Step in a Different Direction

In a huge suprise to all, the Republican John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket is able to pull out a close victory over the strong campaign of the Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket of the Democratic Party.

2008
Nov. 4th, 2008: In a close election decided by Pennsylvania, John McCain is elected President of the United States. Both McCain's victory speech and Obama's speech have a call of healing and coming together to begin.

Nov. 5th, 2008: In a close race, incumbent Senator Ted Stevens wins over Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Even with the corruption charges against him, Stevens won reelection and a movement for Stevens to resign from the Senate. Stevens would say that this would be resolved come January.

Nov. 6th, 2008: Longtime staffer and friend to President-Elect McCain, Mark Salter is chosen as Chief of Staff.

Nov. 10th, 2008: Senators and supporters, Lindsey Graham is announced to be McCain's choice as UN Ambassador and Je Lieberman would be announced as his choice for State Secretary.

Nov. 11th, 2008: The "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffet would be chosen as Treasury Secretary as Lewis Eisenberg for Commerce and other economic positions would be chosen.

Nov. 12th, 2008: Mitt Romney would have his name chosen for the Housing and Urban Development position. The HUD position would also be the same position that his father George Romney had occupied from 1969 to 1973.

Nov. 16th, 2008: T. Boone Pickens would be declared Energy Secretary and Debra W. Yong would be chosen as Attorney General, if she pass through the nomination process would become the first Asian American Attorney General.

Nov. 18th, 2008: Former Speaker of the House and conservative icon, Newt Gingrich would be chosen as the Interior Secretary in a suprise. This would raise some eyebrows on staunch liberal Democrats in the House.

Nov. 19th, 2008: Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona would choose Representative Ed Pastor of the 4th district to succede John McCain's seat on account of McCain's election to the presidency.

Nov. 26th, 2008: Senator Barack H. Obama of Illinois would confirm to the press that he would be running for reelection to the Senate come the 2010 Senatorial Elections.

Nov. 28th, 2008: After a fairly long recount for the 2008 Minnesota Senatorial Election, incumbent Norm Coleman would be declared the winner over the Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Dec. 2nd, 2008: Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge would once again be chosen for the position to serve in McCain's administration.

Dec. 7th, 2008: On the 67th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President-Elect McCain would chose Senator Chuck Hagel to be the Veterans Affairs Secretary.

Dec. 14th, 2008: The FBI would bring credible evidence that Governor Rod Blagojevich has been embezzling money. Soon after the Illinois Congress would begin impeachment processes over the following days.

Dec. 15th, 2008: Governor Blagojevich would go back to work as Governor if nothing happened, saying that he was "innocent until proven guilty" to the press.

Dec. 16th, 2008: Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan would begin initiation of impeachment against Governor Blagojevich.

Dec. 27th, 2008: Israeli forces would begin "Operation:Cast Lead" and would send the Israeli Air Force to bomb targets in the Gaza Strip. This would be majorly about the terrorist group Hamas.

Dec. 30th, 2008: President-Elect McCain says that there must be mediation between Gaza and Israel on the grounds that more innocent Palestians are being killed in the attacks agaisnt Hamas and other terrorist groups.

2009
Jan. 2nd, 2009: President-Elect McCain gives another short speech calling for aid to be given to the Palestian people caught in the middle and also the Israeli people that have been struck by the increasing missles by Hamas.

Jan. 4th, 2009: A pay to play scandal hits Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Staunch foes against the Governor in the state senate and other areas would call for an investigation of the Governor's activities.

Jan. 17th, 2009: The Illinois state house votes in a huge percentage for impeachment of Governor Blagojevich.

Jan. 20th, 2009: the Inauguration of John McCain would be held as a hopefull American people watch around the nation as John Sidney McCain is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and Sarah Palin is also sworn in as the 47th Vice President. McCain's short inaugural speech would call on bipartisan support and the American people not to worry and that America would rise again.

