Election of 2012

So, we now consider the election of 2012.

Except, this election is made up of every man who has been president thus far. Washington through Obama.

Who wins?

First, let's put the presidents into their general political leanings. (Not perfect, mind you!)

Far left: FDR, LBJ
Left: Truman, Van Buren, Polk, Cleveland, Wilson, JFK, Carter, Clinton
Center left: Obama, John Adams
Center: Jefferson, Tyler, Garfield, TR
Center right: Lincoln, Arthur, Madison, Jackson, Tippecanoe, Grant, Hayes, Hoover
Right: Eisenhower, Nixon, Washington, Bushx2, Andrew Johnson, Monroe, Pierce, Buchanan, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, Taft, Ford
Far right: Reagan, Fillmore, Harding, Coolidge
Indifferent: Taylor

Assuming I organized everyone correctly (which I did not, mind you), the right has already lost the election, because there are far too many candidates on their side, and they split the conservative vote too much. There would also be some split on the left. The center would have the best chance.

Of Jefferson, Tyler, Garfield, and TR, the clear winner is TR because of who he is. But what if we didn't know much about their past, and had to go by the issues. I predict a Garfield win. Tyler isn't so much center as flip-flop. Jefferson would probably be controversial for the views he presents, he's only placed center because he used some opposing views when he was actually president. TR honestly doesn't seem like that commanding of a man if you don't think of the things he did as president.

However, there is an issue. With the winner-take-all Electoral College system in place, the person with the most popular votes will almost surely lose. 43 men running to win 50 states. No one would win an electoral majority, and it would go to Congress, who would pick someone from the left.

But what if there were primaries to narrow things down to a Republican and Democratic candidate? In the current state of the economy, someone far left like FDR would be a decent candidate. However, Obama being more centrist would give FDR a run for his money. In the end, Obama would likely get the nomination by a polio. On the right side, the far right wouldn't do too well in a national election, and so Reagan and other extremists in small government would make poor candidates. The center right would be the Republican's best chance. As a result, I believe the Republican candidate would be Lincoln.

So Lincoln vs. Obama. Who wins?

Probably Obama.




...I did not expect that result when I started.