The election results are in, and General Winfield Scott has done it!

In the closest election in more than three decades, Winfield Scott and the Whigs eked out a win over Democrat Levi Woodbury. For the second election in a row, Whigs can attribute their win to a fractious Democratic Party: the Free Soil movement outperformed expectations across most of the north, even taking a narrow second place in New York and Vermont.  Democrats under Woodbury were shockingly close to an electoral college victory, largely thanks to Whig underperformance in the South, where they lost Tennessee for the first time since the party’s founding, and held onto Louisiana and North Carolina by thin margins, likely only thanks to campaigning from President Clay and Vice-President-elect King. Their saving grace was the West, where decreased enthusiasm for New Englander Woodbury allowed Whigs to snag victories in Indiana and Illinois. Several Whig campaigners, such as former Representative Abraham Lincoln, are expecting the states will be well-rewarded with patronage positions in the government.

In an additional boon for the party, Whigs gained a staggering 43 seats and retaken the House of Representatives after six years out of power, largely due to the split in the New York Democracy, allowing Whigs to win all but three of New York’s thirty-two seats. This victory is pyrrhic, though, as Whigs were in such a seat deficit prior to this election, even a 43-seat-gain leaves them only barely holding the majority: they hold 116 seats to Democrats’ 98, with 7 Free Soilers, 3 anti-Scott Independent Whigs, and 1 member of the American (Know-Nothing) Party.

Keep following along to see how President Scott’s term develops!

A two day stretch on March 9th and 10th, 1996, would see four states hold Democratic Caucuses. The results would be great for the race's three leading Progressives and dreadful for the race's two remaining liberals. At the end of the 48 hour sprint, only one would be left standing, with the other badly wounded and facing long odds of reclaiming his old spot atop the primary field. Here's how it all went down:

On March 9th, three states would hold caucuses. It would be a good day for the race's top progressives, with Tom Harkin winning Arizona and South Dakota and Ann Richards winning Alaska and finishing second in both states Harkin won. Jesse Jackson had a solid night too, coming in second in Alaska. Al Gore, the only moderate left in the race, had a respectable showing, placing third twice, but in three states where the Democratic electorate leans very progressive, he wasn't very competitive for first place anywhere. The losers of the night were Mario Cuomo and Skip Humphrey who split the establishment liberal vote in all three states. Neither of them would finish in the top four anywhere. Humphrey was very strong in the early part of this race, but that was when the field was crowded. As more and more liberal and progressive candidates dropped out, Humphrey could no longer sustain victories with just his base, the Dick Van Dyke-aligned economically moderate and socially progressive Democratic establishment. Worse, Humphrey, believing he was on pace to win the nomination after his impressive Super Tuesday performance, spent a lot of money on expensive ad buys which did little to stop his downward slide in the polls. As a result, his campaign is now experiencing financial issues. Representative Ray Flynn, who finished dead last in all three states, decided on the morning of March 10th to drop out of the race. He gave no endorsement - potentially because he plans to align himself with Green Party nominee Paul Wellstone, who shares a lot of his economic platform, in the general election.

That evening, Nevada held it's Democratic Caucus. It was a close race, with Ann Richards narrowly defeating Jesse Jackson to win the plurality of the state's delegates. Al Gore finished a respectable third place, with Tom Harkin close behind in fourth. Once again, Cuomo and Humphrey split the liberal electorate, and both finished with under 10% of the vote. After the Nevada Caucus concluded, Mario Cuomo dropped out of the race. Cuomo was expected to endorse fellow liberal Skip Humphrey, but instead, Cuomo endorsed Jesse Jackson - a candidate that is more progressive than Humphrey who has a far better shot of winning the nomination. The next set of primaries on March 12th include six Southern states, including Ann Richards' home state of Texas. Once again, the field's populists and progressives stand to gain, as does Al Gore, a native Southerner. That leaves Skip Humphrey in a bad spot - declining poll numbers, dwindling financial reserves, and a map unfavorable to an establishment Northern liberal. The Progressives appear to have reclaimed this race, but nothing is set in stone until all the votes are cast.

As always, you can vote for your favorites HERE.

State of the Race

YUGOSLAVIA 

The first multi party election in Serbia are coming close, the year is 1990, what was once the Grand Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, isn't Socialist or even Federal republic no more, Nationalists forces are on the raise all across the constituent Republics.

Following the walk out of the Slovenian and Croatian delegation from the 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the raise of Ethics tensions in Bosnia, clashes between Serbs and Albanian in Kosovo, what was once a magnificent country that followed the ideas of Brotherhood and unity, is no more...

Since Slobodan Milosevic raise to power - first as the leader of Communist Party of Serbia in 1986, and then as the president of the republic of Serbia (as part of larger Yugoslavia) in 1989, he pushed for the Centralisation of power, and for a more Nationalistic approach when it came for the Serbian people, in his Gazimestan speech he spoke about the possibility of "armed battles", in the future of Serbia's national development, while calling the 1974 Yugoslavian constitution a crime against the Serbian people, as it gave more autonomy for the Autonomous Province of Kosovo.

Thanks to the Anti-Bureaucratic revolution Pro Milosevic forces took control of both Autonomous Provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, as well in the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, making them all to support Milosevic and his ideals about a more centralized Yugoslavia, while Slovenia and Croatia were supporting a more decentralized Yugoslavia, and even more so full independence, while Bosnia was split with Bosnian supporting independence while Serbs wanted to join Serbia.

As 1990 turned around Democratic Multi Party election took place across the Republics of Yugoslavia, those elections put Nationalists and Separatists in leading positions, in Croatia the election of Franjo Tudman lead to a full scale rebellion in the areas with Serb majority - the so called Log Revolution, the Serbian leaders of Croatia hope to remain a part of Serbian centric Yugoslavia, and reject the authority of the Croatian Republic.

As tensions raise up across Yugoslavia, on December 1990 the first Presidential and Parliamentary elections are taking place, who will lead Serbia in a time of crisis?

Slobodan Milosevic (SPS - Socialist Party of Serbia)

Slobodan Milosevic, the current president of the Serbian Republic and leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia - the successor party to the former Communist Party of Serbia, SPS and Milosevic as it's leader inherited a significant amount of political infrastructure, as well as material and financial assets. With these resources and its continued influence over major industries, and maintain dominance over political events in Serbia.

Slobodan Milosevic emphasizing his campaign in keeping Yugoslavia united and strong, promising reforms that will strengthen the Unity of the Republic, while also protecting the rights of the Serbian people in Croatia, Kosovo and Bosnia.

Milošević also campaigned on presenting himself as a moderate, promising stability, defending Serbia's national interests, and preventing unemployment among industrial workers.

Vuk Draskovic (SPO - Serbian Renewal Movement)

Vuk Draskovic, also known as "Serbian Rasputin" is the main opponent of Milosevic in the election, a right-wing nationalist, while Milosevic Nationalistic tendencies hide behind his care for United Yugoslavia, Vuk is much more radical, sometimes even openly racist against other nationalities of Yugoslavia, promising a 7 days soultuion to the Kosovo Problem.

Many view Vuk Nationalistic approach much more dangerous them Milosevic, Vuk openly supports the Serbian Separatists in Croatia, which could lead to an open war with the Croatian Republic, making many reformist minded people to choose Milosevic over Serbian Rasputin.

Vuk also backing a free-market capitalism, friendship with the US, and the restoration of the monarchy, believing that Yugoslavia-Serbian Christian King would bring God himself to support the Serbian Nation.

