United States - 2020

[Tayya 2]

A scenario I was originally working on for President Forever 2008, that I believe could be shifted over to 2020.

Backstory:

It was the debate that did it. President Barack Obama could never recover from the first debate against Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney, who won the 2012 Presidential election together with Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-1). Romney, with a Republican House and a barely Democratic Senate, would struggle to force through many of his more radical reforms, but managed to wiggle through an across-the-board tax cut as well as limited budget cuts, bringing down the deficit somewhat. Seen as ineffective, his popularity was down at 42/50 in 2014, as the Democrats retook the house by the margin of 1. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz took over as Speaker of the House.

In 2016, Romney avoided a primary challenge from the growing Libertarian wing of the party, while coming under attack from many Democrats, such as Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Gov. Mark Warner, Gov. Deval Patrick, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Jay Inslee and Gov. Jack Markell. Cuomo became the nominee after winning Iowa barely and New Hampshire decisively, choosing Sen. Brown as his running-mate. However, the economy seemed to rebound by the autumn of 2016, and the unearthing of several scandals from his time as HUD Secretary made Gov. Cuomo unfeasible for many independents. Romney and Ryan were re-elected by a 2004-esque margin. The Democrats held the Senate and expanded their lead in the House to 6 seats.

In Romney's second term, things went worse. Greece broke down completely in February 2018, after the fourth election in 6 years, kicking out the radical left SYRIZA government in favor of the neo-nazi Golden Dawn becoming the largest party. The European Union, led by Germany, intervened militarily, but not before the Euro crashed, plunging Europe into the Second Great Depression. Thankfully, the rest of the world had foreseen this possibility and adapted by increasing the Asian-American trade, but the United States was forced back into a short recession bringing unemployment back over 8%. The Republicans currently control the House by 2 seats and the Democrats hold on to the Senate, but both parties are blamed for the economic woes, and the election is more or less open.

Candidates:

Democratic:

Kirsten Gillibrand (Sen-NY)

Julián Castro (Gov-TX)

Cory Booker (Gov-NJ)

Martin O'Malley (Fmr. Gov-MD)

and more...

Republican:

Paul Ryan (VP-WI)

Marco Rubio (Sen-FL)

Scott Walker (Fmr. Gov-WI)

Bobby Jindal (Sen-LA)

Rand Paul (Sen-KY)

Susana Martinez (Fmr. Gov-NM)

Pat McCrory (Gov-NC)

and possibly more...

There will possibly be a former Congressman running for the Green Party, as well as a high-profile Libertarian. Even a possible defection?

[Patine 375]

A scenario I was originally working on for President Forever 2008, that I believe could be shifted over to 2020.

Backstory:

It was the debate that did it. President Barack Obama could never recover from the first debate against Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney, who won the 2012 Presidential election together with Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-1). Romney, with a Republican House and a barely Democratic Senate, would struggle to force through many of his more radical reforms, but managed to wiggle through an across-the-board tax cut as well as limited budget cuts, bringing down the deficit somewhat. Seen as ineffective, his popularity was down at 42/50 in 2014, as the Democrats retook the house by the margin of 1. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz took over as Speaker of the House.

In 2016, Romney avoided a primary challenge from the growing Libertarian wing of the party, while coming under attack from many Democrats, such as Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Gov. Mark Warner, Gov. Deval Patrick, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Jay Inslee and Gov. Jack Markell. Cuomo became the nominee after winning Iowa barely and New Hampshire decisively, choosing Sen. Brown as his running-mate. However, the economy seemed to rebound by the autumn of 2016, and the unearthing of several scandals from his time as HUD Secretary made Gov. Cuomo unfeasible for many independents. Romney and Ryan were re-elected by a 2004-esque margin. The Democrats held the Senate and expanded their lead in the House to 6 seats.

