Road to the White House 1992

This variant was published by Mayfair and distributed at GenCon in 1992.

Though this is the general election, follow the rules for the nomination game with the following exceptions. Each candidate's normal allotment of issues is raising 2 and reviving 2, as opposed to 1 in the nomination game. Three issues may be active at a time (in addition to Jobs, which has a special status). The Game lasts 16 turns.

The Jobs issue is always active, with the results listed for each candidate. In addition, each candidate can "revive" it as an issue while it is still active. These "extra" times count against the maximum of three active issues. For each "extra" turn that Jobs is active in this way, candidates add their Jobs position to their other votes. If Clinton "revived" Jobs, for example, the candidates would get the normal effects listed under the Jobs heading and would also add their Jobs position rating at every stop. If Perot also "revived" Jobs during this time, all candidates would add double their Jobs position rating as long as the issue is active threefold. These "extra" times are calculated and concluded just as any other issue would be.

Event card #39 (Unemployment Plummets) ends the special rules for Jobs in all ways. Once this card comes up, Jobs then becomes an issue like any other.

There is a special rule for ending the game. O through the states as usual, awarding the winner the electoral votes for each state as in the general election game. If no candidate wins a majority (270) on the first ballot, however, Clinton wins the game.

The candidates

George Bush

President Bush finds himself in a position that he will be hard-pressed to screw up. There is no standout Democratic candidate, and the nominee has earned a name chiefly for being the subject of a scandal a week. Then along comes an independent candidate to split the opposition vote. Facing that is President Bush, fresh from winning a war and basking in a 91% approval rating. But let's not underestimate Bush's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Even within his own party, 30% prefer no one at all to the President. Bush's campaigning skills may yet make this a close race.

Bush candidate sheet

Bill Clinton

Governor William "Slippery Willie" Clinton showed great resilience in surviving the Democratic primary season. The primaries game voters a clear picture of Clinton: an adulterer, grafter, draft dodger politician unable to make the simplest decision until forced into it. He even managed to put a new twist on the slogan "A chicken in every pot" by being cowardly enough to let peer pressure drive him to try marijuana but so cowardly he could not bring himself to inhale. We can at least credit him with creating the first Pol Pot headlines since Cambodia became Kampuchea. Clinton manages to beat one refugee from the '60s and another candidate who spells his name backwards and now he thinks he can get elected president. NOT.

Clinton candidate sheet

Ross Perot

What to get for the man who has everything? How about the presidency? H.Ross Perot is attempting to buy himself the ultimate present. On the way he is putting to the test the true American ideal: with enough money you can be anything you set out to be. Perot's business acumen may not translate into political knowhow, however. And who would be so naive to think a political neophyte could compete with the savvy of Bush and Clinton? Maybe this is just the year for a green candidate.

Perot candidate sheet

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