Ivan Duric (SRSJS-UJDI)

Ivan Duric campaigned on a moderate, liberal, and pro-European / pro-West programme, strongly rejecting nationalism and favoured a dialogue between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

Ivan Plan was transformation of Yugoslavia from Federal structure to an Confederacy of Republics, bringing much more freedom and autonomy, this plan have very minor chance to succeed as it was rejected by Serbian Nationalists in the other Yugoslav Republics, and by Nationalists leader in Slovenia and Croatia.

Ivan is in opposition to both Milosevic Socialists and Draskovic Nationalists, and want to see Yugoslavia as a democratic, Liberal, European country, he is supported by the Union of Reform forces of Yugoslavia (SRSJS) and Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative (UJDI).

VOTE HERE

I have wanted to be more involved In elections by campaigning to help raise support for the candidate I believe would be a good option but I don’t have photos or anyway to create stats nor do I think I can get the photos to fit events

The time has come for Americans to cast their ballots for the 1848 election.

[Read the context before voting!]

The coming election is far more than a conventional contest between Whigs and Democrats. Scott and King offer the promise of consistent and conservative Whig government and the revival of Clay's American System. Woodbury and Wise seek to restore the Democratic promise of an expanding, populist America. Dix and Dodge hope to offer voters a voice protesting the growing control of the Slave Power and bring to fruition a reformed Democracy, but threaten deadlocking the election and throwing it a Woodbury-supporting House and Senate.

For the past four years, Americans have managed to postpone the most controversial questions facing the republic. In 1848, they must confront them at the ballot box. The fate of California and Texas, the future of the American System, and the increasingly fragile balance between North and South are all converging in a single presidential campaign, and the result will determine the direction of the Union for years to come. What will the voters choose? Vote here to find out!

[Note: This election will be a bit different from usual PresPoll elections. To allow people to vote for their true favorite candidates, while still keeping the first few elections more realistic, voters will get two votes. The first vote is for the candidate you personally would want to win the election (this is the fun one!). The second vote is for the candidate you think, given historical context and the timeline so far, voters of the era would choose to win the election. I will take both votes into consideration when putting out the results! Post closes 24 hours after posting. Thanks and have fun voting!]

As someone who strongly supported Ron Paul's run in 1992, I think it's time we give admit that Paul had his chance and failed. Trying the same thing again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, we need to take the GOP in a new direction and run Tom Ridge as our candidate in the 1996 Presidential Election.

Seven states would hold their primary elections on March 12th - six of which were in the South. Senator Ron Paul would win his home state of Texas by a resounding margin. He would also win two neighboring states, Louisiana and Oklahoma by double-digit margins too. However, his most surprising win was in Oregon - a state Senator Christine Todd Whitman had expected to win. However, Paul ran up huge margins on her in the rural Eastern half of the state, while in the Portland metropolitan area, she split too much of the vote with Tom Ridge. The Pennsylvania Governor had a pretty strong night too. For the second cycle in a row, Ridge won Florida by a large margin. He also won by a decent margin in Tennessee - a state that has reliably supported Keystone Republicans in the past, but, due to ideological transition, nearly went to Paul in 1992. Paul hoped he could flip the Volunteer State, but his performance fell far short of his 1992 numbers. He also lost Mississippi - a state he won in 1992 - to Ridge in a surprising upset.

Christine Todd Whitman's loss in Oregon was enough to convince her campaign to throw in the towel. She swept the Northeast, but struggled pretty much everywhere else. Her withdrawal came as no surprise. Her endorsement, however, rattled the Republican establishment. She was expected to endorse Ron Paul, the primary author of the revolutionary tax plan that shares their names and the man who chose her as his running mate in the 1992 Presidential Election. However, she instead gave her endorsement to her one time political enemy and Paul's chief rival, Tom Ridge. Her rationale was simple. Ridge doesn't support the Paul-Whitman Tax Cut and he's quite a bit more socially conservative than Christine Todd Whitman. He also has six years of governing experience in one of the nation's largest and most reliably Republican states. In six years as Governor of Pennsylvania, he's proven to be a competent and pragmatic chief executive. Ron Paul, on the other hand, just shut down the government - twice - purely for ideological reasons. In doing so, he delayed the provision of aid to families who lost loved ones in a terrorist bombing in his home state. Whitman, who once championed Paul's movement, now sees him as an ideologue unfit to hold the highest office in the United States.

And thus, the Republican Nomination once again comes down to Paul v. Ridge. However, this time, things are a little different. Tom Ridge is still a boring career politician, but his opponent, after four years under intense public scrutiny, will have a lot harder time hiding his personal flaws.

State of the Race

The consequential presidential election of 1848 is promising to be one which will shape the coming decades for the United States and its people. After four years of President Henry Clay's Whig administration, the United States stands at a crossroads. Clay's victory over the divided Democrats in 1844 returned Whigs to the executive branch, but Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate have continued to frustrate much of his domestic program. Now, with the election approaching, several competing visions of America's future are emerging.

Foremost among the unresolved questions at the center of this election is the fate of the independent republics to the west. The governments of the California Republic and Republic of Texas have emerged from the upheavals of the Mexican Crisis as independent states. While Whigs had hoped this would settle the issue of Westward expansion, the question of whether or not the fledgling republics should or should not still be annexed into or at least directly administered by the United States has become a consuming national controversy, especially in light of massive ongoing migration: as tens of thousands of Americans migrate to California following rumors of gold, and wagon trains of oppressed Mormons find refuge in the Californian borderlands of the Great Salt Lake, conflict appears imminent, and it will likely shake the fledgling Republic to its core. 

The two main parties present two views of America: Democrats envision a great Pacific expansion that will breathe new life to the agricultural republic Jefferson and Jackson promised. The annexation of Texas further provides a solution to the current debate over Wisconsin statehood and its upset of the North–South balance. On the other hand, Whigs warn that annexation could in fact further enflame the precarious balance between North and South and drag the nation into an even more dangerous sectional dispute. It has become clear in the preceding months that the California Question is one of the defining issues of the campaign.

At home, President Clay's American System remains largely unfulfilled. Clay entered office promising protective tariffs, federal support for internal improvements, and a stronger national economic infrastructure, yet Democratic control of Congress has repeatedly blocked or diluted his proposals. The Whigs hope the election is an opportunity to give Clay's program the congressional allies it needs. But to the Democrats, Clay’s program represents an attempt to expand federal power at the expense of the states and the nation's agricultural interests.

Underlying both questions is the country's most dangerous unresolved problem: the growing tension between North and South. Every debate over western expansion, economic policy, and federal authority increasingly carries a sectional dimension. Southern Democrats fear that northern Democrats will use the admission of California to admit multiple new free states and undermine southern influence, while northern Democrats increasingly resent what they regard as disproportionate southern power within the Democratic Party and the federal government. Whigs have managed to keep more sectional harmony than the Democrats, but unfortunately, it is mostly surface-level: it comes from avoiding the issues and burying their heads in the sand. No one yet knows whether the sectional conflict can be contained, but everyone understand that California could become the issue that finally brings it into the open.

Against this backdrop, the major parties have prepared their tickets:

Washington reborn: Winfield and Whigs to victory!

The Whigs rally behind two men with different but complementary political reputations. Their presidential nominee is General Winfield Scott, one of the nation's most famous military figures, and the celebrated hero who defused the Mexican Conflict. For Vice President, they select T. Butler King, a prominent Georgia Whig and President Clay’s Secretary of the Navy, who brings both a southern background that reassures the South and a passion for infrastructural improvements. The Whigs present their ticket as the natural choice for voters seeking national unity, economic development, and the completion of Clay's American System.

