All Is Fair

[Lennis]

Ever since looking through this site and joining, I've been very interested in writing an alternate history election scenario. It'll be entertaining, interesting, and yet accurate.

ALL IS FAIR: A Different 2016

[Lennis]

All Is Fair: An Alternate 2016 and Beyond
An Alternate Election Scenario by Lennis

Prologue, Part One: Christmas In Trumpland

As December of 2015, no one could deny that the American political landscape had been radically uprooted. The rhetoric had reached a new low. The GOP field was being led by the bombastic New York billionaire, Donald Trump, as the anti-Trump movement struggled to unite behind one particular candidate. It was clear that Trump's messaging was a huge hit to the "forgotten" White Working Class voter. Trump's lead varied from 30% to even 40%. The establishment was going to lose big time.

On the Democratic side, the coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton was looking more and more of a confrontation with those not aligned with her camp. The Obama-wing liberals, the Clinton Third Wayers, and the new age progressives were more or less on the largest collision course in a political primary. While obvious the former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State led, it wasn't clear how much of a dent insurgent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would make. Clinton's polling lead varied from the late 40s to the low 60s. Despite the fact that no primaries/caucuses had been conducted, a observer of the election could easily see that the general election matchup would be a Trump Vs. Clinton affair. However, a scandal breaking in a somewhat different field would have huge effect on the race for the Oval Office.

---

On December 8th, 2015, the International news media gathered on the steps of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Federal Courthouse. Two groups of camps existed: one to question the plaintiff, and one to question the defendant. The plaintiff was Fox News Chief Roger Ailes, and the defendant was Author Gabriel Sherman. The dispute that had led the two men in federal courthouse was the 2014 release of Sherman's book, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News - and Divided a Country. The book had detailed alleged misconduct in the 1980s by Ailes. For a year, Ailes had been enraged by the book's release, secretly egged on by Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump wanted Ailes to sue Sherman "give the Liberal media hell". Ailes, after a year of badgering, decided to go through with it. He brought in Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer. From the moment the lawsuit began, Conservative media circles rallied around Ailes, and attempting to demolish Sherman. The battle raged on, with Trump unsurprisingly weighed in on twitter: "Lying Liberal Media and Gabe Sherman attempting to take down Conservative Movement fighter Roger Ailes! We must stop this!"

However, things took a highly dramatic turn on a segment of the Meet The Press program on December 13th, 2015. Gabe Sherman, speaking about the lawsuit, said he had received multiple anonymous threats, threatening his career if he continued. He had believed that Ailes' legal team (lead by Cohen) had brought this. Cohen obviously denied this. This, along with the fact that several Fox News anchors had gone off the air following the accusations (many believed that they had been victims of Ailes' advances, and the most notable one who left was Gretchen Carlson), had given the lawsuit international media attention. However, some media attention had gone to film star Stormy Daniels, who posted an ominous comment on Twitter: "For all those doubting Gabe Sherman's threats, all I'll say is this. He's not lying. Michael Cohen has done this before." Daniels, after a barrage of questions, had decided to give an interview on Joe Rogan's podcast:

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In a widely read piece with Vanity Fair, Daniels alleged that the affair began in 2006, when Trump had been married to Melanie Trump for a year. Even worse, Daniels had said Cohen had threatened Daniels with an NDA shortly after the Ailes scandal broke, in an attempt to protect both clients from what would have been catastrophic fallout. And to add fuel to the fire, Daniels released a picture taken with Trump. It appeared Trump may have finally fallen from his frontrunner status.

---

As 2015 became 2016, the Trump-Daniels Affair blazed on. News of more potential affairs while Trump was married broke. Hell had been unleashed on Trump and his campaign.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, in a wide watched speech, called out Trump while speaking at a church campaign event. "He [Trump] says the D.C. establishment is corrupt. Well, if he feels that we're corrupt, then how about he becomes more honest about himself, betraying him and his wife's marital vows. If these allegations and more are fully confirmed, then I call on Donald Trump to withdraw from the GOP field. We do not need our own version of Lewinsky-gate to crush our chances of fighting the socialist failures of Sanders, Obama and Clinton." Florida Senator Marco Rubio had received endorsements from evangelicals who had, days before the scandal broke, planned to endorse Trump. 55 Conservative religious figures signed and wrote a letter asking Trump to withdraw due to "extreme, gross marital misconduct."

Trump's national polling average had been crushed from around 10-20 to 3. Despite this, the GOP was headed for a major showdown at the January 14th debate in North Charleston, South Carolina, the first televised debate since the scandal broke.

---

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton had widely used the scandal to her advantage. The Clinton Campaign had used the scandal to say "The GOP is set on nominating it's most flawed candidate in history. Don't role the dice with the candidate not as certain to win, but the one you know will defeat Donald Trump and his radical immoral agenda." This would give Clinton a minor boost ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

IOWA CAUCUS POLLING (January 12th, 2016)

Democrats:
Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY): 56%
Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (VT): 38%
Undecided/Other/No Comment: 6%


Republicans:
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (TX): 21%
Marco Antonio Rubio (FL): 20%
Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr. (MI): 12%
Donald John Trump, Sr. (NY): 12%
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush Sr. (FL): 10%
Undecided/Other/No Comment: 25%

NEXT UPDATE: Iowa, Iowa, Iowa.

[Lennis]

Prologue, Part Two: Fool Me Once

As around 14.5 million Americans tuned into the January 14th, 2016 Republican Primary Debate, one thing became clear: Donald Trump had one last chance to save himself. Time after time after time, he had gotten away with the worst of the worst political offenses, but this one was different. He had taken a fall. Despite the fact he still lead, he only led by a point or half of one.

Trump had been preparing day and night for the debate. His staff noticed he became more distraught and frustrated. Melania had not been seen in public in weeks. His life was beginning to unravel. And he unleashed the anger on his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. After showing up late to a late-night strategy session, Trump berated Lewandowski in front of the executive staff for 38 minutes, and fired him on January 10th. He turned to his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner for campaign advice.

