Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic nomination in 2016 against a scandal-plagued Hillary Clinton, and goes on to lose the general election in a landslide to a Republican ticket composed of Rand Paul and Shelley Moore Capito. Paul is very popular in the North and West, but alienates many Southern conservatives with his stances on foreign policy and some social issues. The Democrats, meanwhile, move to the center in response to their defeat, and in 2020 nominate Senator Mike Beebe of Arkansas and Senator Richard Carmona of Arizona (both elected in 2016). Paul is narrowly ahead until September, when a series of massive hurricanes strike Florida, Georgia and the Gulf Coast. The Paul administration's inept response to these disasters further damages him in the South and sinks his chances of re-election.
... Maybe the New Madrid Fault hit, too?
This is the sort of scenario I was thinking of. Maybe 2020 is too early, and the shading implies a tea party run anyway.
