Saintorum!

Cymraeg

Cymraeg

I'm busy reading (and enjoying) Double Down at the moment, when this damn thing popped into my head. Yes, I really am wondering what if Santorum was the Republican nominee in 2012...
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February 15, 2012

“I don’t like it.”

Willard Mitt Romney looked at Katie Packer Gage, his deputy campaign manager, with some exasperation. “Yeah, but I’m still doing it.”

“Governor, why fly private? Why not public?”

“Because I’ve got to get to La Jolla and I’ve got to get there now. I’m going to get home and then work out how to cross Michigan like a devouring flame and stop this so-called surge that Santorum’s got going now. Katie, I’ve got to do this.”

“I’m not denying that Governor, but there’s only going to be room for you and your Secret Service detail on that plane. No campaign staff means no strategizing. I think that it’s a mistake. We need every minute we can get to plan this thing out.”

Romney held his hand up to stop her. “Katie, this is how it needs to be. The rest of the staff who are coming with me to California will follow on. I’ve got the initial plan and I’m going to work on it a bit during the flight.”

She looked at him. He looked tired as hell. His face was drawn and almost ashen and his hair was disordered slightly. What he really needed was sleep. “Ok Governor. Safe flight.”

“Thanks Katie. I’ll see you in California.” And then he strode off to his plane, the Secret Service agents hovering around him.

She sighed and walked off to the main commercial part of the terminal. She found Stuart Stevens, her boss, slumped on a bar stool in one of the bars, looking every bit as rumpled as Romney. He had a blackberry in front of him and he was distractedly flipping through his emails. He looked at her. “Has he gone?”

“He’s gone.”

“Great. Good timing – they just called our gate.”

“California here we come.”


She slept for most of the flight. The sleep of exhaustion. Too much to do and not enough time to do it in tended to take it out of her. Stevens even slept as well, as far as she could tell. As soon as they landed and started to approach the terminal the blackberrys and cell phones came out and were switched on and Stevens soon started to scroll through the dozens of emails that had arrived during the flight.

Gage frowned at her own phone. Nothing from the Governor. But a message, no three messages and a voicemail from Tom Barclay, from the Secret Service. “Stuart? Have you got a message from Tom Barclay to call him at once? Stuart?”

She looked over at Stevens and then paled. The man had his blackberry to his ear and had gone totally white. So white that she moved to his side at once. Was this a heart attack? “Stuart? Stuart are you ok?”

Still white as a sheet Stevens lowered his blackberry, his eyes very wide and far away. His mouth worked for a moment and then he turned to look at her, before he suddenly pulled her close and placed his lips to her right ear. “That was Barclay,” he whispered dully. “The Governor’s plane is missing. It disappeared from the radar after reporting an engine problem.” He gulped audibly. “They think that he’s dead.”
 
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Cymraeg

Cymraeg

The news of Romney’s death floored everyone. It was the first time since 1968 that someone running for the nomination of a major political party in America had died in the midst of that nomination process. And to die in a plane crash… well, it was stunning. None of us knew what to do or what to say. So we all hunkered down. Put out statements of regret. And wondered what this would do to the 2012 race.

John Kaufmann, Santorum staffer, “Lightning in the Night”.


When I recovered from the shock – and it was almost paralysing – I darted into the next room, where Newt and Callista were quietly talking about this and that. Newt saw me first and he knew at once from my face that something had happened. “What’s wrong?”

“Mitt Romney is dead. Plane crash on his way to California. The Romney Campaign has confirmed it. We’re triple-checking now, but… well, it’s about to break on every channel.”

They stared at me for a moment. And then Newt slumped back in his chair and something seemed to leave him as he exhaled in shock.

Sheila Roberts, Gingrich staffer, “Newtgasm!”


Ron’s reaction brought me up cold. He stared at me for a long time, as he visibly thought through the way that everything would now change, and then he smiled slightly. “Well, that sticks the rattlesnake amongst the chickens,” he said quietly. And then: “Michigan’s going to go for Santorum.”

Bill Morecambe, Paul staffer, “The Vision”.


The first thing that the President did when he heard the news was to ask for it to be confirmed. The second thing he did, after that confirmation came through, was to start drafting a message of condolence to Ann Romney.

“Hell of a thing,” he said quietly. “Poor Ann. Forty-two years of marriage and to end it in such a tragedy.” Then he looked up. “This changes everything.”

Michelle Coffeen, Obama staffer, “Tidal Wave”.
 
Andrew T

Andrew T

Cymraeg said:
And then: “Michigan’s going to go for Santorum.”
Click to expand...

Very neat POD. You may be commenting on Paul's lack of political instincts here -- and if so, bravo! -- but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if a candidate from Michigan was killed while flying back to Michigan to campaign, well, he's almost certain to win based on sympathy alone. (Look at Trackah's first instinct.)
 

Nazi Space Spy

Banned
Paul's comment is a tad bit ASB. He is very friendly with Romney in OTL. His wife struck up a friendship with Ann Romney in 2008 and in 2012 Paul not only defended Romney when his faith was under attack, but also refused to attack with the same degree he did Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich.
 

NoOneFamous

Let me say that as a Pennsylvanian, I have a better chance of walking nude on the moon than he has of becoming President He has no chance of taking Pennsylvania - we fired him for being the sad pathetic loon he is.
 

Emperor Julian

Andrew T said:
Very neat POD. You may be commenting on Paul's lack of political instincts here -- and if so, bravo! -- but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if a candidate from Michigan was killed while flying back to Michigan to campaign, well, he's almost certain to win based on sympathy alone. (Look at Trackah's first instinct.)
Click to expand...
Santorum would win among the living candidates.
 

