The Clinton Incumbency - A Different 2020 Roleplay

[WVProgressive]

Just as every established pollster had predicted, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. However, what was supposed to be a blowout victory for the established order, turned into a heated, contested election that wasn’t completely decided until the week after the election. Hillary’s narrow victory in the state of Pennsylvania triggered an automatic recount, which, had it gone to the Republicans, would have swung the election to Donald Trump, and the Republicans. In the end Hillary was able to win Pennsylvania, and the election, by a margin of a little over 10,000 votes. Donald Trump, as had been feared by some prior to the election, did not respect the results of the election, and continued to launch legal challenges up until election day, and continued to spew rhetoric attacking Hillary as a fake President right to the present day. The election was also a major victory for the Libertarian party, with their standard bearer Gary Johnson garnering 5% of the popular vote, just enough to entitle the LP to federal matching funds in the next election. The map below shows the make up of the electoral college in 2016.

Due to the fact that Republicans maintained their control of both houses of congress in the 2016 congressional races, Hillary Clinton’s term was marked by massive Republican gridlock. This gridlock only got worse after the 2018 midterm election which saw the GOP increase their hold of the house, and senate. Clinton suffered from record low approval rating in the low 40s for most of her term.

Dissatisfaction with the establishment of both parties only increased during Clinton’s term, culminating in the election of Gary Johnson as New Mexico’s junior senator in 2018. To make matters worse for the establishment, populists in both the Democratic, and Republican parties had been able to unseat numerous incumbent, both in the primary, and in the general election.

Progressive, and Populist sentiment is rising within the Democratic party, while Populist, and Nativist sentiment is also gaining traction in the Republican party, leading to the weakening of many establishment figures in both parties. Clinton’s term has been marked by a growing partisan divide, worsening race relations, a rise of populism, wealth inequality, and a move away from the big two parties.

During her 2016 campaign, in a bid to appease Sanders Progressives, and Anti-Trump moderates, Clinton pledged to serve only one term, meaning that as the 2020 election comes in to view, the race is wide open to see who will succeed America’s first female President. Will the establishment hold on, or will the populist revolution succeed after its defeat four years earlier? Will the GOP take over the government, or will the Democrats retain the White House for another four years? Will the Libertarians, or Greens, or perhaps a totally new third party, make a major breakthrough?

 

Republican Candidates:

Sen. Ted Cruz

Mr. Donald Trump

Sen. Marco Rubio

Sen. Mitt Romney

Sen. Rand Paul

Mrs. Carly Fiorina

Gov. Charlie Baker

Amb. To UN Jon Huntsman

Fmr. Gov. John Kasich

Gov. Larry Hogan @Pringles

Fmr. Gov Nikki Haley

Mr. Dwayne Johnson

Sen. Jeb Bush

Sen. Susan Collins

Sen. Ben Sasse

Sen. Bob Corker

Sen. Lindsay Graham

Sen. Tom Cotton

Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Fmr. Gov. Susana Martinez

Fmr. Gov. Scott Walker

Gov. Greg Abbot

Fmr. Gov. Chris Christie

Fmr. Rep. Joe Scarborough

Mr. Stephen Colbert

 

Democratic Candidates:

VP Tim Kaine @Cal

Fmr. VP Joe Biden

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sen. Elizabeth Warren @Hestia

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris

Sen. Cory Booker

Rep. Joaquin Castro

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Mr. Andrew Yang @The Blood

Sen Michael Bennet

Rep. Tim Ryan

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Gov. Jay Inslee

Mrs. Marianne Williamson

Mayor Bill de Blasio

Gov. Steve Bullock

Fmr. Rep. Joe Sestak

Secy of VA Seth Moulton

Gov. John Hickenlooper

Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel

Rep. Eric Swalwell

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Fmr. Gov. Deval Patrick

Sen. Al Franken

Sen. Jeff Merkley

Gov. Gavin Newsom

Sen. Terry McAuliffe

Gov. John Bell Edwards

Rep. Joe P. Kennedy III

Fmr. Secy of State John Kerry

Mr. Tom Steyer

Mayor Eric Garcetti

Sen. Jason Kander

Sen. Sherrod Brown @Rezi

Rep. Richard Ojeda

Secy of H&HS Alan Grayson

Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Fmr. Gov. Martin O’Malley

Mayor Luis Guttierez

Mrs. Michelle Obama

Rep. Ayanna Pressley

Mr. Jim Webb

 

