An Idea I Had

If I had more creative energy:

I'd have a blog. All about politics and the 2008 Presidential election.

And it would be set in a world where John Kerry won the 2004 race, and is in the fight of his life running for reelection in 2008. It would be a world where Kerry has had a lackluster first term, and the GOP still control both houses of Congress. A world where US troops are still in Iraq, and the GOP is practically calling for Kerry's impeachment over how badly he's perceived to have screwed up the war. (Of course, the situation in Iraq would be no worse, maybe slightly better, than the Iraq situation in the "real" universe.)

A world where Kerry was eviscerated by GOP punditry for screwing up the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, with some commentators hinting darkly that it was all a plan to reduce the population and influence of Red State Louisiana. Meanwhile, Vice President Edwards' highly publicized involvement in rebuilding New Orleans has boosted his popularity, which led to months of speculation that he would actually replace Kerry at the top of the 2008 Democratic ticket.

A world where Kerry has acquired a Prince Philip-like reputation for saying unfortunate or vaguely insulting things on live camera, and Kerryisms have become as popular as Bushisms ever were.

Not that my parallel-universe blogger would explicitly explain all this, of course - the reader would be trusted to infer it. I would never break character on the blog.

My parallel-universe blogger might have a bit of a sarcastic streak, but I wouldn't allow his personality to take over the blog. No comments would be allowed - they would break the illusion. And all links to news stories and blog posts would be subtly fictional, so that they look authentic but, when clicked on, would lead to "Page Not Found" messages.

Ideally I would have started this blog before the GOP primaries had really gotten underway. I think I would have gone with a Mitt Romney nomination. Not sure if I would have given Kerry a primary challenger.