The 2008 Presidential elections in America came in with little fanfare. Jim Gilmore was relatively popular and the Democratic-Republicans had a majority of support and an obscene advantage money wise. But the appearance of the racist Constitution Party created a splash in America's water. David Duke, a senator from New Orleans was its nominee and it promised to "purify America". Although Jim Gilmore won the election it was the first time since 1984 that the Democratic-Republicans did so with under 60 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders, a Senator from Vermont, had managed to hold on to old Socialist holdings in the west and bring them Vermont but failed to compete with his main competitors vast monetary advantage.
Primaries[]
Socialist[]
Sanders went into the Socialist primaries as a favorite. Kucinich managed to win the Ohio Primaries but came in second by a range from 5 to 20 percent in every other state. Voters trusted Sanders far more then they did Kucinich, who they deemed as "krazy kucinich". Kathleen Sebelius, the Female Socialist governor of Indiana, declined to run despite a large support base. She felt that Sanders would be a better president if he won and she endorsed him. This meant doom to the poorly coordinated Kucinich campaign. By the end of the primaries Sanders had crushed Kucinich but he was impressed by his speaking abilities and decided to have him be his running mate.
Constitution[]
The Constitution party was formed from Knights of the Golden Circle members who decided enough was enough after Massachusetts became the first Atheist majority state in the nation. The party was formed to combat Atheism, as well as non-whites and to a lesser extent Catholics.
Senator David Duke of New Orleans stepped up to lead the party. He was nominated without any question, as he was the only one that could realistically be president.
Campaign[]
The Democratic-Republican party had billions more dollars at their disposal then the Socialists along with the fact that Jim Gilmore had relatively high approval ratings. The Socialists depended on grass roots efforts and a growing feeling that the American corporations where growing too powerful.
The press was largely on the Democratic-Republican side but mainly fired shots at the Constitutionalists. The Socialists where often played as the party that if elected would destroy the American economy, by most media outlets. However as the election came closer, some regional news papers began to call on voters to "Vote anything but Constitutionalist", notably local TV in South Carolina. The TV station received many complaints from some viewers. The local channel later apologized and attempted a fairer coverage.
Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich campaigned heavily in New York and Pennsylvania. Grass roots democracy efforts where prevalent in many New England states.
Three publicly televised debates occurred, along with one Vice Presidential debate. David Duke and his running mate Boyd Price where exempt from these. The reason was that in national polls they had yet to pass the 15 percent mark. Duke protested but all three debates occurred with out him. Jim Gilmore was seen as the victor of the first debate, with 64 percent saying he won. In the second debate Gilmore won again but the people where less sure then they where before, with only 53 percent feeling that he had won. The third debate was a victory for Bernie Sanders, 69 percent thought he had won the debate.
Dennis Kucinich and Duncan Hunter debated and 54 percent thought that Kucinich had won.
Issues[]
Gay Marriage[]
- Jim Gilmore opposed gay marriage and civil unions
- David Duke opposed gay marriage and civil unions and favored making homosexual acts a minor crime.
- Bernie Sanders went even further then the Socialist Parties official stance on the issue, he went as far to say that Gay marriage should be allowed. The Official Socialist stance only favored civil unions.
Quebec[]
- Jim Gilmore and David Duke both thought that America should continue to support this nation financially against Canada.
- Bernie Sanders favored cutting the amount of money going to Quebec.
Alternate Fuel[]
- Jim Gilmore favored additional drilling, nuclear power, clean coal and solar power along with others.
- David Duke and Bernie Sanders both agreed on this issue. They both thought that their was no such thing as clean coal and drilling would only further a unwanted dependence on oil, even if it was the nation's own. They favored putting large sums of money into alternate fuels although Sanders did not like nuclear power.
Results[]
The results left Jim Gilmore president by a rather comfortable margin, although it was the lowest that any Democratic-Republican had since 1984. To the shock of many pundits David Duke came in first in South Carolina and second in New Orleans, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi.
For the Socialists they had received another huge loss electorally but managed to gain far more popular vote then they had previously.