Post by genyodectes on Feb 13, 2019 23:11:17 GMT
Prologue, Part I : Lead-up to the Primaries
"1968 was our one big chance and the Republican Party was looking ready and willing to win that year. And we had...an interesting Candidate to run." - Newt Gingrich, 80th Governor of Georgia (1991-1999) and 77th Attorney General of the United States (2001-2003)
"Nixon was looking for a comeback and he asked me to help him with it. I was glad to take him on that offer. It's a shame that we couldn't see what happened next." - Pat Buchannan, 1996 Constitution Party Nominee and former West Virginia Senator (1985-1997)
The 1968 Election was perhaps one of the most interesting election in United States Political History. Only 4 years prior, They had been defeated in a 44 State Landslide to President Johnson due to the orthodox Candidate of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and had suffered multiple defeats in the Senate in that same year. To them, it seemed like the end of the Party, but it was only the beginning. As 1964 and 1965 left the public conscious, 1966 dawned and with it game the Senate Elections of that year. Many expected it to be a wave Election, however, an off-comment by President Johnson, saying "Those damn n***ers won't do anything about Vietnam. I'll make sure of it!" that was recorded by an unnamed aide was released to the public weeks before the Election, causing a further backlash to the Democrats. Only 3 weeks from Election day, however, tragedy struck. Senator Strom Thurmond, campaigning for his re-election as a Republican, was shot three times by a radical democrat who believed he (Thurmond) was the Anti-christ. The Senator was rushed to the hospital where he later died from his injuries at the age of 64. The Republicans, knowing the few candidates they had, choose a random small Businessman, James Earlock, who made his name known is the center of the state, as their Nominee to replace Thurmond. Many had thought that the Republicans would pick up 6 or 7 seats until another bombshell was leaked to the press. In an expose written anonymously to the New York Times, President Johnson had intended to "Bomb the hell out of Vietnam and Kill all those fuckers!" and, when asked about the Civil Rights of African Americans by President Humphrey, who the anonymous writer said was in the room conversing with President Johnson, he said "I only had the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act passed to get those damn N***ers to vote Democrat and only Democrat, Hubert. Nothing more, nothing less." The release of the expose had caused the Democrats to go into Damage control and, worse yet, the African American voting Bloc that went so heavily for Johnson only two years earlier was now going against the Democrats with 38 % of African Americans supporting Republicans to 49 % supporting Democrats and 13 % truly undecided, the ones leaving the Democrats for the Republicans being lead by Martin Luther King Jr, who said in an infamous speech "I like many of you were tricked into believing that President Johnson truly cared for the plight of the African American people. People who use that sort of language show who they really are due to it. I ask you now, should a man who only wants to use us for our votes keep our support? I think not and I recommend the majority of you work against this sort of political evil as it is that backward thinking that will send us backward to the mindset of slavery and not forward into the ideals of Freedom and Equality for all!". At the end of the campaign, it was a disaster for the Democrats, with the Republicans gaining 16 Governor Seats and holding all of theirs, bringing the total to 33 Republicans and 17 Democrats. In the House, the Republicans gained 74 Seats, putting them near the coveted 218 Seats Majority they hadn't held since the start of the 84th Congress in 1955.
However, the biggest result was in the Senate Elections :
There was a real Backlash to President Johnson's comments and it showed in 1966.
