SF isn't about prediction, but ...

In his heart, Hadamard was uncomfortable with Maclachlan: his protectionism, his fundamentalist Christianity. But Hadamard had to concede that Maclachlan was hitting popular nerves among the electorate. It was, he thought, entirely possible that Maclachlan would indeed become the next President, just as the polls said. And if that happened, Jake Hadamard would be going to him for a new job. (p.132)

( more quotes )

The quotes above come from Stephen Baxter's novel Titan (synopsis). It was written in 1997. It's far from being Baxter's best novel; there are elements of it that I like, but the pacing is badly judged, and much of the plot is improbable.

The background has stayed with me, though, and every so often in the last four years I've caught myself thinking about it. It does, after all, feature a manned shuttle disaster in the early pages, and an increasingly significant Chinese space program ... and a right-wing, fundamentalist, anti-intellectual Christian from Texas in the White House. Maclachlan gets into office for different reasons than Bush has done, and thankfully his presidency still reads like a nightmarish caricature. Unfortunately, it now seems slightly less of an exaggeration than it did seven years ago.