Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive, elected US President in 1912

[pipisme]

In a speech in Charleston, South Carolina on September 24 1999 to a Democratic Party meeting, President Buchanan says that his God-given task is President is to make America a truly Christian country and save it from the filthy tide of homosexuality, abortionism, feminism, political correctness and secular humanism in which this nation is drowning. He praises the Spanish dictator Franco as a great Christian and patriot who saved Spain from Communism. If ever America needs such a leader, I would be proud to serve under him. He makes disparaging remarks about the Jewish dominated Supreme Court. He waves a Confederate flag, calling it the flag of a free people. All Southerners should be proud of that flag. He leads the audience into a rendition of the song Dixie. When he sits down he is greeted with rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

When the President's speech is reported in the media there is widespread condemnation, and amazement at what he said. Maureen Dowd in her column in The New York Times calls him an extreme right wing nut job who should be impeached. The speech is condemned by commentators and columists on ABC, CBS, NBC and NPR, and in newspapers across the country from the Boston Globe to the Los Angeles Times.

Buchanan is supported by Pat Robertson, Russ Limbaugh and other right wing commentators.

The media is soon full of discussion and speculation as to whether the President should be impeached. Liberal and progressive opinion is in favour of impeaching the President on the grounds of High Crimes and Misdemeanors because of his divisive words and attacks on democracy. Conservatives and rightwingers oppose his impeachment on the ground of freedom of speech.

An editorial in the Washington Post on September 27 entitled No longer fit to be President calls for Buchanan's impeachment.

On September 29, an impeachment resolution is passed in the House of Representatives with the votes of Progressive Republicans and Socialists, but also of 16 Democrats. The impeachment procedure of an American President is the same in this TL as in OTL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States .

The President's impeachment trial in the Senate on the grounds of High Crimes and Misdemeanors lasts from October 22 to November 27. A two-thirds majority (67 Senators) is required to convict and remove the President from office. The vote is 62 for impeachment including 4 Democratic Senators, and 38 against impeachment. Therefore the President is acquitted.

 

[black angel]

In a speech in Charleston, South Carolina on September 24 1999 to a Democratic Party meeting, President Buchanan says that his God-given task is President is to make America a truly Christian country and save it from the filthy tide of homosexuality, abortionism, feminism, political correctness and secular humanism in which this nation is drowning. He praises the Spanish dictator Franco as a great Christian and patriot who saved Spain from Communism. If ever America needs such a leader, I would be proud to serve under him. He makes disparaging remarks about the Jewish dominated Supreme Court. He waves a Confederate flag, calling it the flag of a free people. All Southerners should be proud of that flag. He leads the audience into a rendition of the song Dixie. When he sits down he is greeted with rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

When the President's speech is reported in the media there is widespread condemnation, and amazement at what he said. Maureen Dowd in her column in The New York Times calls him an extreme right wing nut job who should be impeached. The speech is condemned by commentators and columists on ABC, CBS, NBC and NPR, and in newspapers across the country from the Boston Globe to the Los Angeles Times.

Buchanan is supported by Pat Robertson, Russ Limbaugh and other right wing commentators.

The media is soon full of discussion and speculation as to whether the President should be impeached. Liberal and progressive opinion is in favour of impeaching the President on the grounds of High Crimes and Misdemeanors because of his divisive words and attacks on democracy. Conservatives and rightwingers oppose his impeachment on the ground of freedom of speech.

An editorial in the Washington Post on September 27 entitled No longer fit to be President calls for Buchanan's impeachment.

On September 29, an impeachment resolution is passed in the House of Representatives with the votes of Progressive Republicans and Socialists, but also of 16 Democrats. The impeachment procedure of an American President is the same in this TL as in OTL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States .

The President's impeachment trial in the Senate on the grounds of High Crimes and Misdemeanors lasts from October 22 to November 27. A two-thirds majority (67 Senators) is required to convict and remove the President from office. The vote is 62 for impeachment including 4 Democratic Senators, and 38 against impeachment. Therefore the President is acquitted.

thats all i have to say about that

 

[alt_historian]

Oooooohhhh my... not good, not good at all...

