he's getting a Cabinet post?Don't worry. Gravel's not done with politics yet.
Blue Skies in Camelot (Continued): An Alternate 80s and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
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Loved this chapter and I'm so glad that the Dems expanded their majority in the house that's gonna help RFK's agenda a lot. Nice good summaries of Senate and House races especially the update on Hillary and George's life. I would suggest that she runs for governor. Anyway great chapter can't wait for the next oneChapter 141: You Make My Dreams - 1980 Down Ballot RacesAbove: Senate Majority Leader Russell B. Long (D - LA) and Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker (R - TN). These two Southerners would exert tremendous influence over the Upper Chamber of the 97th Congress.
“What I want, you've got and it might be hard to handle
But like a flame that burns the candle, the candle feeds the flame
Yeah, yeah, what I've got, full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter
And you pull them all together, and how, I can't explain
Oh, yeah, well, well, you (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh)
You make my dreams come true” - “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates
“Winning is like shaving - you do it every day or you wind up looking like a bum.” - Congressman Jack Kemp (R - NY)
“Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defense. It’s patriotism.” - Senator Joe Biden (D - DE)
1980 was truly a pivotal election in American history.
While the presidential race between Robert Kennedy and Ronald Reagan obviously attracted most of the media attention at the time and has continued to do so among students of history, equally if not more important were the various down ballot races that occurred simultaneously to that great contest of ideals. After all, control of Congress and of the various state houses and governors’ mansions across the nation would, as ever, be instrumental in pursuing the political agendas of both major parties.
In the House of Representatives, Bob Kennedy appeared to have long coattails indeed. A 29-seat swing in the lower chamber saw House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D - MA) increase his majority to 275 against the Republicans’ 159 (John B. Anderson, presidential candidate, managed to win re-election to Congress on his “National Unity” ticket, making him the lone third party Representative). Supported from beneath by Jim Wright (D - TX) and Tom Foley (D - WA) as House Majority Leader and Whip, respectively, O’Neill was ready to return to Washington reinvigorated. There might be a new president, but the Democrats still controlled both the White House and Capitol Hill.
On the other side of the aisle, the retirements of Gerald Ford and John Jacob Rhodes opened the door for fresh faces in Republican leadership. As previously mentioned, these roles, House Minority Leader and House Minority Whip, were filled by Jack Kemp (R - NY) and Bud Shuster (R - PA) respectively. Kemp, 45, and Shuster, 48, represented a new generation in the GOP. The former was widely known for his libertarian views on social and economic issues, while the latter was mostly known as an expert on transportation and military issues. Kemp in particular would prove a thorn in the side of the incoming Kennedy administration, as he sought to restrain spending and cut taxes (particularly on the wealthy), goals that were anathema to those of the President-Elect.
Meanwhile, the balance of power in the Senate hardly budged. Republicans managed, despite former Vice President Reagan’s loss, to pick up a single seat, reducing the Democrats’ majority to 56 - 44. Though Russell B. Long (D - LA), the Democrats’ indomitable Majority Leader, heir to leadership of the “New Southern Machine” pioneered by Lyndon Johnson, would do all that he could to support the new administration’s spending proposals, he began to sweat at the prospect. He (and the President-Elect) would either need to appeal to moderate Republicans, or work harder in the ‘82 midterms to win more seats, if they wanted to see their policy agenda passed. Here too, the Republicans picked up a new Minority Whip, this time in the form of Donald Rumsfeld, of Illinois.
Generally speaking, the campaign down ballot reflected the contest that occurred at the top. Despite the big tent nature of both major parties, many races became smaller, more local versions of the national contest’s choice between liberalism and conservatism. Kennedy and Reagan were both such larger than life personalities that their shadows were difficult, if not impossible, to escape from. Though perhaps not a “turning point” election in the way that the conservative movement might have hoped for, political scientists generally agree that 1980 did represent the beginning of what would become the Sixth Party System in the United States. In this system, Democrats reaffirmed their commitment to New Deal-style liberalism at home and dovish internationalism abroad. The Republicans meanwhile, remained committed toward broadly neoliberal economics (deregulation, free trade, laissez-faire, low taxes, less government spending) and hawkish, interventionist foreign policy.
1980 was also the first national campaign to be covered by the nation’s first 24/7 cable news channel, Ted Turner’s Cable News Network (CNN). Helmed by the network’s first anchor, Bernard Shaw, CNN provided wall-to-wall coverage not just of election night, but of the entire campaign up to that point. “Analysis” was performed by “experts”, stretching the limits of the so-called “fairness doctrine” enforced by the FCC. Generally, CNN tended to be fairly non-partisan in its early days. But the constant nature of the coverage, and the cable network’s national reach meant that the days of “regional messaging” were well and truly done for. Campaigns had to be brought in line with party platforms more than ever.
