United States Presidential election, 1988 (Napoleon's World)

The United States Presidential election of 1988 was an open-primary contest for both parties, with outgoing incumbent Elizabeth Shannon having served the maximum of two terms. Vice President Robert Redford of the National Party defeated Pennsylvania Senator Francis "Frank" Reed of the Democratic Party in a huge landslide, making him the first Vice President since Alf Landon in 1936 to succeed the previous President. Redford enjoyed the benefit of an improving economy and lack of ongoing conflict in the United States, as well as a settlement of many of the contentious racial and social issues that had permeated the 1980's, while Reed's campaign suffered from numerous miscues as well as a lack of energy and direction following the tragic assassination of the presumed Democratic nominee, Christopher Callahan, during the primaries. Much like Landon, Redford would similarly not succeed in reelection, losing to John Burwin in 1992.

Democratic Party
The Democrats, following Joseph Clausen's defeat in 1984, were a party that spent four years trying to find a message to unite behind. The conservative, somewhat segregationist message espoused by Clausen had failed to inspire the strong liberal base of the party and while having performed well in the South, the powerful Northern Nationalists had managed to recruit social liberals typically aligned with the Democratic Party into the fold - these were called "Shannon Democrats," and had allowed the liberal wing of the National Party to flourish ever since.

The supposed frontrunner entering the 1988 electoral cycle was Clausen's running mate, Senator Nick Angerrard of Connecticut, who had been building a strong organization after he cruised to reelection in the 1986 midterms. As 1987 drew to a close, four major candidates from different corners of the divided party seemed to be poised to fight out a long and expensive primary battle. The first Democratic primaries of 1988 were held in Oregon and Puerto Rico on the same day, January 6th, and experts who predicted a strong showing from Seastrunk and Angerrard were stunned when Callahan won Oregon and placed second to Reed in Puerto Rico, with Reed taking second in Oregon. Seastrunk placed a distant fourth in both primaries and announced he was dropping out of the race two days later.
 * Senator Nick Angerrard of Connecticut, a devoted Northern liberal from the old Kennedy/Eisler camp. Angerrard had the organizational advantage over all other candidates, but the Democratic Party, which still had powerful roots in the South, seemed somewhat unenthusiastic to throw its support behind another hard-left liberal after the failure of the Kennedy campaign in 1964 and the unpopularity of the Eisler/Wallace administrations.
 * Senator Frank Reed of Pennsylvania, a "Rust Belt Democrat" with powerful union connections. In a field of candidates trying to move out from under the shadow of Adam Eisler that had lingered since the 1970's, Reed was a moderate, down-to-earth candidate who supported socially conservative ideals but preached economically liberal policies. With the lack of a strong Southern candidate (unlike previous election cycles), Reed seemed like the candidate who best appealed to the Midwestern party bosses and the Southern conservatives.
 * Senator Christopher Callahan of Kentucky, the young, grassroots candidate who espoused an "era of Southern liberalism." Unlike many Southern Democrats, he was anti-segregation and had voted in support of the 1987 Equal Rights Amendment, and tried to make friends with civil rights leaders. His message of "we are beyond segregation" earned him support among minorities who were disaffected by the National Party's economic policies, which they felt did not favor their needs.
 * Former Governor Dan Seastrunk of New Mexico, a social conservative and economic liberal who had a strong appeal to West Coast moderates. He promised in an early fundraiser that he would, "Suck away the West from Redford."

Callahan's populist campaign gained steam with a whopping win in the "big-ticket" Illinois primary three days later, in which Reed had been heavily favored. Angerrard again placed third. Angerrard would win the Vermont primary on January 16th with Reed placing second, in which he claimed he had "regained momentum, and now we're going all the way to Miami and the White House!"

Angerrard would eat his own words on January 23rd, when Reed eked out a narrow win over Callahan in another "big-ticket," Huron, and Angerrard finished a distant third. Four days later, Callahan blew out both opposing candidates, winning 75% of the vote, in his home state of Kentucky, in the last primary before Super Tuesday.

Entering the Super Tuesday contest, political experts agreed that it would take "a February miracle" for Angerrard to stay in the race after a primary day in which Reed and Callahan were expected to win heavily and split the delegates roughly in half. Angerrard was only able to win in Rhode Island - he placed third in every other primary, even placing fourth in South Carolina where Seastrunk was still on the ballot. Reed exited Super Tuesday having won half of the primaries and owning a lead of ten delegates over Callahan. Angerrard withdrew from the race shortly thereafter and endorsed Reed.