Jared and Ivanka soon began a purge. They tried (and usually with success) to purge the right-wing, Trumpist members of the campaign. They hauled in David Bossie and Paul Manafort as Co-Campaign Managers. They started from scratch with campaign strategy, going from the "Trumpism" that had given the campaign so much controversy, to "Compassionate Conservatism", in a strategy to win moderates and disaffected Democrats. They would plan to capitalize this during the debate. Trump would need to show he was Presidential and truly matured from the vulgar, bombastic, alleged adulterer that had been present from June to January.

---

Ted Cruz felt like the man to beat following Stormy-gate. Conservative donors flooded to him, as well as surrogates. Despite the fact Trump had a somewhat modest national lead, Cruz had strong leads in Iowa, was leading the tossup primary of South Carolina, was looking like a strong third in New Hampshire, and keeping it close in Nevada. Marco Rubio also felt in a position to win. He was showing his position as a strong second in Iowa, possibly leading in New Hampshire, stuck in a three-way race with Trump and Cruz in South Carolina, and heavily gaining in Nevada. Also, a huge deal was under way. Bush was considering endorsing Rubio if the results in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina didn't go his way. And even more important, former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney was working on facilitating a meeting between Rubio and Cruz, as part of a Romney-Rubio-Cruz-Bush-Kasich coalition to stop Trump from winning the nomination. The plan? 4 to 5 days before Super Tuesday, all 3 of the men would coalesce around one of the other candidates. Negotiations were still going on, however there was a good chance something was going to happen. Then Donald Trump found out.

---

As January 14th, 2016, arrived, the knives of the GOP primary were all at the throat at Donald Trump. However, they would learn the hard way that, when back into a corner, Donald Trump would do whatever it took to back out of said corner.

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And this would go on and on for nearly two hours. Trump roasted each and every debate opponent. The headline of one newspaper read TRUMP: THE FALL AND RISE CEMENTED.

[Lennis]

Prologue Part 3 coming soon.

[Lennis]

Prologue, Part Three: The Blitz


As Americans woke up, made their cereal and turned on their TVs, only one thing was to be talked about: Donald Trump's debate performance. While keeping his usual rhetoric, he was able to piece together at least somewhat credible attacks against his primary opponents. It caused the Romney plan to fail. Cruz was losing some of the donors he had received following Stormy-gate. And to push the "framing" narrative, Trump announced a $100 Million libel suit against Stormy Daniels. The Trumpists were more motivated than ever, and took to their Facebooks, Twitter accounts (like their leader), and other platforms to call out Daniels, and even peddle a conspiracy that Clinton had paid Daniels to frame Trump of the affair.


---


The Anti-Trumpers were ablaze. Prior to the debate, many had pledged to not attack each other, leaving the main insults for Trump, and to defend themselves. However, due to the "Flight or Fight" nature of the debate, none of this really happened. Cruz blamed Rubio. Rubio blamed Cruz. Kasich thought both were shills. Romney was furious, an intricate plot ruined. Now, Iowa was yet again a clear tossup. Trump had managed to successfully moderate his message, sounding somewhat sane, sensible and Presidential, just in time for the crucial caucuses.


---


It was 3:34 in the morning, East Coast time, February 2nd, 2016. Fox News had made the call, 12 minutes earlier. MSNBC, 2 minutes. Fox News decided to give it up. With 20% of voters, Donald John Trump had emerged successful. Hillary Clinton had pulled off a decisive win, with 55% of Iowa Democratic Caucusers.


In the first contest of the presidential election, the world watched. Numerous questions arose. Would Trump even break the top 5? Would his turnout be good enough? Would evangelicals flock to Cruz? Would the anti-trumpets flock to Bush, Rubio, Cruz or Kasich? But in the 48 hours before the election, all hell would break lose.


On January 29th, voters in Fayette and Winneshiek County received strange robocalls. The message? "This is a message from the IRFC. We can report that after dismal campaigning, Dr. Ben Carson and Gov. Chris Christie will suspending his campaign for the presidency ASAP.


The IRFC was the Iowa Republicans For Cruz, one of the many grassroots organizations founded to help Cruz in the Hawkeye state. The story, after bouncing through the press circuits, became national news, as Carson said the calls were bogus, and that he had no plans of withdrawing. He also threatened to sue the Cruz campaign for "an ugly, ugly breach of democracy, and the Senator will be seeing me in a federal courtroom." Christie flat out called Cruz "The biggest supporter of voter fraud today."


To add even insult to injury for Cruz, tape was released of spokesman Rick Tyler making high controversial remarks about rival Marco Rubio outside of an Iowa church on January 31st: "Well, he ought to just admit he's the atheist everyone knows he is. He mocks the Bible, treats it like dirt. What's going to happen next? We're going to use a Quran for the next swearing in? He thinks the Bible is fiction, that's all there is to it." Tyler was immediately fired, but the damage was done: Cruz was seen as doing whatever it took to win. Cruz voters were starting to be peeled off to Rubio, Carson, and even Jeb Bush.


What conspired two days later would be a huge upset. Early returns showed Rubio having a huge lead, but this was easily crushed as the rural counties came in, with Trump crushing all other candidates. He lead through the night, with Trump besting Cruz, 20-16.


Meanwhile, for the Democrats, the night was mostly uneventful, with Clinton huge lead also evaporating throughout the night, despite the fact she managed to best Sanders 55-43.


IOWA CAUCUS RESULTS

Democrats:

Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY): 55%

Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (VT): 43%

Other: 2%



Republicans:

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (TX): 16%, 4 Delegates

Marco Antonio Rubio (FL): 15%, 4 Delegates

Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr. (MI): 14%, 4 Delegates

Donald John Trump, Sr. (NY): 20%, 5 Delegates

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush Sr. (FL): 12%, 3 Delegates

Other Candidates: 23%, 7 Delegates


Following the Caucus, Fmr. Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD), Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), Carly Fiorina (R-VA), Fmr. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Fmr. Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), withdrew. Huckabee, Paul, Christie endorsed Trump. Santorum endorsed Rubio. Fiorina endorsed Cruz. The eyes were now on New Hampshire.


