US Presidential Election of 2012

Back in August 2012 I planned on starting a blog where each month I would blog a year into the future and build off my past predictions. August 2012 would be 2012, September 2012 would be 2013, etc. (and today, being March 2013, I'd be blogging about the year 2019 if I actually started that blog!) The more I thought about this project the less enthusiastic I became. While I try to keep up on science and politics and everything else, I felt it wouldn't be the best use of my blogging time.

While going through my computer cleaning up files I did find the first blog post I was going to make for Blogging to the Future. Here it is since it now fits the alternate history mold.

UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2012

November 6, 2012

The hotly contested United States Presidential Election takes place. Across the country there are a number of voting irregularities as well as reports of voter intimidation and other problems. Despite this it becomes clear by the end of the night that President Obama has won a second term.

Results of 2012 Presidential Election in the United States

RESULTS
Barack Obama (Democrat) 49.20% 318 Electoral Votes
Mitt Romney (Republican) 47.90% - 220 Electoral Votes
Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 2.10% - 0 Electoral Votes
Jill Stein (Green) 0.55% - 0 Electoral Votes
Virgil Goode (Constitution) 0.15% - 0 Electoral Votes
All Others 0.10% - 0 Electoral Votes

The Libertarian Party has it's best showing in a Presidential election ever, but not nearly as well as they were hoping given the current economic and political conditions in the nation. Too many voters seemed to have panicked pulling the lever against one of the two major parties.

The House of Representatives stays strongly in the hands of Republicans. The Democrats keep control of the Senate by an even more narrow margin. Gridlock is seen for the next four years. Within weeks the major cable news channels begin wasting time discussing options for the 2016 election.


My guesses in August were pretty close for the most part. The only states I was wrong about were Florida and North Carolina. I was also way off with the percentage of the votes which the third parties got.