Jan. 21st, 2009: After loud outcrys, Senator Ted Stevens would resign from the Senate and Governor Sean Parnell of Alaska would choose Charlie Huggins of the Alaska Senate to replace Senator Ted Stevens vacant senate seat.

Jan. 22nd, 2009: The first day of bipartisan meetings between President McCain and his economic advisors and Democrat and Republican leaders in Congress would try and have bipartisan talks about a second stimulus package, tax incentives and tax cuts.

Jan. 23rd, 2009: The Second day of talks would have some back and forth between Democrats and Republican leaders but for the most part they would go smoothly.

Jan. 24th, 2009: President McCain issues a short speech on his first "radio address", the speech would be dubbed the "Ask Yourself" speech as President McCain called for American of all backgrounds to devote time to help the nation in any way, either being military time, help the less fortunate and other themes in his speech.

Jan. 25th, 2009: The media and Democrats in Congress would raise the Gitmo question. President McCain would issue a statement saying that the Administration was "tirelessly working" to tie up all the loose ends to make shure the closure of Guantanamo Bay as easy as possible.

Jan. 26th, 2009: Governor Rod Blagojevich would protest his own impeachment processes because of the "unfairness of the judge" on his strict resttrictions on witnessess.

Jan. 27th, 2009: President McCain would meet with only congressional Democratic leaders today to discuss and try and explain his major ideas for a stimulus package and also McCain's plans on an Economic Recovery Plan. This would include tax cuts and other things and the meet ing would strecth out from the 27th to the 28th.

Jan. 29th, 2009: In a huge but expected vote, Governor Rod Blagojevich is impeached and removemed from office, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn would succede the unpopular governor. The effective last nail in his coffin came when new audio tapes came out that had Blagojevich saying he would "sell Obama's golden senate seat when Obama is president".

Jan. 29th, 2009: The House would vote on McCain's stimulus package and would vote easily after McCain was able to sway some Democrats to vote and the vote, 255 to 177 would have the opposing Democrats clammoring for more to be put into the stimulus package or what McCain said "They want pork spending for there states". All in all 78 Democrats voted for the bill, showing the broad bipartisanship support.

Jan. 30th, 2009: The RNC Chairmen Election would be deeply split as the battle came to former Lt. Governor of Maryland Mike Steele against incumbent RNC Chairmen Mike Duncan as Michigan Party Chairmen Saul Anuzis would run as a compromise choice for Chairmen. After a long battle, Michael Steele would become Chairmen after defeating Duncan and Anuzis. Steele would say that "It's time to lead the Republican Party in a new direction for a new generation".

Feb. 1st, 2009: (With smaller butterflys from election day to February) the Arizona Cardinals win 23 to 20. Many sports pundits called it the "Turnaround of 2009" against the Pittsburg Steelers. Pundits of politics had called this "McCain vs Obama-2" as Obama supported the Steelers and McCain supported the Cardinals.

Feb. 2nd, 2009: President McCain would try and drum up more support amongst Democrats in the Senate by meeting with Democratic Senate leaders and prominent senate Democrats. McCain would try and drum up support all the way up until the Senate vote on February 5th.

Feb. 3rd, 2009: President McCain would go directly to the American people as he would hold town hall meetings in Ohio, Pennsylvania and California. There, McCain would talk about his plans of the stimulus package and the economy.

Feb. 4th, 2009: President McCain would impose a pay cap on senior executives from the most distressed financial institutions that receivied federal bailout money. McCain would say that he was "dissapointed" by the recklessness of the executives.

Feb. 5th, 2009: The Senate would vote on McCain's stimulus package. The vote was 57 to 43, showing over a dozen Democrats voting for the stimulus package. After the vote, political pundits would dubb President McCain the "bipartisan President" on account of this.

