have never come even remotely close to winning there. You'd need something seriously weird to get DC to vote for the Republican, like multiple major third party spoilers and/or serious electoral malfeasance.

 

[Mort the Reaper]

50 states is easy: just have Reagan get 0.2% more of the vote in Minnesota in 1984. DC is the main problem, as the path to a 50 state Democratic sweep isn't as obvious as the path to a Republican one, and Republicans have never come even remotely close to winning there. You'd need something seriously weird to get DC to vote for the Republican, like multiple major third party spoilers and/or serious electoral malfeasance.

IIRC, Reagan was so close to winning in Minnesota that a recount might've tipped the balance in his favor. Some members of his campaign wanted one, but Reagan decided against it because he thought it would've been kicking Mondale while he was down.

As for the District of Columbia... maybe Mondale or somebody associated with him does something that offends them specifically?

 

[Red_Neptune]

This is probably ASB, but the best way is for Bob Dole to die before 1996 and the Republican primaries to be a really contentious fight that results in the nomination of either a Democrat-lite or a hard-right candidate without much appeal to moderates. The Republican Party splits and one of its factions runs an independent candidacy. And with Perot in the mix, Clinton is able to win the South and Indiana (where OTL he was really close). In the Western states, there needs to be some kind of clean split that in turn allows Clinton to win with 30-40% of the vote. Again, it's probably ASB (Republicans were quite united in 1996), but probably the best way.

 

[Derek Jackson]

What if September 11th was planned diffently. Hitting The White House and Congress. Secretary Powell abroad at the time

He seeks to bring America together

Seeks and obtains both parties nominations.

 

[Thisisnotausername]

What if September 11th was planned diffently. Hitting The White House and Congress. Secretary Powell abroad at the time

He seeks to bring America together

Seeks and obtains both parties nominations.

I really don't think there's anything you could do to make the post-9/11 spirit of national unity last all the way until 2004.

 

[David T]

IIRC, Reagan was so close to winning in Minnesota that a recount might've tipped the balance in his favor. Some members of his campaign wanted one, but Reagan decided against it because he thought it would've been kicking Mondale while he was down.

A more likely reason is that Reagan would look bad for having requested it if it didn't change the result--and it almost certainly wouldn't. A 3,761 vote margin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_United_States_presidential_election_in_Minnesota may not look like much but typically it is only races decided by a couple of hundred, not thousands, of votes, that can realistically be changed by a recount in MN. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_United_States_Senate_election_in_Minnesota https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Minnesota_gubernatorial_election

 

[Countess Whitewing]

What if September 11th was planned diffently. Hitting The White House and Congress. Secretary Powell abroad at the time

He seeks to bring America together

Seeks and obtains both parties nominations.

The late Tom Clancy did something along this line in one of his Jack Ryan novels. The loss of officals would be marginally better in this scenario though.

The Joint Chiefs would be alive. As would the Justices of the Supreme Court. Also the Directors of the various three or four letter agencies.
The President, VP, Speaker and the Senate pro tem would all be dead. West Wing staffers would likely all be dead as well. Might be some survivors though.
A few of the Secretaries would likely be dead too if they had business on the Hill. The Party Leaders would more than likely be dead too.

Most of the Senators would be gone; would probably barely need your second hand to count the ones that were absent and would likely only represent at most seven States.
The House would be a mess... The Territory Observers might be dead. The States with 3 or 4 Electoral Votes.. their Reps would certainly be dead unless they were at home.
The States with 5 to 9 Electoral Votes would probably fair a little better and likely have at least one or two Reps alive. Three Reps might be pushing it for the 8s & 9s.
The States with 10 to 18 EV might have three or four Reps. Five Reps might work for like Ohio but that still may be unlikely.
The States of IL & PA would like have four Reps, five may be possible here. The States of FL, NY, TX & CA would likely have around five Reps.. six or seven is pushing it, I think.

Although, these are probably optimistic numbers. The Governors might make snap appointments of one recent outgoing or former Senators to have at least one seat filled provisionially. The smaller States would like do this for their Reps too. Who knows with the Territory Observers. Either way, Secretary Powell returns to crippled or wounded Congress with many of the old faces gone and possibly some returned ones. A de facto State of War with a wounded Congress and a retired General as President, governoring from... the VP Mansion? The Pentagon? NORAD? Air Force One upon his return stateside?

 

[troosvelt_68]

Very tough to accomplish all states and DC

Even all states is hard, as noted Reagan came close but he's really the only one

FDR lost Vermont and Main by double digits in his 46/48 sweep