Hillary wins in 2016 a behind the scenes look at the next four years and beyond

[MATTROSE94]

Does COVID 19 exist?

Yes it will happen in the same time period as real life. Were still in late 2016 in the TL.

Okay. I understand, as it started in China and has nothing to do with American politics.

A better President like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, or Jen Bush could have minimized the impact of the Coronavirus in the US and kept the deaths down to about 1,500.

[Samof94]

Does COVID 19 exist?

Yes it will happen in the same time period as real life. Were still in late 2016 in the TL.

Okay. I understand, as it started in China and has nothing to do with American politics.

A better President like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, or Jen Bush could have minimized the impact of the Coronavirus in the US and kept the deaths down to about 1,500.

That’s a bit unrealistic tbh. Having it be  under 100,000(akin proportionately to Canada) is more realistic. Having President Clinton, Romney in his second term, or someone who wasn’t on the Apprentice there would have caused fewer people to die, but the virus spreads too rapidly for your scenario to work.

[MATTROSE94]

Does COVID 19 exist?

Yes it will happen in the same time period as real life. Were still in late 2016 in the TL.

Okay. I understand, as it started in China and has nothing to do with American politics.

A better President like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, or Jen Bush could have minimized the impact of the Coronavirus in the US and kept the deaths down to about 1,500.

That’s a bit unrealistic tbh. Having it be  under 100,000(akin proportionately to Canada) is more realistic. Having President Clinton, Romney in his second term, or someone who wasn’t on the Apprentice there would have caused fewer people to die, but the virus spreads too rapidly for your scenario to work.

Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Jim Webb, and Rand Paul would have handled the Coronavirus poorly as well. I think that Marco Rubio probably handles the Coronavirus pretty good as well if he was elected.

[Samof94]

Does COVID 19 exist?

Yes it will happen in the same time period as real life. Were still in late 2016 in the TL.

Okay. I understand, as it started in China and has nothing to do with American politics.

A better President like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, or Jen Bush could have minimized the impact of the Coronavirus in the US and kept the deaths down to about 1,500.

That’s a bit unrealistic tbh. Having it be  under 100,000(akin proportionately to Canada) is more realistic. Having President Clinton, Romney in his second term, or someone who wasn’t on the Apprentice there would have caused fewer people to die, but the virus spreads too rapidly for your scenario to work.

Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Jim Webb, and Rand Paul would have handled the Coronavirus poorly as well. I think that Marco Rubio probably handles the Coronavirus pretty good as well if he was elected.

True, quite true.  Remember that a lot of countries that handled it well early have most control. Israel is an extreme example.

[Politics Fan]

Terry McAuliffe. (2020, October 15). Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_McAuliffe

November 21st 3:27 PM: Ralph Northam Governor why can't you just appoint yourself?

Terry McAuliffe: It would look bad besides I want the incumbency advantage over anyone. I have the monetary advantage and the establishment will support me.

Ralph Northam: [sigh] I have no issue with you in the Senate but I still don't get how this is bad optics.

Terry McAuliffe: It didn't go well the last time a Gov appointed themselves. Ralph this isn't a big deal I resign than you appoint me. You'll get an incumbency bonus...

Ralph Northam: Fine I'll do it.

Terry McAuliffe: Good good I'll resign in a few days and you appoint me. Kaine will be stepping down November 30th.

-----------------------------------------------

11:17 am Chuck Schumer: So were going to talk to Flake today. John McCain will talk to if we need another person. He has said he before he may be open to leaving the seat open though I think we can sway him.

Hillary Clinton: So we can talk afterwards. I think we should have a general strategy meeting and include [sigh] Sanders. We need to ensure we still learn something from our near defeat and have a strong plan for 2017 and 18. [phone rings] got to get going it's Terry.

Chuck Schumer: Hello Jeff I would like to talk to you about Hillary's cabinet and Garland.

Jeff Flake: Sure I guess before you say anything more yes I think they should get hearings and no I don't know if I want to support them.

Chuck Schumer: That's ok Jeff if you want to meet with them you can. Can I at least get you to sign this forum.

Jeff Flake: Sure I can meet with them. Hmm well Mitch and the Caucus will see that?

Chuck Schumer: What's the problem he's going to have to see it. Are you really scared of angering him?

