2008 Election[]
Everything is the same in 2008 as it was in OTL, except that no OTL politicians exist. The President from 2000 to 2008 was Andrew Conroy, a Republican from Indiana who implemented the exact same policies as Bush did in OTL. In 2008, however, his term was up, and there was a major recession which was the big issue in the election. The Democrats nominated Daniel Walker, a younger Senator from Colorado. The Republicans nominated the longtime Maryland politician Michael Wells, who had served as a Representative for 17 years, including four years as Speaker of the House, before becoming governor for 4 years, then serving as Secretary of Commerce for four years before returning as a consultant for an investment firm. Libertarian candidate Christopher Cotton of Oregon drew a big following, especially in his home state of Oregon, and managed to win the state. The election was very close, especially because Wells had experience with finance but the Republican Party's support was hurt by the recession. Despite losing both Ohio and Florida, Walker, who saw a late surge in the polls mainly due to his personality, managed to pull off a win (though he would've lost if Cotton had not run, as Nevada and New Mexico would've gone to Wells).
Walker's First Term[]
One of the first things walker did in his term was fill a vacant Supreme Court position, for which he nominated Rodrigo Garza, the first hispanic Supreme Court justice. He later also nominated the female justice Sophia Krueger.
While in office, there was a lot of key legislation which was argued over heavily. First of all, a bill which soguht to limit and tax greenhouse gas emissions failed to pass the Republican House of Representatives, and Walker signed a repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, a major promise he had made. He also signed a major bill dealing with the recession, which included tax cuts for the poor but raised taxes for the rich, further funding of Welfare and infrastructure, money to be invested in the economy, and budget cuts for the military, NASA, and the NSA. Walker was able to pass this through several compromises, especially with the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party which pushed for the budget cuts. Walker also changed the direction of NASA, getting rid of moon exploration. The effects of the recession began to lower, and unemployment dropped. Following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he managed to pass a set of major environmental laws.
Walker's first term saw the Arab Spring, in which there was a great rise in the Arab World of violence and clashes between authoritarian governments and more popular groups. This caused the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen to all be ousted. However, Libya developed into a major ongoing Civil War between Muammar Gaddafi's government and the moderate rebels. The US backed the rebels, and began airstrikes. After a major attack by Gaddafi's forces in Benghazi, the US embassy and UN mission were destroyed, which led to authorization by Walker of a US advisory force in Libya, and the Republican Congress agreed to back out of Iraq and scale back the troops in Afghanistan. The upheaval eventually stopped except for the Civil War in Libya and continued attacks by terrorist organizations. A new terrorist organization named "the Sharia Caliphate" began to grow after being founded in Syria, and it began to grow in power in Syria and Afghanistan. Walker did, however, authorize a raid in Pakistan which killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Much happened outside of the Arab World, too. South Sudan officially became independent, though it remained on the brink of Civil War. In 2011, India executed several well known Muslim prisoners, which saw protest from Pakistan. Just days later, and Indian unit in Kashmir was struck by a Pakistani airstrike, killing 14 soldiers, and Afghanistan claimed it thought that they were Taliban members. As a result of this, India and Pakistan saw hightened tensions. Meanwhile, tensions between North Korea and South Korea continued to increase.
2012 Election[]
Daniel Walker ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The Republicans saw many candidates, but in the end the mainstream conservative Martin Hoskins of Indiania was nominated for President. As the election cycle picked up and so did the debates between the two candidates, certain topics seemed to dominate. Foreign policy was a larger issue, as the economy was succeeding, though oil prices were rising. Libya was a major issue, especially because during the election season, a major terrorist attack by Al Qaeda in Tobruk killed over 200. Walker supported a continuation of air strikes and advisory forces, while Hoskins advocated for at least 1,000 soldiers in Libya. In terms of tax plan, Walker wanted small tax increases while Hoskins advocated a flat tax, decreased corporate tax, and decreased funding for the IRS. They also clashed on several social issues including the funding of planned parenthood, Gay marriage, and immigration. However, in the end, Walker was a more likeable person and he had fixed the economy, so he won the election by a larger margin than he had four years earlier, though it was still pretty close. Also, in the congressional elections, Libertarians had gained five seats in the House, while the republicans gained a majority in the senate.
Walker's Second Term[]
In 2013, Democrats, with the support of Walker, proposed a major health care bill, which essentially expanded medicare to many younger people who are unable to afford health care and those with deadly disases such as cancer or lifelong disabilities. The bill passed the House of Representatives but not the Senate. Later in 2013, a budget ceiling was hit, requiring Walker to reach a deal with the republicans in order to end a deadlock. Walker signed a bill limiting the pay of congressmen when the debt ceiling had been reached, but after rumblings of this violating the 27th amendment, Walker quickly made a deal to reduce spending on NASA, foreign aid, nuclear weaponry technology, the NSA, investments into the economy, and the Department of Agriculture, but to also have a small tax increase on the rich and to increase a gas tax. Walker also continually spoke out against gun violence, especially after several school shootings and domestic terrorist incidents. The most notable domestic terrorist incident soccurred in a mall in Tucson, Arizona, where two gunmen shot 24 people and wounded hundreds more, at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kentucky, and a bombing in Jacksonville, Florida at an outdoor concert.
Several things also occurred in foreign affairs. In the Libyan Civil War, Walker agreed to send 500 additional special forces to Libya in 2013, and just weeks later, an American airstrike killed Muammar Gaddafi. The moderate forces declared victory by late 2013, and elections were held, though multiple parties and groups claimed victory, and the country remained in a state of civil war. Due to the lack of an obvious leader, Walker was forced to withdraw all troops from Libya after essentially making it known that it was a lost cause. At the same time, the Taliban had been essentially defeated in Afghanistan, and the United States withdrew all troops. However, the Sharia Caliphate quickly gained support in Afghanistan, and it began to grow and launch an attack on the Afghani government in early 2014. Also in early 2014, Al Qaeda became very active in Libya, gaining a lot of support and beginning to attempt to take over land in Western Libya. Meanwhile, Yemen collapsed into a major proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Iran embarked in nuclear talks with the US. Iran and the US eventually agreed to a deal (basically the same as in OTL). However, Iran's ally, Russia, also intervened in Ukraine, taking contol of Crimea, and launched a cyberattack on the United States, causing growing tensions. The Sharia Caliphate also grew in Syria, threatening to get rid of the unstable democratic regime which had replaced Bashar al-Assad and caused Syria to collapse into a civil war. So to sum up the middle east, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and Yemen are all in civil war (But not Iraq). Once the Sharia Caliphate in Syria, which was centered on the coast, took the city of Homs, several politicians feared that it was the closest to being taken over by terrorists, and called for troops, a debate which has continued to this day. Walker did, however, normalize relations with Cuba. As a result of the tensions in the middle east, gas prices rose throughout 2014, before falling in 2015 due to increased fracking and the Iran nuclear deal.