Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 8, 2020 17:13:51 GMT
As America still reeled from 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed, President George Bush had a great deal on his plate as the next national election drew closer and closer. With the Iraq War in full swing and his approval tumbling from its record heights in the wake of that fateful September 11th day, he now faced serious competition from the slate of Democrats gearing up to challenge him in 2004. Though Bush ultimately kept his job by thin margins--squeaking by when pitted against Democratic nominee John Kerry with 286 electoral votes and almost 51% of the popular vote--that was in another history, and against a challenger who didn't generate enough support to overcome the power of incumbency and the rally-around-the-flag effect enjoyed by the sitting POTUS.
For on January 1st, 2004, the western half of the United States from January 1st, 2012--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, the Dakotas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington state and Wyoming--all inexplicably materialize in place of their 2004 counterparts. President Obama and all of his staff come along for the ride as well--not only to represent the uptimers and their interests, but also to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge President Bush for the White House. What happens next?
Thank you in advance,
Zyobot
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 8, 2020 17:30:02 GMT
As America still reeled from 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed, President George Bush had a great deal on his plate as the next national election drew closer and closer. With the Iraq War in full swing and his approval tumbling from its record heights in the wake of that fateful September 11th day, he now faced serious competition from the slate of Democrats gearing up to challenge him in 2004. Though Bush ultimately kept his job by thin margins--squeaking by when pitted against Democratic nominee John Kerry with 286 electoral votes and almost 51% of the popular vote--that was in another history, and against a challenger who didn't generate enough support to overcome the power of incumbency and the rally-around-the-flag effect enjoyed by the sitting POTUS. For on January 1st, 2004, the western half of the United States from January 1st, 2012--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, the Dakotas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington state and Wyoming--all inexplicably materialize in place of their 2004 counterparts. President Obama and all of his staff come along for the ride as well--not only to represent the uptimers and their interests, but also to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge President Bush for the White House. What happens next? Thank you in advance, Zyobot So where is young Obama. |
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Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
Posts: 17,120
Likes: 7,187
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 8, 2020 17:42:29 GMT
As America still reeled from 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed, President George Bush had a great deal on his plate as the next national election drew closer and closer. With the Iraq War in full swing and his approval tumbling from its record heights in the wake of that fateful September 11th day, he now faced serious competition from the slate of Democrats gearing up to challenge him in 2004. Though Bush ultimately kept his job by thin margins--squeaking by when pitted against Democratic nominee John Kerry with 286 electoral votes and almost 51% of the popular vote--that was in another history, and against a challenger who didn't generate enough support to overcome the power of incumbency and the rally-around-the-flag effect enjoyed by the sitting POTUS. For on January 1st, 2004, the western half of the United States from January 1st, 2012--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, the Dakotas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington state and Wyoming--all inexplicably materialize in place of their 2004 counterparts. President Obama and all of his staff come along for the ride as well--not only to represent the uptimers and their interests, but also to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge President Bush for the White House. What happens next? Thank you in advance, Zyobot So where is young Obama. In Illinois serving as a senator for the state, if I were to guess. He would've been elected its senator to serve in Congress on November 2nd, which could also very well happen ITTL (due to the name recognition that his older self would certainly lend).
On a national level, my guess is that once downtimer surprise at the idea of a black POTUS gradually dissipates and information about how Dubya crashed and burned in his second term makes front-page news in EUSA...yeah, Bush's campaign has just been torpedoed. Plus, with some form of 'incumbency' on his side and the obvious enthusiasm differentials that favor him, my first instinct is to project that--despite the lack of a full recovery from the Great Recession and the sheer economic shockwave that'd come with being sent eight years into the past--once election day finally rolls around: Obama crushes Bush in the biggest landslide since 1984. At the very least, I don't think he'll have much difficulty securing the Democratic nomination; he is, after all, their most obvious choice (much to Senator Kerry's consternation, of course).
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 8, 2020 17:58:45 GMT
In Illinois serving as a senator for the state, if I were to guess. He would've been elected its senator to serve in Congress on November 2nd, which could also very well happen ITTL (due to the name recognition that his older self would certainly lend). On a national level, my guess is that once downtimer surprise at the idea of a black POTUS gradually dissipates and information about how Dubya crashed and burned in his second term makes front-page news in EUSA...yeah, Bush's campaign has just been torpedoed. Plus, with some form of 'incumbency' on his side and the obvious enthusiasm differentials that favor him, my first instinct is to project that--despite the lack of a full recovery from the Great Recession and the sheer economic shockwave that'd come with being sent eight years into the past--once election day finally rolls around: Obama crushes Bush in the biggest landslide since 1984. At the very least, I don't think he'll have much difficulty securing the Democratic nomination; he is, after all, their most obvious choice (much to Senator Kerry's consternation, of course).
