Which Of These Parties Would You Vote For?

[Colin]

Alright this is from a new alternate history timeline that I have cooked up. You can see the beginnings of it in the Alternate History board under the title "What Grant Wrought". The year is now 2004 and there are going to be elections to the Congress, because I haven't fully figured out how the Presidential system would work under this new TL.

During the early 1900's when the four party system evolved in America Teddy Roosevelt reformed the American Congress into the House, which would be elected through a proporational system within each state and the Senate, with two Senators from each state, which would be selected using preferential voting. The leader of the majority coalition in the House, the Speaker of the House, would act as the Head of Government while the President is the Head of State.

Alright now here are the parties:

MAJOR PARTIES:

Democratic Party: One of the two old parties. The Democratic Party is currently the party of the moderate left. They are in favour of health care benefits for seniors and the poor as well as comprehensive day care for poor mothers. Their main rallying cry in this election is to increase social services for the poor and aged in America but they stand in opposition to the welfare state. Economically they stand for a third way approach to economics. They also want further bans on firearms. On foreign policy they stand for a internationalist, though not interventionalist, foreign policy. Currently hold 97 seats in the House.

Party Leader: Representative Mark Warner (D-VA)/Senator Bill Clinton (D-AR)

Social Democratic Party: The Social Democrats stand for the creation of a welfare state. They are pushing for an all state owned schooling system, a social safety net for all citizens, increased farm subsidies, and a living minimum wage. They want to provide for a public health care system although there is some infighting about whether a private system should remain in place as well. Look upon themselves as the heirs of socialism in the United States. They were founded after the Populist Party and the Socialist Party merged in 1911. On foreign policy it is rather isolationist and very much against military action and intervention. Current hold 54 seats in the House.

Party Leader: Representative Bernie Sanders (SD-VT)/Senator Russ Feingold (SD-WI)

Liberal Party of America: The consumate centrists, though they have drifted to the centre-right in recent, have consistent expounded an ideal of social liberalism and a well regulated free market. They see themselves as the heirs of Teddy Roosevelt, Wendell Wilkie, and Nelson Rockefeller, all of whom made their marks as Liberals. Their current economic policy mostly focuses on balancing the budget and reducing government waste but also protecting valuable and much needed government programs and services. Over the past 10 years the party has moved more in a direction of social centrism and has taken on a more states rights orientation, such as leaving gun control and abortion up to the states, but has continued to stress its support for abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia. On the issue of foreign policy it is both internationalist and interventionalist. Currently holds 90 seats in the House.

Party Leaders: Representative Gordon Smith (L-OR)/Senator Kenny Guinn (L-NV)

Republican Party: The other old party. The Republican party today stands for fiscal conservatism, small government, and tax cuts though it is very much silent on so-called social issues. It has overall been very much against any attempts to raise taxes in order to balance the budget and has continually called for the implementation of a flat tax and/or a national sales tax in its Tax Plan for America. Its support runs the gamet from Southerners who are too economically conservative to join the AIP to Northeastern business men. Critics often acuse them of being nothing more than a mouthpiece for business interests. On foreign policy they have a non-interventionalist, some would say isolationist, view. They are highly critical of so-called nation building and international alliances and organizations like the UN. They currently hold 77 seats in the House.

Party Leaders: Representative Jack Kemp (R-NY)/Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK)

American Independent Party: The American Independent Party was founded out of defense for segregationism in the South but soon grew to encompass most of the populist spectrum of American politics. Socially conservative it is economically centre-left holding positions in between the third way view of the Democrats and the Welfare state idea of the Social Democrats. Economically they support more programs for the poor, specifically through more and better used funding for welfare, medicare, and medicaid, but also through the funding of Christian charities and other organizations. They also believe in a higher minimum wage and for making certain jobs easier to unionize. The AIP, though not officially Christian, is usually seen as the most openly religious of the American parties and some even say that it is hostile to non-Christians. On foreign policy they favour a strong military and mostly take a pragmatic realist view on foreign policy. They current hold 100 seats in the House.

Party Leaders: Representative Joe Manchin (AI-WV)/Senator Mike Huckabee (AI-AR)

MINOR PARTIES IN THE HOUSE

Green Party: The Green Party is America's enviromentalist party. It strongly favours government protection of wildlife and the enviroment as well as holding a strongly libertarian social platform which calls for the legalization of drugs, full rights to gays and lesbians, a national constitutional amendment giving women the right to choose, and a hands off approach in people's lives. Economically it is for greater regulation on businesses and for a public health care system. They current hold one seat in the House.