The Senate
Democrats (Majority) - 56 Seats (-1)
Republicans (Minority) - 44 Seats (+1)
Alabama
James B. Allen (D)
Jeremiah Denton (R) - Succeeded incumbent Sparkman. R Gain
Alaska
Theodore F. Stevens (R)
Frank Murkowski (R) - Re-elected over Mike Gravel. R Hold.
Arizona
Barry Goldwater (R) - Re-elected over William Schulz. R Hold.
Dennis DeConcini (D)
Arkansas
Dale Bumpers (D) - Re-elected over William Clark. D Hold.
David Pryor (D)
California
John V. Tunney (D)
Shirley Temple Black (R) - Re-elected over Alan Cranston. R Hold.
Colorado
Gary Hart (D) - Re-elected over Mary Buchanan. D Hold.
William L. Armstrong (R)
Connecticut
Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R)
Chris Dodd (D) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Ribicoff. D Hold.
Delaware
Joseph Biden (D)
Thomas Maloney (D)
Florida
Lawton Chiles (D)
Paula Hawkins (R) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Eckerd. R Hold.
Georgia
Sam Nunn (D)
James Earl Carter (D) - Re-elected over Mack Mattingly. D Hold.
Hawaii
Daniel K. Inouye (D) - Re-elected over Cooper Brown
Spark Matsunaga (D)
Idaho
Frank F. Church (D) - Narrowly re-elected over Steve Symms. D Hold.
James A. McClure (R)
Illinois
Charles H. Percy (R)
Donald Rumsfeld (R) - Narrowly re-elected over Adlai Stevenson III. R Hold.
Indiana
Richard Lugar (R)
Dan Quayle (R) - Succeeded retiring Newcomb. R Hold.
Iowa
Jack R. Miller (R)
Chuck Grassley (R) - Succeeded retiring Stanley. R Hold.
Kansas
Bob Dole (R) - Re-elected over John Simpson. R Hold.
Nancy Kassebaum (R)
Kentucky
Walter B. Huddleston (D)
Wendell Ford (D) - Re-elected over Mary Foust. D Hold.
Louisiana
Russell B. Long (D) - Re-elected over several candidates. D Hold.
John McKeithen (D)
Maine
William Cohen (R)
George J. Mitchell (D) Succeeding Edmund Muskie, nominated as Secretary of State by President-Elect Kennedy.
Maryland
Charles Mathias (R) - Re-elected over Edward Conroy. R Hold.
Paul Sarbanes (D)
Massachusetts
Edward M. Kennedy (D)
Paul Tsongas (D)
Michigan
Robert P. Griffin (R)
Donald Riegle (D)
Minnesota
Walter Mondale (D)
David Durenberger (R)
Mississippi
John C. Stennis (D)
Charles Evers (D)
Missouri
Thomas F. Eagleton (D) - Re-elected over Gene McNary. D Hold.
Jerry Litton (D)
Montana
Jack Melcher (D)
Max Baucus (D)
Nebraska
Edward Zorinsky (D)
J. James Exon (D)
Nevada
Howard W. Cannon (D)
Paul Laxalt (R) - Re-elected over Mary Gojack. R Hold.
New Hampshire
Gordon J. Humphrey (R)
Warren Rudman (R) - Succeeded retiring incumbent. R Hold.
New Jersey
Bill Bradley (D)
Frank Lautenberg (D) - Replaced resigning incumbent Williams. D Hold.
New Mexico
Pete Domenici (R)
Harrison Schmitt (R)
New York
Elizabeth Holtzman (D) - Appointed by Governor Hugh Carey to fill President-Elect Robert Kennedy’s seat.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) - Defeated Al D'amato to succeed retiring incumbent Clark. D Hold.
North Carolina
Jesse Helms (R)
John Porter East (R) - Defeated incumbent Terry Sanford. R Gain.
North Dakota
Quentin M. Burdick (D)
Mark Andrews (R) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Young. R Hold.
Ohio
John Glenn (D) - Re-elected over Jim Betts. D Hold.
Robert Taft, Jr. (R)
Oklahoma
David Boren (D)
Don Nickles (R) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Henry Bellmon. R Hold.
Oregon
Mark O. Hatfield (R)
Bob Packwood (R) - Re-elected over Ted Kulongowski. R Hold.
Pennsylvania
William J. Green III (D)
Peter F. Flaherty (D) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Schweiker. D Gain.
Rhode Island
John Chafee (R)
Claiborne Pell (D)
South Carolina
Strom Thurmond (R)
Ernest Hollings (D) - Re-elected over Marshall Mays. D Hold.
South Dakota
Leo Thorsness (R)
James Abdnor (R) - Succeeded retiring incumbent Pressley. R Hold.
Tennessee
Howard H. Baker, Jr. (R)
James Sasser (D)
Texas
Audie Murphy (D)
John Tower (R)
Utah
Jake Garn (R) - Reelected over Dan Berman. R Hold.
Orrin Hatch (R)
Vermont
Richard W. Mallary (R)
Patrick Leahy (D) - Reelected over Stewart Ledbetter. D Hold.
