AHC: Get Ted Bundy elected to office

Realpolitik

Banned
Emperor Norton I said:
Can you imagine the political fallout for the Republican party when it bursts that he was a murderer? Regardless of the PR machine, which is where a lot of the dark parody element comes in, you could only do so much with a psychopath who was a serial murderer, rapist, etc. Imagine all the people who endorsed him and how much fallout they'd get.
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The fallout is going to be Tsar Bomba level.
 

Roisterer

Emperor Norton I said:
Bundy rising in politics seems like it'd be purely to show he could do it and an ultimate exercise in power. Regardless of what position Bundy would go for, his psychology would mean it would have to still allow him the chance to commit murder. A bunch of secret service agents around wouldn't permit it, which is why he may not have ever gone for president regardless of our scenarios. Albeit at the same time, president's did slip from their secret service agents, and maybe he'd have some midnight jogs where "jee whiz fellas, I gave you the slip again", which turned out to be him going out to commit murder, which is a morbidly interesting concept. As a narrative concept, it interests me because its an analogy for so many things, namely everything wrong with politics and modern politics and our society related to it in a way that's both borderline parody and deadly serious horror. It's an "American Psycho" for the political world, except it would be real.
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That would make a hell of a AH short story. Especially if we only find out his identity at the end.

Regards

R
 
Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Tim Thomason said:
In 1972, Ted Bundy joined the reelection campaign of Daniel J. Evans (real life). At this point he's a graduate of the University of Washington and in our timeline would join the staff of the Washington Republican Party and become an assistant to Chairman Ross Davis (who I can't find any information on, other than a few mentions in a Gerald Ford speech proving that he exists outside of Ted Bundy biographies).

But let's say, through some unknown butterfly, an opening in Governor Evans staff emerges and Bundy is given that job instead. Working under Evans he ascends to being a senior assistant to the Governor, maybe even chief of staff. It is the lame duck last term for the long-serving Governor, a prime time for young unknown staffers. He already had alot of personality issues by '72, and there's plenty of evidence that he's probably killed by then, but nothing conclusive until the '74 slayings which are butterflied away here.

In 1976, Daniel Evans was a strong contender for the Vice Presidency under Gerald Ford (see here). Let's say Chief of Staff Bundy manages to make some phone calls or impressions that pushes Evans to the top of Ford's list. According to Evans himself, that would be better for the '76 race and therefore win reelection for Ford. And thus, Ted Bundy possibly becomes Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States.

So now it's 1977, and instead of escaping from an Aspen courthouse and joining the FBI's 10 Most Wanted, Ted Bundy is living in a Washington, DC apartment and attending high-class parties. He's got a relatively cushy job, with little stress comparative to other White House staffers, and he's using his sociopathic tendencies to blend in nicely with the Washington, DC elite.

He could spiral this into a job in the West Wing, or perhaps with Evans' endorsement, run for Congress, maybe Washington's 4th District in 1980 (an easy Republican pick-up). He's only 34 years old, his entire political career is ahead of him and he's starting to put an eye on the 1984 Governor's race.

And then it comes out that a series of murders and bludgeonings have followed Daniel Evans and Ted Bundy from Seattle to Olympia to Washington, DC and finally to Yakima. The attempted murder of an undercover reporter investigating the Congressman confirms his homicidal tendencies and Congressman Bundy is the first Congressman in 120 years to be removed from Congress (the Abscam scandal having been butterflied away). It's huge news, and there's no breaking out of small courthouses and hiding out as a hobo in Florida this time. He might be able to afford some decent lawyers, if he doesn't represent himself, but the attempted murder, and perhaps other activity, with the reporter alone is enough to send him into prison.

Probably a Washington state prison, which means he's eligible for the death penalty. His erratic prison behavior in OTL turns up here, and he becomes a big sensation and may even stain all the Republicans with deep ties to Bundy. If enough evidence is presented, or Bundy gives one of his odd semi-confessions, then he might be sentenced to death, and offered the choice of lethal injection or hanging, the only two options under then-Washington state law.

Congressman Bundy could be executed via hanging around 1995 (around 13 years after his trial date), giving all sorts of hilarious interviews and becoming a sort of macabre figure as the murdering Congressman. We'd be on this site speculating about him not getting caught and running for President in 1992 or so.
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Do you mind if I use this idea for a timeline?
 

KB1122

By some wild happenstance, I'm on a "true crime" reading tear, and I was reading about Bundy this morning. You all are forgetting that beyond serial killing, Bundy was an excellent burglar who knew how to leave no trace. So obviously in the alternate history, after working in WA state politics, he asks for and receives an appointment to work on the Nixon Committee to Re-Elect the President. While there, his criminal tendencies lead him to gravitate toward the orbit of the Plumbers - G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, Chuck Colson, etc. He volunteers for and successfully executes the break-in at the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsburg. When the time comes for the Watergate break-in, the natural choice, having proven his talent as a burglar, is Ted Bundy. He successfully steals information that is used to discredit the Democrats in the final days of the 1972 election. Bundy parlays his successes into a position on the staff of HR Haldeman as a White House aide. He then uses this stature and his home state political contacts to run for Congress, then Governor of Washington State. From there ....
 

HARRY

Didn't know his birth father, raised by grandparents while his mother was away until she marries and he takes his stepfathers last name. The early background of Ted Bundy and Bill Clinton is similar even to helping in presidential campaigns Ted just never met his Hillary to focus him on the politics. Bill of cause had his own issues with women that his wife didn't know of or ignored for the bigger picture.

So a story where Ted meets a nice Republican girl who helps steer him through the murk waters politics with the occasional deadly encounter with other women on the path to the White house the title could be "Primary Killers".
 

MalcontentRex

Banned
This might work if move up his birthdate some, and make him an independent. I don't see him getting anywhere in either major party up to 2014.

The reason why I don't think it is impossible for a notorious serial killer or criminal mastermind to become a superstar is the fact that some of them have amassed very durable cult followings in OTL. Look at the show The Following (yeah it's fiction, but it's not something I would put past humankind one iota).

There are literally no limits to how far a charming, sophisticated, charismatic leader can go, as the 20th Century proved countless times.
 
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