Callahan earned the valuable endorsement of Joseph Clausen in February shortly before he won the Texas primary - Callahan would not lose another primary in February as he heavily outscored Reed in multiple states. Reed vowed to continue, and the two critical early-March primaries that his campaigned determined as a must win were the delegate-rich California contest on March 6th, and the primary in Reed's home state of Pennsylvania four days later. With the Callahan campaign only gaining popularity and early polls in the ensuing primaries slanted in Callahan's favor, Reed was in a must-win situation.

Reed narrowly won the California primary, where the delegates were divided among candidates based on percentage of votes, meaning that he only received a little over half of the available delegates. Still, Reed had pulled to within 30 delegates of Callahan entering the primary in his home state.

The leadup to the primary were some of the most vicious in Democratic primary history, with both candidates airing vicious attack ads. On March 10th, Callahan upset Reed in a comfortable but not convincing win, beating the long-tenured Senator in his home state and pulling away with an even stronger primary lead. As he addressed a crowd of adoring supporters in the middle of a Harrisburg Square, Callahan was shot and killed with a single bullet to the head. Police found a discarded rifle in a nearby dumpster shortly thereafter.

Reed, who had been preparing his announcement to withdraw from the race following the loss, heard about the assassination and allegedly tore up his concession speech. He then gave a rousing speech to a stunned Philadelphia crowd, pledging to drive on and win the Presidential race to honor, "the blackened and horrific legacy this tragic day has earned, and to fulfill Senator Callahan's promise to win the White House."

From then on, Reed was the presumptive nominee in every subsequent primary as there were no other opposition candidates, but much of the fanfare and energy of the campaign had been lost. The Democratic National Convention in Miami was a somber affair, and many voters felt that they were nominating the wrong candidate. Reed even touched on this in his acceptance speech, acknowledging that, "I realize that to many of you, I wasn't the candidate you at first wanted - I was your second choice. Now I pledge to earn your trust and help heal the wounds of this jarring, tragic event."

Reed selected Peninsula Senator Terrence Connors as his running mate to appeal to West Coast voters, seen as a safe bet due to Reed's experience on the Foreign Affairs Committee and Connors' experience on the Senate Budget Committee.

National Party
When Robert Redford announced in mid-1987 that he was, as had long been suspected, running for the Presidency, he became the clear frontrunner in the Nationalist field. Ever since 1984, political pundits had considered it a given that the young and telegenic Redford would be the candidate in 1988 regardless of whether or not Shannon won. Due to the rousing success of Shannon's second term, specifically in the improving economy during the 1986-87 stock market boom and the passage of the Permanent Equal Rights Amendment in 1987, the National Party looked strong heading into the 1988 election.

Redford's close allegiance to prominent black leaders such as Bill Cosby earned him a significant edge over other candidates who had been far less vocal about the civil rights movement in the 1980's. His primary competition in a relatively closed field included: Redford won soundly in the first primary, held in Missouri, and never lost a single primary in the entire National Party primary season. Warren scored a close second in his home state of Washington, but even by then, Redford had nearly secured the nomination for President. With the support of outgoing President Shannon and former Presidents Richard van Dyke and Clyde Dawley, Redford's superior organization and fundraising helped him pull away in what was one of the most rapid and total primary victories in US electoral history.
 * Washington Governor Trent Warren, the last Nationalist Governor of Washington as of 2010, who was term-limited after twelve years in office in 1988 and was considered the National Party's favorite from the liberal wing.
 * Johnny Cash, a former actor turned televangelist, who was one of the most powerful members of the conservative Christian movement in the 1970's and 80's. The late 80's had seen a surge in conservative Christianity across the country, and while not an experienced politician, Cash was considered the leading Nationalist conservative (there were numerous similar conservatives in the Democratic camp).
 * Nebraska Governor Pete Salander, an outgoing two-term Governor with a considerable edge going into early Midwestern primaries.

Redford gave a rousing, fiery speech at the National Party Convention in San Francisco, CA in which he gave an outline for his vision of the country going forward:

"''A nation united by common interest, the interest of our core beliefs: the preservation of liberty, the strength of our economy and the freedom to pursue what we please when we please." - Robert Redford''

He selected former CIA chief and Texas Congressman George H. Bush, the son of former President Prescott Bush, as his running mate. The selection was seen as safe, due to the positive connotations of the Bush family name and Bush's considerable experience in both foreign policy and the inner workings of Congress, and the popularity of the Bush family in the state of Texas, which had gone Democrat in the 1984 election and nearly lost the Shannon-Redford ticket the election.