 

[pipisme]

With President Buchanan approval rating in the low to mid thirties, there is widespread speculation about Vice President David Boren's intentions. Generally regarded as the most moderate senior member of the admimistration he carefully distances himself from it without outright disloyality. If he resigns and contests the 2000 Democratic primaries he would not be a credible challenger to Buchanan, having served as his VP for three years. He announces in January 2000 that he will not running for President and that he will not accept nomination as VP on the Democratic presidential ticket.

 

[pipisme]

In early January 2000 Democratic Senator Charles S. "Chuck" Robb from Virginia announces that he is challenging President Buchanan for the Democratic nomination. A leading moderate Democrat he voted in favour of Buchanan's impeachment. He is endorsed by a galaxy of Democratic luminaries including: ex-President Lloyd Bentsen; William Buckley, a prominent conservative intellectual and founder and long-term editor of the National Review; former National Security Advisor George H. W. Bush; David Kopel, author, political scientist and editor of several publications; former Senator Sam Nunn from Georgia; former Governor of Colorado Roy Romer. Robb says that he is campaigning to restore the Democratic Party to moderate conservatism and to stop it becoming an extreme right wing faction.

Althiough he loses the Iowa caucus to Buchanan, he wins the New Hampshire primary. He also wins contests in the other New England states, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon and Virginia. He wins 31% of the delegates, which is not enough to stop Buchanan from winning a majority.

At the Democratic National Convention Buchanan is nominated as President by a substantial majority over Robb. He picks Senate Minority Leader Max Baucus (Montana) as his running mate.

Hillary Rodham is widely regarded as the front runner in the race for the Progressive Republican nomination. She has the support of the majority of super delegates. Other candidates are Governor Bill Graves of Kansas; Senator Michael Huffington from California (who had come out as gay in 1998); Senator Jim Jeffords from Vermont; Senator Richard Lugar from Indiana; and Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota.

Rodham wins the Iowa caucus with Lugar a fairly close second, while Jeffords wins the New Hampshire primary. He also wins contests in Maine, Vermont, and unexpectedly Washingon. Rodham wins the other New England states, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the Southern and border states, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and most of the Mountain states. Graves wins Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Dakotas. Huffington beats Rodham by a wafer-thin majority in California, but wins nowhere else. Lugar wins Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Wellstone wins Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin.

At the Republican National Convention Hillary Rodham wins the presidential nomination on the first ballot. She picks Bill Graves as her running mate.

 

[EdM]

Any chance that Hillary will defeat Pres. Buchanan at the polls? Or will the Socialists, Libertarians and a new Compassionate-Conservative breakaway from the Democrats lead to a victory for the right-winged fascist?

My reaction to the latter if it happens: 14 times

If Hillary wins, any chance same-sex marriage will be legailzed?

 

[pipisme]

In the 2000 Presidential election the candidates on the Libertarian ticket are Lester Neil Smith and Michael Badnarik. Smith is a science fiction writer and Libertarian political activist. He is the author of an alternate history novel, The Probability Broach(1980). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Neil_Smith . His writing career is the same in this TL as in OTL.

The Socialist candidates are John Bellamy Foster and Winona La Duke. The Green Party does not contest Presidential elections. Most of its supporters vote Socialist.

 

[nemo1986]

God I hated that book. it was so stupid if they actually did that this country would have fallen apart in 5 years.

 

[EdM]

In the 2000 Presidential election the candidates on the Libertarian ticket are Lester Neil Smith and Michael Badnarik. Smith is a science fiction writer and Libertarian political activist. He is the author of an alternate history novel, The Probability Broach(1980). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Neil_Smith . His writing career is the same in this TL as in OTL.

The Socialist candidates are John Bellamy Foster and Winona La Duke. The Green Party does not contest Presidential elections. Most of its supporters vote Socialist.

So as in OTL, "fusion" ballot laws (where multiple parties can back common candidates, with each candidate having one ballot line) exist only in NY?

