Dobs

Sensing blood in the water on a second ballot, many Republican officials will rally behind New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez for fear of a disastrous Conway victory. Moderates will support Buttigieg.

I have a strange request- can I be Chief Judge Janet DiFiore as a non-candidates. (I want to be a corrupt New York Judge)

I adore your enthusiasm my friend, but I had not intended for this to be a role play, rather a walk through of an alternate 2016 as I imagine it. However, maybe once I’m done with this project we’ll have time for a good old-fashioned Dobs RP 😊

I recently re-discovered an old friend of mine, the 2016 Republican Delegate Calculator by RCP. You can find it here: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/widgets/2016/delegate_calculator/version4.html I've decided to go ahead and take a walk down memory lane by simulating a possible turn of events wherein Trump's rise is cut short, but the path to who will succeed him is marred in controversy and confusion. November 1st, 2015 - National Polling Average Ben Carson - 25% Donald Trump - 24% Carly Fiorina - 10% Marco Rubio - 9% Ted Cruz - 7% Jeb Bush - 6% Chris Christie - 4% Mike Huckabee - 3% Rand Paul - 3% John Kasich - 2% Rick Santorum - 2% Bobby Jindal - 1% --- For the first time since he took the lead in late July from then-frontrunner Jeb Bush, Donald Trump is no longer the Republican frontrunner for President of the United States. Having fallen to second place to Dr. Ben Carson in the RCP average, there is much debate regarding whether this finally represents the permanent downfall of the New York businessman, or whether this is merely a statistical anomaly, a blip on the radar. The next Republican debate is scheduled for November 10th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Final placements will be announced next week.

The Governor of Virginia expressly urges the President not to place it on our Eastern Shore, citing roving bands of wild horses, flies the size of a small fist, and the lack of any infrastructure to reach the Lower Shore in a timely manner for all but perhaps the Delaware delegation. Not to mention to the horrendous military disadvantage of placing the Capital on what is otherwise a solid defensive geographic formation. The Potomac is the clear choice, for national defense, ease of access, and political balance. @Imperator Taco Cat

Apologies if I missed it in the update, but were there any developments re: Virginia or Dobb?

Ok, Replace Brady with Fred Upton (R, MI-6) and Issa with Susan Brooks (R, IN-5)

Domestic: Steve Scalise (R, LA-1) Economic: Kevin Brady (R, TX-8) Judicial: Darrell Issa (R, CA-49) Military: Liz Cheney (R-WY, AL) --- House Mainstream Chair: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA, 5) Senate Mainstream Chair: Tim Scott (R-SC) House Moderate Chair: Joe Crowley (D-NY, 14) Senate Moderate Chair: Mark Warner (D-VA)

Speaker Ryan (R-WI, 1) will seek re-election. Senator John Thune (R-SD) will run for Majority Whip. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA, 5) will announce a bid for Majority Whip as a sensible and responsible alternative to Thomas Massie. @Rodja --- Whip Durbin (D-IL) will seek re-election, the Moderates will back Schumer for Leader. Steny Hoyer (D-MD, 5) will run for re-election as Minority Whip, and the Moderates will back Pelosi.

Is McConnell me or Cons.

The Governor will confirm the Secretary's desires; all Virginia and Kentucky militiamen will be directed toward the settlement of Kentucky and Virginia alone, such is their oath. He writes, "The only aim for our state is the natural one, to settle the District of Kentucky in its entirety and seize from savage control the crucial waters of the Ohio River."

Action: Governor Dobb, known to many as Father of the Constitution, will endorse the Bill of Rights package in a full-throated treatise sent to all members of Congress and major newspapers. Now that 1 and 13 have failed, he will place his full weight behind the remaining proposals and argue that they represent a completion of the work he so thoroughly supported during the Constitution Convention. There will be dedicated defense of the proposed 10th amendment regarding excessive bail, knowing that this is the most endangered amendment.

Action: The Governor of Virginia will break his silence on this issue. Governor Dobb formally endorses the Potomac proposal, hoping to lay to rest anything further North, while allaying the NC/VA border proposal, which he refers to as "nostalgic, but impractical" in a letter sent both to all members of the Virginia delegation as well as the Richmond Gazette. He remains entirely opposed to the federal assumption of state debt given the disadvantageous position in which it would put Virginia.

Action: Governor Dobb will allow the militias of Kentucky to continue pushing West. He offers bounties to those militias which capture key settlements along the Ohio River. While Virginia is entirely civilized, and the Governor does not particularly condone wanton killing, he recognizes the importance of settling the Ohio and the District of Kentucky both for his state and the budding 15th. He hopes his policy will further integrate the fortunes of the two areas. @Pringles Further, the Governor will respond to Secretary Brennan, explaining this and making it clear that the settling of Kentucky is inevitable and imminent, be it with or without federal aid. The Governor does not condone or endorse widespread violence, but he supports militias clearing the way for further settlements in crucial encampments on the Ohio and Western Kentucky and will ensure that this objective is completed. @Euri The Governor, getting to the bottom of his pile of federal correspondences, will accept Secretary Ward's offer for a meeting and explains to him the policy of Virginia just as he has to Secretary Brennan. @Cal

Moderate Dems: Vice President Biden will attend the inauguration. Afterwards, he will call for national unity and healing on television, hoping to fill a void that the Clinton absence left. Mainstream GOP: Speaker Ryan finds himself in a similar position to Leader McConnell, but now that the GOP controls all three organs of government, the first order of business is to pass the Tax Cut he has been writing since he became Speaker in 2015. He will work with Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady to pass the Ryan Tax Cut out of the House, officially known as the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

How can you put these three men all in the same category?

