The Unlikely Rebel: President James B. Comey

[Progressive]

Stay tuned.

[Progressive]

How We Got Here: Part 1

Vice President-elect Meg Whitman of California speaking at the Comey-Whitman independent convention in Pittsburgh in September 2020. Whitman promised her ticket would deliver a fiscally competent, reformed, socially-progressive government.

But before all that, there was...

Tulsi Gabbard was never supposed to win the Democratic nomination. As soon as Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that he would not run, Gabbard jumped into the race with much of the same infrastructure that Sanders had in 2016. But the presence of other progressives and Vice President Biden made the road tough for Tulsi.

Other candidates included Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Cuomo, Sherrod Brown, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Luis Gutierrez, and Howard Schultz. Far fewer Democrats ran than was expected.

Iowa: Early polls showed a cake walk for Joe Biden, with Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown trailing behind. Eventually, a super-PAC affiliated with the Gabbard campaign began launching anti-Biden ads, connecting him to Hillary Clinton and the DNC establishment. Biden's favorability remained the same, but he no longer attracted the same amount of support in Iowa. Biden went from 40% in the polls to the upper 20s. Eventually, Warren and Brown lost luster. Tulsi Gabbard rose.

RESULTS: 31% Biden, 29% Gabbard, 19% Warren with the rest of the pack much lower. Joe Biden won the Iowa Caucuses.

New Hampshire: The Granite State is where it all went wrong for the Democrats. Elizabeth Warren dropped out after Iowa, endorsing Biden. All of the other candidates dropped out too. Gillibrand and Harris backed Biden as well, but, fascinatingly, Cuomo, Schultz, Gutierrez, and Brown backed Gabbard. The weekend before the primary, Bernie Sanders endorsed Tulsi Gabbard, calling her an "end to the status quo, the death blow to the DNC establishment. The end of corporate Democrats like candidates past."

That night, Hillary Clinton tweeted her endorsement of Joe Biden. The proxy war had begun again.

RESULTS: 54% Gabbard, 43% Biden

South Carolina: At a rally in Charleston, Barack Obama backed Joe Biden for president. But a fascinating thing was happening. Gabbard was winning young black voter according to polls, while Biden won older black voters handily. White voters were split.

RESULTS: 53% Biden, 45% Gabbard

It wasn't enough for Biden. Gabbard had begun to eclipse him in the polls nationally.

Nevada: Gabbard 55%, Biden 44%

California: (moved early to February) Gabbard 54%, Biden 44%

"I don't feel the love," the former Vice President told his wife, Jill. "We're not going to make it through this thing." The next day he dropped out. Tulsi Gabbard's nomination was contentious and there were walkouts and various protests throughout the Democratic convention in Detroit. By late October 2020, only 72% of Democrats said they supported the Democratic nominee. Sherrod Brown was Tulsi Gabbard's running mate.

Meanwhile, President Trump continued to implement his agenda, piecemeal, with virtually no legislative accomplishment in Congress. The Democrats took back the House in 2018, with numerous Democrats losing primaries to more progressive members. Trump was running on the status quo. His son in law, Jared Kushner, was convicted in September 2020 for various crimes. His administration was in shambles. But aside from minor challengers, he easily survived re-nomination. 

NEXT: HOW COMEY GOT IN; ELECTION NIGHT 2020

[Progressive]

ELECTION NIGHT 2020

GABBARD       262 EV, 40.0%
TRUMP         106 EV, 30.0%
COMEY       170 EV, 30.0%

With the support of Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House, James B. Comey was named President and Meg Whitman was named Vice President.

[Progressive]

I know it's not what the thread means, but if Republicans are really that tired of Trump and don't want elect Gabbard, it's more likely we'd have Comey/Pence, not Comey/Whitman.

True, good observation.

In other news, this is my last "min-timeline" for a while.  I'm hoping to have a new long-term one soon that I can really get into. I've always done the mini-timelines but I'd love to actually do something long-term.