Well at least there is only a 8 year difference so that will be of a lesser shock if the difference was say 50 years. |
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Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 8, 2020 18:02:40 GMT
In Illinois serving as a senator for the state, if I were to guess. He would've been elected its senator to serve in Congress on November 2nd, which could also very well happen ITTL (due to the name recognition that his older self would certainly lend). On a national level, my guess is that once downtimer surprise at the idea of a black POTUS gradually dissipates and information about how Dubya crashed and burned in his second term makes front-page news in EUSA...yeah, Bush's campaign has just been torpedoed. Plus, with some form of 'incumbency' on his side and the obvious enthusiasm differentials that favor him, my first instinct is to project that--despite the lack of a full recovery from the Great Recession and the sheer economic shockwave that'd come with being sent eight years into the past--once election day finally rolls around: Obama crushes Bush in the biggest landslide since 1984. At the very least, I don't think he'll have much difficulty securing the Democratic nomination; he is, after all, their most obvious choice (much to Senator Kerry's consternation, of course).
Well at least there is only a 8 year difference so that will be of a lesser shock if the difference was say 50 years. Oh, certainly. The idea of a black president might be a surprise for the people of 2004. But at least they’d be much more open to the idea than the voters of 1984, let alone the pre-Civil Rights era. Even without the 2012 states having entered the picture, America would’ve only been four years away from voting in the first black president anyway, so... |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 8, 2020 18:07:26 GMT
Well at least there is only a 8 year difference so that will be of a lesser shock if the difference was say 50 years. Oh, certainly. The idea of a black president might be a surprise for the people of 2004. But at least they’d be much more open to the idea than the voters of 1984, let alone the pre-Civil Rights era. Even without the 2012 states having entered the picture, America would’ve only been four years away from voting in the first black president anyway, so... So how is this going to be solved, a joint commission who will look at what is needed to integrate 2012 into 2004 United States. |
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Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 8, 2020 21:13:34 GMT
Oh, certainly. The idea of a black president might be a surprise for the people of 2004. But at least they’d be much more open to the idea than the voters of 1984, let alone the pre-Civil Rights era. Even without the 2012 states having entered the picture, America would’ve only been four years away from voting in the first black president anyway, so... So how is this going to be solved, a joint commission who will look at what is needed to integrate 2012 into 2004 United States. I suppose. But in order to tide it over for the time being, that probably also means that WUSA won’t participate in Iraq should Bush stubbornly keep at it. Which includes refusal to fund the war, since the uptimer tax base will be much more resistant to bankrolling a botched war effort than their 2004 counterparts (who lacked the benefit of hindsight). |
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Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
Posts: 17,120
Likes: 7,187
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 9, 2020 22:10:52 GMT
Now I'm curious as to how the presidential debates between Bush and Obama would look (assuming that Dubya doesn't get primary'd beforehand, that is  ). Considering how poorly Dubya fared when debating Kerry in our 2004, he'd probably be dismantled by Obama this time around. Perhaps Barry would unknowingly take inspiration from his OTL 2012 self and employ witty one-liners like 'horses and bayonets' when sparring with him over his approach to overseas intervention. Bush was, after all, more of a cavalier boots-on-the-ground guy while Obama was covert, calculated and prone to at-a-distance military action. Knowing him, Bush might try to play a game of whataboutism by pointing out how Obama authorized disastrous intervention in Libya. But with the obviously bad optics of Obama following the downtimers' lead in Iraq, he might be less privy to that in at least the short run. Whether he'd wage war more quietly a while after he wins (which I think is the most likely outcome here), I don't know. |
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). Considering how poorly Dubya fared when debating Kerry in our 2004, he'd probably be dismantled by Obama this time around. Perhaps Barry would unknowingly take inspiration from his OTL 2012 self and employ witty one-liners like 'horses and bayonets' when sparring with him over his approach to overseas intervention. Bush was, after all, more of a cavalier boots-on-the-ground guy while Obama was covert, calculated and prone to at-a-distance military action.