Feb. 9th, 2009: President McCain would go to his home state of Arizona to talk about the mortage problem that plagues the nation. In Arizona, President McCain would say to a crowd of people that the newly passed stimulus package would give some aid but more help to the American people would be on the way and that "Americans have always shown pure inguinuity in troubled times and I believe that this is one of those times, America can and will overcome these economic issues..".

Feb. 10th, 2009: Treasury Secretary Buffett would unveil a revamped rescue plan for the economy and the American people. There would then be a noticable rise in the DOW afterwards.

Feb. 12th, 2009: On Lincoln's birthday, President McCain would vistit the resting place of the former President on Lincoln's birthday. Senator's Obama and Durbin would be some of the many guests to the remembrance of the 16th President. Both Obama and McCain would give short speeches at the anniversary.

Feb. 13th, 2009: President McCain would announce that after his swearing in on the 20th of January that his administration had worked to solve every possible for the Guantanamo question that "Gitmo" would be closed and the transfer of prisoners would begin today. Some pundits would call this a breath of fresh air as others said why did it take so long. For this "transfer" it would be slow and would take quite a while.

Feb. 17th, 2009: President McCain would announce that there would be a transfer of nearly 20,000 soldiers from Iraq and other areas to aid the war in Afghanistan. President McCain would say that down the line for the year 2009 that there would be more troops coming into the Afghan nation.

Feb. 20th, 2009: CNN and several other networks release President McCain's approval ratings and in a suprise McCain has a 73% approval. McCain's last rating was a 76% and with only the 3% fall and his bipartisan work in Congress and the passage of the Stimulus Bill seemed to be the reason that most of the 3% were weary liberals about the stimulus package.

Feb. 25th, 2009: Crackdowns on drug cartels would occur as Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge would call on more aid to defend the border. President McCain would support this and call for a "a true and ready border defense".

Feb. 27th, 2009: President McCain would call on the Afghanistani and Allied nations to send and deploy more troops to aid in the war in Afghanistan. One ringing text would be "if we aren't winning, were loosing". A majority of Americans would support this as a little of 60% would support this but also said they think that they could win in the long run.

Mar. 2nd, 2009: Treasury Secretary Warren Buffett would say in a letter that him and others "Did some dumb things" and "we have to learn to do better or 2009 will be a year in shambles". The Stock would take a hit because of this through the day but would have small peak at the end of the day. Still these words would sting at the economy and Americans.

Mar. 6th, 2009: President McCain would meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the first time as the 44th President of the United States. Both the McCain and Brown family would exchange gifts and PM Brown and President McCain would also takes questions from the media at an press conference.

Mar. 8th, 2009: Education Secretary Keegan would annouce that the education sector would be recieving a major plus funding after the small and easily passed Educational Expansion Bill was signed into law. President McCain would use this to bring up his plan for a national school voucher program.

Mar. 10th, 2009: After some time of debating and talking it over with Treasury Secretary Buffett, President McCain would say that he was considering loaning more money to the bigger banks to aid the economy and help keep them up so there ripple effects that it would send in the ecomony if they failed to stop it. McCain would say that this was an option to keep the on the right track. The DOW would move upwards after this and would repair the several day lag.

Mar. 11th, 2009: An huge spending bill put up by the Democrats in Congress would fight with Republicans and President McCain over it as the bill has thousands of earmarks in it and would be called by Democratic leaders as "An important piece of legislation that must be passed to aid the country from destruction..". This talk would have pundits and others in Congress call this fear mongering as Republicans rally enough support from weary Democrats to strike the bill down.

Mar. 12th, 2009: Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston would break off their relationship for the time being. The media would dive deep into this and would analyze it as Johnston would go onto Good Morning America and would say "We were in a fight," and. "And trying to see if we can make things work. But this is what it kind of ended up turning into. But we'll see what happens." Afterwards Vice President Palin would send out an statement saying "Bristol is going through alot right now, be gentle..".