Virginia
Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (D)
Richard D. Obenshain (R)
Washington
Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D)
Don Bonker (D) - Elected to succeed retiring incumbent Magnuson. D Hold.
West Virginia
Jennings Randolph (D)
Robert C. Byrd (D)
Wisconsin
William Proxmire (D)
Gaylord A. Nelson (D) - Reelected over Bob Kasten. D Hold.
Wyoming
Gale McGee (D)
Alan K. Simpson (R)
Democrats
Senate Majority Leader - Russell B. Long (D - LA)
Senate Majority Whip - Ted Kennedy (D - MA)
Speaker of the House - Tip O’Neill (D - MA)
House Majority Leader - Jim Wright (D - TX)
House Majority Whip - Tom Foley (D - WA)
Republicans
Senate Minority Leader - Howard Baker (R - TN)
Senate Minority Whip - Donald Rumsfeld (R - IL)
House Minority Leader - Jack Kemp (R - NY)
House Minority Whip - Bud Shuster (R - PA)
The House of Representatives
Democrats (Majority) - 275 (+29)
Republicans (Minority) - 159 (-30)
National Unity (Opposition) - 1 (+1)
Other Races of Note
Hillary Rodham Bush (R - MD), a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, runs for and wins another term in that body. Her commanding reelection in a strongly Democratic state in a strongly Democratic year immediately made her a potential candidate for higher office in the eyes of the Maryland State Republican Party. The only question in their minds: would Mrs. Bush challenge Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes or Governor Harry Hughes (D) in 1982? Meanwhile, Mrs. Bush’s husband, George W. Bush, still a rising executive at Lockheed Martin in Bethesda, Maryland, becomes part owner of the Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball team.
John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV (D - WV), a close personal friend of President-Elect Kennedy, wins re-election to a second term as Governor of West Virginia.
John Lewis (D - GA), civil rights icon, RFK ally, and hardcore liberal, is elected to the House of Representatives from the State of Georgia. Alongside Barbara Jordan (D - TX), Ron Dellums (D - CA), and Andrew Young (D - GA), he became one of the first members of the “Congressional Black Caucus”.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: A Look at Life in the Soviet Union
So Ed Muskie replace George Ball in State. Interesting.
Another brilliant chapter. Will wait to see if Hillary Bush does get a higher office for Maryland, among other things when you get to those races.
This will be covered in more detail soon during the transition chapter.
Muskie at Sec State is going to be RFK's "good cop". The National Security Advisor will fill the other role... Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.
Fair. I just figured if he and Hillary were living in Maryland, he might still want to get involved with Major League Baseball.
It's possible! I'll be sure to cover his career as it develops.
I admittedly have a lot of respect for Jeremiah Denton due to what he went through during Vietnam IOTL, so I'm kind of hoping he sticks around longer. That said, I am curious if his story is relatively the same or not. I'm assuming here he's a Cambodia veteran.
Ohh 😮, interesting, very interesting. Can't wait for the reveal
Getting flashbacks from Kentucky Fried politics
That crook better behave himself
Hey, as long as he doesn't align himself with a dude from Ohio who calls himself Buz, I think we're good.
Amen to that and he was the first catholic president in that timeline! Hopefully he has a better fate here
Same. His story is similar ITTL. He served in the Cambodian conflict and spoke out against torture after returning home.
Yes. Dubya is working as an executive at Lockheed Martin, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Will wait to see who RFK's national security advisor will be, AKA the bad cop, as you put it. With Muskie at State, by him being the good cop, mind explaining what you meant by that?
I'm talking about Jeremiah Denton in the timeline "Kentucky Fried Politics" he's the first catholic president in that timeline and he ends up having to resign for covering up the fact that his Secretary of State or Defense had sex with an underage girl
Great update! Looking forward to the Cabinet!
Will admit, am surprised Goldwater managed to hold out ITTL (a decent win by Bobby) given the narrow margin he had OTL (barely over a point against Schulz despite a commanding victory by Reagan)
Will admit, am surprised Goldwater managed to hold out ITTL (a decent win by Bobby) given the narrow margin he had OTL (barely over a point against Schulz despite a commanding victory by Reagan)
I hope that we would be able to prevent her untimely passing ITTL as well. She was such a talented performer and deserved a happier life.
Not necessarily.
But Gravel will come up again in the future. Without spoiling too much, RFK's foreign policy will be "idealism without illusions". His goal is to make human rights the center of his diplomacy, but to also be realistic about what can be achieved given the facts as they currently stand. This will be how he is able to simultaneously promote peace internationally while remaining "tough" and standing up to Soviet aggression. While Muskie reaches out to the USSR and China to promote arms control treaties and tries to promote peace, RFK and his NSA will be working to politically and economically contain Soviet influence. This was, after all, George F. Kennan's original intention behind "containment". It was not meant to facilitate an arms race, which is something RFK definitely wants to avoid if he can help it.
Thank you! A fair point here. I looked at the statistics of each race and felt like Goldwater might able to just barely pull out a win here as well, since Reagan carried Arizona.