The Republican Party, or the GOP, is one of the two largest parties in United States politics.
History[]
The GOP began in the 1850s after the collapse of the Whig Party. Founded on a platform of anti-slavery, the party was relatively successful in its' early days. While its' first candiate lost in the 1856 election, this was not the case 4 years later.
The Party of Lincoln[]
In
Major Split[]
In the 1912 Election, former Republican President and prominent Progressive Theodore Roosevelt ran against incumbant William Howard Taft in the Republican primaries. While Roosevelt had left Taft the seat in the 1908 election, He grew tired of his successor's job performance, and so ran again. Running in a 3-person primary, Roosevelt did not win a majority of the primary votes or delegates. Instead, Taft took home the most Delegates prize. Roosevelt sent an ultimatum on March 28, saying he'd run as a 3rd Party in the General if not chosen as the nominee.
Making his good on his threat, Roosevelt's split from the Republican Party and creation of the Bull Moose party effectively destroyed the Republicans chance at the White House. Roosevelt took home 88 Electoral Votes, 6 states, and 27% of the total vote. Taft meanwhile took 8 Electoral Votes, 2 states, and 23% of the vote.
Landslides of '72, '80, and '84[]
In the 1972 Election, Richard Millhouse Nixon ran for his re-election against a weak Democrat opposition. In the end, Nixon took home 49 states, while his opponent only took 1 state and Washington D.C. The popular vote was less of a landslide-but still a landslide regardless. Nixon won 60.7% of the vote, while his main Democratic opponent won only 37.5% of the vote.
The 1980 Presidential Election is one of the most common Campaigns in the American Presidential Election series of 270soft games, having a President Infinity version, a President Forever 2008 version, and a President Forever version. In all three campaigns, the story remains the same. An objectively bad year for Jimmy Carter leads to him experiencing one of the largest electoral defeats for an incumbant in the 20th century, right above the 1912 and 1932 campaigns. Reagan's landslide was not as large as his predacessor 8 years earlier; despite winning 44 states and 50.7% of the vote, he was 9% below Nixon's 60% threshold. In addition, Reagan lost 6 states and the D.C. area, while Nixon won all but 1 and D.C.
Despite this, Reagan went on to win re-election in 1984, this time almost mirroring Nixon's re-election victory (but not quite). While both candidates won 49 states, losing 1 state and D.C., Reagan came in to only 58.8% of the vote, just 2 points under Nixon's 60%.
All three elections showed the relative dominance of the Republican party in the late 20th century, but not their decline in the close to the century.
The Victory and Defeat of Bush[]
In 1988 election, Vice President George H.W. Bush defeated Democrat challenger Michael Dukakis in a relative underperformance. Winning only 40 states and 53.4% of the popular vote, Bush's relative Electoral decline could be looked at as a possible window into what would come in the next 4 years.
Facing a declining economy, a lackluster incumbent, and a relatively strong center-right 3rd party, 1992 came around. In 270soft games, the 1992 Election has 2 places: a version in President Forever 2008 and President Forever. The actual election itself was disasterous for President Bush. Losing many of the states he'd previously won to Bill Clinton, Bush also shared these defeats with Ross Perot- who took 25% or more of the vote in some states. While Perot won 16% of the national vote, he won no Electoral Votes. His total took away significant support from Bush in states like Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, and a slew of other states, where Perot's final tally, if contributed to Bush, would have either easily, mostly, or barely give him the state. Clinton, in the end, took home 32 states and D.C., 370 Electoral Votes, and 43% of the popular vote. Bush took 168 Electoral Votes, 18 states, and 37.4% of the popular vote.
The Years of Dubya[]
In tje 2000 Election, George W. Bush, the son of H.W. Bush, ran on the Republican ticket against Vice President Al Gore. Bush ran a campaign which took home states like Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, and a slew of other states his father lost in 1992. The election became insanely famous in political history for the events in Florida, where an early call for Bush and later retratctions from the media culminated in the Hanging Chads of Florida. Notwinning Florida meant defeat for either candidate, and thus a race to judicial victory ensued after Election Day. In the end, Bush took 271 Electoral Votes, 30 states, and 47.9% of the popular vote. Al Gore took 266 Electoral Votes, 20 states and D>C., and 48.4% of the popular vote. This election started the "Replace or Reform the Electoral College" movement, and also spurred voter reform in Florida to ensure something like this could not happen again.
The 2004 Election shares popularity with the 1980 election by appearing in all three American Presidential Election simulators made by 270soft. One version is in President Infinity, one in President Forever 2008, and one in President Forever. In this election, incumbent Bush ran against John Kerry and won safely. Taking 286 Electoral Votes, 31 states (one more than last time), and 50.7% of the popular vote. Kerry took 251 Electoral Votes, 19 states and D.C., and 48.3% of the vote. Bush's victory marked the last time a Republican nominee for President would win for 12 years-but we'll get to that later.