However, the campaign is not without its challenges. Whigs have won the last two presidential elections yet have few accomplishments to show for them. Their strongest triumph is maintaining high tariffs, which Whigs claim have benefitted American manufacturing; however, farmers in the West and South argue these tariffs have lined the pockets of northeastern plutocrats while hurting the little man. While Whigs argue they have been stymied by John Tyler’s betrayal of the party and Democrat-controlled Congresses, voters might vote for the Democratic party simply to break the gridlock.

General Scott has refrained from campaigning in this election, which several Whigs see as a benefit—Scott is an uncharismatic and out-of-touch campaigner, who prefers lavish dinners in New York City over popular rallies. However, T. Butler King has been an active proclaimer of the Whig program and has worked to promote the campaign in the South, where enthusiasm is low for Scott, who is perceived as an elitist New Yorker bankrolled by abolitionists like Thurlow Weed and William Seward.

Down with demagoguery! Let America roam free under Woodbury and Wise!

The Democrats, meanwhile, seek to reclaim the presidency after eight years in opposition. Their nominee, former Senator and Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury, represents the party's established northern wing and offers both administrative experience and strong economic credentials. Following the walkout from pro-Van Buren Democrats at the 1848 Convention, Democrats hope that Woodbury’s strict constitutionalist stance and lack of a vocal hard line on California and Texas will assuage some Democrats fears. His running mate, Henry A. Wise of Virginia, brings a forceful southern voice to the ticket, and demonstrates a big-tent appeal: Wise is a former Southern Whig who left the party in support of John Tyler, and his critical but paternalistic view on the South’s “peculiar institution” strikes a balance between northern and southern interests. Together, Woodbury and Wise hope to capitalize on voter fatigue over back-to-back, do-nothing Whig administrations, and proclaim that a Democratic trifecta will finally allow them to institute their alternative to Whigs’ unnecessary expansion of federal power. Without victory, Democrats worry Whigs will unknowingly exacerbate sectional tensions to the point of conflict. 

Free Soil in California! Manifest Destiny and Manifest Liberty!

However, the Democratic Party faces an internal revolt: a faction of northern Democrats opposing the proposed expansion of slavery into California and increasingly believing that their party's leadership is unwilling to take a sufficiently firm position against it, has formed an anti-California Free Soil movement. For their presidential ticket, they select for President and Vice-President two candidates who were denied the nomination at the 1848 Democratic National Convention: Senator John Adams Dix of New York for President, and former colonel and Governor of Wisconsin Territory Henry Dodge for Vice President. Their campaign promises to place opposition to expansion of slavery into the southwest at the center of national politics while appealing to Democrats who fear that sectional compromise is becoming impossible.

However, the movement has started on rocky ground. Support from abolitionist Whigs is low, who are wholly opposed to Californian annexation rather than merely the expansion of slavery, and feel that a Scott presidency will offer them more influence. Furthermore, by joining forces with the abolitionist Liberty Party, it has taken on a political platform more radical than some northern Democrats are comfortable with, but more conservative than some Liberty Party members can tolerate. A breakaway faction has even formed: the National Liberty Party has nominated dedicated abolitionist and philanthropist Gerrit Smith for President and Minister Charles C. Foote for Vice President.

The vote is approaching.

The coming election is far more than a contest between Whigs and Democrats. Scott and King offer the promise of consistent and conservative Whig government and the revival of Clay's American System. Woodbury and Wise seek to restore the Democratic promise of an expanding, populist America. Dix and Dodge hope to offer voters a voice protesting the growing control of the Slave Power and bring to fruition a reformed Democracy but threaten deadlocking the election and throwing it a Woodbury-supporting House and Senate.

For the past four years, Americans have managed to postpone the most controversial questions facing the republic. In 1848, they must confront them at the ballot box. The fates of California and Texas, the future of the American System, and the increasingly fragile balance between North and South are all converging in a single presidential election, and the result will determine the direction of the Union for years to come. What will the voters choose?

June 5, 1889

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Henry George absorbed the view from a hill over looking what was left of Johnstown. The President could barely believe what he saw: the tops of buildings smashed into each other, the river swelled with debris, trees torn clean from their roots smashed into the sides of homes and the once busy streets of this Pennsylvania steel town a horrific mess of wood and water and death. He spied a girl's doll floating amidst the ruins, its owner washed away to eternity. So much destruction George had not seen since the war and never committed by Mother Nature, that hateful giver and taker of life. He took in the eerie silence of the movement with the birds chirping and the wind blowing as if nothing at all had happened below them. The great iron works which pressed up against the river simply sat there, no great clang of metal or belching of smoke. 'Why should there be' George thought to himself 'All its workers are dead'.

"Are you alright Dad?" a slightly nervous familiar voice said from behind him.

"No Henry, I do not believe I am". George did not turn towards his son as the latter edged closer to the hill's edge, his mind too preoccupied with the tragedy floating beneath him.

"Ms. Barton wanted me to deliver her thanks for traveling so quickly once you received her telegram. She says her workers and many of the townsfolk had their spirits lifted by your presence".

"Would that I could restore to them their homes and family's I'm sure their spirits would be even more raised. That I could have any boosting effect to these people after what I have seen seems laughable"

"And yet inspire you did, as you have done many time before father. That is why men raise up leaders I think; to be strong when they are weak and to give hope where seems none to be found".

George finally broke his gaze from the catastrophe and turned to look at his son.

"Once a father receives wisdom from his son that when he knows his job is done."

"I should think I still have quite much to learn from you, father; politics being the foremost".

'Politics' the word curdled in his mouth; How George hated politics and how he hated himself all the more for rushing to put himself at the very center of it.

"I should not wish to speak of such a dirty thing here. I want to let the dead rest in peace not be disturbed by my daily humiliations. Let us speak no more of politics and its many servants who have placed a crown on my head only to foil my attempts to lead".

"Perhaps things are not as lost as you suppose father. I disturbed you for reasons more significant than Ms. Barton's message".

Henry George finally looked back at his eldest child with badly concealed curiosity, his eyes narrowing as his eyebrows furrowed, forming waves onto his great white brow. "How's that son? Has the cabinet sent word from Washington? Have our 'allies' deigned to make themselves useful to us?"

"There is indeed word from the capital but not about things you ask. No I speak of a matter which I kept undisclosed to you until I thought it relevant." Now the President's curiosity truly was insatiable and his body did little to hide it as began to nervously move about the hill top, looking his son up and down before quickly moving it up and around as if to track birds which were not there. "Well, now, don't keep me in suspense. What has my wise son discovered then?"

"Before we left from Washington I believed it wise to see what records we might have on Johnstown. We knew the dam was built by the state about 30-40 years ago, that it maintained a private lake for a Carnegie Steel private social club owned by Henry Frisk. I had an archivist go through the Butler Administration's records on the dam and canal projects they had reviewed as part of the national waterways survey and, wouldn't you know it, the South Fork Dam had indeed been surveyed and found deficient. What's more the local leaders had made an urgent request to both the state and Federal authorities to provide money to improve it. The Treasury Department had approved the grant but 2 weeks later the decision was reversed".

"Reversed? By who and why? Was the grant deemed too much?"

"It seems unlikely. The grant was listed in a ledger with a number of other projects approved in Pennsylvania. Take a look for yourself". Henry Jr. took a thick leather bound tome with the exciting title Federal Dam and Canal Projects: Middle Atlantic, 1887-1888. A piece of paper served as crude bookmark which helped the President's son quickly flip towards the back before he briefly traced the list with his finger to find Johnstown amidst the other Js.

