2072 US Presidential Election

The 2072 Presidential Election was the 70th quadrenial election in U.S. History. President Clara Caal, due to term limits, was unable to run for a third term. At the time of the election, the major foreign policiy issue was the Arabian-Israeli war, which the U.S. had enetered as an ally of Israel.

Primaries
Democratic Party

Incumbent President Clara Caal was inelligible to run as the Democratic nominee due to the 22nd Ammendment limiting her to two terms. In the Primary, Caal's Vice President, Phillip Schuller appeared as the fron runner. Schuller swept asside most of the opposition in an extended primary and won the Democratic Nomination handily. At the Democratic National Convention, he nominated one of his early rivals, Senator Dan Bridgeport of Massachussets for the Vice Presidential ticket.

Libertarian Party

In the Libertarian Primary, Congresswoman Amanda Filick of Maine was pitted against Governor Ralph Walderman of New Hampshire, the party's 2068 nominee. Despite strong opposition from Filick, Walderman again won the nomination, and Speaker of the House Abigail Richards was nominated for Vice President.

Independence Party

The Independence Party nominated Robert Shaw for President and Henrico Feilds for Vice President. By 2072, the Independence Party was irrelevant, having failed to nominate a winning candidate in the previous two elections. Shaw was not included in any of the debates, and received virtually no media attention.

American Democracy Party

Following the dissolution of their party following the 2068 elections, many former Conservatives joined to form the American Democracy Party in 2070. At their convention in Raleigh, an extensive debate resulted in the nomination of Frederick Cho, the Conservative candidate for Vice President in 2064, with Paul Semmes as his running mate. Cho was unable to drum up much attention or support from the media community.

General Election
Initially, Vice President Schuller appeared in the lead, performing well in the first debate and casting Walderman as a has-been who was out of step with America. In October, however, Schuller's ongoing affair with Washington stripper Fanny May soiled the Democrat's reputation, and Walderman surged in the polls. In the second debate, Schuller was soundly beat by Walderman, in part because of the revelation of his affair.

Walderman for his part ran an agressive campaign, attacking Schuller as aloof and arrogant. His "Roadmap for America" plan, released by the campaign in early October, called for a revolutionary new approach to government that enegized the public. Schuller's campaign attempted to discredit the plan by tieing it to former President Horatio Sinclair, who had been very unpopular, but the public saw this as an attempt to turn attention away from Schuller's private life and the Democrat's approval rating dropped further. By the time of the third debate, Schuller was so desperate that he spent most of the debate making fooish and slightly comical attacks on Walderman, calling him a womanizer, evangelist, atheist, and football fan. Walderman, by contrast, appeared very put together and provided a logical and calm plan for the nation's future that enegized his supporters.

In the days before the election, an article appeared in the Washington Star exposing that Schuller had continued his affair even after it had been revaled earlier that month. Schuller's chances for election plumeted as even his base supporters defected to Walderman.

Results
The election was a landslide for the Libertarans. Walderman was elected by a historic margin, becoming the second Libertarian to be elected President and the only one to serve with majorities of his party in both houses of Congress. Two days after the election, Schuller resigned on the request of President Caal, and was replaced by Speaker of the House Abigail Richards, who ironically was Walderman's running mate.