Gerald Ford elected in 1980

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Hart officialy launches his re election campaign:

On March 4th, 1988, President Gary Hart officially launched his re election campaign for President:

"My fellow Americans. Today I am proudly announcing that I am seeking a second term as your President. We've accomplished a lot over these last four years. We've put our people back to work by investing in our infrastructure and through education and jobs training programs, and we also guaranteed every working American paid family medial leave. We are safer now as well thanks to the IMR treaty. The work however does not end there. Of course if it did, why would I be seeking another term. We must build on our accomplishments, and this is especially true as we head into a new decade. Thank you and God Bless."

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South Carolina Primary:

The March 5th, South Carolina Primary:

Paul Laxalt: 47%

George Bush: 25%

Tom Keane: 9%

Pat Robertson: 19%
 

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Super Tuesday:

On March 8th, 1988 Super Tuesday took place. 17 states were holding a primary or caucus, and Paul Laxalt carried all but five George Bush narrowly carried his home state of Texas while Tom Keane carried Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, and narrowly carried Washington State.


Contests Won:

•Laxalt: 18
•Bush: 2
•Keane: 8
•Robertson: 2


One day after Super Tuesday, Former Secretary of State George Bush ended his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States after only carrying Michigan and narrowly carrying his home state of Texas. Bush said in his speech that he was going to take some time off to be with his family before making an endorsement.

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Illinois and Connecticut Primaries:

Illinois (Mar. 15th):

  • Paul Laxalt: 31%
  • George Bush: 8%
    [*]Tom Keane: 53%
  • Pat Robertson: 8%


Connecticut (Mar. 29th):
  • Paul Laxalt: 29%
  • George Bush: 9%
    [*]Tom Keane: 56%
  • Pat Robertson: 6%
 

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A candidate withdrawls from the Race. Endorses Laxalt:

On March 29th, Evangelist Pat Robertson exited the Presidential race for the Republican nomination. In his speech he said that "it wasn't it God's plan for me to win the nomination. Therefore, I endorse Paul Laxalt for President of the United States. This man will bring us a more conservative and Christian America, which is why I ask that all of my delegates go to him and ask all my supporters to rally behind the former Senator, as it is very important that we win in November."

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Laxalt wins April Primaries. Keane Withdrawals:

Senator Paul Laxalt won Colorado on April 6th and pulled off upsets in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. With these wins, Governor Tom Keane decided that he would be unable to overtake Laxalt and withdrew from the race on April 27th. He also endorsed the former Senator turned presumptive nominee.

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An ABC poll released one day after Keane's withdrawal showed President Hart beating Laxalt by a 52-46% margin. 2% were undecided. So begins the General Election. Who will win??????
 

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Hart takes a break from the campaign:

The President took the second week of May off of the campaign to take a trip to the Soviet Union, and on May 11th, he spoke to over 600 students at Moscow University. In Hart's speech, he said that "People of the Soviet Union are hurting due to economic problems and a system in need of reform, and one way to bring about prosperity and needed reforms is to bring down the wall that divides Germany."


Senator Laxalt attacked Hart calling him weak and said that if he was President, he wouldn't go to the Soviet Union to beg a bunch of College Students to bring down the Berlin Wall.
 

Pericles

President Laxalt?

Hart might have a sex scandal. The again a Hart Presidency for H W's OTL term would be cool.
 

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The Democratic Convention of '88:

After an uneventful month of June, The Democratic convention took place from July 18th-the 21st of 1988 in Atlanta Georgia. The Keynote speaker was Congressman Dick Gephardt of Missouri. Other speakers included Senator Ted Kennedy, Former Vice President Walter Mondale, Former President Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, and Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, whos speech was panned for being long, boring, and robotic.

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The theme of the convention was continuity for the future. President Hart and Vice President Glenn gave their speeches on the last day of the convention arguing that Hart's infrastructure and jobs programs brought down unemployment and that the tax code was simplified responsibly thanks to them. They also touted the Family Medical leave law and IRM treaty as successes of the administration, and argued that if a Republican is elected in 1988, the progress that they made would be undone and that the GOP was the party of the past. The convention gave Hart a boost in the polls. He led Senator Laxalt 58-42% in a poll taken in late July.

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Laxalt choses a running mate:

On August 4th, just two weeks before the Republican convention, Paul Laxalt at a rally in Texas announced his selection of a running mate. George Bush, the Former Secretary of State and Presidential candidate, was chosen for his moderate views and foreign policy experiences to balance the ticket. Laxalt's short list for VP was leaked hours after the announcement was made. On it was Governor Tom Keane of New Jersey, who also ran for President, House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois, and Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. It was also leaked that Laxalt originally wanted Keane, but the Governor declined the offer. Bush said he was honored to be chosen and would do all he can to bring the ticket to victory in November.