"Here we are. 'Johnstown: $2,000 for the replacement of relief pipes and valves and raising of the dam, approved March 3, 1887.'"

The President took the ledger from his son and began scanning the various other projects' costs in the Pennsylvania section. Some were more or less expensive but all seemed to fall around the same $2,000 to $3,000 mark for upgrades or replacements. He turned back to the Johnstown line and saw there was more.

"Seems there's something else." George said as he pushed his glasses up his nose and looked closer "Grant reversed by executive directive, March 17, 1887. Recommendations deemed unnecessary and disruptive to private landowner".

"Now how many regional Pennsylvania dams do you think the President personally approves or declines father? I haven't seen you review a single one." Henry Jr said with in an almost giddy tone.

"I know Butler. He'd never bother with something so minor. He's not a manager, he's a showman and there's nothing showy about something like this. It doesn't make sense but it doesn't prove what I think you think it proves". A smirk crept on Henry Jr.'s face which the President had known since the former's childhood meant he was keeping a surprise and doing a bad job of it.

"Maybe not father but I believe this does." and as he said it he pulled out a schedule book from the same large satchel he had produced the ledger from which read Presidential Meeting Calendar, January - March 1887. He flipped quickly near the back to the second week in March and pointed at March 10 which, amongst the many other meetings Butler was having, read the name 'Henry C. Frisk, 12-1'. "A bit of a strange coincidence that several days after a project to restore a dam owned by Mr. Frisk's private club the President has lunch with the man himself and then a few days after that orders come down to the Treasury to reverse the grant."

George's burrow furrowed for a moment again, thinking back to that time. Butler would've wanted something out of this and Frisk would have known that, it's how all things were done in the previous administration. "March 1887. why does that seem important to me?" the President thought out loud. Then it came to him. "Henry, March 20th the President and Carnegie Steel announced they had worked out a rate cut on all steel bought for the Butler Bridge project. It was a big story in New York for day or so and I remember writing to the President to thank him. It was expected to save the city a 1/3rd of the cost and speed up the schedule".

"Speed it up fast enough that Butler's steel monument to himself would be built in time for him to see it finished no doubt. And all it cost was a couple of feet off an earth dam in some little steel town in Pennsylvania."

"And anyone unlucky enough to live beneath it." the President said bitterly. "Henry, this is what I've needed. This will nail those bastards to the mast for good. The Butlerites and Elephants in Congress who've been stonewalling my agenda for 3 months. Once this comes out, that Butler got thousands killed for a rate cut on steel for his vanity bridge, I can clean house. They'll be no defending him. The Justice Department can go after Frisk and all the other Robber Barons who got sweet deals for the last 8 years. I could open up hell on Wall Street if I wanted".

"And I can't imagine it stops here in Johnstown Dad. If he was willing to intervene in a small project like this, just imagine how many other things were looked over, reversed or stop to get a few favors from Rockefeller or Morgan or anyone else with cash to buy Butler a nice present?" Henry Jr. said matching his father's anxious energy.

"How many Congressmen would be willing to let the land tax through if it meant saving their skins from the mobs back home?" the President wondered out loud. "Henry, I want you to go back to Washington immediately but try to stay inconspicuous. Find your archivist, get him somewhere safe and wait until I get back. Then I want you to reach Senator Sherman and schedule a meeting. I'll make my announcement at the White House after I return and meet with him. Right now we need to focus on the tragedy but within the week I'm going make to something out of all this suffering.

President Henry George removed his glasses, turned back to the edge of the hill and overlooked the devastation with something like divine wrath swelling in his heart.

"Come hell or high water, I will"

Hello Kennedy Dynasty readers! I had a bit of extra free time after the end of my summer class before my fall term at school started, so I spent the last ten days or so compiling THIS LIST) of every Governor of every State in the Kennedy Dynasty timeline since the year the project began, 1968. I spent a lot of time on this between research, formatting, and finding photos for some of the more obscure politicians who've been Governor in this timeline - Maine was particularly difficult because I couldn't find a picture of Harrison Richardson. I'm not entirely sure the photo I used for him is actually of him, but it's my best guess. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

Have fun!

RWBIII

I mean essentially given that this term is technically Trump's 2nd term in office; isn't he legally barred from running for a 3rd term? Because most presidents are only ever allowed 2 terms in office as a US president so that being said who do you guys see running in 2028?

Primaries in New York and Missouri would re-establish the dominance of the Progressive faction over this primary, thanks to an unexpectedly strong performance from a second-tier moderate candidate that came at the direct expense of the race's presumed front-runner.

The New York Primary would be a close race between two unexpected candidates. Former Vice President Jesse Jackson won the Empire State, defeating Mario Cuomo, the former three-term Governor of New York, by just a few thousand votes. A competitive second place finish is Cuomo's best performance of the primary season so far, and it could be exactly what he needs to turn around his long-struggling campaign. A wide gulf separated Cuomo from third-place finisher Tom Harkin and fourth place finisher Al Gore. Senator Skip Humphrey, who'd led some statewide polls coming into Primary day, finished a disappointing fifth place. He lost a good amount of support to Cuomo in his home state. Governor of Texas Ann Richards finished sixth, with Ray Flynn, Douglas Wilder, Byron Dorgan, Bob Graham, and Chet Edwards rounding out the field. Flynn did particularly well in majority-Catholic precincts.

1,000 miles away, Missouri was also hosting its Democratic Caucus. The state would be a three-way race between the leading progressive candidates. Tom Harkin would place first, dominating his in the Northern half of the State. Ann Richards, who finished second, was just as dominant in the Southern part of the state, while Jesse Jackson, the third-place finisher, did well in the urban centers of St. Louis and Kansas City. Al Gore was fairly competitive too, but he did not threaten the three progressive front-runners for first place in a state where the Democratic Party is ruled by the labor populist faction. Skip Humphrey once again disappointed, finishing in fifth, barely ahead of Mario Cuomo. This is no surprise, as, outside of Iowa and Minnesota, where he had a home region advantage, Humphrey has struggled badly in populist-leaning states. Byron Dorgan, Bob Graham, Ray Flynn, Chet Edwards, and Douglas Wilder rounded out the field.

Following the New York and Missouri primaries, several candidates would drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bob Graham was the first to go, dropping out and endorsing Al Gore on the morning of March 8th. Douglas Wilder went next, dropping out of the race and endorsing Jesse Jackson that same afternoon. By the evening, Byron Dorgan had dropped out too and endorsed Tom Harkin. Finally, Chet Edwards, who'd hoped to stay in the race through at least March 12th, when many Southern states held their primaries, was forced out of the race by financial necessity - he'd completely run out of money. Edwards would also endorse Al Gore. Thus, Representative Ray Flynn remains as the only candidate still in the race without a reasonable path to the nomination. We'll see how much longer he lasts.

Next up are primaries in Alaska, Arizona, and South Dakota. The Democratic voter base in these three states leans progressive, which is good news for Harkin, Jackson, and Richards and bad news for Cuomo, Gore, and Humphrey. Cuomo desperately needs to build on his newfound momentum if he wants to stay in the race and Humphrey, despite winning a lot of delegates on Super Tuesday, needs to reverse his rapid downward spiral in the polls. Some national polling shows Humphrey as low as sixth out of seven candidates heading into the mid-March races - slightly below Cuomo and far from challenging Jesse Jackson for the first place spot.

As always, the choice is up to you. You can vote for your favorites HERE.