 

[pipisme]

Originally posted by EdM
So as in OTL "fusion" ballot laws (where multiple parties can back common candidates, with each candidate having one ballot line) exist only in NY?

In this TL the Green Party decided at its National Conference in 1995 and reaffirmed in 1999 not to contest Presidential elections. The national party does not endorse a candidate of any other party, though state parties are free to do. Those who do usually back the Socialist candidate. The Socialist Party has a strong green tinge.

In the election campaign Democratic Senator Chuck Robb refuses to endorse Buchanan for President. He says that with the greatest reluctance he will vote for Hillary Rodham as President. David Stockman, who was Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Treasury in the Bentsen administrations in the 1980s also endorses Rodham.

Hillary Rodham speaks in support of Barack Hussein Obama, one time community organiser in Chicago and the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, and currently a professor of Constitutional Law at Chicago Law School. He is running for Congress as the Progressive Republican candidate for Representative from the 10th District of Illinois. Obama says that Hillary will be a truly great President.

L. Neil Smith, the Libertarian candidate for President, attracts large crowds of science fiction fans to his meetings. His slogan is "Imagination into Reality". He claims that his candidacy is the first step in the eventual realisation of the North American Confederacy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Confederacy . The Progressive Republicans hope that he does well in Democratic strongholds such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

The Progressive Republicans, Libertarians and Socialists all support legislation under which the federal government would recognise same-sex marriages contracted under individual state laws. The Democrats advocate an amendment to the Constitution which would limit marriage to unions of one man and one woman.

As is widely expected the Rodham/Graves ticket wins by a landslide. The results are:

Rodham/Graves (Progressive Republican) 406 electoral votes
Buchanan/Baucus (Democrat) 132 electoral votes.

 

[pipisme]

The percentage of the popular vote obtained by the candidates in the presidential election are as follows:

Rodham/Graves (Progressive Republican) 51.2
Buchanan/Baucus (Democrat) 39.5
Foster/La Duke (Socialist) 5.1
Smith/Badnariak (Libertarian) 4.0
Others 0.2.

The new Congress elected in November 2000 has the following composition:

House of Representatives: Progressive Republican 247 (+13)
Democrat 153 (-20)
Socialist 32 (+4)
Libertarian 3 (+3)

Barack Obama (Progressive Republican) is elected as the Representative from the 10th District of Illinois.

Senate: Progressive Republican 57 (+2)
Democrat 39 (-3)
Socialist 4(+1)

Some of the appointments made by President-elect Hillary Rodham to her cabinet. She restores the Department of Social Justice and reinstates the Ambassador to the League of Nations as a cabinet post.

Secretary of State: Richard Holbrooke.

Secretary of the Treasury: Laura D'Andrea Tyson.

Secretary of Defense: Richard Lugar.

Attorney General: Eric Holder.

Secretary of Commerce: Christina Romer.

Secretary of Education: Beverly Tatum. A psychologist, academic and author of books and articles on race and education (http://www.answers.com/topic/beverly-daniel-tatum).

Secretary of the Environment: Sherwood Boehlert (Progressive Republican Representative from a New York district).

Secretary of Health and Welfare: Harriet McBryde Johnson. An attorney, author and disability rights activist. She uses a wheelchair because she has a degenerative neuromuscular disease. (http://www.lflegal.com/2008/06/mcbryde-johnson-obituary ).

Secretary of the Interior: Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Progressive Republican - Colorado).

Secretary of Social Justice: Senator Jim Jeffords (Progressive Republican - Vermont).

United States Ambassador to the League of Nations: Leon Panetta.

 

[EdM]

Hurrah for the Greens, Socialists and the Progressive Republicans! Bully for them supporting same sex marriage (among other things)

What were the conservative Democrats thinking, renominating Pat "The Rat" Buchanan?!

 

[pipisme]

Retrospective back to the US midterm elections 1998.

Harvey Milk, Progressive Republican Governor of California since January 1995, decides not to run for a second term. He says that now he is 68 years old he wants to spend his retirement with his beloved long term partner. He is succeeded as governor by Ruben Barrales, also a Progressive Republican.