Jeff Flake: Well I don't want to tick of the leadership but it just upsets me we aren't honoring the will of the people.

Chuck Schumer: Sometimes in life you need to take a stand in what you believe in even if it ends up upsetting others. I won't force you to sign anything but I really would like to see you do so.

Jeff Flake: Ok I'll sign just hope nothing negative happens to me.

Chuck Schumer: Thank you. You are always welcome to caucus with us if your not comfortable with Mitch.

Jeff Flake: Thank you for the offer but no thanks. I am a Conservative.

[Politics Fan]

Republican Party (United States). (2020, October 18). Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

8:13 PM Donald Trump: Paul we need to stop playing surrender politics with the left. Crooked media RINOs we need to stand up to them K. We lost cause we lost the messaging war. Can you believe people thought I was racist? Sexist? Xenophobic? I love the blacks women and Muslims and the only reason people thought otherwise was the crooked slanderous media.

Paul Ryan: Well you did propose the Muslim ban and on tape...

Donald Trump: That was a decade ago and I apologized. It was not a ban on Muslims it was a country ban and the media distorted it. Once again if Republicans had clearly sided with me instead of being useful..

Mitch McConnell: Folks can we please settle down and focus I brought us all in to talk about lessons from 2016 and to discuss the 17 elections. I'm aware mistakes were made by all of us but it's over. We need to discuss things constructively.  

Paul Ryan: I will but when Donald just admits his populism is hurting us ok. He blew a winnable election and...

Donald Trump: Look Paul if you want me to say something constructive I will. You can't try and rerun the same campaign from the 1980s over and over and expect to win. I may have failed to win but it was a heck of a lot closer than when you and Romney ran.

Paul Ryan: You did worse than Romney many places!

Mike Pence: I think we ought to at least consider rebranding some to appeal to working class whites. We shouldn't change policy that much. Look we came close and Donald surprised a lot of people his strategy worked to some extent.

Paul Ryan: Sure if we want to get 46%. We need Hispanics and African Americans.

Donald Trump: Paul unless you want to moderate on Econ you will never improve much.

Paul Ryan: Our platform appeals well to Hispanics and Blacks we just need to support Immigration reform and civil rights reform.

Donald Trump: Paul how well did that work for you in 2012?

Paul Ryan: Obama was always going to be tough to beat.

Roger Wicker: Let's just move on. Now on to 2017 our major targets should be Virginia Gov and Senate. We probably lose New Jersey Gov. Now for Gov I'll leave that up to Scott to address. For Senate we should target Barbara Comstock who impressively out ran Hillary Clinton in Virginia's tenth Congressional District.

Paul Ryan: I agree Roger this year was a bit of a set back but I'm confident that Barbara will prevail in a special election. Will be a shame to lose her in the House.

Mitch McConnell: Agreed. Are we certain she will run.

Roger Wicker: Fairly confident yes.

Donald Trump: Terrible pick we need someone that can bring the base out.

Paul Ryan: [sigh] Donald who? and please don't say Corey Stewart.

Donald Trump: Paul that is who I'm thinking of. He's a strong Conservative voice that has been elected in NOVA and can win the state.

Paul Ryan: No he can't ok. He's far too Conservative...

Donald Trump: Than why was he elected to Prince William County?

Paul Ryan: That was a lower turnout local election.

Scott Walker: Donald we are running Barbara Comstock and Ed Gillespie who are both solid Conservatives and can win in November.

Donald Trump: Scott you can support them if you want but I'm supporting Corey Stewart for Senate.

[Audible sigh from several people]

Paul Ryan: One last thing about Jeff Van Drew do we convince him to cross the aisle for Gov?

Mitch McConnell: We should save him for Senate.

[Politics Fan]

Democratic Party (United States). (2020, October 28). Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)

November 23rd 10:15 am Barack Obama: So everyone according to this Politico article Corey Stewart is close to announcing he will run for the open Senate seat in Virginia. He is supposed to make an announcement scheduled for next week and here is the best part his switch is rumored to be at the influence of Donald Trump.

Chuck Schumer: Thank you Trump. Well I guess we can't overlook him though who is the establishment running?

Barack Obama: Barbara Comstock. She is expected to announce tomorrow. Really she should be the favorite in the primary but you can never underestimate the Virginia GOP's ability to bungle a race.