With the candidates ready to move on to the next stage, things had surprisingly took a calmer, more boring turn, until the February 6th, Goffstown debate:

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Trump's debate pushback actually worked against him. After giving up on the moderating message his team pushed, he suffered. While winning New Hampshire, he only pulled off a 25.6-23.9 win over Marco Rubio, with Kasich coming in at 16. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Primary, Bernie Sanders won the nation's first primary 56-43 over Hillary Clinton.

[Lennis]

Prologue, Part Four: God Bless The Republican Party (The 2016 Primaries concluded)

For the Never-Trumpers, one thing had become depressingly clear: The Trump campaign had steam. They had survived one of the worst primary scandals, turning that into a win in the nation's first contests. While the Goffstown debate slowed Trump down, he certainly wouldn't be stopping. Trump would now set his sight's on Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush, surprisingly, as he pulled a strong showing, doing a point better than Kasich.

South Carolina was up, and now, the brutal politics that had been known of the state would come out. Kasich was a non-candidate, and practically endorsed Bush in the state, in an effort to focus efforts on states that had big delegate reward. Cruz, Bush, Rubio, Trump were the true contenders in the Palmetto state. Trump rallied around his endorsers in the state (Henry McMaster, Catherine Templeton), while Rubio received the big names in the state (Nikki Haley, Trey Gowdy, Tim Scott, and Lindsey Graham, who had been flipped.) The 2/15/16 debate would be the decider.

In yet another disappointing night for Trump, his fellow contenders unleashed their bombs on him. From Trump University to the Daniels scandal, Trump seemed unprepared, surprised that the fellow rivals he had so openly mocked had comeback to stab him. The primary voters in South Carolina would remember.

As the primary results came in, Trump-mentum took a hard fall as Donald Trump lost the primary by 4 to Marco Rubio. Bush withdrew, and angry with Rubio, endorsed Kasich instead of his protege. Trump turned to his old ways, refusing to concede. Trump gained some momentum back, after winning the Nevada Caucus by 12 points. Now Super Tuesday would prove if Trump still had his frontrunner position, or if Rubio or Cruz were in a position to win.

Trump pushed through, with more interviews done than ever on Fox News to create a blitz with conservative viewers, pulled out "Culture Warrior" endorsements to pull out the Grassroots, and a slew of Governors who governed Super Tuesday states.  Rubio and Kasich fought for the Never-Trumper/Establishment endorsers, but in the end, Romney gave Kasich a huge boost by endorsing him. Cruz, however, struggled to pull through in any campaign strategy, widely hurt due to wide campaign turnover, started by the Rick Tyler controversy.

Super Tuesday cemented Trump's fall in momentum. Trump only managed to win Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Georgia. Rubio won Minnesota and Virginia. Kasich won Vermont. Cruz won North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. Trump only led by a few delegates. National polls started to show Rubio had a small lead. (Super Tuesday also saw the withdrawal of Ben Carson, who would go on to endorse Donald Trump.) Rubio rode the polls, until a hugely embarrassing moment at the March 3rd debate.

Rubio, at the debate, went off Trump, bragging how his hands were bigger than Trump's (drawing uncomfortable allusions for the millions of viewers), rambling at Trump, which gave off the impression Rubio was a loony candidate who had no placer in the Oval Office. It gave Trump a boost, ironically, in the March 5th primaries, where he won Louisiana, Maine, and Kentucky. Kansas was won by Cruz.

Trump started to win big again, winning Hawaii, Michigan, and Mississippi. Cruz managed to win Idaho, while Rubio fired back with a win in Puerto Rico. After a slew of smaller primaries, the big one had approached, Super Tuesday Part 2: Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Kasich dumped millions to save himself in his home state. Trump had began to slowly gain support in the state, and after the Romney plot was revealed, Kasich himself had began to drop. Adding fuel to the Trump fire, Rubio refused to agree to a "coalition" of sorts, where Rubio would tell his Ohio supporters to get behind Trump, while Kasich would tell his Florida Supporters to get behind Rubio. Rubio, despite his embarrassing debate blunders, was feeling pretty good about his chances in his homestate, despite Jeb Bush's endorsement of Kasich. Cruz just hoped to stay alive, widely focusing on Missouri and North Carolina.

In the most consequential elections of the 2016 Primary season, Donald Trump swept all of the March 15th Primaries. He won Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and the N.M.I. Yet again, the political world had been shocked by Donald Trump. He had been behind in Florida for weeks, and despite Rubio's snub of Kasich, Kasich had a healthy lead. Rubio had lost his own home state by 5 points, and Kasich lost his by a crushing 0.8. Embarrassed, both Kasich and Rubio withdrew. Only Cruz and Trump remained.

With huge momentum for Trump, Trump was the clear frontrunner yet again. He crushed Cruz in Arizona, New York, Wisconsin, the Acela primaries, and after destroying cruz in a 30 point landslide in Indiana, Ted Cruz called it quits. Donald Trump was now the 2016 Republican Party Nominee.

By May, however, as one primary ended, one was getting nastier and nastier. Hillary Clinton, who should've been coronated as the Democratic nominee, was getting crushed by Bernie Sanders. After an upset comeback win, Bernie Sanders' revolution caught on fire. He had been routed in Super Tuesday, but after that, things seemed like a street fight for the Democratic nomination. Sanders' grassroots ran on the message that Clinton was too corrupt to be the Democratic nominee, rallying on the email scandal and past corruption issues. Sanders managed to turn Michigan, strongly expected for Clinton, into a 5 point win. He turned Illinois and Missouri. He kept Clinton's former home state of New York within 6 points, giving Clinton a narrow win. He won Indiana, and despite keeping it close, Clinton had barely won the Democratic primary, only taking 2,404 delegates, and 49.8% of the Primary vote.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump entered a close race for the Presidency, and no one seemed to know how it would end.