John Edwards is elected as Progressive Republican Senator from North Carolina.

Bill Clinton, who has acquired a well-deserved reputation has a first rate jazz saxaphonist, played with his band at Hillary Rodham's Inaugural Ball on January 20, 2001, in the White House. If he had not cheated on Hillary back in 1971 when they were dating and they had married he would now be First Gentleman.

Under the provisions of the Marriage Equality Act 2001 the Federal government recognises same-sex marriage as being equal in value to heterosexual marriage, and gives the partners in same-sex marriages the same federal rights or benefits as the partners in hetrosexual marriages. However each state retains the right to determine its own marriage laws. The act is supported by the Progressive Republicans, Socialists and Libertarians. It is opposed by the Democrats.

 

[Durindal]

John Edwards is elected as Progressive Republican Senator from North Carolina.

Yay! Edwards '08.

 

[pipisme]

Environmental issues are now important with the growing scientific consensus on man made global warming. The Rodham administration signs the Tehran protocol in 2001 on reducing global emissions. It also reverses the Buchanan administration's policy on drilling for oil in the Alaska wilderness and other wilderness areas.

The Progressive Republicans give high priority to environmental protection and conservation and are proud of their record in those areas. Progressive Republicans for Enviromental Protection - the OTL version is Republicans for Environmental Protection http://www.repamerica.org , which seems to me to be a liberal Republican organisation - is important and influential in the party.

The Democrats are less concerned with environmental issues and tend to be sceptics on man made global warming. They oppose the signing of the Tehran protocol.

 

[pipisme]

In the 2002 midterm elections the Democrats make only limited gains. The results are as follows:

House of Representatives : Progressive Republican 238 (-9)
Democrat 161 (+8)
Socialist 33 (+1)
Libertarian 3

Senate: Progressive Republican 56 (-1)
Democrat 40 (+1)
Socialist 4.

Norm Coleman is elected as Progressive Republican Senator from Minnesota in succession to Paul Wellstone who died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. His death is the same as in OTL.

In a closely fought contest for Governor of California, the incumbent Ruben Barrales (Progressive Republican) narrowly beats the Democrat Jane Harman.

In Illinois the Lieutenant Governor, Progressive Republican Corinne Wood, is elected Governor.

There is speculation as to whether the Democrats will nominate a woman for President in 2004. However this would be appear to be political opportunism because the President is a woman. Two woman who are frequently mentioned as possible candidates are Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas, and Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana. However in October 2003 Mary Landrieu announces that she will not be running for President in 2004, though she does not rule out running in 2008.

By January 2004 the candidates for the Democratic nomination for President are as follows:

Businessman and publisher Steve Forbes of New York.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas.

Governor Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho.

Governor Gary Locke of Washington.

Governor David Ronald "Ronnie" Musgrove of Mississippi.

Senator Charles "Chuck" Robb of Virginia.

Opinion polls show Forbes is in the lead among Democratic voters. A fiscal
and social conservative, he is an acceptable, tamer version of Patrick Buchanan.

Robb is the standard bearer of moderate, centrist Democrats. He won re-election to the Senate in November 2000 with Independent and Progressive Republican votes.

 

[GeneralHouston]

Retrospective back to the US midterm elections 1998.

Harvey Milk, Progressive Republican Governor of California since January 1995, decides not to run for a second term. He says that now he is 68 years old he wants to spend his retirement with his beloved long term partner. He is succeeded as governor by Ruben Barrales, also a Progressive Republican.

John Edwards is elected as Progressive Republican Senator from North Carolina.

Bill Clinton, who has acquired a well-deserved reputation has a first rate jazz saxaphonist, played with his band at Hillary Rodham's Inaugural Ball on January 20, 2001, in the White House. If he had not cheated on Hillary back in 1971 when they were dating and they had married he would now be First Gentleman.

Under the provisions of the Marriage Equality Act 2001 the Federal government recognises same-sex marriage as being equal in value to heterosexual marriage, and gives the partners in same-sex marriages the same federal rights or benefits as the partners in hetrosexual marriages. However each state retains the right to determine its own marriage laws. The act is supported by the Progressive Republicans, Socialists and Libertarians. It is opposed by the Democrats.