"1968 was our one big chance and the Republican Party was looking ready and willing to win that year. And we had...an interesting Candidate to run." - Newt Gingrich, 80th Governor of Georgia (1991-1999) and 77th Attorney General of the United States (2001-2003)
"Nixon was looking for a comeback and he asked me to help him with it. I was glad to take him on that offer. It's a shame that we couldn't see what happened next." - Pat Buchannan, 1996 Constitution Party Nominee and former West Virginia Senator (1985-1997)
The 1968 Election was perhaps one of the most interesting election in United States Political History. Only 4 years prior, They had been defeated in a 44 State Landslide to President Johnson due to the orthodox Candidate of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and had suffered multiple defeats in the Senate in that same year. To them, it seemed like the end of the Party, but it was only the beginning. As 1964 and 1965 left the public conscious, 1966 dawned and with it game the Senate Elections of that year. Many expected it to be a wave Election, however, an off-comment by President Johnson, saying "Those damn n***ers won't do anything about Vietnam. I'll make sure of it!" that was recorded by an unnamed aide was released to the public weeks before the Election, causing a further backlash to the Democrats. Only 3 weeks from Election day, however, tragedy struck. Senator Strom Thurmond, campaigning for his re-election as a Republican, was shot three times by a radical democrat who believed he (Thurmond) was the Anti-christ. The Senator was rushed to the hospital where he later died from his injuries at the age of 64. The Republicans, knowing the few candidates they had, choose a random small Businessman, James Earlock, who made his name known is the center of the state, as their Nominee to replace Thurmond. Many had thought that the Republicans would pick up 6 or 7 seats until another bombshell was leaked to the press. In an expose written anonymously to the New York Times, President Johnson had intended to "Bomb the hell out of Vietnam and Kill all those fuckers!" and, when asked about the Civil Rights of African Americans by President Humphrey, who the anonymous writer said was in the room conversing with President Johnson, he said "I only had the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act passed to get those damn N***ers to vote Democrat and only Democrat, Hubert. Nothing more, nothing less." The release of the expose had caused the Democrats to go into Damage control and, worse yet, the African American voting Bloc that went so heavily for Johnson only two years earlier was now going against the Democrats with 38 % of African Americans supporting Republicans to 49 % supporting Democrats and 13 % truly undecided, the ones leaving the Democrats for the Republicans being lead by Martin Luther King Jr, who said in an infamous speech "I like many of you were tricked into believing that President Johnson truly cared for the plight of the African American people. People who use that sort of language show who they really are due to it. I ask you now, should a man who only wants to use us for our votes keep our support? I think not and I recommend the majority of you work against this sort of political evil as it is that backward thinking that will send us backward to the mindset of slavery and not forward into the ideals of Freedom and Equality for all!". At the end of the campaign, it was a disaster for the Democrats, with the Republicans gaining 16 Governor Seats and holding all of theirs, bringing the total to 33 Republicans and 17 Democrats. In the House, the Republicans gained 74 Seats, putting them near the coveted 218 Seats Majority they hadn't held since the start of the 84th Congress in 1955.
However, the biggest result was in the Senate Elections :
There was a real Backlash to President Johnson's comments and it showed in 1966.
Following the Election, the General Election for 1968 truly began with several candidates planning out their candidacies in early and mid 1967, the biggest of which was Former Vice President and 1960 Presidential Richard Nixon. Nixon, a brilliant politician at heart, believed he could make a comeback in 1968, with the increasing riots across the country, the rising anger at Vietnam, and the crises at home and abroad, he believed he could win the General Election in a landslide. He came over to several key figures, such as Roy Cohn and Pat Buchannan, to help form his dream of winning the Presidency, who agreed and began planning. On January 31st, 1967, the day when he was supposed to make his announcement that he was running for President, Tragedy struck.
Walter Cronkite : We are getting some breaking news right now...it seems to me that during the flight, Former Vice President Nixon's Plane apparently crashed. The former Vice President, who was on his way to make his announcement speech, is now being searched for in the wreckage, hopefully still alive.
Walter Cronkite : We are getting some breaking news right now...it seems to me that during the flight, Former Vice President Nixon's Plane apparently crashed. The former Vice President, who was on his way to make his announcement speech, is now being searched for in the wreckage, hopefully still alive.
No one knew how or why it happened, but Nixon's plane crashed on its way to make his announcement speech. The former Vice President was immediately rushed to the hospital where, after hours of surgery, the former Vice President was declared dead at 10:21 PM EST. With Nixon's death, the lack of a true front-runner was realized among the Republican Party, with Governors Rockefeller, Romney, and Reagan being key figures while only favorite sons remained to fight the three Governor Giants. And all the way to November 1967, where it seemed like these three would be the main candidates going into the Primaries. However, on November 19th, a unexpected fourth Challenger appeared
Brooke : It's time to show America how far the United States has truly come!
Brooke : It's time to show America how far the United States has truly come!
Truly, Senator Brooke's announcement that he was running caught everyone by surprise, considering he had only been elected to the Senate a year prior. In that year, however, he had proven himself to be a firebrand of a Liberal and a quasi-populist as well as a great ally to the people of the country at large and a true champion of progress, being the first African American popularity elected to the US Senate in History. This firebrand liberalism convinced Governor Rockefeller to drop out and endorse him instead, along with Governor Romney, meaning the Primaries would now be just between Brooke and Reagan as all favorite Sons except Governor Rhodes of Ohio withdrew, endorsing their preferred candidate. On the night of the New Hampshire Primary, it showed to look like a long night from the start but as time went on, Senator Brooke went on to win the State 68 to 28 against Reagan, proving that he could mount an effective campaign and if he could mount an effective enough campaign, he could, in theory, be elected President as well.