State of the Race

“We want Dix! We want Dix! Leave California in peace!”

Baltimore was heavy with summer heat when the Democratic National Convention assembled in May of 1848, and the Democratic Party had reached a breaking point. The delegates had come to Baltimore to choose a candidate for President, but the Convention was saddled with lingering animosities following Calhoun’s South-led splinter in 1844 and fretted over the ensuing debate on how Democrats should react to the new Republics of Texas and California. The Democratic Party's northern, New York-led reformers—the men now known as the Barnburners—were spiteful of the domination of the expansionist wing. They demanded that the party take a firm stand against the calls for annexation of the independent California Republic, fearing that the annexed states would be asked to give up their current abolitionist Constitution. At the center of the opposition stood John Adams Dix, senator from New York, soldier, reformer, and, following the retirement of Martin Van Buren after his 1844 loss, suddenly one of the more prominent voices of the anti-slavery Democrats.

The northern delegates saw that their hopes defeated when the platform was presented. The resolutions supported the expansion of the United States into the Southwest and Carribean, but offered no clear rejection of introducing slavery to these territories. Instead, the language was carefully constructed to leave the question open and preserve Democratic unity by refusing to take a position that would alienate the South. The Barnburners were incensed. The Southerners argued opposing expansion of slavery to new territories upset the balance of powers towards the north, discriminated against Southern interests, and threatened Southern rebellion. But to the Barnburners, the distinction was transparent. They believed that annexing California would bring the nation still deeper into the sectional struggle that had already poisoned American politics.

One by one, the New York delegates rose from their seats, believing that the party had abandoned its principles. Then Van Buren supporters from other northern states followed! Outside the convention hall, dissidents gathered and planned. Their movement had no presidential nominee, no national organization, and no certainty that it could survive. Within weeks, the rebels gathered in a new convention in Utica, calling themselves the Free Democratic Party. They decried both the Democratic slavocracy and Whiggish demagoguery, both beholden to the interests of the rich and powerful. The Utica Convention was a disparate group of Liberty Party members, anti-California Democrats, and the occasional abolitionist Whig, though few Whigs had agreed to follow Joshua Reed Giddings out of the party in light of Winfield Scott’s northern proclivities. Here, they turned to nominate their candidate:

John Adams Dix (New York) — Senator

Senator Dix had not sought the Democratic nomination, but his reputation made him an ideal standard-bearer for the Barnburners in the Democratic convention: a prominent New York Democrat, a man of reform, and a politician whose opposition to expanding slavery to California had become inseparable from his broader conviction that the Democratic Party must not become merely an instrument of sectional interests. As the inspiration for the Democratic walkout, he is a likely frontrunner.

John Parker Hale (New Hampshire) — Senator

A prominent New Hampshire Democrat and outspoken opponent of the annexation of California, Hale represents the more radical, abolitionist wing of the Democratic anti-California movement. His national reputation and willingness to challenge his own party makes him a credible alternative to Dix, though his association with the Liberty movement could make him difficult for some Democrats to accept.

Joshua Reed Giddings (Ohio) — Representative

Giddings was a proposed nominee at the Whig national convention, but was rejected by delegates over fear of splitting the party. So Gidings split the party for them, leading northeast Ohio Whigs to the current convention. The veteran Ohio congressman was one of the most uncompromising opponents of slavery expansion in Congress, though his long association with the Whigs makes him an unusual choice for a majority Democratic movement. His nomination would give the new party a powerful anti-annexation voice, but risks alienating Democrats who wanted to preserve the movement's identity as a breakaway faction of their own party.

William Cullen Bryant (New York) — Newspaper editor

The influential New York editor and former Democratic political figure offers the convention a distinctly radical alternative. A noted supporter of the rights of the free workingman, Bryant has great influence among anti-slavery Democrats and the broader northern reform movement. Although Bryant lacks the government experience of the frontrunners, his nomination could give the new party a populist appeal.

Who will the Free Democrats nominate? Vote here to decide!

[Author note: So, I see that no one wants to vote like an 1850s Democrat, which I get, however, I need some conflict to get the series off the ground, and I really don't want to start it by alien-space-bats-ing Democrats finding a strong moral conscience, so here's the new plan: everyone can vote on the Free Soil candidate (though the Mexican Cession hasn’t even happened, so Free Soil is kind of a misnomer), and I will choose a Democratic nominee based on the previous, existing suggestions. Then, for the general election, each person will get two votes: (1) who you would want to win the election (given what we know now), and (2) who you think would win the election (given the historical context and the alternate timeline). I'll take both votes into account to try to give the people what they want while keeping it grounded and competitive. If anyone has further suggestions on how to make things both fun for voters and at least somewhat grounded in reality, let me know, please!]

The race for the Republican Party Presidential nomination is still a close, three-way race. A fourth candidate would try to gain some momentum on Super Tuesday, but sadly fell flat, withdrawing from the race just a few days later. Heading into the middle stretch of this race, that leaves three ideologically distinct competitors, all with a viable path to the nomination. Here's how we got there:

The big Super Tuesday winner in the Republican Primary was Senator Christine Todd Whitman, who won six contests. Her wins in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, completed her sweep of the New England region - she'd won New Hampshire fourteen days prior. Senator Ron Paul had the second most Super Tuesday delegates. He won two Southern states, Georgia and South Carolina, and two Rocky Mountain states, Colorado and Wyoming. Governor Tom Ridge only won two states - Maryland and Minnesota - but he was pretty strong across the board and finished a close third place in delegate count. Senator Henson Moore's two best placings were second place finishes in Georgia and South Carolina. He finished a distant last place in delegate count.

A few days later, the New York Primary was held. While Christine Todd Whitman, who carries the endorsement of former President Jack Kemp, was expected to win, continuing her dominant run in the Northeast, Tom Ridge won instead, and by a comfortable margin too. Ridge was dominant in the part of upstate New York that falls within the Rust Belt, and he also got slightly more votes than Whitman in the affluent suburbs surrounding New York City. As a result, he won by over ten percentage points. Ron Paul finished third, twelve points behind Whitman, with most of his supporting coming from the rural Northern part of the state near the Canadian border. Henson Moore received less than 10% of the vote, and, seeing the writing on the wall, he dropped out of the race soon after.

The Republican Party's old guard conservative wing no longer has a horse in this race. However, instead of rallying behind a single candidate, the bloc has completely fractured, with major figures from the traditional conservative wing lining up behind all three candidates. After he dropped out of the race, Henson Moore would endorse Tom Ridge. So would Kansas Senator Bob Dole. Former Senator George H.W. Bush would endorse Whitman, while his son, former Representative George W. Bush would endorse Ron Paul. The truth of the matter is, the party is moving beyond the mainstream conservative politics this group represents. They're quickly heading towards irrelevancy as the 21st century approaches.

There are six primaries coming up on March 12th, all but one of which are in the South, a strong region for Ron Paul. While national polling shows Ridge in first place, with Whitman second and Paul third, only five points separate first and third place, and this slate of contests poses a geographic challenge for the race's two remaining moderates. A strong performance from Ridge or Whitman here could give them the momentum they need to win the nomination. A poor performance could force sone of them out of the race. Can anyone stop Paul in the South? The choice is up to you!

As always, you can vote for your favorites HERE.

State of the Race

Read the context below before voting! (See also first ballot and series premise)

The 1848 Democratic National Convention is shaping up to be one of the most contentious and consequential in recent history. It is clear that the Democrats have not managed to mend the wounds caused by the Southern Democrats’ split from the party in 1844. Van Burenites have managed to take control of multiple delegations in the north, making consensus all the harder to achieve. To make matters more difficult, delegates have voted to reinstate the two-thirds requirement. This now means the winning candidate must be acceptable to both north and south, as both regions have more than one third of delegates and can therefore deny nominations as a unified bloc.