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The GOP Convention of '88:

The Republican Convention took place in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 15th-August 18th of 1988. The Keynote address was given by conservative congressman Newt Gingrich of Georgia. Other speakers included Former Senator and 1984 GOP nominee Howard Baker, Former Vice President Reagan, Former President Gerald Ford, Evangelist Pat Robertson, and Governor Tom Keane of New Jersey. The theme of the convention was unity, in the hopes that the mistakes of 1984 wouldn't repeat themselves.

Senator Laxalt and Secretary Bush spoke on the final day of the convention. Bush spoke mostly about foreign policy and said that Hart made too many concessions and that if elected, he and Senator Laxalt would be strong but steady on foreign policy. Laxalt said of Hart's economic record that "at the Democratic nomination, the President talked about his policies lowering unemployment. Unemployment fell despite his polices, he inherited a growing economy from President Ford." Laxalt also said of the President that "He talked about simplifying the tax code at his party's convention. The simplification of the tax code would've never happened if Republicans hadn't retaken the senate, he deserves no credit for it at all." Laxalt ended his speech by saying that "Americans want less government, less regulation, and a nation that is strong and respected. Ladies and Gentlemen of this convention, let's give them that this November. Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless America."

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The First Presidential Debate:

The first of two Presidential debates between President Gary Hart and Former Senator Paul Laxalt took place on September 25th, 1988 at Pauley Pavilion at University of California at Los Angeles. The questions for the candidates were divided between foreign and domestic policy. The Senator said of Hart that "Four years ago, the President said that he was a candidate of 'new ideas.' I can say today that after four years of President Gary Hart, his ideas have been the same old failed liberal polices of the past." Laxalt called for a complete reversal of Hart's domestic policies, saying that we needed a Supply Side tax cut, a cut in regulations, and also called for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Hart responded by saying that "What the Senator is calling for is reckless. His tax cut would blow a hole in the budget, his deregulatory measures would be damaging in the long term, and while I to would like to see a balanced budget, a balanced budget amendment would cause a lot of pain in times of economic hardship."

When things shifted to Foreign Policy, Laxalt said to Hart that "The Soviet Union loves working with you Mr. President. They do because they get a lot out of us and don't have to make any concessions for it. The Middle East is no safer or no more peaceful than it was when you took office. You said that making peace in that region would be one of your top goals. Mr. President, with all due respect, you failed to deliver." Hart responded by saying "Senator, what's wrong with working to make the world a safer place. My administration, with Secretary Gorbachev made the world safer with the IRM treaty, I don't see how a world with less Intermediate Range Missiles is a bad thing. You also criticized President Ford for working with the Soviet Union to reduce the number of Nuclear Arms in the world. Again, I don't see how this is a bad thing. What is bad however, is your policy of antagonizing our advisories and starting another arms race with the Soviet Union. This kind of thinking is dangerous. Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan before you proposed doing the same thing and were thankfully rejected at the polls."

As for the winners of the debate, while Hart didn't do terribly, many were quick to point out that he spent his entire time on stage defending his record and said absolutely nothing about what he would do if given a second term. For this reason, many considered Laxalt the winner of the debate.

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Pericles

October Surprise? In the form of a sex scandal. Or do butterflies avert that? I'm not sure about your Photoshopping. No offence, but it doesn't work well IMHO and is not that good. The actual story is good though. I lie in wait for more.
 

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Post debate polls:

A Gallup poll taken two days after the first debate showed that President Hart had a 50-49% lead over Senator Laxalt, essentially giving them a tie. Many attributed this to Laxalt's win in the debate, as President Hart was leading 52-47 earlier in the month. The debate between Vice President Glenn and Secretary Bush on October 5th and another Presidential debate on the 13th of October could change the polling, but if the polls remained the same, the race in November was going to be a close one.
 

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Pericles said:
October Surprise? In the form of a sex scandal. Or do butterflies avert that? I'm not sure about your Photoshopping. No offence, but it doesn't work well IMHO and is not that good. The actual story is good though. I lie in wait for more.
Click to expand...

I'll admit it's a bit messy, I did it in paint, as that's the only way I know how to do any photo shopping and I while I didn't want to have a photo less timeline, I also didn't want to end up using the same pictures over and over again. The last one I did was quite ugly, so I'll probably call it quits on the photo shopping. Glad your enjoying the story though :).
 
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