The Republican Party implodes after the Democrats gobble away at them in Congress over the 2008-2014 electoral period. An "Era of Good Feelings" results, with the only real existing party being the Democrats, holding supermajorities in both houses of Congress. A progressive coup occurs in 2016, with the Democrats nominating solid liberal
MormDem of California; he selects eclectic Georgia independent Senator
Yelnoc as his running mate to demonstrate "national unity".
Meanwhile, a hastily-organized convention of the newly-declared Socialist Labor Party in Chicago nominates labor activists
Snowstalker and TNF for President on a platform of building a socialist state in America and granting workers control of the means of production. Outraged conservatives, forced to pick between "Obama Socialism and Pure Socialism", petition to have unpledged slates nominated in several states; these mostly succeed in the Deep South and Plains states. With the Democratic ticket's victory assured in November, turnout is low across the board. Notably, TNF and Snowstalker achieve nearly 20% of the vote, mostly as a protest ticket. In addition, the unpledged tickets succeed in 10 states; these electors wind up voting for scattered conservatives in December.
Gov. MormDem (D-CA)/Sen. Yelnoc (I-GA): 467 EVs, 73.2% PVActivist TNF (SL-IL)/Activist Snowstalker (SL-PA): 0 EVs, 19.3% PVUnpledged Electors: 71 EVs, 5.6% PV