This has doomed the candidacy of leading pro-Van Buren candidate John Adams Dix, whose free-soil politics are unacceptable to the Southern bloc. Dix is still in the running, but all ballots cast for him will be “spoiled,” as he cannot become the nominee without Southern support. Henry Dodge, despite holding similar beliefs, has the benefit of having no recent voting record in Congress reflecting his views, and his frontiersman appeal has even won the support of some delegations in the Upper South. He still faces strong opposition from the Deep South and risks a second Southern bolt from the convention, but for now, he is still in the running. Former Governor William Marcy has also withdrawn due to lack of support and his New York delegates will cast blank ballots from now on (unless he reemerges as a consensus candidate).

The anti-Van Buren faction across north and south must also attempt to unite around a candidate. While Senator Lewis Cass maintains a strong lead, both convention-wide and among the anti-Van Buren votes, Senator James Buchanan and former Senator Levi Woodbury are nearly tied. Because his support was almost entirely centered in Pennsylvania, James Buchanan has withdrawn his candidacy and asked his supporters to back Cass in hope of a significant cabinet position.

As we enter the next ballot, both pro- and anti-Van Buren candidates attempt to rally their forces, but the situation is fraught, and many delegates are casting about for a dark horse: a compromise candidate who can unite the two factions. Have a candidate in mind? Vote here and suggest them!

For the first time since 1824, the Presidential election was deadlocked and the President and Vice President to ultimately be decided by the House and Senate respectively. Though Sherman has taken the Democratic-Republicans from a crushing defeat in 1884 to a tie 4 years later, he could not help the down ballot races. While both tickets would lobby vigorously within their own parties and across the aisle ultimately it was Henry George and Farmer-Labor who will retain control of the White House and Congress for the next 4 years. However there are many promises George had to make to get himself into office and if he wants to transform the American economic system it will require excellent political skill to pull it all off without causing his coalition to break apart.

Author's note: Couldn't remember how make an electoral map in Inkscape so it's just the wiki box today. If you have a question about a specific state's results let me know. Also if you want to know how the negotiations put George in the White House I'll share those as well.

Read the context below before voting!

[Also, disclaimer: This period of American history is quite shameful, and while I don't want to further that shame in this series, I also don't want to disrespect the long and difficult journey of those who worked to build us a better history by pretending that everyone suddenly developed a moral compass, so consider the context of the era before casting your vote.]

The 1848 Presidential election is pivotal for the Democratic Party. Democrats have lost the last two Presidential elections, despite holding the House and Senate (often by large margins) due to a series of deepening political rifts: north vs. south, annexation vs. independence, and free soil vs. popular sovereignty. Now, these conflicts risk the destruction of the party, and whoever Democrats nominate must be able to bridge the divide. It will be an uphill climb: both North and South have contingents that risk bolting the Convention and running as third parties. To ensure the eventual nominee has strong cross-coalition appeal, several prominent Democrats are calling for a reinstatement of the two-thirds majority requirement. It will be the convention’s first critical vote.

Where all Democrats seem to agree is the view that the United States is growing and modernizing too fast to keep alive their agrarian, Jeffersonian–Jacksonian dream. Who will be able to keep that dream alive? Here are some of the current main candidates, but note that if delegates reinstate the two-thirds majority, there might be additional dark horse candidates at the Convention…

Lewis Cass (Michigan) — Senator

The formidable Senator Lewis Cass has strong support from the South and the West going into the Convention. He has been the leading critic of the Clay administration’s foreign policy in the Senate, opposing the Oregon Treaty and Clay’s inaction supporting US interests in Texas and California. Senator Cass is a firm supporter of Manifest Destiny and popular sovereignty, and a noted Anglophobe—he has promised to strongly enforce the Monroe Doctrine against British encroachment into California and Central America, where he asserts the United States’ right to build a trans-continental canal.

James Buchanan (Pennsylvania) — Senator

Senator Buchanan is well-known for his sharp political intuition and cunning, which he is expected to employ in his second attempt at the Presidency. Going into the Convention, he is portraying himself as a moderate alternative to Lewis Cass: he is pro-expansion, and open to acquisition of California, Texas, and/or Cuba, but he believes instituting popular sovereignty will damage national unity, and that future territorial acquisitions should still be subject to the Missouri Compromise line.

John Adams Dix (New York) — Senator

Former supporters of former President Martin Van Buren enter the convention disheartened—Van Buren has declined to stand as a candidate for the nomination, and his protégé, Governor Silas Wright, recently died in office. Furthermore, the recent pro-expansion shift in the party has left their ability to continue the New York Democrat’s legacy in doubt. The Barnburners are looking to Senator John Adams Dix to be their potential flag-bearer. Dix is moderately pro-annexation, but believes that the federal government should not interfere with existing Texan or Californian laws permitting or abolishing slavery, respectively.

William L. Marcy (New York) — Former Governor

The New York delegation was not unanimous in their support of John Dix: the Hunker faction has decided to run their own candidate, former Governor William Marcy. In a narrow vote, the Convention has elected to split New York’s delegates half-and-half, damaging both sides’ chances. A former governor, Tammany Hall member, and bright financial and diplomatic mind, Marcy was once a firm supporter of Van Buren, but now seeks to position himself as the consensus candidate between the Van Burenites and Cass/Buchanan supporters—he has taken less of a hard line towards westward expansion, but has made subtle overtures towards support for purchasing Cuba.

Levi Woodbury — Former Senator

New England’s candidate is former Senator and Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury. A bright legal mind and strict constitutionalist, Woodbury was a leading candidate for the Supreme Court prior to Clay’s victory in 1844. Having served in the Cabinets of Jackson and Van Buren, he is favored for his Executive branch experience.  Woodbury supports expansionist southerners’ ideals, but is less concerned with taking action on them, and more focused on curtailing what he perceives to be rampant federal overreach under Whig administrations.

Henry Dodge — Former Governor of Wisconsin Territory

Governor Dodge was suggested as a candidate in 1844, but remained steadfast in his support from Van Buren, and several western Democrats are hopeful that Van Buren supporters remember this and repay the favor in 1848. Dodge is an unconventional presidential candidate: he has never held elected office, and has spent the last decade living in western territories. However, he served with distinction as a colonel in territorial militias and the Dragoons, and nominating a Van Buren supporting frontiersman might have symbolic value, especially considering the Clay administration has been delaying Wisconsin statehood for fear of upsetting the balance of free and slave states.

Who will win the nomination? Vote here to find out!

CONTEXT (YOU'LL NEED IT)

After Iowa, Jack Kemp has made a rather strong, noticeably large amount of the vote, nearly winning Iowa as a result (although Bush ended up winning the state, the news reported it as an upset to pre-polling)

William F. Buckley Jr has repeatedly stated that he will reject the nomination if given to him, and combined with the Draft Buckley Jr movement running out of steam (and funds), many Buckley Jr supporters have moved onto supporting Laxalt.

Pat Robertson later said on the 700 Club, that Jack Kemp was "the most homosexual candidate of these United States." and "the only reason that Kemp is even up in the polls, is because all these demonic evil homosexuals are voting for him. And as the Republican Party, we should not be standing for it!"