Libertarian Candidates:

Sen. Gary Johnson

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Rep. Justin Amash

Mr. Sam Seder

Fmr. Gov. Lincoln Chafee

Mr. John McAfee

Mr. Arvin Vorha

Mr. Larry Sharpe

Mr. Adam Kokesh

Mrs. Kim Ruff

Mr. Vermin Supreme

Rep. Austin Peterson

State Rep. Max Ambramson

 

Green Candidate:

Fmr. Gov. Jesse Ventura @Sean F Kennedy

Mr. Howie Hawkins

Mr. Ian Schlakman

Mrs. Jill Stein

Ajamu Baraka

State Rep. Dario Hunter

Ms. Rosario Dawson

Ms. Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry

 

Other Third Party Candidates:

Mr. Mark Cuban (I)

Mr. Howard Schultz (I)

Fmr. Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I)

Mr. Ed Stack (I)

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg (I)

Mr. Don Blankenship (Constitution)

Ms. Gloria La Riva (PFP)

Mr. Rocky De La Fuente (Alliance)

Mr. Brian Carroll (Solidarity)

Mr. Brock Pierce (I)

Ms. Jade Simmons (I)

Mr. Mike Prysner (PSL)

Mr. Bill Hammons (Unity)

Mr. Jerome Segal (Bread and Roses)

Mr. Phil Collins (Prohibition)

Mr. Mark Charles (I)

Mr. Joe McHugh (I)

Mr. Zoltan Istvan (Trans-humanist)

Mr. J.R. Meyers (Life and Liberty)

Mr. Kanye West (I)

 

Not a candidate, but still playable:

Incumbent President Hillary R. Clinton – If you select this you will not be able to run as a candidate in this election, however, as President, your actions, and your responses to world events will have a large impact on the race.

 

If you want a candidate other than one of those listed, ask me, and I’ll think about approving it. I’ll probably approve it if its at least semi-reasonable.

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by WVProgressive

[Zenobiyl]

Sorry, I’ve got my hands full with two (three? Plz come back 1968) RPs. Maybe later on though!

[Pringles]

Larry Hogan for me! 

[Cal]

Vice President Tim Kaine for me! 

[Hestia]

I'll reprise Elizabeth Warren 😛

[The Blood]

Mr. Andrew Yang, please. 😎

[Sean F Kennedy]

I’ll go with Jesse Ventura 

[Rezi]

Sherrod Brown time!

[Hestia]

If we don't get more GOP feel free to give me home state senator Ernst 😛

[WVProgressive]

@Beetlejuice@Cal@Cenzonico@ConservativeElector2@DakotaHale@Dobs@Edouard@Fbarbarossa@Hestia@jnewt@Kitten@Magnus Rex@Mishfox@MrPotatoTed@pilight@Pringles@Rezi@Rodja@Sean F Kennedy@The Blood@vcczar@WVProgressive@Zenobiyl@Timur@Wiw @jvikings1 @TZMB

Pinging everyone who might be interested.

Also, question to everyone, would you prefer if we did press conferences, and interviews on the forum, or on discord?

[Pringles]

15 minutes ago, WVProgressive said:

@Beetlejuice@Cal@Cenzonico@ConservativeElector2@DakotaHale@Dobs@Edouard@Fbarbarossa@Hestia@jnewt@Kitten@Magnus Rex@Mishfox@MrPotatoTed@pilight@Pringles@Rezi@Rodja@Sean F Kennedy@The Blood@vcczar@WVProgressive@Zenobiyl@Timur@Wiw @jvikings1 @TZMB

Pinging everyone who might be interested.

Also, question to everyone, would you prefer if we did press conferences, and interviews on the forum, or on discord?

I'm fine with either or, whatever is easiest for you. 

[DakotaHale]

😎🇺🇸😈

[Dobs]

Trump lap dog Ted Cruz? GROSS

Clinton Opposition Leader Ted Cruz? Based

It's time to set history right.....

BY HAVING HIM ENDORSE THE RIGHTFUL VICE PRESIDENT AND NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES... CARLY FIORINA

Edited June 12, 2021 by Dobs

[DakotaHale]

3 hours ago, Dobs said:

Trump lap dog Ted Cruz? GROSS

Clinton Opposition Leader Ted Cruz? Based

It's time to set history right.....