[Lennis]

Prologue, Part 5: Veepstakes and Convention Drama:

The stage had been set. The bright lights had been burning up the podium. The presidential seal stood on the elegant wooden podium. A huge American flag stood in the background. Thousands were beneath the stage, chanting. As they screamed "Trump! Trump! Trump!", two men emerged from the back. Donald Trump, the political newcomer who had destroyed his GOP rivals, and John Kasich, the Governor of Ohio, walked to the podium. Trump began to speak.

"Hello, everyone! Isn't this crowd so great? I mean look at you beautiful, wonderful people, you great people, you all stood with us to help Make America Great Again! We have accomplished our goals, our dreams, our plans, but the job is not quite finished, people. We need a team, as you know, a coalition, of red-blooded Americans who really want this country to succeed, to defeat the liberal-socialist Obama-Pelosi-Clinton coalition set out to destroy this county, and you know who would be a great addition to my team? The best Governor Ohio's ever seen, John Kasich, who will be the next Vice President come January!"

---

The pick of Kasich was not something anyone would have expected, but it was in the works since March 17th. Kasich had been secretly flown in to the Trump International Hotel in Chicago. Kasich, still bitter over the GOP primary, only expected himself to listen to Trump and immediately deny him. Kasich detested Trump, and believed serving on the ticket would destroy any other Presidential aspirations he might have. But Kasich didn't meet Trump in Chicago. Kasich met with Manafort, Ivanka, and Jared Kushner, who pushed Kasich for three straight days to be the VP-nominee. They showed the polls, showing that Clinton, due to the divided primary, was going to be behind Trump by mid-July. They had polls showed that many Americans thought Clinton was out of touch with them. They also promised Kasich, if elected, would be the most powerful Vice President in the history of the country.* Kasich, surprisingly, was intrigued. He considered to, and after more badgering by the Trump people (and meeting Trump himself, who had been conciliatory with Kasich and lavished heaps of praise on the Governor), Kasich accepted.

Meanwhile, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female nominee of a major party, basked in her historical win. However, her staff was worried. They needed a progressive on the ticket. Progressives were furious at Clinton and the DNC, after it was revealed they had meddled in the primary for Clinton to win. With this, the Clinton camp whittled down to four potential VP nominees:

Democratic VP Shortlist, 2016:
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey)
Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

Franken was popular, but senior staffers believed he would undercut the experience factor the Clinton campaign had. Klobuchar was the favorite, but turned it down as she wanted to either stay in the Senate, or be picked as Attorney general in the Clinton Administration. Warren was seen as too ambitious, and had somewhat of a rocky relationship with Clinton. Booker had been seen as too much of Obama-lite and too concerned with Social Media/Media Attention. So Franken it was.

After a huge speech in Philadelphia, Franken was announced as the VP choice.

---

At the convention, there were not one but two movements to deny the respective party nominee their nomination. Clinton had it worse. The progressives were still fuming (despite the pick of Franken), and there were multiple motion attempts to allow Democrats to unbound themselves from Clinton. Michele and Barack Obama were able to path things up with the base, and electric speeches by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders reminded the progressives that the real enemy wasn't Hillary Clinton, but Donald Trump. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, it seemed the GOP convention would literally go up in flames, however, luckily for Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and other senior GOP conventions heads literally locked out the Never-Trumpers from the convention. Now, it was the final stretch, as the campaigns would fight for the biggest prize of all: The White House

August 2nd, 2016, General Election Polls (CNN):

CLINTON, Hillary Rodham: 45.7%
TRUMP, Donald John: 40.9%
JOHNSON, Gary Earl: 2.9%
STEIN, Jill Ellen: 1.9%
Undecided/Other/No Comment: 8.6%
MoE: 3%


*This actually nearly happened in real-life.

[Lennis]

2016 Down-ballot Election Nominees:

Gubernatorial:
Delaware: Colin Bonini (R) vs. John Carney (D)
Indiana: Michael R. Pence (R-inc.) vs. John Gregg (D)
Missouri: Eric Greitens (R) vs. Chris Koster (D)
Montana: Gregory Gianforte (R) vs. Stephen "Steve" Bullock (D-inc.)
New Hampshire: Christopher "Chris" T. Sununu (R) vs. Colin Van Ostern (D)
North Carolina: Patrick "Pat" L. McCrory (R-inc.) vs. Roy A. Cooper III (D)
North Dakota: Douglas "Doug" J. Burgum (R) vs. Marvin Nelson (D)
Oregon: William C. "Bud" Pierce (R) vs. Katherine "Kate" Brown (D-inc.)
Utah: Gary R. Herbert (R-inc.) vs. Mike Weinholtz (D)
Vermont: Philip "Phil" Scott (R) vs. Sue M. Minter (D)
Washington: Bill Bryant (R) vs. Jay R. Inslee (D-inc.)
West Virginia: William Paul "Bill" Cole III (R) vs. James Conley "Jim" Justice II (D)

