American History 1988
Chapter 293 - 283: The Peak

Chapter 293: Chapter 283: The Peak

America has a total of 50 states, and together they have 538 electoral votes.

To win the election, a candidate must receive at least 270 votes, a crucial number.

By a little after eight o’clock, when half of the votes had been counted, Clinton had already secured 235 electoral votes.

In contrast, his opponent, Old George, had only garnered 28 votes.

If the Republican Party wanted to overtake the Democratic Party, it would mean Old George needed to win nearly all the remaining electoral votes.

That was clearly unlikely, as the states whose votes had not been counted were mainly in the West.

This included California, which has the largest population and, correspondingly, the most electoral votes—a total of 54.

So now, guess who California is supporting? Just look at Dean and Baram in the conference room, and you’ll know.

Silicon Valley is in California, and they had already issued a public statement in support back in October.

235+54, without a doubt, Clinton’s total votes would exceed 270.

That is why in the Little Rock office, everyone was celebrating prematurely.

"It looks like there is no suspense left," Baram said with confidence, having accomplished a great feat in his life.

"Wait a moment, don’t let the reporters outside capture this celebratory scene," Regis went and drew the curtains.

His cautious action sobered everyone up a bit.

The electoral votes tallied on TV programs now are called committed electoral votes.

Committed means theoretically confirmed but not yet actually cast.

Don’t forget that today is November 3rd, the day the public casts their popular votes, while the electoral votes are cast in early December.

Yes, the electoral college has not started voting yet.

It’s just that since popular votes usually dictate the electoral votes, the TV simply uses electoral votes to represent the candidates’ tallies.

So, are there cases where the popular vote and the electoral vote diverge?

Yes, but they have been extremely rare in history.

According to statistics, more than 100 "faithless" electors who defected have appeared in total throughout the history of presidential elections.

They did not abide by the results of the state’s popular vote and voted according to personal wishes instead.

However, this usually doesn’t affect the outcome of the election because the punishment for faithless electors is quite severe.

If discovered, their votes are revoked, and the faithless electors face legal consequences.

In many states, it’s illegal for electors to act against the will of the voters.

So, attempting to manipulate the electoral college to influence the result of the election is extremely difficult.

Clinton was fully confident in getting the electoral votes from states he won the popular vote in.

Of course, the key lay with California; as long as he received California’s 54 votes, even one or two faithless electors in other states wouldn’t affect the overall situation.

Ding-a-ling... A phone call came into the governor’s office.

Almost simultaneously, the phone in Dean’s pocket also rang.

The successive ringing caught everyone’s attention, and they all realized it was unusual.

Clinton’s assistant Smith went to answer the call, while Dean also picked up his phone.

"OK, I got it," Dean said with a short sentence and put away his phone.

Under everyone’s gaze, he smiled at Clinton.

"Congratulations, Bill!"

"Oh!" Baram and Regis high-fived in celebration.

Clinton clenched his fist tightly, his excitement apparent.

"Mr. Clinton, the count in California is completed!" Assistant Smith turned around excitedly, only to find everyone was already celebrating in advance.

Just at that moment, ABC’s live news program also broadcasted this news.

On the screen, Clinton’s electoral votes had accumulated to 289, while Old George had only 64.

The majority of votes were in; the deal was sealed!

At this time, in Little Rock’s square outside, there was a tsunami of celebration.

There were screams and shouts, fluttering Stars and Stripes, and the never-ending sound of music, all incredibly lively.

Clearly, the people outside also received the news, as there was a huge electronic billboard set up in the square.

Dean looked up at the time, which was roughly a quarter past ten.

"Old George is about to give his concession speech," Baram said, drawing everyone’s attention back to the television.

The election had progressed to this point, and the result was evident.

As the former President and the Republican candidate,

though he failed to secure reelection, Old George still needed to summarize this election.

In the TV footage, he first reviewed the campaign journey, then thanked the numerous voters for their support.

Finally, amid the cheers of his staunch supporters, Old George waved goodbye to the public with his wife.

Apart from Old George, the sitting Vice President also had a few minutes of live speech.

The turnover of a government signifies the exit of an interest group.

In fact, before Old George, the dark horse independent candidate Ross Perot had already made a televised speech.

As an independent candidate, he was almost impossible to win any state’s electoral votes.

Because Perot belonged to neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party.

So there was that strange scene on TV, where the votes from all 50 states had been counted.