Bill Clinton: Should we intervene and try and help Corey like we did with Todd.

Hillary Clinton: I would wait as long as Donald is holding rallies and such but still a TV ad touting Corey's conservative cred won't hurt.

Barack Obama: Agreed. Well we prob don't need much talk on the recruiting front this year. Phil Murphy is running in New Jersey and we have our two incumbents running in Virginia.

Tim Kaine: I think it's best we talk about lessons learned from 2016.

Barack Obama: Well we underestimated Trump which was a big mistake but really we needed to do more work at trying to get our African American and youth vote out. I suppose a stronger candidate in PA might have made the difference.  

Bernie Sanders: I know Hillary won but we need to actually try and deliver for the progressives instead of just rhetoric.

Barack Obama: Bernie we expanded health care, passed massive LGBTQ rights through EO and the courts, bailed out the auto workers and passed as strong stimulus. We tried to do more but there is only so much you can do when you have a Senate and House caucus refuse to do anything.

Tim Kaine: Besides we need to be careful not to move to far to the left and alienate are moderates.

Bernie Sanders: Why are we so scared of the 80s? Poll after poll shows voters support progressive policies such as UHC.

Hillary Clinton: I've said this before but our platform is significantly progressive. Myself and this admin have many desires: Immigration reform including the Dream act/Cap and trade/public healthcare option. None of this is going anywhere with Republicans in charge.

Bernie Sanders: We need to at least fight for these policies. That is how you get young people to turn out.

Hillary Clinton: Lose a Suburbanite for a Young voter if we move too far left. Look your coalition is going to have turnout issues as well. I'm not saying you can't win but let's not pretend you would have done better than me.

Barack Obama: We can't give people false hope. We have to be pragmatic. I believe a day will come where we can pass all these progressive policies.

Tim Kaine: Anyway what is the status on the Cabinet and SC?


Hillary Clinton: I have 51 Senators that support hearings and am going to talk to Mitch this week and put pressure to get hearings.

[Politics Fan]

Mulero, E. (2020, May 19). Infrastructure Funding in Limbo as House, Senate Weigh Options. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.ttnews.com/articles/senate-proceeding-serious-work-mitch-mcconnell-says

November 24th 10:00 am Mitch McConnell: Good morning Hillary! Congrats on your victory!

Hillary Clinton: Thanks and same to your side in the Senate! I have...

Mitch McConnell: Now that we have gotten are pleasantries out of the way as long as I am Senate majority leader the Scalia seat will remain vacant.

Hillary Clinton: I have a sheet of paper with 51 senators supporting hearings.

Mitch McConnell: I don't care about any sheet. Republicans won the Senate meaning the American people entrust us to decide on the Supreme Court and any appointments and it is clear to me they don't want a liberal hack judge filling that seat. Now if you have a true Constructionist judge waiting in the wings than maybe I'll reconsider.


Hillary Clinton: Just be warned I will be filling that seat with a recess appointee if you don't grant a hearing.

Mitch McConnell: I can assure you we don't plan to be in recess for a long time [chuckles]


Hillary Clinton:  Your party is going to regret it's policies on the Supreme Court someday and it may happen sooner than you may think.

Mitch McConnell: Now don't get so heated. It's just politics. You'll like this I'm going to allow some of your proposed cabinet a hearing. Now show me your list

Hillary Clinton: Wow that is so generous [smirking]. Just beware I can play fire to. You will regret this. Here is my list.

Mitch McConnell: Hmm... that is a lot of questionable choices. Don't see a lot here. I guess I can do Fudge Biden Sandlin and Rice for now.


Hillary Clinton: Come on you can do better than that. I shouldn't even need to be negotiating this with you and tell you what if you aren't going to cooperate I'll get a pair to pull a Jeffords.


Mitch McConnell: Nice try [laughter] look because you at least tried to bluff. I'll give you two more choices. Who is it going to be and Warren and Feingold are no's.

Hillary Clinton: I'm not joking. So what is it going to be Mitch.

Mitch McConnell: You choose two more officials right now or the offer is off the table.

Hillary Clinton: Fine Susan Davis and Diana DeGette.

Mitch McConnell: Very well than. Thanks bye.