Senate:
Alabama: Richard Craig Shelby (R-inc.) vs. Charles Nana (D)
Alaska: Lisa Ann Murkowski (R-inc.) vs. Ray Metcalfe (D) vs. Joseph "Joe" Wayne Miller (L) vs. Margaret D. Stock (I)
Arizona: John Sidney McCain III (R-inc.) vs. Ann Kirkpatrick (D)
Arkansas: John Nichols Boozman (R-inc.) vs. William Conner "Conner" Eldridge, Jr. (D)
California: Kamala Devi Harris (D) vs. Loretta L. Sanchez (D)
Colorado: Michael Farrand Bennet (D-inc) vs. Darryl LeMon Glenn (R)
Connecticut: Richard Blumenthal (D-inc.) vs. Dan Carter (R)
Florida: Marco Antonio Rubio (R-inc.) vs. Patrick Erin Murphy (D)
Georgia: John Hardy Isakson (R-inc.) vs. James Freeman Barksdale (D)
Hawaii: Brian Emanuel Schatz (D-inc.) vs. John Stanley Carroll (R)
Idaho: Michael "Mike" Dean Crapo (R-inc.) vs. Jerry Sturgill (D)
Illinois: Mark Steven Kirk (R-inc.) vs. Ladda Tammy "Tammy" Duckworth (D)
Indiana: Todd Christopher Young (R) vs. Baron Hill (D)
Iowa: Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (R-inc.) vs. Robert Mason "Rob" Hogg (D)
Kansas: Gerald W. "Jerry" Moran (R-inc.) vs. Patrick Wiesner (D)
Kentucky: Randal Howard "Rand" Paul (R-inc.) vs. James P. "Jim" Gray II (D)
Louisiana: Charles Boustany vs. Joseph Cao vs. David Duke vs. John Fleming vs. John Neely Kennedy vs. Rob Manness vs. Foster Campbell vs. Caroline Fayard
Maryland: Christopher "Chris" Van Hollen (D) vs. Kathy Szeliga (R)
Missouri: Roy Dean Blunt (R-inc.) vs. Jason David Kander (D)
Nevada: Catherine Marie Cortez Mastro (D) vs. Joseph "Joe" John Heck (R)
New Hampshire: Kelly Ann Ayotte (R-inc.) vs. Margaret "Maggie" Hassan (D)
New York: Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer (D-inc.) vs. Wendy Elizabeth Long (R)
North Carolina: Richard Mauze Burr (R-inc.) vs. Deborah Koff Ross (D)
North Dakota: John Henry Hoeven III (R-inc.) vs. Eliot Glassheim (D)
Ohio: Robert "Rob" Jones Portman (R-inc.) vs. Theodore "Ted" Strickland (D)
Oklahoma: James Paul Lankford (R-inc.) vs. Mike Workman (D)
Oregon: Ronald "Ron" Lee Wyden (D-inc.) vs. Sam Carpenter (R)
Pennsylvania: Patrick Joseph "Pat" Toomey (R-inc.) vs. Joseph Ambrose "Joe" Sestak, Jr. (D)
South Carolina: Timothy "Tim" Eugene Scott (R-inc.) vs. Thomas Alan Dixon (D)
South Dakota: John Randolph Then (R-inc.) vs. Jay Williams (D)
Utah: Michael "Mike" Shumway" Lee (R-inc.) vs. Jonathan Swinton (D)
Vermont: Patrick Joseph Leahy (D-inc.) vs. Scott Edward Milne (R)
Washington: Patricia Lynn "Patty" Murphy (D-inc.) vs. Chris Vance (R)
Wisconsin: Ronald Harold "Ron" Johnson (R-inc.) vs Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold (D)

[Lennis]

Great start! Really liking that its very realistic so far

Thank you!

[Lennis]

Will Trump put Weaver, Hansen, Black, and the Schrimpf brothers on his campaign team now? Or will Kasich likely wield his own inner circle?

Despite being one united front, the Trump campaign is a really divided, weird situation, with four main camps:

You have the "Kasich Crusaders": The Kasich inner circle, lead primarily by Beth Hansen (who will be picked as CoS to the V.P. if Trump/Kasich wins), and Weaver, who will probably lead communications for Kasich as VP. Black and the Schrimpf, however, have not been welcomed aboard yet (Due to the Trump-ies). They have some power, but some on the Trump campaign are still surprisingly bitter with Kasich, stoping them from having much influence.

The Trump-ers: This is the moderating faction that pushed Trump after Stormy-gate. This is Ivanka Trump (De-facto leader), Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort. They have the most influence over Trump.

The Trump-ies: These were the nationalist, right-wingers of the Trump campaign. Led by Stephen Miller, this is the group that fights for the influence over Trump (fighting the Trump-ers). Also in this group: Flynn, and Bannon (Ivanka has tried really hard to have Bannon off the campaign, but Trump sides with Bannon.

The Outsiders: Other than the KCs, these are the "establishment" Republicans. This group is closest to the Never-Trumpers, explaining why they have little to no influence. There is no leader, as all three other groups have effectively purged this group from the campaign team.

[Lennis]

Prologue, Part 6: This is America (Final update before the 2016 Election Results)


It was August, and in Memphis, Tennessee, the dastardly Southern summer heat beat down like a beast on the tarmac.

Hillary Rodham Clinton sat huddled in her campaign plan, preparing her Press Conference on her new plan for Women's Rights. After Brian Fallon circled some sentences, underline some notes, and scribbled out a paragraph or two, Clinton, barricaded by three secret service agents, stepped off the plane to dozens of cameras and reporters. She chuckled. Nothing more than an active press to cover the first female president.

She went on for 30 minutes, detailing her 40 year fight for women. She smiled, calling on a CNN reporter she'd never seen before. "Mrs. Clinto, while you were speaking, Donald Trump held a press conference with 4 accusers against you and your husband who allege sexual misconduct occurred. Thoughts?" Clinton was speechless. Things were getting ugly.

Hundreds of miles away, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Donald Trump sat with four women - Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton - in a hot, airport conference room. He began brutally:

"Grabbed. Groped. Sexually assaulted. This seems like something out of a horror movie. But what if I tell you the woman who could be the next President stars in this horror movie? People, we know crooked Hillary Clinton is a liar, who needs to be thrown in jail. But what if I told you we get Crooked Hillary and her husband Bill the Bully in there, too? Hillary Clinton has the nerves to talk about her record on women's rights and 'fighting for women', but you know the only woman she fights for? Herself. Juanita Broderick was raped by Bill Clinton. Paula Jones was sexually harassed by Bill Clinton. Kathy Shelton raped literally, and verbally by Hillary Clinton, and Kathleen Wiley raped by Bill Clinton. I know all these beautiful, lovely women, and you know what they all have in common, they were attacked viciously by the Clintons. Do you really want Crooked Hillary to be a role model for your daughters, your wives, your mothers, your female relatives? If you do, then listen to what those monsters did to these poor, poor women. That's all I have to say, and I'll let these women, my good friends, tell their Crooked Hillary and Bill the Bully horror stories."

The international news media swarmed over the salacious story of yet another Clinton sex scandal. The Clinton's were now under fire. And it did not stop there.