BY HAVING HIM ENDORSE THE RIGHTFUL VICE PRESIDENT AND NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES... CARLY FIORINA

[WVProgressive]

12 minutes ago, Patine said:

I get the sinking feeling @WVProgressive may not answer this question, or may not have noticed it. It's not a huge deal, just curiosity, really.

Truth be told I didn't know that we didn't have an ambassador to Taiwan. I noticed your question, and if you look at the now edited original post, you'll see that I made Huntsman Ambassador to the UN, rather than to Taiwan.

[WVProgressive]

(The Campaign has started, and will move at one month a turn, with five events until we get to December, where we will shrink to 4 events every turn, and turn times will reduce to two weeks, events will again shrink to 3 a turn, which will represent 1 week, when we get to Early February, and they will stay that way for the rest of the campaign. If anybody wants to join after the start of the campaign just tell me, and you can make a declaration.)

July 10th 2019 broadcast of World News Tonight With David Muir

http://cdn.newsbusters.org/images/2014-10-27-ABC-WNT-Muir_0.JPG

Good evening America, I'm David Muir for ABC news, and your watching World News Tonight. Tonight we'll be going over the current state of American politics, both the situation on Capitol Hill, and the still developing situation regarding the 2020 Presidential Election. We'll also be taking a look at Bitcoin, crackpot currency, or a financial revolution? All this, and more tonight, stay tuned.

...

Last week at a press conference President Hillary Clinton confirmed that she indented to stay true to her promise, and not seek a second term, this has left the race to succeed her wide open. Already it looks like it will be an interesting primary campaign for both parties, with multiple political stars lining up on all sides ready to become the next President. Let's take a look at the Democratic party primary first, of course with the help of ABC Chief Political Analyst Matthew Dowd.

So Dowd, who do you think are the frontrunners, or potential front runners in this race right now?

Dowd: Well I think the really obvious answer Dave, would be the incumbent Vice President Time Kaine, right?

Muir: Mhm.

Dowd: He's got the experience, he's the heir apparent, he's got the establishment behind him, he's got all these things going for him, but I don't think this will be an easy election for him.

Muir: Really! Why so?

Dowd: Well, for me, the biggest thing is the approval numbers for this current administration. Right now only about 41.2% of American approve of Hillary Clinton's presidency, according to the 538 polling aggregate, and sure, by the same metric, Tim Kaine's approvals are a little bit better, around 48% of Americans approve of him, but like it or not, when you're the incumbent VP, you're more or less running as a continuation of the current President. I really don't know if America wants more of the same in 2020.

Muir: So who would you say is the frontrunner?

Dowd: Way too early to say, but I think there is a lot of candidates that could steal the nomination from Kaine at this point. To me, two of the candidates best positioned to that, at this point, are Sherrod Brown, and Elizabeth Warren. Brown, he appeals to the white working class voters that went to Trump in 2016, while still appealing to Progressives, and Warren, I think, is one of the few Sanders style Progressives that can simultaneously appeal to both the establishment, and the young base that Sanders inspired in 2016.

Muir: Now what about the Republicans?

Dowd: Donald Trump has a very good chance to get renominated this year, that said I wouldn't say he's got an especially easy path to the convention. He's got strong challengers in the form of Maryland governor Larry Hogan, and Business Woman Carly Fiorina. Hogan is the type of moderate, blue state Republicans that may be able to appeal to suburban swing voters that Trump alienated in 2016, and Fiorina is a lot like Cruz in that she's a Tea Party conservative darling, but unlike Cruz, she has the anti-establishment, non-politician credential that might be one of the keys to victory this year.

Muir: Any third parties catch your interest?

Dowd: With a voting population that hates the two big parties more, and more every day, its hard to find a third party candidate that doesn't have at least some glimmer of hope. To me, two of the biggest star in this election, that aren't members of the big two, are Senator Gary Johnson, and Fmr. Governor Jesse Ventura of the Libertarian, and Green parties respectively. I think those two represent the best possible people that their parties could nominate if they wanted to make a big breakout this year.

