american politics

Let’s say that TARP isn’t passed quickly enough to prevent the failure of most American banks. What would happen then?

Starting after the one in the title, which US Presidential Elections might have deadlocked in the Electoral College and gotten thrown to the House of Representatives? (1860 aside - see below.) Depending on when the next one happens, what would be the effects (aside, possibly, from someone...

The POD is Hillary Clinton defeats Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. She selects Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as her running mate and goes on to defeat John McCain in the general election. Four years later Clinton/Bayh are up against Mitt Romney and his running mate...

After the 2000 election, the Senate was left split 50-50. Democrats sought a Republican who could switch to their party, and eventually found one, with Jim Jeffords switching to being an independent, caucusing with the Democrats. However, they also tried to get Lincoln Chafee or John McCain to...

Supposing that Ronald Reagan and the New Right never comes to power in America, how would US society (economy, social policy, politics, etc) be different today? I'm not focusing on how the 1980s would have been different as we already have a plethora of TLs on that. Instead this thread is meant...

Using any POD you want after 1900, try to keep the Republican Party from becoming conservative, and make it a Progressive-Liberal party. Basically make both parties the inverse of what they are IOTL.

This is something I came up with a short and quick TL (with little detail but lots of fun bits). Inspired by a post I can no longer find where every administration got a mirror version of itself, I challenged myself to make a TL outline where every person who got an electoral vote for President...

Author's Note: Greetings everyone! For those of you wondering, this timeline is based off of, and ties in with White Star and Titanic, What Could Have Been. You most definitely do not need to read the entire timeline to know what is going on here, but if you would like a more in depth look at...

Exactly what it says in the title: in the 20th century, were the Democrats or the Republicans more likely to collapse? Obviously, the collapse of a major political party is difficult to achieve and whichever one falls will be succeeded by a new party with a similar outlook, but how could each...

The challenge is to have a new electoral system established in the US with several major political parties participating in presidential elections and holding seats in the legislature. How could this be accomplished? The POD doesn't necessarily have to be after 1900, but it seems like that would...

The “1970’s” meaning the period from 1968 to 1980, and the main priorities for “liberal”, in order of importance, being: civil rights legislation (eg Fair Housing Act of 1968) and civil liberties (1st amendment freedoms, etc) advance at least as much as OTL environmental and energy legislation...

The Year is 1981. The United States has just elected a new leader. The world moves into a new and uncertain decade. These are tumultuous times indeed. "The President is due to give a luncheon address to representatives of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial...

How could the Family Assistance Plan, proposed by President Nixon in August 1969, have passed the Senate (after passing the House as OTL)? What would be the effects? Previous discussion:

We've talked before about any number of TL scandals where the Watergate scandal doesn't happen, but I don't think we talk about the more general long term affects on public trust in government this would have, and how that, in turn, affects not only the ideological lines of public debate (eg...

So I realize this general topic -- a PoD where Robert F Kennedy isn't killed -- that has been done near to death, but I wanted to ask some specific questions: Who wins the remaining Democratic primary in Illinois? If it is at least plausible for Bobby to secure the nomination at the convention...

What is this? My first attempt at a TL after having largely been active on just SW. It'll be based off of a PI observer game I ran through a few months ago on my own with modifications to make some of the election results slightly more realistic. This will only apply for the first election after...

I have a specific series of events in mind, but they're inconsequential to this thread--the important thing is that Gore wins the 2000 election. How is American politics and the world changed by this? I imagine 9/11 would still happen; as much shit as I gave Bush over his many questionable...

How does the 1972 Democratic National Convention play out differently if Humphrey beats McGovern in the California primary specifically? Looking at the ballots, 271 fewer delegates would, at the very least, be enough to deny McGovern a majority on the first ballot. What happens then? And if the...

What if, during the 1948 Republican Presidential Primaries, Harold Stassen had beaten Robert Taft in the latter's home state of Ohio? To start, it's quite possible he gets a bit more lift in the remaining primaries, meaning he also likely beats Dewey in Oregon. Would this have affected the...

Supposing, changing about 42,000 votes in the Midwest, that Grover Cleveland fails to win the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, and that this is combined with a few hundred more Republican votes in California giving President Harrison just a few more ECVs on top of that -- in short...