On August 31st, Roger Stone tweeted, "We got him." 4 minutes after this tweet, Stone posted a picture of Democratic VP nominee Al Franken appearing to sexually harass Leann Tweeden at a 2006 USO event. This opened up a pandoras box of sexual harassment allegations against Franken. Now both Clinton and Franken were under fire. After a brutal two weeks, Franken was dropped on the ticket. Adding insult to injury, it was leaked that Cory Booker, Franken's likely replacement, had been allegedly tweeting a stripper. Booker was dropped from consideration as soon as possible, leading the way for Clinton to pick Virginia United States Senator Tim Kaine, a safe but incredibly boring pick. Trump now had a strong lead.

Things just kept getting better for Donald Trump. The campaign strategy was for Kasich to target moderate, suburban, educated voters disillusioned with Trump, and bring them into the fray. Trump was then to target WWCV in the midwest, and for Kasich to target minority voters, and to market the MAGA platform to them.

Trump/Kasich refused to go positive, dumping millions upon millions of negative ads on Clinton in key states. They worked. Clinton approval dropped to 37.4% in one September poll. However, things were still very close. Until the debates.

One of Trump's many problems were the debates. However, since winning the nomination in April, Trump had been frequently practicing for his debate with Clinton.

As the first debate (which would be the most watched of the campaign begun), two debate strategies began to unfold. Clinton kept firing off on Trump's scandals, usually weakly. And Donald Trump would hit back hard, usually on sexual harassment or the emails. In the end, despite 50% of Americans thinking Clinton had won, Trump was still seen as growing more presidential, and knowledgeable on foreign policy affairs. In the VP debates, Kasich crushed Kaine with 65% of poll respondents thinking he had won. Kaine had come off rude, unprofessional, and even unpresidential if, god forbid, Clinton had left the office of the President (if elected).

The election was the closest in a while, with it going back and forth. However, one week before the election, things were completely destroyed when the FBI and Director James Comey had re0opened the Clinton email investigation. Comey refused to close it, even as Election Day came.

The world watched as America went to the polls.

[Lennis]

Election night starting shortly!

[Lennis]

Wolf Blitzer: Hello, and welcome to our CNN election night viewers. *chuckles* Today marks the end of an incredibly interesting campaign, to say the least, and CNN will be covering that end with analysis, interviews, and of course results. Now

As it is 6:00 Eastern Time, we now have the first results of this election pour in, from Indiana and Kentucky. We have those coming.

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John King: Well, would you look at that. Mike Pence and Todd Young run the board in Indiana, increasing their margins from 2012 and 2010. Despite that huge religious freedom controversy last year, Pence has increased his margin, and Young barely does better than Dan Cots did in 2010. Our map and numbers show that Marion County and Lake County saw lower Democratic turnout than last year, which had to have hurt. We'll get the House results out later, but now, the Indiana Presidential results:

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John King: A 20 point win for Trump looks good here. Again, lower turnout in Lake and Marion hurting the Democrats. Now we go to Kentucky.

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KENTUCKY & INDIANA HOUSE:
IN-1: Visclosky (D)
IN-2: Walorski (R)
IN-3: Banks (R)
IN-4: Rokita (R)
IN-5: Brooks (R)
IN-6: Messer (R)
IN-7: Carson (D)
IN-8: Bucshon (R)
IN-9: Hollingsworth (R)
KY-1: Comer (R)
KY-2: Guthrie (R)
KY-3: Yarmuth (R)
KY-4: Massie (R)
KY-5: Rogers (R)
KY-6: Barr (R)

[Lennis]

Election Night Part 2:

Blitzer: Now, we have results from Vermont, New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.

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Well, there you have it. Democrats really are lagging behind the GOP it seems everywhere. We can also confirm Donald Trump has won the key swing state of Florida, and leads in Virginia, but a recount will be probably needed. We will get the House results out as soon as possible.

[Lennis]

Election Night; Trump leads in Virginia, however a recount will likely proceed.

[Lennis]

John King: We are back with key results in Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia, where polls have closed.

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Blitzer: Yet another big win for Donald Trump. However, it seems Democrats might have one tiny ray of hope in Roy Cooper, their North Carolina gubernatorial nominee, who is holding on by a mere 8 votes, which will certainly lead to a recount. A recount also seems to be needed in West Virginia.

[Lennis]

when Trump had been married to Melanie Trump

I see what you did there

Oh damn I actually didn't mean that. Auto-correct on my computer pulled that one.

[Lennis]

John King: Hello, and welcome back to CNN's Election Night HQ. We just predicted some big wins for the GOP and Donald Trump. Notable results are huge wins in Ohio and Florida, and apparent pickup in West Virginia's gubernatorial race, a close win for trump in Virginia, the home-state of Clinton VP nominee Tim Kaine, and an 8 vote lead for Democrat Roy Cooper in North Carolina's gubernatorial race.

Now, we have some big results coming in we ought to get to, with poll closings in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama.

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John King: Wow, that is just a huge map of red for Trump, and if you don't count the extremely close states where re-counts will probably be needed (Maine and Virginia), Trump has 241 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton's 72. Now, I hate to call this early, but if Donald Trump wins every state Mitt Romney won 4 years ago, he will almost certainly be President.

[Lennis]

John King: Now, a short little update, but the state of Arkansas has posted results:

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While Arkansas is a pretty Republican state, a near 30 point thrashing in their former stomping ground of Arkansas must be stinging to the Clintons.

[Lennis]

John King: And now, with a new slew of poll closings, are real opportunities to see how this night will actually end. Polls are closing in New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisiana, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming.

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John King: And, with those new states in, we have some historic news, Donald John Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States of America. Also, the Republican Party will retain both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.

[Lennis]

2016 Election Map, as Election is called for Trump. Gray states have not been called, Green states are states with Recounts.

[Lennis]

Chris Cuomo: Hello, and welcome back to a historic edition of new day. Last night, Donald John Trump was elected 45th President of the United States of America, in a result no one would have predicted a year ago. It also appears the GOP has gained two senate seats (one net gain), and it will stay this way if the Colorado recount stays for Darryl Glenn. The GOP has also kept the House, getting at least 218 House seats, but we're not exactly sure how many seats they will win as some votes are coming in still, but the current tally is 255. The GOP has also picked up a number of Governorships, however, Democrat Roy Cooper, is fighting on in North Carolina's Gubernatorial Race, leading by 44 votes.