In Romney's second term, things went worse. Greece broke down completely in February 2018, after the fourth election in 6 years, kicking out the radical left SYRIZA government in favor of the neo-nazi Golden Dawn becoming the largest party. The European Union, led by Germany, intervened militarily, but not before the Euro crashed, plunging Europe into the Second Great Depression. Thankfully, the rest of the world had foreseen this possibility and adapted by increasing the Asian-American trade, but the United States was forced back into a short recession bringing unemployment back over 8%. The Republicans currently control the House by 2 seats and the Democrats hold on to the Senate, but both parties are blamed for the economic woes, and the election is more or less open.

Candidates:

Democratic:

Kirsten Gillibrand (Sen-NY)

Julián Castro (Gov-TX)

Cory Booker (Gov-NJ)

Martin O'Malley (Fmr. Gov-MD)

and more...

Republican:

Paul Ryan (VP-WI)

Marco Rubio (Sen-FL)

Scott Walker (Fmr. Gov-WI)

Bobby Jindal (Sen-LA)

Rand Paul (Sen-KY)

Susana Martinez (Fmr. Gov-NM)

Pat McCrory (Gov-NC)

and possibly more...

There will possibly be a former Congressman running for the Green Party, as well as a high-profile Libertarian. Even a possible defection?

I'd done some consideration on a 2020 scenario some time ago where Cuomo was the incumbant and Puerto Rico was the 51st state. This looks promising, though. Maybe we can share ideas. I still have the map with Puerto Rico on it if you're interested in exploring that idea (Romney seems quite popular there I've noticed; giving it statehood may be a sound political move for his presidency).

[POLLWONK 375]

I've been considering a 2020 sequel to my Romney 2016 scenario. It would have to come after I finish McCain 2004 and wouldn't be out by December... but I'm willing to do it if anyone is interested.

[Tayya 2]

I did not plan on including Puerto Rico, but I'll be considering it. From what I heard it'd be a lean Democratic state, as one and a half of their parties are Democrat-aligned.

Issues:

Abortion

Government Spending

Education

Energy

Environment

Gun Control

Health Care

Immigration

Defense Spending

Middle East

European Crisis

Role of Government

Free Trade

Tax Rates

Same-Sex Marriage

Social Security

Unions

China

[Sandi 2]

I think you should put Jesse Ventura as an independent. It's very likely that he will run.

[Sandi 2]

I also suggest you put The Federal Reserve as an issue, as the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party has already made it an issue - it will probably only intensify by 2020

[Tayya 2]

Re: Ventura: He might be added. Otherwise, canon is that he ran in '16.

Re: Fed: I'll be revising that issues list.

[Tayya 2]

Updated candidates list:

Democratic:

Kirsten Gillibrand (Sen-NY)

Julián Castro (Gov-TX)

Cory Booker (Gov-NJ)

Deval Patrick (Fmr. Gov-MA)

Martin O'Malley (Fmr. Gov-MD)

Antonio Villaraigosa (Sen-CA)

Tammy Baldwin (Sen-WI)

Martin Heinrich (Sen-NM)

Republican:

Paul Ryan (VP-WI)

Marco Rubio (Sen-FL)

Scott Walker (Fmr. Gov-WI)

Bobby Jindal (Sen-LA)

Rand Paul (Sen-KY)

Susana Martinez (Fmr. Gov-NM)

Pat McCrory (Gov-NC)

Allen West (Rep-FL)

Jeff Flake (Sen-AZ)

Libertarian:

Gary Johnson (Fmr. Gov-NM)

Rand Paul (Sen-KY) (off)

(Jesse Ventura ran in 2016 for the Libertarians, despite a Gary Johnson hype, and got 0.4% of the vote.)

[warren2016 0]

any updates?

[Tayya 2]

Awaiting the candidate editor.

[warren2016 0]

ah. Regardless, i'm looking forward to this. I loved the Giant Sucking Sound scenario.

[L1056 0]

A: if you could send it to me I'd play. lb10234@gmail.com. B: I have an idea for two more candidates; Warren and Sanders, both strong in the Northeast and the West Coast States.