The Reign of Obama, the House, and the Senate[]
In 2008, the Republican Party faced a massive culmination of problems. First was a spiraling economy. Next was the ghost of Hurricane Katrina and it's lasting effects. The last, and biggest problem, was the narrative of "forever wars", wars which had been largely supported in the beginning by both major parties and later being largely supported by a majority of Republicans. The election appeared in both President Infinity and President Forever 2008, while the congressional House campaign appeared in Congress Forever.
President[]
The Presidential campaign of 2008 was a weak run for the Republican party. Choosing John McCain and Sarah Palin to represent them, the GOP experienced a massive loss that November. Not only did John McCain get blown out in the Popular Vote, he was all but crushed in the electoral vote.
Obama nearly flipped red states like Montana and Missouri, and took Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado, and many other states. NcCain underperformed in states he could have nearly lost (losing by 8% in Wisconsin), but he also had no significant 3rd party challenge like George Bush in 1992.
Obama won 365 electoral votes (67.8% of this vote) and 52.86% of the popular vote. John McCain took 173 Electors (32.2% of this vote),
House[]
While not losing as many seats as they did in 2006, the 2008 House campaign was still a disaster for the GOP. While gaining at least 1 seat, the night ended with a 21 seat loss, and a total popular vote of 42.6%. They finished the night off with 178 seats, needing 40 seats to regain control of the lower house of Congress.
Senate[]
The Senate election of 2008 was another disaster for Republicans. The GOP started the electoral cycle with a 49-49 seat tie in the upper level of Congress.
The GOP lost seats in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Alaska. Ironically enough, with the exception of Alaska, every seat pick-up was also a state that Obama took.
The Democratic controlled U.S. Government was allowed to pass legislation that ignited a fire under Republicans that carried them into the coming midterms.
2010: The Year of the Elephant[]
2010 marked a turn-around for the GOP in the legislatior. Not only did they make gains in the Senate, but they managed to flipped the House.
House[]
The 2010 House campaign was a blowout for the Republican Party, where they won over 60 seats. The Democratic Party switched places with the GOP in the miority as the calender rolled in the 2011 year.
Senate[]
The 2010 Senate campaign has 2 campaigns, the Congress Forever version and the Congress Infinity version. Im the election, Republicans flipped blue seats in red states like North Dakota and Arkansas, and even flipped seats in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. While the GOP did not flip the Senate, their gains spelled doom for the Democraitc control of the upper chamber of Congress in the coming General.
2012: A Minor Defeat[]
The 2012 General Election and Senate Election was another failure for the Republican Party. However, unlike 4 years prior, this cycle did not result in a devastating defeat for the GOP. Instead, in both the Senate and Presidential campaigns, the Republicans failed to flip the sitting majority, but also succeeded in not losing a large number of seats or states.
Senate[]
The 2012 Senate campaign is featured in both Congress Forever and Congress Infinity. In both scenarios, the Republicans faced retiring incumbants. Despite this, the GOP only lost 2 seats, setting them back to 45 seats.
President[]
The 2012 Presidential Election was a shaky re-election for Barack Obama. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor and anti-Reagan Republican, ran in a somewhat crowded field whch included famous Libertarian thought leader Ron Paul and Texas Governor Rick Perry.
The results in the general showed a shift away from Obama. While Obama kept almost every Rust Belt state, he lost Indiana and North Carolina to Romney. The final result was Obama 332 Electoral Votes to Romney's 206, Obama's 26 states and D.C. to Romney's 24 states, and Obama's 51.1% of the Popular vote to Romney's 47.2%.
2014: The (Second) Year of the Elephant[]
In 2014, Republicans showed another strong performance in boh chambers of Congress, in the second lame duck session of the Obama administration.
Senate[]
The 2014 Senate Election was a bloodbath for the Democratic Party. In this cycle, the Republicans had a net gain of 9 seats, and experienced a 9% popular vote swing for them as well. They flipped many "red state" seats including Alaska, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa, South Dakota, and Montana. The Democratic Party did not flip a single seat, and lost a seat in the blue state of Colorado. The end result was a 54-46 seat change for the Republicans, which allowed them to confirm anti-Democratic justices and pass bills they approved of more easily.
House[]
The 2014 House Campaign was a watered-down version of the 2010 campaign. In this cycle, the Republicans made small gains in the Lower Chamber, winning a net gain of 13 seats. The GOP won seats in traditionally blue states like New Hampshire, Maine, and New York, but lost a seat in Florida.
Scenarios This Appears In[]
Candidates In This Party[]
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