This night has been absolutely catastrophic for the Democratic Party. They have lost several governorships, Senate seats, House seats, and state legislative seats, and the presidency. There are some major questions that need to be addressed on the part of Democratic leadership. Now here were the final results from the later closing states:


NORTH DAKOTA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 199,322 (59.61%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 104,000 (31.10%)
Other: 31,009
Total: 334,331

Senate:
John Hoeven: 285,378 (84.38%)
Eliot Glassheim: 40,023 (11.83%)
Other: 12,773
Total: 338,174

Governor:
Doug Burgum: 248,443 (73.16%)
Marvin Nelson: 73,229 (21.56%)
Other: 17,887
Total: 339,559


IOWA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 862,341 (55.11%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 614,442 (39.27%)
Other: 87,764
Total: 1,564,547

Senate:
Chuck Grassley: 1,002,410 (63.36%)
Rob Hogg: 509,117 (32.18%)
Other: 70,530
Total: 1,582,057

MONTANA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 250,553 (53.11%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 189,636 (40.19%)
Other: 31,559
Total: 471,748

Governor:
Steve Bullock: 244,120 (48.65%)
Greg Gianforte: 243,061 (48.44%)
Other: 14,531
Total: 501,712

IDAHO STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 418,700 (62.46%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 186,780 (27.86%)
Other: 64,779
Total: 670,259

Senate:
Mike Crapo: 463,817 (65.79%)
Jerry Sturgill: 194,347 (27.56%)
Other: 46,766
Total: 704,930

UTAH STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 561,657 (49.61%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 319,668 (28.23%)
Other: 250,772
Total: 1,132,097

Senate:
Mike Lee: 778,359 (67.26%)
Jonathan Swinton: 322,800 (27.89%)
Other: 55,916
Total: 1,157,075

Governor:
Gary Herbert: 759,288 (67.82%)
Mike Weinholtz: 309,734 (27.66%)
Other: 50,481
Total: 1,119,503

NEVADA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 516,991 (46.60%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 518,320 (46.72%)
Other: 74,020
Total: 1,109,331

Senate:
Joe Heck: 519,545 (47.74%)
Catherine Cortez Mastro: 505,043 (46.41%)
Other: 63,489
Total: 1,088,077

WASHINGTON STATEWIDE:
President:
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 1,972,400 (56.59%)
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 1,198,420 (34.38%)
Other: 314,333
Total: 3,485,153

Senate:
Chris Vance: 1,199,874 (35.51%)
Patty Murray: 2,178,340 (64.48%)
Total: 3,378,214

Governor:
Jay Inslee: 1,804,550 (56.31%)
Bill Bryant: 1,400,001 (43.68%)
Total: 3,204,551

OREGON STATEWIDE:
President:
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 921,493 (47.92%)
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 861,992 (44.82%)
Other: 139,447
Total: 1,922,932

Senate:
Ron Wyden: 1,085,717 (56.70%)
Sam Carpenter: 720,352 (37.62%)
Other: 108,661
Total: 1,914,730

Governor:
Kate Brown: 991,900 (51.08%)
Bud Pierce: 832,216 (42.86%)
Other: 117,501
Total: 1,941,617


CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 4,181,132(30.77%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 8,902,909 (65.53%)
Other: 500,299
Total: 13,584,340

Senate:
Kamala Harris: 7,805,946 (64.54%)
Loretta Sanchez: 4,287,220 (35.35%)
Total: 12,093,166

ALASKA STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 148,312 (48.78%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 130,591 (42.95%)
Other: 25,098
Total: 304,001

Senate:
Lisa Murkowski: 105,294 (35.75%)
Joe Miller: 103,641 (35.19%)
Ray Metcalfe: 38,914
Margaret Stock: 43,523
Other: 3,133
Total: 294,505


HAWAII STATEWIDE:
President:
Donald Trump/John Kasich: 97,100 (22.67%)
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine: 295,189 (68.93%)
Other: 35,937
Total: 428,226

Senate:
Brian Schatz: 325,776 (79.02%)
John Carroll: 75,964 (18.42%)
Other: 10,523
Total: 412,263


2016 Election Map:

Hillary Rodham Clinton: 203 Electoral Votes
Donald John Trump: 320 Electoral Votes
Virginia and Maine undergoing Recount. Colorado and Nevada facing recounts, but both are favored for Clinton.

United States Senate Gains:
Republican:
Colorado - Won by Darryl Glenn (Recount)
Nevada - Won by Joe Heck

Democratic:
Illinois - Won by Tammy Duckworth

Gubernatorial Gains:
Republican:
New Hampshire - Won by Chris Sununu
Missouri - Won by Eric Greitens
Vermont - Won by Phil Scott
West Virginia - Bill Cole

Democratic:
North Carolina - Won by Roy Cooper (Apparent Winner; Recount underway)

United States House of Representatives Gains:
Republican:
California 7th - Scott Jones
California 24th - Katcho Achadjian
Florida 2nd - Neal Dunn
Florida 18th - Brian Mast
Iowa 2nd - Christopher Peters
Minnesota 1st - Jim Hagerdorn
Minnesota 7th - Dave Hughes
Minnesota 8th - Stewart Mills
Nebraska 2nd - Don Bacon
New Hampshire 2nd - Jim Lawrence
New York 3rd - Jack Martins

Democratic:
Florida 10th - Val Demings
New Jersey 5th - Josh Gottheimer
Illinois 10th - Brad Schneider
Virginia 4th - Donald McEachin

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[Lennis]

World shocked as Donald Trump elected President; Trump begins to take the reigns
Chris Cillizza, November 9th, 2016, Washington Post
With 320 Electoral Votes (and more expected), and around 51% of the Popular Vote (full numbers are not yet in), Donald Trump's political tsunami has finally hit it's target: the world. International congratulations was landed on Trump, with some more cautious than others.