Mar. 14th, 2009: President McCain would meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and would talk about a wide range of issues including the enviroment, energy, the economy, trade relations and and also the case of a New Jersey man trying to bring his 8-year-old son back from Brazil. McCain and Silva would have a calm and gracious meeting and McCain would trumphet this as part of his "new outlook on foreign policy" for the United States.

Mar. 17th, 2009: President McCain would meet with one of his cabinet members, this one being Energy Secretary T. Boone Pickens on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana to talk about off shore drilling and using it to still supply oil as the President, his cabinet and Congress work on renewable energy bills and as Americans would then work on to solve the oil dependence that the US has.

Mar. 19th, 2009: President McCain would make history when he would come onto "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". This would make history as it would be the first time an sitting president would go onto the Tonight Show but it wasn't an suprise as after McCain's victory in November he would go on to the Tonight Show as then the President-Elect.

Mar. 20th, 2009: After some buildup, one AIG executive would say that he "wanted to sue the US Government" for them not letting a number of AIG executives from getting their bonuses in an interview. This would ignite some debates but polls showed people support the small tag on on the Stimulus Package and even a number of AIG executives said they agreed, though reluctantly that they shouldn't get their bonuses as well. After a circus for a day or so, the AIG bonus story dissapeared.

Mar. 21st, 2009: The Veterans Affairs and Support Reform Act would pass after a quick vote in Congress. It would pick up bipartisan support as Veterans Reform and also a complete rehaul of the Veterans Affairs Office was needed. Some Republican called this uneeded spending, but President McCain defended this. The act passed with 65 for and 32 against.

Mar. 24th, 2009: New approval ratings for President McCain would come out as 78% approved of what the President had done so far. This was a testament as his approvals had only raised two points but still McCain was riding on a strong supporting American people. Though many had said that McCain could and would pass into the 80% mark maybe, but he was still in the high 70's as he had been more active during part of February and March but Americans wanted to see the President but also see him working on the problems that face the nation more fervently.

Mar. 27th, 2009: More troops would be shipped to Afghanistan to aid in the war, about 6,000 in total would be sent as President McCain would say this was apart of his grander scale for the Afghan War.

Mar, 30th, 2009: President McCain would put stronger sanctions against Iran, this would cause backlash as over the 30th and 31st of March, Democrats would call this "unacceptable" as they called for an extension of a olive branch to Iran instead. Soon after Ambassador Graham would get into a shouting match with an Iranian Ambassador in a summit, this would receive much scrutiny about if Graham was the right choice for the UN Ambassador position.

Apr. 1st, 2009: President McCain would make a short journey to Europe one day early for the G-20 meeting in London. McCain would meet with a number of international leaders, from his meetings with Gordon Brown and Nicholas Sarkozy with many warm gestures to his "chilly" meeting as it was called between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Apr. 2nd, 2009: The G-20 meeting would commence in London as numerous different leaders met and their main discussion was on the world economy and the recession plaguing them all in some way. Protesters lined the streets as some staunch anti McCain protesters nearly set off an all out riot. Back at the US, some of the media would call it a meeting of "kooks".

Apr. 3rd - 4th, 2009: At the historic 60th anniversary of NATO, President McCain would attend the Strasbourg–Kehl summit where the major themes would be the relations with Russia, the Afghan War, France's possible intergration and a new strategic concept. McCain would garner some flack from the Russians after he said that he hopes that NATO would expand and one major choice to be admitted into NATO were countries like Georgia and Ukraine.

Apr. 5th, 2009: North Korea, after dismay and anger from western powers, would test a missile capable of launching a satellite or also being used as a long range ballistic missile. The missile fails ultimatly but has much the US and it's allies on their edge as thoughts of a nucleaur armed North Korea were troubuling.

Apr. 9th, 2009: In the wake of the launch of a failed missile test by the North Koreans, President McCain called on China to take a strong stance on North Korea and urged them to support the international community in imposing sanctions on North Korea. McCain would also say that the friendly Asian nations to the USA must be united in the "threat of danger".