I’ll go with the Moderates

I like him a lot, I'd like him even more if he won us a Senate seat in Virginia 🙂

An updated ranking for me: 1) Nikki Haley - Her CNN Town Hall was great. I disagree with her on her rhetorical approach to trans rights, but that's really the only issue that gave me pause. 2) Tim Scott - Scott just became the second candidate to whom I have donated, I really want to see him on the debate stage. He had a great performance on The View. --- 3) Chris Christie - Christie has surpassed all expectations and knocked his announcement Town Hall out of the park. I sincerely hope he makes it on stage to knock the daylights out of Trump. 4) Hutchinson 5) Burgum - Burgum's entry does not change much for me, but I did like his announcement a lot. He is similar to Asa in many ways. 6) Pence - Pence's announcement also upgraded him for me as a candidate, I appreciate that he is now taking Trump head-on. The best moment from his announcement was easily, when discussing January 6, "President Trump asked me to choose between him and the Constitution. I will always pick the Constitution." --- 7) Elder --- 8) DeSantis 9) Ramaswamy - Continues to tank in my rankings for me as he has made critical error after critical error on foreign policy this week. He has exposed himself who is utterly clueless regarding international relations and would be supremely dangerous as Commander-in-Chief. He might join Trump's category if he keeps it up. --- 10) Trump - all I have to say --- There is also a possibility that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez hops in. I would likely put him in the number 4 slot, behind Christie and ahead of Hutchinson.

Im assuming Speaker Paul Ryan is a mainstream GOP. In which case I will take him.

The Dob is often down to clown

I find that the Union/Confederate divide in this country has taken on a sociopolitical valence of its own that no longer reflects a Northern vs. Southern mentality, but now encapsulates the far more incisive and relevant-to-modern-times rural vs. metro divide. In other words, you are far more likely to find the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (the emblem most identified with the Confederacy) flying from a home in Western Pennsylvania than you are to find one flying from a home in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina or even Birmingham, Alabama.

(OOC: I definitely support some sort of limit, I don’t have the bandwidth to stay on top of 5 pages of content within 24 hours 😛)

Governor Dobb, in writing to Senator Allison, explains that Richmond is furious over the Residency Act. @matthewyoung123 Dear Henry, You are an honorable man and friend, but you must know that Virginians are loathe to pay the debts of New York speculators and Boston fishlords. The House of Delegates erupted in furious debate regarding your tenure in the Senate these past three days as they discuss the Residency Act, as it has been termed. I have been and continue to be active in your defense, drawing attention to the magnificent proposal of a new federal city on the banks of the Potomac. This, no doubt, is a great national compromise and shall be remembered as such. But our legislators, many of whom are planters themselves, cannot be expected in good conscience to federalize their wealth to pick up the tab of Northern money-movers and the physical location of a national capitol can only move the heart of man so much when his purse is threatened. Admittedly, there is grave pressure on my office to publically oppose this legislation and encourage our representatives in the House, even your seatmate in the Senate, to give their official opposition. I cannot countenance this debt scheme, but even more, I cannot countenance it taking down an honorable man and patriot. We must come to happy resolution in Virginia before she can propose such legislation to the Congress. Please, Senator, come to Richmond, I fear this Residency Act, whatever its fate, has endangered yours. Your Obedient, T. Dobb

ACTION: Governor Dobb receives the emissary in Richmond, the finest capital in the United States, newly constructed from a design drawn up by Charles-Louis Clerisseau. Upon dining with Mr. Earl and inviting him for a tour of the State Legislature's chambers and the Governor's office, Governor Dobb invites Mr. Earl by the fireplace for a glass of Virginia whiskey. He has appreciated the ambassador's grace and agreeability, warmly beginning their conversation of business. The Governor explains that he is a man of principle, and that among these principles held dearest is that of self-determination. Virginia would be loathe to deprive the people of Kentucky of their own state government, but in order to make such an arrangement appealing to the Virginia General Assembly, the District of Kentucky must first make resolutions upon key issues which affect both Virginia and Kentucky, to ensure the mutual benefit of the sister soon-to-be states. Dobb explains that, as Mr. Earl knows, the issues of national financing, debt, and where to lay the national capital trouble the national mind, and that much benefit could be had in a Kentucky and Virginia who were aligned on these issues, in favor of no national debt assumption, no national bank, and a capital built on the banks of the might Potomac River. The Governor requests that Mr. Earl ensure allies of these principles are elected to the critical roles of Governor and United States Senators by the Kentucky Legislature, naming several of the Governor's influential allies in the District who would fit the bill. If the District Legislature can secure these names, the Governor will draft a Resolution of Support to be ratified by the Virginia General Assembly and sent to Congress for the partition of the new state. Of course, the Governor will also expect his colleagues in Kentucky to be brothers and sisters with Virginia in commerce, allaying any concern that a bid for Kentucky statehood is nothing but a ploy to run to the arms of Spain down the Mississippi. Mr. Earl is a patriot, as are most Kentuckians, they must ensure that rabble-rousing Spaniard-sympathizers like General Wilkinson do not take power in this prospective 15th state.