Orville_third

Banned
I think my parents would overcome their anti-Catholicism and vote for him in the fall, just as they voted Romney-Ryan OTL.
Me? I'd still vote Johnson.

Would Ann and Michelle sit together at the London opening ceremonies?
(OOC, I do have a story in the works in which Obama gets closer to the Romneys after the Olympics...but let's just say the Olympics would be VERY different...as in cancelled after one event.)
 
Cymraeg

Cymraeg

“Chris, with week to go to the Michigan Primary election officials here are still scrambling to react to the tragic death of Governor Romney. His name will have to be taken off the ballot and the timing is very, very tight. Voting machines will have to be reprogrammed and those areas still using the paper ballot will have to either reprint them all with the Governor’s name removed from them, or manually strike it through. And they might not be able to entirely remove him from the ballot all over the State. Plus there's the issue of the absentee ballots.”

“So we might see the case of people voting for a dead man?”

“I think so yes – there's the issue of the absentee ballots already sent in, plus some people might vote for Romney out of sympathy and some because they haven’t yet heard that he’d dead.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Chris, never underestimate the kind of surprises that can emerge in an election. If this was a caucus then it would be different.”

“Have you heard anything from the Santorum camp?”

“They’re being respectful and confident and making the same kinds of noises as the Paul and Gingrich camps. They’re all treading a very fine line between respecting the grief that the Romney supporters are feeling right now and actively courting them. Given the animosity that existed between Speaker Gingrich and Governor Romney, the Gingrich campaign has the lowest profile at the moment, as they don’t want to be seen as being hypocritical. It’s a very, very, difficult situation for them – we’ve seen nothing similar to this since Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. No-one wants to be seen to make a gaffe at a time when the Romney family are still coping with the Governor’s death.”

“Have any new polls come out to show where the late Governor’s support might be shifting to?”

“We’ve seen three new polls come out today. One, from Gallup, was taken just before the Governor’s death and saw Senator Santorum with a slight – and I mean well within the margin of error – lead over Governor Romney. Polling was suspended in Michigan just after the plane crash so the two other polls that we have were taken quite quickly yesterday so they have a smaller sample size. Nevertheless both Rasmussen and PPP are showing a big swing of support towards Senator Santorum, with lesser boosts for Speaker Gingrich and Representative Paul. Now, we’re still a week away from the Primary, but that boost puts Senator Santorum over the magic 50% mark.”

Hardball with Chris Mathews, February 21, 2012

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There was a nervous tap on the door and he looked up at the entrance to his office. Marcy, his secretary, was standing there and she looked nervous, which was a bad sign. It meant that she was expecting to be shouted at.

“Oh boy. So what’s wrong?”

“Governor, I’m very sorry, but that man keeps calling. Seven times this morning - I can barely keep your line free for the important calls. And he’s calling again, right now.”

He groaned and rubbed his forehead, before straightening up and schooling his features. “Ok, Marcy. Thanks for telling me and let’s get this over with. Put that asshole through.”

“Thank you Governor. He’ll be on Line One.”

He sat there for a few seconds and then Line One did indeed buzz. He sighed and picked it up. “Karl. The answer is no. No. And no.”

There was a nervous chuckle. “But Chris, you haven’t heard what I was about to say.”

“I’m not stupid and I can guess. I’ve already been through this with my own people. I will not be a white knight and ride to rescue of the Republican Party in its hour of need, or whatever bullshit you want to frame it with. No.”

“Governor, the party needs you and-”

“I said no! Look Karl, the timing’s wrong. It’s March 1st. There’s eight months to polling day. Eight months to get funding from donors whilst Obama rains a shitstorm of commercials down on me, whilst I also try and put together a team I can trust to run an election? No. That’s crazy talk. Especially as the minute I tell people that I’m entering the remaining primaries and caucuses – and given the time it would take to register in some of the States for those I’m not sure I can enter all of the ones left – the remaining candidates would instantly label me a vulture. I don’t want to be known as the Vulture of New Jersey, Karl. Even I have a limit to shit like that. And the money thing’s a dealbreaker anyway. No Super-PACs. I’d be too busy fundraising to actually fucking campaign.”

“There has to be some way – I mean what if Romney’s Super-PACs were to-”

“You hold it right there. I have no idea how legal that shit is and I suspect that you don’t either. The FEC and every other regulatory body is probably watching Romney’s Super-PAC right now, wondering where the money’s going to end up. No. I will not stand.”

There was a pause. “What about if it comes down to a brokered Convention?”

“What is this, 1952? A brokered Convention tells the public that the Party can’t make up its fucking mind! A white knight at a brokered Convention tells the public that the guys in the back room decided that their vote doesn’t mean shit and they need to sit down and shut the fuck up.” He was laying the vulgarity on with a trowel now, but he didn’t care anymore. “Santorum just won Michigan. With Mittens dead, they’ll go for Santorum as the nominee. Newt’s long past it and Ron Paul’s so cuckoo that he doesn’t need a cuckoo clock, he just stands by the wall and sticks his tongue out every quarter hour.”

“Santorum can’t win against Obama!”

“Probably not, but you never know. Besides, it might do the Party some good. If they select a religious nut as the nominee then they deserve the consequences. Us sane people can pick up the pieces afterwards and throw all that tea-stained shit in the garbage. 2016 looks like a great year. Now if you’ll excuse me Karl I have the State of New Jersey to run, and this place doesn’t run itself.”
 
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Paul V McNutt

Banned
Would it be possible to remove Romnry's name from the ballot? aAbsentee ballots would already have been printed. rRemrmber the dead Senate candidate who won in Missouri in 2000.
 
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