Apr. 11th, 2009: Press Secretary Brooke Buchanan finally issues a real statement on behalf of the McCain Administration on the Somali pirates. Buchanan said that "The Administration is dealing with the problem on it's own terms, but with cases like the one with Captain Richard Phillips will not go without consequences to the aggressors".

Apr. 13th, 2009: More news comes from Washington that the McCain Administration will be loosening restrictions on Cuba, mainly to the many Cuban Americans with family on the island nation. A certain sentiment is shown by much of the media and also by the Administration as they echo a voice that "The diplomacy with Cuba hasn't worked, it's time to try something different".

Apr. 20th, 2009: At a UN summit of "Anti-Racism", Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be one of the speakers at the opening and would draw crticism from some remarks about there attacks on Israel. A number of delegates would boycott the opening mainly because of the Iranian President's speech.

Apr. 21st, 2009: President McCain would issue that he was expanding Americorps and other "volunteerism" groups. McCain would use this also to tout his ideas of vlounterrism and also talk to the American people and try to "inspire" people help their communities and selfless services is part of what makes Americans “exceptional.”

Apr. 27th, 2009: The "Swine Flu" would begin to become a major issue as cases top up in the United States as Mexico is taking a beating as a death toll in Mexico rises. Secretaries Huckabee and Ridge would make statements over the days about the "Swine Flu".

Apr. 29th, 2009: President McCain's first 100 days come as the nation is in a cold grip by the growing "Swine Flu" influenza. Secretaries Huckabee and Ridge would continue to have interviews with the media over this. Soon the World Health Organization(WHO) would raise the alert lvel from level four to level five, which is seen as a preparation for a pandemic. President McCain would announce that he would address the nation the same night over the "Swine Flu" spread and his plans to try and stop the spread of it.

May. 3rd, 2009: State Secretary Lieberman would meet with Afghanistani and Pakistani leaders in a conference and would discuss the Taliban strength and the worry from the Taliban's "march" in a way and about something like the Taliban gaining the Pakistani nuclear weapons and that if the nation of Pakistan could substain it's self.

May. 5th, 2009: President McCain would meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres. This meeting would be used to reaffirm the US's backing of Israel but McCain would also say that there of course wouldn't be "A one way street" between the two nations.

May. 7th, 2009: President McCain would unveil several new cuts to the federal budget. This plans would get applaude from some as others attacked McCain, sighting that more funds needed to go to several of the programs that McCain cuts some of it's funding and not less.

May. 22nd, 2009: President McCain announces his choice for successor to Justice David Souter's seat on the Supreme Court. McCain's choice would be Consuelo María Callahan, the Federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. McCain's pick of Callahan would be applauded by Republicans and Democrats for a new step for a more diverse Supreme Court.

May 25th, 2009: President McCain would call for a time of reflection for the nation on Memorial Day. Former 2008 Democratic challenger Barack Obama would join McCain in calling for reflection. McCain would unhold the tradition of send a wreath to the Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery. This small act would gain some blows from African American groups who said that President McCain needed to "finally break the tradition of honoring hatred". McCain would brush this off.

May 31st, 2009: President McCain denounces and condemns the killing of George Tiller. McCain would say that he didn't support what Tiller believed but would say that the differences weren't worth killing over. A number of Democrats and Republicans would applaud the President's quick and put together statement about the Tiller shooting and the "Denounceation of Extremism".

June 1st, 2009: The President would continue on his journey through the Middle East to bolster that there would be "A new outlook for American Diplomacy". McCain would meet with several Middle Eastern leaders, one being King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

June 2nd, 2009: With the aid from former first lady Nancy Reagan, the McCain Administration would say that they were announcing legislation honoring the achievements of former President, Ronald Reagan.

June 3rd, 2009: President McCain would speak in Cairo, Egypt to try and reasure to the Middle East world that a peace could be struck. McCain would also try and use this to repair the image of America abroad. The Speech was met by luke warm as some did see that McCain was trying but others denounced him as "another George Bush". Something the same would happen back home in the US as the speech was applauded, analyzed and criticized.