Clinton’s popular vote percentage was close to 43%, securing 362 electoral votes.

Old George’s popular vote was around 37%, with his electoral vote tally as low as 80.

The super dark horse, Ross Perot, had about 20% of the popular vote but didn’t win a single electoral vote.

Out of the 538 electoral votes, Clinton and Old George together had only just under 450.

The rest just disappeared inexplicably, with Perot not obtaining a single one.

In fact, these votes hadn’t really disappeared; it was just a tacit agreement not to count Perot in.

Everyone knew that although Perot had gained 20% of the popular vote, the electors of the corresponding states wouldn’t cast their votes for him.

The public could vote for an independent candidate, but the state electors’ votes would only go to the Democratic or Republican Party, with no third option available.

This meant that there was a disconnect between the people’s will and the electors – does this count as a breach of trust?

Just take a look at the electoral vote count on TV, Perot was consciously ignored, after all, the media also have their political stances.

But no matter what, Perot’s presence directly dashed Old George’s hopes of reelection.

Clearly, that ignored 20% of electoral votes mostly would have belonged to Old George.

However, due to Perot’s interference, Old George’s votes were significantly split.

But for Little Rock, this was a victory to celebrate.

At 10:55 PM, everything was settled.

The Clintons and the Gores were already up and ready to face the public.

The cheers outside kept growing – they needed to deliver a victory speech.

"Oh, my dear Little Ian~" Hillary picked up the child she and Clinton had adopted from the children’s home from his stroller.

"It’s cold outside, is that really alright?" Dean asked with concern.

Since Miranda and Jennifer got pregnant, he occasionally turned his attention to the little ones.

"I wrapped him up very tightly," Hillary said, gently rocking the swaddled baby, "His name is Ian."

"Good name." Dean played with the little guy for a bit, who was curiously looking around with his wide, shiny eyes.

"Time to go out and meet the voters," Baram called out, bustling around.

After Clinton made a final check that his attire was in order, he led Hillary and Chelsea to the state government’s doorway.

Vice President Gore followed closely with his own family, with staffers scurrying about, preparing everything for them.

As soon as the white doors of the state government were opened, a tsunami of noise flooded in.

Clinton, full of vigor, kept waving to the crowd.

As for Hillary, holding Little Ian, she too waved frequently to the people, pride filling her eyes.

This was their moment to shine, and Dean and the others stayed behind in the office.

"So, can we break out the champagne now?" Dean joked, as Clinton was outside giving his speech.

"I think so," Regis had already taken out the glasses.

"Hopefully, Bill won’t mind that one bottle of his Romanee-Conti is gone later."

Dean, feeling quite at home, took a bottle of wine from the office – well-hidden, but not beyond his sight.

Outside was still lively, but Dean and his group had no intention of going out.

As financiers, they didn’t need to show their faces too often. What they wanted was benefits, not some political reputation.

Silicon Valley had already made its stance clear prior to this, and now this was just right.

Dean looked up, the clock on the wall indicated 11:30 PM – a new day was about to begin.

...

The climax of the election had drawn to a close, with little suspense to the popular vote outcome.

What Clinton needed to do next was put together his own White House team, while Old George had to deal with the last of his unfinished business.

The new president’s inauguration was scheduled for two months later, and this interim was known as the "lame-duck" period.

Lots of backroom deals would be made in these two months – pardons, orders, bills...

This was the last chance to pull in favors, a silent agreement between every outgoing and incoming administration.

Clinton’s victory pushed some of his most important supporters in the high-tech industry into the spotlight.

Dean, though low-profile enough, still didn’t escape the media’s attention.

Many newspapers discussed whether Dean, Sculley, and Baram would serve in the cabinet.

The others were debatable, but Dean was too young, and he lacked any political foundation.

So the rumors about him were rampant.

But the outside discussions didn’t concern him, as Dean declined to make any statement regarding the matter.

In early December, electors in various states began to vote.

As expected, Clinton garnered 370 electoral votes, with Old George receiving the remaining 168.

This number far exceeded his initial vote count on Election Day, which was only 64 – not even close to the current fraction.

As for the reason, of course, it was because the electors from states that had supported independent candidate Perot all cast their votes for Old George.

Perot, despite breaking through in the popular vote, didn’t receive even a single electoral vote.

In mid-December, Dean received an invitation from Clinton to attend the economic summit hosted by the new president in Little Rock.

See, the initial investment was paying off, and Silicon Valley was about to have its voice heard.

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