Is Hilary the 2nd bacherlor(ette) President or has she married and retained her maiden name?

 

[pipisme]

Originally posted by General Houston
Is Hilary the 2nd bachelor(ette) President or has she married and retained
her maiden name?

Hillary is married to a professor of history at Yale University. He is a private man who does not care for publicity. She kept her married name. They have one child - a daughter.

In the race for the Democratic nomination, Steve Forbes makes a good start by winning the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. However he does patchily in the other contests. He wins New York. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New England (except for Massachusetts and Vermont), Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, the Midwest, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Alaska.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson does not do as well as expected. She campaigns as a moderate conservative who can unify the party. She wins only Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. She also wins a string of second places including Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota and Oregon.

Dirk Kempthorne wins Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Gary Locke wins Washington.

Ronnie Musgrove wins Mississippi and most of the South.

Chuck Robb is the main challenger to Forbes. He wins Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, the Border states, Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado. He has a comfortable victory over Forbes in the California primary and wins the open Oregon primary and Hawaii. Opinion polls in the Spring and early Summer show him gaining in popularity among Democratic voters. By July he is running neck and neck with Forbes.

When the Democratic National Convention assembles Robb has a significant lead in delegates over Forbes, but not an overall majority. Locke had dropped out of the race before the convention. In the first ballot Robb comes first, Forbes is fairly close behind, Hutchinson is third, followed by Musgrove and Kempthorne. If Hutchinson withdraws and her delegates switch to Robb, he would win an overall majority, even if all of Kempthorne's and Musgrove's delegates vote for Forbes.

Hutchinson withdraws after the first ballot. In the second ballot almost all her delegates vote for Robb who now wins an overall majority.

There is intense media speculation as to Robb's choice of running mate. The three most likely possibilities are regarded as Steve Forbes, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Governor Dirk Kempthorne. Forbes would keep the support of the party's conservative base, but he has never been elected to public office and Robb can't stand him. He is soon ruled out. Kempthorne has executive experience as Governor of Idaho and is a firm conservative. The choice of him would appeal to the party's base and would staunch any loss of votes to the Libertarian ticket. He was born in 1951 and eight years younger than Hutchinson. She would be the bold choice who would appeal to independent voters, but her comparatively liberal views on abortion - she is against outlawing it - would alienate hardline religious conservative voters. In this TL the law regarding abortion varies from state to state. Most Democrats want to make it illegal throughout the nation.

Robb decides to pick Hutchinson as his running mate. In reply to accusations of political opportunism - of choosing her to win women's votes - he says that he has chosen the best person for the job.

At the Progressive Republican National Convention President Rodham and Vice President Bill Graves are renominated practically unanimously.

 

[pipisme]

The Libertarian Party candidates for President and Vice President are Michael Badnariak and Ed Thompson.

The Socialist Party candidates are Elaine Fleming and Eric Chester. Fleming is the Socialist Senator from Minnesota.

The Democrats recovered some of the ground they lost in 2000, but the Progressive Republican ticket still wins comfortably. The results are as follows:

Hillary Rodham/Bill Graves (Progressive Republican) 305 electoral votes
Chuck Robb/Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Democrat) 233 electoral votes.

The Socialist vote increased from 5.1% to 5.8%. Fleming/Chester comes second in Minnesota behind Rodham/Graves.

 

[pipisme]

There are only small gains for the Democrats in the 2004 congressional elections. The results are as follows:

House of Representatives: Progressive Republican 231 (-7)
Democrat 170 (+9)
Socialist 31 (-2)
Libertarian 3

Senate: Progressive Republican 54 (-2)
Democrat 42 (+2)
Socialist 4.

In the contest in the Illinois to succeed retiring Progressive Republican Senator Carol Moseley Braun, the Democratic candidate Jim Oberweis defeats the Progressive Republican standard bearer, Congressman Barack Obama. However Obama is re-elected to the House of Representatives.

John Edwards is re-elected as Progressive Republican Senator from North Carolina.