[Politics Fan]

Baker, P. (2020, August 24). Radical Break From Tradition: Trump Stages Part of His Convention From the White House. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/us/politics/trump-nomination-white-house.html

4:45 PM Hillary Clinton: Well at least I got some hearings for cabinet members. I'm not giving up.

Bill Clinton: How many did we get?

Hillary Clinton: Six.  Fudge Biden Sandlin Rice Davis DeGette.

Chuck Schumer: That's better than I had feared. I assume no go on the Court.

Hillary Clinton: Yeah. Though I am going to appoint someone during a recess appointment. Mitch isn't winning this one.

Barack Obama: Mitch is ruthless. We might have to wait a while. Though we probably don't have much other choice. I assume no one switching.

Hillary Clinton: I won't give up on it but no I don't see that. Lisa Susan and Jeff are all a no and who knows about John but that won't be enough.

Tim Kaine: How about we offer to appoint a moderate judge that is about where Kennedy or Roberts is.

Barack Obama: No. Mitch would never accept he suffered no consequences from keeping this seat open for months and he won't now. Besides even if he did we can't just betray the base like that and give away a court seat. Our best bet Hillary is to keep the fire under Republicans. Constantly attack Mitch, unveil your whole cabinet and keep your base energized and maybe we can avoid a thrashing in 2018 and have a decent night in 2017. The races in 2017 are in good places for us if our voters show up.


Hillary Clinton: I agree with Barack on this. We need to keep the base fired up and enter survive and advance mode. I can at least some things done via EO and we can hope state dems get stuff done at the state level. I'm going to meet with Dem Govs with trifectas to see if we can pass some left wing policy via the states. We need to keep these state houses and try and expand for redistricting and policy wise. Will hope Mitch is forced into bringing the Senate into recess

[Samof94]

Who is running in the major races of 2018?

[Politics Fan]

Who is running in the major races of 2018?

Non one major has announced so far. Though some announcements will happen soon.

[Politics Fan]

Koma, A. (2017, July 21). Corey Stewart running for U.S. Senate in 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/prince_william/corey-stewart-running-for-u-s-senate-in-2018/article_fdc55c5a-6744-11e7-a8db-9f8a523457a2.html

5:00 PM December 1st Wolf Blitzer: Welcome to the situation room I'm Wolf Blitzer and we will start with tonight's politics lead. Conservative grassroots favorite and Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Corey Stewart is set to announce his bid for US Senate in Virginia alongside former Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. Let's take a look.

Donald Trump: Crooked Hillary Clinton is set to become President [crowd jeers and boos] and that means we need to elect a strong Conservative voice to her hold her to account [cheers]. While the Democratic and Republican establishments want candidates as Senator that are willing to aid crooked Hillary in her destructive agenda we have a candidate right here that WILL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT stand up to CROOKED HILLARY CLINTON [Loud cheers]. I present your next Senator Corey Stewart.

Paul Ryan: [looks away from TV] NO! Enough with these stupid chants [tense tone] and anti establishment candidates. Why can't we just nominate main street people is that so much to ask. Now we even have the Donald trotting around an un electable candidate that will risk sinking our entire 2017 slate.

Mitch McConnell: Calm down Paul! We need not to panic the primary is in June and while the primary could be close our internal polling shows Barbara Comstock up 37-21 with 7% going to someone else and 35% undecided.


Paul Ryan: That is 35% undecided how are we supposed to extrapolate from that.

Roger Wicker: Look Paul it's going to be a close race but most people in our poll that know Barbara seem to like her. Besides Trump never won the state primary by a large margin. We already have ad buys ready to go starting in January and am confident we can win this race.


Paul Ryan: What about the Donald?

Roger Wicker: As I said he only got 35% in Virginia so I don't think he will be able to drag Stewart across the line. Besides Barbara is not some RINO and is a solid Conservative. Anyway we will start to have more meetings in January after Christmas about 2017 and 2018 but this is so far what were thinking of for 2018:

Top Targets

West Virginia-Evan Jenkins (Probably running)
Indiana: Mike Pence (Confirmed)
Missouri: Ann Wagner (Likely to run)
North Dakota: Kevin Cramer (have to talk to him)
Montana: Ryan Zinke (have to talk to him)
Florida: Rick Scott is my hope (Have to talk to him). Trump has said he wants to move and run.
Ohio: Josh Mandel (Probably running)

Intermediate targets
Michigan: Candice Miller (Have to talk to her)
Pennsylvania: Brian Fitzpatrick (Have to talk to her)
Wisconisn: Sean Duffy (Undecided on running. If he runs this is a top tier)  
New Jersey: Jeff Van Drew (Target to switch parties. If he runs this is top tier)

Any of these intermediate tier targets become top tier if we get our top targets or someone similar to run.

