"Hello, this is IBS News Live Election Coverage for today, Election Day, 2028. Reporting from New York City, I'm Anwar Massoud," the handsome, dusky anchorman announced his presence on the TV screen.
"And from Washington, DC, I'm Tristan Gilbert," the anchorwoman reminded everyone, even as her dirty blonde hair fell in luxuriant waves from her head down to her shoulders, "Reports of electoral mayhem continue as the first polls have closed, in Indiana, New Hampshire, and Georgia. In several of the so-called 'slave states, ' angry protests over the refusal to let slaves vote has resulted in even some owners demonstrating in favor of their chattel. This has happened mainly in states like Florida and Missouri, where the slavery laws are stricter and have asserted that slaves are permanently bound and stripped of their citizenship and civil rights. Poll workers have been put on the spot, particularly in the case of Agent Harlan Gibson, a Slave Controller who was arrested for using his leash to guide his own slave, who happened to be his sister, to the voting booth so that she could cast a ballot."
The TV screen cut to Agent Gibson, and Dan chuckled as he watched the Slave Controller face both police and the reporters, telling them, "Look, I have a job to do and so do you. I understand that they have few rights for as long as they are slaves, however long that might be. But the provision in the law that denies them the franchise is unconstitutional. It might sound inconsistent for a man who deals with slaves daily as part of his work, but I never once agreed with the idea of them not getting to vote. They're still citizens, and while I agree with the idea of their bondage, I always believed that it should be treated as what it was intended to be, a voluntary, contractual relationship between master and slave, servant, really. Calling them slaves was probably a mistake, just as denying them the right to vote was a mistake. Slaves are people, too, they're still Americans, and they still have the right to vote."
"That's our Harlan, such a good brother and never one to really treat his sister as inferior or subhuman, regardless of her status. To him, she's sister and if she wants to vote, he's gonna stick up for her right to vote. It's kinda hard to think of slaves as chattel when one of them is family. Owning his sister first was the best thing that could have happened to his humanity. Of course, Bethany always did have ways to coax things out of him, didn't she, Harlan?" Melanie teased Harlan, who had been in jail for all of twenty minutes before she had Lacey bail him out (Lacey having a lot more liquid cash on her).
"So, did you vote for Rubio or Weiss?" Dale inquired of his brother Dan, "I voted for Weiss myself. She's not perfect, but right now, we need a Democrat in the White House to start putting some sanity back into the Federal Government."
"Twins being twins, what do you think, bro? I voted for Rebecca Weiss all the way. It's not about identity politics, either. If she was the WASPiest person alive, and if she were a man, I'd still vote for her. Such things are really red herrings, if you think of it. There are people that voted for her because she's a Jewish woman, which would be two firsts, but she's actually got a sensible plan to deal with everything from bankruptcy law to slavery to foreign policy, no less. She's no extremist, but she has enough populist ideas to reach people where they live.
"She's definitely no Schultz. It's not just any person who could balance the budget in a red state like Ohio, clean up Kasich's mess, and successfully resist the push to legalize chattel slavery there. As I recall, she vetoed that bill thrice and introduced free in-state college tuition for all four years in the process. As for the rumors that she's a lesbian, even if they're true, who cares? She probably would have come out of the closet by now if she was one, even in a state like Ohio.
"She's no man-hater. A man-hater would not have told off the NOW leadership on that proposal to mandate affirmative consent nationally as part of the Democratic Party platform, since that would have eliminated the presumption of innocence. That took guts, especially since some feminists then denounced her as a traitor to the sisterhood. And she's had the sense to step back from the more extreme anti-gun laws, unlike former President Gordon McNally, who probably cost himself key votes with that assault weapons ban business and the proposed 'smart gun' requirement," Dan asserted.
"Well, I like her, anyway, because she forced Ohio to have comprehensive sex education for the first time in forever and she also levied a higher tax on smokeless tobacco, which almost everyone forgets about, to help pay for wider health coverage for uninsured kids. Cigarettes have been taxed as much as they can be, but smokeless tobacco is one thing usually ignored and it really is bad for people's health. Ohio's the closest that it has ever been to a social democracy in decades and it's all thanks to Governor Rebecca Weiss. She's a helluva lot better governor than our own Chase Willard," Tanya spoke up.
"That's a fact, even though Willard at least favors modifying some of the provisions regarding a slave's rights to give him or her some ability to escape slavery," Harlan added while eating some popcorn and snuggling up with his sister/slave Courtney.
"Can you guys table that discussion while the results are announced, please? They're about to make a projection," Melanie complained, and sure enough, Massoud pointed to the special screen used to update the votes.
"IBS is now projecting that President Marco Rubio has won the state of Georgia rather handily in his bid for re-election. IBS is also projecting that President Marco Rubio has carried the state of Indiana, though by a smaller margin. So, that's two states for Rubio, none for Weiss," Anwar Massoud observed.
"It's a decent start for the evening for President Rubio, though no doubt Governor Weiss will win more than a few states in her bid for the Presidency, including Puerto Rico, which as you recall was only admitted as the fifty-first state under President Gordon McNally, during the brief window when he had a Democratic Senate and the Republican House majority was narrower than in the past. President McNally could boast of very few real accomplishments during his tenure of office, but at least he brought Puerto Rico into the Union and that helped greatly with revenue, since Puerto Ricans pay income and other federal taxes now," Tristan Gilbert responded for her part.
"He also cleaned up a lot of President Rump's mess, so we have to give him that, too," Anwar reminded her.
"Certainly, Anwar. I admit that I voted for Rubio, but I never voted for Rump and I did vote for McNally to get rid of The Ron, "I'm basically an independent, of course."
"And I'm a somewhat progressive Democrat, though not on every issue. I'm a man of faith, after all. My Muslim faith sometimes puts me at odds with the Democratic Party on certain social issues, but on economic ones, I'm pretty liberal. In any case, I'll be interested to see the outcome of this election, despite my differences with Governor Weiss about Israel and Palestine," Anwar smiled, "I'm not going to endorse anyone, naturally. I'm a journalist by profession and that would be unethical."
"Same here, but I think that you can guess that this time around, you and I are of one accord," Tristan smiled subtly, adding, "and that's coming from a French-Canadian Catholic lesbian who doesn't always share your views on social issues, to say the least."
"But you are a naturalized American, as am I. We both love this country and hope to see it realize its potential again. I still believe in America, my family having come here from Egypt back in 2000, at the height of Mubarak's brutal reign," Anwar replied before turning back to the screen, "This just in. We are able to project another winner, and here it is. We project that Governor Rebecca Weiss of Ohio, a Democrat, has won the traditionally Republican state of New Hampshire, albeit by a narrow margin of just 54%, with 76% of all precincts reporting in now."
"Wow, Weiss just carried New Hampshire? That girl might actually win this election!" Dan exclaimed.