June 4th, 2009: The European Parliament Elections of 2009 would results in loss for the Labour Party and Gordon Brown as they were pushed to 16 seats, the Liberal Democrats at 11 seats, the Conservatives at 23 and the UK Independence at 14. Other victors would the surpise victories of the British National Party. These losses for the Labour Party would cause a ruckus in Brown's Administration.

June 5th, 2009: President McCain would meet with leaders in Buchenwald and mainly though German Prime Minister and survivors of the atrocities of the Holocaust. McCain would declare that he hoped that "something so terrible like this will never happen again" and would say that he would try and combat hatred abroad.

June 6th, 2009: President McCain, French President Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper would meet on the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France. The leaders would speak of the triumphs and loss of life of D-Day at that "it should never be forgotten".

June 12th, 2009: The Iranian Presidential Election of 2009 would be held as the west would hold it's breath as they watched who would win. The incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would "win" in the sense as many voting irregularites would spark fury from many Mir-Hossein Mousavi supporters. Protest would begin to form quickly and this would become the signs of what was yet to come.

June 19th, 2009: President McCain would put out a simple address on Father's Day. This little address would call for Father's to be good to there children, it would also splice into that those certain father's to "man up" and be responsible for there child they helped create.

June 20th, 2009: President McCain would "fully give his support" for the protester in Iran against the election results and Ahmadinejad. Though this hurt the protesters as the Iranian Government tensed up and stepped up harrassement on the protesters, they would remain fervent for their beliefs.

June 25th, 2009: A massive rally would be held as protesters bounced back from their being split off from each other by Iranian Government forces and also their harrassment of the protesters. Former Iranian Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi would be the leader of the massive rally and would lead to what many had though would happen. Mousavi would be shot by a sniper and the protesters were sent into a frenzy as they even more violently clashed with Iranian Government forces. Mousavi would die and the news spread, protest boiled over into anger and open revolt against the Iranian Government as what became known as the "Green Revolution" in Iran began.

June 26th, 2009: President McCain would quickly condemn the actions of Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Governemnt of Iran against the protesters and their link to the death of numerous peaceful protesters, ones including Mousavi and several higher up Iranian religious leaders.

June 26th, 2009: The House votes for a "Health Care Reform" Bill. The more Republican led bill would be characterized by supporting private health care and also to address the cost of health care and attempt to make it more affordable for all Americans. The bill would soon go to the Senate as Democrats mounted up opposition there for the fight.

July 3rd, 2009: Vice President Sarah Palin annouces in a tearful statement she will resign as Vice President of the United States effective July 26th, 2009 after 5 months of being Vice President. She announced she would resign to tend to personal family matters. She said it was an honor to serve as Vice President of the United States but because of the task of tending to family matters, being away from her family for periods of time while traveling overseas and the unexpected preasures of the job that resigning the Vice Presidency would serve the best intrests of the United States and her family.

July 6th, 2009: After the Independence day weekend President John Mc Cain picks Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to replace Sarah Palin as Vice President.

July 25th, 2009: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty resigns his post as Minnesota Governor to be the new Vice President of the United States. Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau is sworn in as the new Governor of Minnesota. Carol Molnau is Minnesota's first female Governor. Sarah Palin makes a farwell speech. In her farwell speech she says it was the highest honor to serve as Vice President of the United States and that it was a very challenging and intresting position. She wished good luck the new Vice President Tim Pawlenty.

July 26th, 2009: Sarah Palin offically leaves the Vice Presidency. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is sworn as the 48th Vice President of the United States. Former Vice President Sarah Palin and her family board Air Force Two for the last time to fly back to Alaska.

United States Presidential Election of 2008

Overlook of McCain Presidency

John McCain(SIADD)

Barack Obama(SIADD)

List of Presidents of the United States(SIADD)