We also will keep our eyes on New Mexico and Minnesota. Overall this list can change in the coming months. We will talk again in January.

Paul Ryan: Thanks! So one last thing Mitch what is the status with the Court seat.

Mitch McConnell: Were leaving the seat open and avoiding any recess sessions so Hillary won't appoint someone without senate confirmation.

[Politics Fan]

Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.aoc.gov/what-we-do/programs-ceremonies/inauguration

Elena Kagan January 20th 2017 12:00 PM: Please Repeat after me:

I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.]


Tim Kaine: I, (Tim Kaine), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.]

Elena Kagan: Congrats Mr. Vice President [Loud Cheers]

John Roberts: Please repeat after me:

I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States

Hillary Clinton: I, (Hillary Clinton), do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

John Roberts: Congrats Madam President [Loud Cheers] [Hillary! Hillary!]

------

Hillary Clinton: [Inauguration speech] [Loud Cheers] [Hillary!] Thank You! Thank You!

Tonight marks the end of a two month transition of power between former President Barack Obama and myself. Before I go further I would like to thank Barack for his eight plus years of loyal service to this great country! [cheers] He lead us out of a period of economic depression and into a period of economic prosperity. [cheers]

Inauguration day to me symbolizes the ratification of the will of the people. Elections belong to the people and on these occasions their choice gets to be ratified. As President it is my responsibility to uphold the will of the people and fight every single day for all of America no matter who they voted for or if they voted in 2016. [cheers]

Together we will continue to fight to keep our economy strong and ensure everyone can get ahead. We will together continue to fight climate change to ensure this is not a problem that will continue to harm us and our children future. We will fight fight to end racial discrimination and end the gender pay gap.

We have so much work ahead of us and the work just begins today if the unveiling of our cabinet that will help guide our country through the next four years and beyond. Thank you! [Cheers]

[Samof94]

Nice!!! You got Mike Pence to run.

[Utah Neolib]

Bump

[BigVic]

Trump acting as 2020 OTL thinking election was stolen in MI, PA and WI especially calling Milwaukee, Philly and Detroit as crooked cities for voting for Hillary.

[Chips]

Interesting.

[Politics Fan]

Citation: File:capitol-senate.jpg - wikimedia commons. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capitol-Senate.JPG

2:30 PM Hillary Clinton: Mitch! (calls from a distance)

Mitch McConnell: Hillary. What do you?

Hillary Clinton: That's President to you. [Glances down] I want to know why have you only decided to schedule Stephanie Herseth Sandlin appointment for Agriculture right now. What about the others? We had a deal?

Mitch McConnell: We did I said I would give them hearings. Look I we will do one at a time. It's not like those positions need to be filled right now. We have plenty of liberals in the cabinet right now.

Hillary Clinton: Every President gets their picks to have a hearing. I want the same. Is that too much to ask. Look cooperate now or else I will find a way to get around your obstructionism.

Mitch McConnell: The American people made it clear they want a strong check on your power and like the Conservative approach to the legislative branch. Also [chuckles] your side isn't winning the Senate in 2018 or getting one let along two Republicans to switch sides. Anyway I have to get going.

-----------------------------------

GOP Conference call 7:00 PM January 22 2017 Roger Wicker: JEFF DID WHAT?

Paul Ryan: Roger it's one petition and one twitter post please calm down. He's still a Republican and while I don't like his approach he's welcome to disagree with the party.

Roger Wicker: He's saying he doesn't like our approach. We can't let this narrative start that the Senate needs to bend to the will of whatever the President wants.

Mitch McConnell: Look the fact that he's going on CNN is concerning. I am going to talk to him but his opinion is irrelevant. I can say the caucus will probably provide enough votes to get Hillary's cabinet that were allowing hearings to get confirmed.

Paul Ryan: Also I am going to talk to Jeff Van Drew about switching we just need a good pretense for switching and if my sources are correct we may have the leverage [chuckle]. 