At a press conference, British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose own establishment was nearly defeated as a result of the June Brexit referendum, said of the election, "I congratulate him [Trump] for winning the role. We shall see in due time if he fits the role needed of him." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "Well, certainly, the U.S. voters have spoken, and we have heard them loud and clear. I welcome President-Elect Trump to the international stage." However, some were harsh, with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo harshly criticizing Trump in a two-page press release.

The domestic reaction, however, is explosive. 20 were critically injured in Los Angeles, as the city is on the brink of war and rioting following Trump's election. However, the economy took a boost following Trump's election, with the Dow jones jumping 405 points.

Trump himself, and Vice President-Elect John Kasich, have started taking the reigns of power. They have met with senior defense and national security experts, and Kasich was named Chairman of the Trump Transition Team.


Democrats in ruins after crushing loss; House Dems in revolt
Josh Gerstein, Politico, November 10th, 2016
In their worst loss since the 1988 election, Democrats have been left reeling after losing the Presidency, House, Senate, and State Governments, with little to no rays of hope.

Hillary Clinton, the woman many thought would be the first female President, appeared worn-out and shellshocked, gave a short and concise concession speech in New York. In it, she said, “I know that this stings, and it will sting for a lifetime. However, we must band together and let the President-Elect lead.” Clinton also said she would be taking a “indefinite break” from public life. Many blame the election defeat for the many scandals plaguing the Clinton campaign, giving way for catastrophic, historic defeats in the midwest, and it appears Maine as well.

While some Democrats are livid at Clinton, it doesn’t compare to the hatred House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faces, after Democrats lost many winnable seats, and have been put further back on the path to the House Majority.


Trumo-Kasich name initial Cabinet nominees as Kasich leads transition process
Josh Gerstein, Politico, November 25th, 2016
After leaving a White House meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden, Ohio Governor and Vice President-Elect John Kasich named the initial Trump cabinet appointments outside of the White House:
26th United States Secretary of Defense: James Norman Mattis
84th United States Attorney General: Jefferson "Jeff" Beauregard Sessions III
52nd United States Secretary of the Interior: Mary Copeland Fallin
31st United States Secretary of Agriculture: Samuel Dale Brownback
39th United States Secretary of Commerce: Wilbur Louis Ross, Jr.
27th United States Secretary of Labor: Louis James Barletta
23rd United States Secretary of Health & Human Services: Thomas Edmunds Price
17th United States Secretary of Housing & Urban Development: Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr.
18th United States Secretary of Transportation: Elaine Lan Chao
14th United States Secretary of Energy: Kevin John Cramer
11th United States Secretary of Education: Elisabeth Dee DeVos
9th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Michelle Janine Howard
5th United States Secretary of Homeland Security: Michael Thomas McCaul, Sr.
-----
27th White House Chief of Staff: Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus
18th United States Trade Representative: Robert Emmet Lighthizer
5th Director of National Intelligence: Michael “Mike” Richard Pompeo
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney
6th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency: John Francis Kelly
14th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Edward Scott Pruitt
25th Administrator of the Small Business Association: Steven Joseph Chabot

Several big name offices remain unnamed (UN Ambassador, Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State), as the nominees are still being deliberated, especially with the office of Secretary of State. Sources say the Secretary of State position is seen as the crown jewel of the cabinet. Jon Huntsman, James Stavridis, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney, are all in contention for the position.


Bentley resignation muddies Senate appointment
Chris Cillizza, Washington Post, December 2nd, 2016
In one of the most salacious scandals in recent memory, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley was forced to resign following nearly a year of pressure, and an upcoming impeachment vote he was expected to lose, due to campaign contribution violations, and an affair with a senior staffer. After pressure from the local and national leaders, the GOP was more than relieved to let Bentley go, and usher in a new Governor. However, the Bentley scandal may comeback to bite the GOP.

Bentley was due to appoint a successor to Jeff Sessions' Senate seat, due to his nomination as Attorney General. Many saw the lead contender to be Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, however, as Bentley resigned, Strange fell out of favor due to allegations that Strange was only to be appointed to weaken the investigation into the Bentley scandal. Now, the process has been thrown wide open, but the top three contenders for the seat are Tim James (son of a former Governor), Congressman Gary Palmer,  and State Senate President Del Marsh.

Governor Kay Ivey will be appointing the new Senator later in the week.

[Lennis]

Recount settled in certain states, as North Carolina rages on
Josh Gerstein, Politico, December 15th, 2016
In more election closure, Virginia and Maine have finally released their Presidential results following a recount not as closely watched. Donald Trump has won both Virginia and Maine, and Hillary Clinton has won both Colorado and Nevada. In the Gubernatorial results, Bill Cole has been determined the winner of West Virginias governors race, winning the GOP their first election there sine 1996. Steve Bullock has barely held off Greg Gianforte in Montana, and in the only Senate recount, Darryl Glenn has upset everyone by unseating incumbent Senator Michael Bennet. However. One race remains: North Carolina.

In one of the closest elections in state history, Roy Cooper only holds on by 11 votes.  McCrory has promised to fight, and another recount is underway. however, it is expected Cooper will win the election.


In huge shock to the Trump transition, CIA and other intelligence agencies report that Russia interfered in election to elect Donald Trump
Jonathan Allen, Politico, December 16th, 2016
In a political shock unlike anything seen before, the heads of the CIA and other intelligence agencies released a lengthy report, that the Russian government had actively worked by performing operations to elect Donald Trump as U.S. President. This comes as the hacktivist group Anonymous declared war on Donald Trump, and announcing they will actively work to uncover Trump's alleged treason against the U.S.

The report alleged through Wikileaks, Russia hacked the DNC and senior Clinton staffer John Podesta to be informed of information that could have been hurtful to the Clinton campaign.

The Trump Transition has not commented on this breaking news story.

[Lennis]

It's impressive you've made a timeline that makes the real world look good by comparison.

Just you wait, for a wild, wild ride.