Muir: Alright, thank you Dowd. Now lets take a look at some polls

Republican Primary Poll Aggregate

Donald Trump 30%

Ted Cruz 20%

Mitt Romney 20%

Marco Rubio 10%

John Kasich 5%

Rand Paul 2%

Larry Hogan 2%

Carly Fiorina 2%

Jeb Bush 1%

Nikki Haley 1%

Other (Various) 2%

Undecided 5%

Republican Primary Poll with only Exploratory Candidates

Donald Trump 35%

Carly Fiorina 30%

Larry Hogan 20%

Undecided 15%

Democratic Primary Poll

Tim Kaine 30%

Bernie Sanders 20%

Michelle Obama 15%

Joe Biden 10%

Elizabeth Warren 5%

Sherrod Brown 5%

Kamala Harris 2%

Cory Booker 1%

Amy Klobuchar 1%

John Bell Edwards 1%

Undecided 10%

Democratic Primary Poll with only Exploratory Candidates

Tim Kaine 30%

Sherrod Brown 20%

Elizabeth Warren 20%

Andrew Yang 1%

Undecided 29%

General Election 4 way generic

Democrat 30%

Republican 32%

Libertarian 5%

Green 2%

Undecided 31%

[Pringles]

1. Larry Hogan campaigns in Iowa, championing himself as a moderate Conservative that can get things done in Washington. He talks about his accomplishments as Governor, and his popular tax cuts that have made Maryland much better than it was before under Governor O'Malley. 

2. Hogan campaigns in New Hampshire, talking about his Conservative economic policies that are in line with the state.

3. Hogan seeks the endorsement of Representative Tom Rice, of South Carolina.

4. Hogan seeks the endorsement of Former Vice President Dick Cheney. 😛 

5. Hogan campaigns throughout Nevada, hoping the state will be open to his brand of Moderate Conservatism. 

[Cal]

Vice President Tim Kaine launches his presidential campaign to succeed President Clinton in Richmond, Virginia

In the quest to succeed Hillary Clinton as our nation's next President of the United States, it was not expected that the heavyweights of the Democratic Party would come out to bat. Political pundits reminisced on primary scene in 1992, where many of the party's most dominant personalities and well established politicians sat out on an attempt to challenge President Bush. That thought process led to the then little known Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas to win the nomination outright. 

The dynamics of the 2020 race are somewhat similar. President Clinton is unpopular, incredibly so for the partisan era we live in now. Vice President Kaine is more popular than his boss, but not by a whole lot. Many expected that he might chose to sit out the election and quietly retire from national politics, or instead run for the nomination in another four years. But no - Tim Kaine knows that this nation needs him. There's a lack of civility in politics that has only been spurred on by demagogues such as Donald Trump. The nation may not want the boring, milquetoast Tim Kaine yet, but he will have to change that by showing them that slow and steady wins the race. That policy driven solutions to issues and respect for your opponents is preferable to quick buzzwords and inflammatory rhetoric. 

With this in mind, Vice President Tim Kaine launched his campaign in Richmond, Virginia. The city he once led through a period of prosperity as their mayor. This is the perfect launching point for his presidential campaign. (Event 1)

Vice President Kaine will kick off his campaign with his first official campaign visit to Iowa. Here, he will keep a low profile for the day by signing a copy of his book over his time in the White House thus far. (Event 2)

Kaine, a southern Democrat by birth, believes there's a strong chance he can have a great Super Tuesday performance launching from a resounding win in South Carolina if he has not already done very well in New Hampshire and Iowa. Therefore, Kaine takes his second visit to South Carolina to talk on the importance of opposing Donald Trump and the white nationalists that tried and failed to coup the Republican Party four years ago and that are trying again this year. (Event 3)

Tim Kaine will seek the endorsement of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. Another powerful swing state governor with moderate tendencies, Hickenlooper's choice in the field as it currently stands should be clear. Regardless, Kaine will give him a call and ask for a warm endorsement that will hopefully win over moderates in early primary states. (Event 4)

Finally, Tim Kaine expands his campaign infrastructure in South Carolina, spending heavily to get lawn signs out to volunteers and phones ringing to canvas for Vice President Kaine. (Event 5)

[Sean F Kennedy]

Jesse Ventura announces candidacy for President

1. Ventura campaigns in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he goes after the Democrats and Republicans, he will hit Trump and Clinton for being the “worst candidates in my lifetime in 2016, in 2020 we need real leadership.” He announces his support for a Green New Deal.

2. Ventura will travel to Cleveland, Ohio where he will seek the endorsement of Dennis Kucinich a potential ally to begin the bleeding of the support from progressive Democrats.

3. Ventura will go on The Joe Rogan Experience where he will look to boost his name recognition.

4. Ventura will campaign in Flint, Michigan where he will attack both the Republican Governor and President Clinton for doing nothing about the Flint lead crisis.

5. Finally Ventura will campaign in New York City where he will signal his support of Universal Single Payer Healthcare 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Sean F Kennedy