 

[BigVic]

Glad it’s back. Hillary will be a lame-duck President I’m afraid with a Republican winning in 2020

[Politics Fan]

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, April 15). James Comey. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Comey#/media/File:James_Comey_official_portrait.jpg

January 23rd 10:00 am James Comey: Madam President thanks for inviting me I think I know what this is about [nervousness]

Hillary Clinton: James I'm going to be honest here I greatly respect your service in both the FBI and Justice department however in my mind it's time for a change in leadership. I would like to thank you for your service.

James Comey: [somber voice] I understand and I wish you the best of luck in your Presidency.

------------------------------------

2:30 PM Mitch McConnell: Jeff we need to talk.

Jeff Flake: If this is about the CNN thing than I promise not to throw you or the party under the bus. I just want the American people to hear my point of view. I believe for the sake of good governance the proposed cabinet and Garland deserve hearings. I just want them to get a chance.

Mitch McConnell: Jeff do you really want him on the court overturning decades of Conservative progress all for the sake of not hurting peoples feelings and "good governance". The American people had their chance to reject our approach in November and they reinforced it instead. Besides the less objectionable cabinet picks are getting hearings.

Jeff Flake: [long pause] No like I probably won't vote for him. I just think he deserves a chance. What is wrong with that?

Mitch McConnell: Why tempt fate? Besides than we make a fool of ourselves over flip flopping on the whole thing. Than after that we have no moral authority to say no to more hearings because we allowed one.

Jeff Flake: What about a compromise choice?

Mitch McConnell: COMPROMISE? Your not going to compromise on the future of the Supreme Court and by proxy future of the country. Neither of us is doing that. Can you imagine how angered the base would be if we did so. Look all I ask is you try and be a team player on this. I get you disagree but it’s important we remain a strong team.

[Politics Fan]

Citation: Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, April 10). Chris Van Hollen. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Van_Hollen#/media/File:Chris_Van_Hollen_official_portrait_115th_Congress.jpg

January 25th 4:55 pm Chris Van Hollen: Kyrsten it’s possibly Kelly Ward ok

I don’t care that Jeff is running he’s angering people and could lose the primary

Yes a Democrat hasn’t won for the Senate since 1988 and the state voted for Trump. It’s still possibly Kelly Ward. Please at least consider running

Fine if you decide to run at a later date you are welcome to run and you’ll have our support just like you would in the house.

Phone ringing Chris Von Hollen: Yes Chuck I’m ready for the meeting. So it sounds like Krysten Sinema isn’t going to run. Also I talked to Joe Manchin and he’s mulling retirement same with Bill Nelson and Bob Casey Jr.

Chuck Shumer: Well that probably takes West Virginia out of play if Manchin chooses not to run again. Even if Ward were to win the primary that was still going to be a tough pull. We can save Sinema for a better year. Florida and Pennsylvania are tough regardless. Anyway I’ll ask the others but I think this is a fair early target map for senate:

Priority holds:
Florida (Nelson for now) undecided
Ohio (Brown) likely running
Missouri (McCaskill) running
Indiana (Donnelly) running
Montana (Tester) likely running
West Virginia (Manchin) undecided
North Dakota (Heitkamp) likely running

Likely Competive
Wisconsin (Baldwin) running
Pennsylvania (Casey) undecided (moves to priory if open)
Michigan (Stabenow) likely running
Virginia (McAuliffe) running

Republican held Targets
Nevada (Rosen) undecided
Arizona (Stanton for now?)

Hillary Clinton: So we don’t have many targets? At least our incumbents are for the most part running. Still I would like to at least have a chance to win the senate.

Chuck Shumer: It’s pretty unlikely we can win control. Our best strategy is hold all the Clinton seats and maybe 2-3 Trump won states like Florida /Ohio and Montana or Missouri and maybe win a Nevada. If we can keep our losses at a minimum we may be able to win senate control in 2020 or 2022 depending on the Presidential results. I hate to sound like a downer but that’s probably the reality next year.

Chris Van Hollen: I agree sadly also if a seat like West Virginia opens up we’re best just defer resources to states like Florida or the Midwest. If this does make us feel better a recent poll showed Corey Stewart down only 38-33 in this years senate primary. So maybe will catch a break (chuckles)