George H.W. Bush - Previously ran in the 1980 Primaries before losing to Ronald Reagan, Reagan decided to take Bush as his running mate. The ticket ended up losing anyway, but Bush is not going to give up so easily. However, his previous comments in the previous primaries might end up biting him in the ass.

Bob Dole - The Vice Presidential nominee for the Republicans in 1976 under the Ford ticket, Dole also ran in 1980, but lost. Bob Dole happens to be gaffe-prone and often refers to himself in the third person, which might push voters away from voting for him.

Paul Laxalt - Previously the Governor of Nevada before becoming Senator, he served in World War 2, and is a strong supporter of Reaganomics. He famously met with Goldwater in 1964 during his first campaign for Senator, which many credit as causing him to lose that election by 48 votes.

Jack Kemp - Jack Kemp was on Reagan's shortlist of running mate candidates, however, allegations that Kemp was a closeted homosexual stopped Reagan from picking him as his Vice President. Kemp is running again, but those allegations might keep popping up and hurting his chances.

Super Tuesday has come and gone. Twelve states held Democratic primaries, and they've delivered the party two things they badly needed: a true presidential front-runner and a culling of several second tier candidates. Although, with the field still in double digits and numerous candidates nearly tied at the top of the delegate count, this race might not be able to escape a dreaded outcome - a contested convention.

The Democrats big Super Tuesday winner was Senator Skip Humphrey, who seven primaries in total: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and a landslide victory in his home state of Minnesota. With this massive performance, Humphrey has emerged as this race's front-runner in both delegates and poll numbers. However, he is not without competition. Senator Al Gore also did well, placing second in delegate count and winning Georgia and Maryland. Ann Richards is alive too, adding Idaho and South Carolina to her win column. Jesse Jackson would only get one victory - Massachusetts - but he was still competitive across the board and placed fourth overall in delegate count. The night's biggest loser was Senator Tom Harkin, who failed to win a single contest and placed fifth overall in delegate count. Worse, his poll numbers are slipping too, as Richards appears to be finally consolidating the progressive vote.

As for the second tier candidates, both Mario Cuomo and Byron Dorgan were competitive in some places. Cuomo had a few second and third place finishes across the Northeast, while Dorgan put up respectable numbers in Minnesota and the Mountain West. Bob Graham was squarely in the middle of the field in most states, but his campaign is still hanging on for now. Douglas Wilder had a few top half placings - sixth place in Maryland and seventh in South Carolina - but at just three delegates - less than protest candidate Chet Edwards and the same amount as late entry Ray Flynn, he's beginning to appear delusional for staying in this race so long. He should be out of the race soon. The same could go for Graham, whose campaign has been stagnant for months, or Cuomo, who is slipping in the polls.

Three candidates who were still in the race on the morning of Super Tuesday were no longer in the race once all the votes had been counted. Senator Kathleen Sullivan Alioto, seen as a potential front-runner early on in this race, dropped out after failing to place in the top five in her home state of Massachusetts. Former Senator Bill Bradley, another Northeastern liberal, also chose to drop out after finishing the night in fourteenth place out of fourteen candidates competing. Both Bradley and Sullivan Alioto would endorse the new front-runner, Skip Humphrey. Governor of Florida Bill Nelson, who'd barely been holding on in this race as it was with slipping poll numbers, also withdrew, choosing to endorse Al Gore. Eleven candidates remain, including five: Gore, Harkin, Humphrey, Jackson, and Richards - who have a legitimate shot at the nomination. Next up is the New York Primary, a big delegate contest that is usually friendly to liberal Democrats.

As always, you can vote for your favorites HERE.

State of the Race

Read the context before voting! (More context here)

The first ballot for Vice-President has been cast, and the nomination is shaping up to be a neck-and-neck race! Former Representative John W. Crockett is in a narrow first place, with support across the South and Midwest. In a very close second place is Secretary T. Butler King, whose support is distributed across the Clay strongholds of the Mid-Atlantic and Kentucky, plus his home state of Georgia. In third place is Edward Bates, whose support is split between the western border states and New England. However, a little under a fifth of delegates voted for “favorite sons” and other minor candidates, such as Governor William Alexander Graham of North Carolina. An attempt by the Vermont delegation to nominate former New York Governor William Seward was struck down by the Convention Chair, as Scott and Seward are residents of the same state.

In the name of party unity, and seeing his momentum stalling, Edward Bates has decided to remove his name from contention. He has not made an endorsement of either of the two leading candidates, though it is expected that his supporters will split support, with westerners supporting Crockett and New Englanders supporting King. General Scott has been unavailable for comment, and his delegates have signaled that both King and Crockett would be acceptable to their delegation.

The choice is therefore up to the delegates. The two candidates, ideologically very similar, both represent the Whig aim for national harmony over sectional strife, but in different ways. Crockett represents the Clay-esque idea of the reforming American frontiersman: rugged and ambitious, but bringing “civilization” with him across the country. King represents Clay's American System at its core: strengthening United States mercantile and industrial strength through consistent, conservative development, and collaboration between northern industry and southern agriculture. Which message will resonate with the delegates? Vote here to find out!

Read the context below before voting! (More context here and here)

The Whigs have their candidate! Winfield Scott has been nominated by the Whigs to be their presidential nominee. The Philadelphia convention took great pride in the speed and efficiency at which the party has chosen their candidate. His nomination comes as a great victory to the northern wing of the party, but Clayites and southern Whigs remain somewhat displeased. Whigs will need to nominate a Vice-President who can help balance the ticket and unite the party. The presently nominated candidates are:

T. Butler King (Georgia) —  Secretary of the Navy
Many Whigs find it apt to balance a Virginian-turned-New Yorker with a Bay Stater-turned-Georgian. As a plus, King has served well as Secretary of the Navy, and his nomination would easily placate both Clay supporters and Southerners.

William Alexander Graham (North Carolina) — Governor
North Carolina is arguably the strongest Whig state in the South besides Kentucky, and Whigs will need a victory there to be victorious nationwide. For this reason, many are calling for the nomination of North Carolina’s popular former Senator and incumbent Governor.

Edward Bates (Missouri) — Former State Senator
Despite having held only minor political office, Bates is a popular figure among Whigs, especially in the expanding West. A bright legal mind, his nomination could help in the west, but it would likely be seen as a slight against the South.

John Wesley Crockett (Louisiana) — Former Representative
Crockett's claim to fame is his father, “King of the Frontier” Davy Crockett, who famously died fighting in the Texan Revolution. His nomination would be seen as throwing a bone to the expansionist wing of the Southern Whig faction and could boost Whigs in the crucial battleground states of Louisiana and Tennessee.

Who will win the nomination? Vote here!

Super Tuesday has come and gone. Eleven states held their primary elections. The top two Reform Party presidential candidates would both perform strongly in an unexpected region, as the candidate from America's northernmost state would win by landslide margins in the South and the popular Governor of a Southern State would win five Northeastern states comfortably. Meanwhile, another candidate fell far behind in the delegate count and was effectively eliminated from contention for the nomination.

Governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer would be the Reform Party's big Super Tuesday winner: of the eleven contests held, Roemer won seven of them: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Roemer won big in the Northeastern United States, where most Reform Party members lean conservative and former President Gravel is relatively unpopular. Gravel didn't leave Super Tuesday empty handed though. He won four contests: Georgia, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Washington, proving that, even when facing a Southerner, Gravel is unbeatable in the South. Ron Paul, again, did not campaign for the Reform Party nomination ahead of Super Tuesday. As a result, he would win considerably fewer delegates than either Roemer or Gravel. Despite three second place finishes - in Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island - Paul has been effectively eliminated from competition for this nomination.