Party Leader: Congressman Ralph Nader (G-NY)

National Party: The oldest populist party in America it is the remnent of the Independent National Party, which was more commonly known as the Greenback Party, which was founded in 1874. The Nationals were, from the time the Populists merged with the Socialists until the founding of the AIP, the major populist party in the United States with its main strengths in the Great Plains. The Nationals are mostly comprised of western populists who were turned off by the control that the South had in the American Independent Party as well as Black populists who could never support a party founded in segregationism. The party is more openly agrarian than the AIP in favour of farm subsidies, government support for small farmers, and tariffs on farm machinery and crops. It also stands for health care for the poor and elderly and affirmative action programs to develop equality. It currently holds 15 seats in the House.

Party Leaders: Representative Brian Schweitzer (N-MT)/Senator Ben Nelson (N-NE)

Who do you vote for in this alternate election? The choice is yours.

[jokerman]

AIP, but the National Party sounds fantastic also.

[True Democrat]

Hmm, probably Liberals for first preference, then split between Republicans and Democrats for second.

[Speed of Sound]

SDP! woooooooo!

[the sweetness of chai and the palliative effects of facts]

SDP, although the Nationals sound fine too. These Greens sound too like the Canadian Greens and too unlike any real Greens - but given the existence of the SDP next to the Dems, that's perfectly reasonable (a large part of what made Greens elsewhere already had a third party home).

[skybridge]

Social Democrats. These Greens sound too much like a one-issue party.

[MasterJedi]

Probably either the American Independent Party or the Republican Party.

[nini2287]

Liberal Party, with the Democrats and National Party 2nd and 3rd.

[George W. Hobbes]

Republicans.

[© intelligent life as an evolutionary error]

Democrats.

And no way Feingold favors the creation of a pacifist welfare state.  He wouldn't be in the socialist party, and that party woldn't get 54 seats.  More like 4.

[Colin]

Democrats.

And no way Feingold favors the creation of a pacifist welfare state.  He wouldn't be in the socialist party, and that party woldn't get 54 seats.  More like 4.

Hey, my Timeline, my rules. I could make you fascist dictator of Paraguay if I wanted.

To be serious that is just the overall flavour of the party, much like the real Socialist Party of America there would be huge regional differences. They would run as normal Populists in the West, Social Democrats in the Midwest, social conservatives in the South, radicals in California. Also, basically, this party has the support of most American unions and most industrial workers, making it more like socialist/labour parties in Europe. What makes this happen is that the Berger-Hillquit social democratic moderates in the Socialist Party win out and actively court the AFL during the 1910's. This along with an earlier death of Sam Gompers, conservative head of the AFL, leads to the union endorsing the Socialists.

On the issue of Feingold, I just guessed more than anything. Given his background, his leftism, not as far left in OTL as he is in this alternate timeline granted, and his state, Wisconsin being the most successful state for the Socialist Party, brand him, in my mind, as the leader of the Social Democrats in this timeline.

[Josh/Devilman88]

AIP.. and maybe the NP

[Brandon W]

The Republicans.

[afleitch]

Liberal Party or the Democrats. Depending on where I lived and how likely they were to win.

[Frodo]

American Independent Party: The American Independent Party was founded out of defense for segregationism in the South but soon grew to encompass most of the populist spectrum of American politics. Socially conservative it is economically centre-left holding positions in between the third way view of the Democrats and the Welfare state idea of the Social Democrats. Economically they support more programs for the poor, specifically through more and better used funding for welfare, medicare, and medicaid, but also through the funding of Christian charities and other organizations. They also believe in a higher minimum wage and for making certain jobs easier to unionize. The AIP, though not officially Christian, is usually seen as the most openly religious of the American parties and some even say that it is hostile to non-Christians. On foreign policy they favour a strong military and mostly take a pragmatic realist view on foreign policy. They current hold 100 seats in the House.

Party Leaders: Representative Joe Manchin (AI-WV)/Senator Mike Huckabee (AI-AR)
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Who do you vote for in this alternate election? The choice is yours.

Given the description, the American Independent Party comes closest to my beliefs though I am wary of its racist and segregationist past.