| May 10 |  |
Editor says, what if Rick Santorum had never left Virginia? This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the March 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
| Share this Article on: |  Facebook |  Twitter |
In 1958, on this day the twenty-seventh Confederate President Richard ("Rick") Santorum was born in Winchester, Virginia.
Down to EarthHe was the first second-generation immigrant to occupy the Richmond White House and also the first Roman Catholic since John F. Kennedy to become President in the Two Americas.
Of Italian origin, his father Aldo (1924-2011) was a career serviceman that succeeded in enrolling his academically gifted son on the Future Leaders of America programme. Raised in the conservative environment of a military base, and a charismatic lawyer by professional, he naturally attracted a great deal of prospective interest from the Constitutional Party. As a result of his participation in FLoA he was vigourous advocate of deeper economic integration across the region, a proposal he was able to promote with some ease due to his disassociation from the tragic history of the 19th century.
Like his Catholic predecessor he looked to Space, but his northern neighbor had a divisive counter proposal that threatened to tear apart the careful stitching of his candidacy. Because although Mexican President Mitt Romney wanted an open border, Union President Newt Gingrich advocated the construction of an armed separation barrier.
This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Two Americas Source: Wikipedia Labels: Rick Santorum, Confederacy, Presidency, Newt Gingrich, White House. Editor says, on the Alt Wikia the Constitution Party is "considered a center-right party which believes in states rights and historic Christian values. This party had its roots in the political development of the country's founding members, but the existing Democratic Party met the needs of the Presidency at the time. This party would rise to power in Congress by the 1912 election cycle".
~ The Catholic Church is taking over both Americas!
~ He might have had a rather easier time of it in the CSA...unlike the USA as a whole, in the South a lot of times the Catholics were the local "Quality," to borrow Huck Finn's phrase. Places like Louisiana would have gone for him on that basis.
~ On the other hand, in our history, when the modern KKK apeared in 1915 it went after Catholics as well as blacks. Its influence within the Democratic Party i the 1920s helped ruin Al Smith's presidential chances.
~ Good points by Mr. Lipps and Mr. Oppen. We might see a Protestant backlash against Catholics out of jealousy or hate, similar to anti-Semitic movements with the Inquisition. (They even have similar robes!)
~ No reason for a KKK in this timeline, and it would be a fair bet in a Confederate South anti-Catholic bias would cool even before 1915. A fun thing to explore, given it would coincide with the Santorum and Gringich Presidencies is how both sides approach the 150th Civil War anniversaries. Perhaps it would re-open old wounds, or pave the way for national healing and reunification?
~ No Comment
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