Again, he isn't actively campaigning, focusing on winning the more important Republican Party presidential nomination, so he doesn't need to drop out of the race. Some states plan to replace his name on their ballots with the presumptive nominee of the American Party, University of Chicago economics professor Thomas Sowell, but in most remaining Reform Party primaries, Paul's name will remain on the ballot. Nevertheless, this is down to a two man race between Mike Gravel, a former United States President and an elder statesman of the populist movement and Buddy Roemer, a veteran of the Gravel administration who's younger, more charismatic, and less plagued by controversy. Will the Reform Party re-nominate Gravel, a champion of anti-establishment politics for decades, or will they nominate Roemer, the heir apparent to the Gravel Movement? Roemer has a lead of just a few points in national polls, giving him the best chance to win, but ultimately, the choice is up to you.

State of the Race

VOTE HERE

Context

In addition to the Presidential election there is the just as equally consequential Congressional elections. While individuals dominate the Presidential race, for Congress it's important to take a look at the parties and their various factions to get an idea of who will make up the legislature come March 1889. Also in the very unlikely event of a tie this Congress might just determine who the next President and Vice President will be. Just remember that some factions in different parties might work with each other if they feel a candidate as their common interest in mind so it won't be as simple as a straight up or down vote.

The Farmer-Labor Party

The self proclaimed party of the working man, FLP was formed out of a unification of the Greenback and Labor movements at the tail end of the 1870s. Most of its leadership is composed of former Democrats and Radical Republicans disillusioned with the parties's commitment to traditional economic policies. More explicitly than other parties, Farmer-Labor is a coalition of several often competing groups who nonetheless prefer each other to the standard liberalism of the Democratic-Republicans.

The Farmers were and are the largest faction within the party, although their numbers continue to slip thanks to demographic trends toward increased urbanization. Originally organized by the National Grange movement, the Farmers are composed of various small holding farmers, loggers, and ranchers primarily from the Middle West and Western states. They broadly support the free coinage of silver, low tariffs if not outright free trade, the removal of Natives and the settlement of their land and a federal rural aid program in the event of drought and other natural disasters.

The Laborers are the second largest and fastest growing faction within the party with efforts by its leadership to organize American workers into trade unions with the blessing of President Butler aiding their rise. Coming from the rapidly growing cities of the American North primarily but other cities like Atlanta and St. Louis as well, Laborers generally very nativists though this expresses itself as aggression towards Chinese in the West, Italians in the South and Eastern Europeans and Irish in the North. Though in the pass they were united behind a shared support for protective tariffs, labor safety regulations and unemployment aid, this year has pitted Georgists vs. Butlerites. The reforming Georgists support the New York Mayor's attempts to clean up government and replace tariffs with a land value tax while Butlerites stand in favor of high tariffs and machine politics utilized by President Butler. This faction also supports a more muscular foreign policy, large scale infrastructure projects and a strategic ambivalence on the currency issue.

The Miners have stood in the shadow of the two bigger factions for most of its existence and are composed of miners' unions who felt underrepresented in either group in the early days of the party. The Miners can be further divided between the Brights (silver and gold miners from the West) and the Blacks (coal and iron miners from the East). These two sides share most things in common like support for stronger safety regulations, injury and death insurance and an opposition to conservation efforts. Brights tend be very supportive of free trade while Blacks give it little importance beyond supplying the Navy with raw materials.

The Moderates are the finally group and the smallest with their ranks composed of middle and upper class activists drawn to the party out of a reformist impulse. While it ironically hosts some of the most stridently Socialist members, most Moderates prefer purely political means of reform rather than aggressive strike action and highly value government reform and even nature conservation. This George's core base of support and the only ones not totally filled with nativists or anti-Native sentiment. While many Farmers and Brights are supportive of suffrage, the Moderates are the party's most vocal supporters in addition to a belief in free trade, anti-imperialism and public education.

The Democratic-Republican Party

The so-called inheritors of the legacy of Jeffersonian Democracy, this dysfunctional marriage of convenience was formed in the aftermath of the massive upset win of Benjamin Butler in 1880 between two groups who had previously held each other as mortal enemies. United by a common belief in the classical liberalism of the Enlightenment, a disdain for populism and the necessity of protecting institutions, the Democratic-Republicans stay together to help raise the children and maybe one day they learn to love each other. While the labels Republican and Democrat are still important they are generally used to appeal to particular areas and classes in the United States rather than as ideological designators anymore. Republicans generally are more economically conservative, racially inclusive and prefer centralization with an appeal towards the Northern and Pacific Westerns of the middle and upper classes along with African-Americans in the American South. Democrats have more diverse on economic issues but generally support small government, a reduction of both taxation and expenditure, decentralization of power and a non-interventionist foreign policy with an appeal to the white worker class of the south particularly in rural areas and immigrant communities in American cities. Within political circles there are 4 names that truly matter and distinguish the factions of the party on Capitol Hill

The Elephants are the successors to the Republican Party's old Stalwart faction once headed by Senator Roscoe Conkling. Standing in staunch defense of the traditional Republican platform of high tariffs, civil rights, Federally funded infrastructure projects and a commitment to the gold standard, the Elephants have long been the stereotypical image of a Republican in the minds of the public. An alliance between bosses, conservative workers and most of the nation's Afro-American politicians, the Elephants are unapologetically machine politicians who believe in the spoils system as the natural reward for their loyal supporters and view regulation of business as threatening to economic stability.

The Tigers are named for the mascot of New York's infamous Tammany Hall, long the heart of the city's Irish political machine. The Tigers are the greatest friend to the immigrant in America helping to organizing housing, work and healthcare for those fresh off the boat in exchange for the votes of the ever growing ethnic communities of America's cities. While supporting the gold standard and a moderate form of the protective tariff, the Tigers have long preferred to focus their attention on improvement of urban living conditions and have opposed what they see as the immense vanity projects of the Butler Administration. In addition the Tigers have worked hard to protect their communities the harsh anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant sentiment which is often directed towards in the form of both legal restrictions and outright violence.

The Beavers are America's great architects of reform or the one's most responsible for damming up the government's business, depends on who you ask. Largely made up of middle and upper class reformers coming out of New England determined to forge the United States into the shining city on a hill that they believe it could be no matter how many people they piss off to do it. Decrying the government's descent into cronyism as the President openly colludes with the Robber Barons to fund his vanity projects while his partisan allies use the US Army to brutalize the Plains tribes. However the corruption in Washington is not the only thing on the Beavers minds as they despise the descent into immorality they feel the nation has suffered and believe the Federal government must step into reinforce proper virtue whether its through the prohibition of alcohol, the conservation of an increasingly exploited wilderness, a the elimination of polygamy in the Utah territory or censorship of sexual immoral literature. Perhaps their most redeeming quality in the eyes of the public is a persistent dedication to free public education for all and their persistence has paid off in many states so far.

The Skunks are the last and some would say the least of the DR's factions. Primarily Southern in origin, the Skunks despise government meddling and prefer a man, or woman, is left to their own business. Believing that decision are best made as locally as possible, the Skunks are seen in many ways as the sole group fighting against what has otherwise been an increasingly centralization of power in Washington which they blame for the corruption infesting the heart of America's soul. They work the hardest to see government taxation and spending slashed down, find city dwellers North or South revolting and consider most Americans terrible prudes. Interestingly, while Skunks openly mock prohibitionists they are actually the nation's most vocal supporters of women's suffrage and have a strange sympathy with Native peoples, seeing their brutalization as the ultimate embodiment of government tyranny.