Gov. TNF (D-KY)/Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY): 398 EVs (48% PV)Gov. Cathcon (R-MI)/Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK): 140 EVs (36% PV)Sen. TJ (I-WI)/Fmr. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT): 0 EVs (16% PV)The 2016 presidential campaign turns out to be one of the messiest affairs in decades. After a long and bitter nomination campaign, Republicans nominate Governor Cathcon of Michigan, a conservative with some libertarian leanings. To solidify his conservative base, Cathcon selects outgoing Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma as his running mate. Meanwhile, Governor TNF of Kentucky, after fending off a few minor challengers, manages to capture the Democratic nomination, choosing Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York as his vice presidential candidate. TNF is a traditional New Deal liberal with some socialist tendencies. The gap between the two major candidates is frequently describes as "so small and yet so large," with both Cathcon and TNF expressing populist leanings, but with Cathcon espousing libertarian principles and TNF expressing support for democratic socialism. Repelled by the chaos of the general election, polling shows large percentages of voters expressing strong dissatisfaction with both TNF and Cathcon. In response, center-right Republican Senator TJ of Wisconsin enters the race as an independent and chooses former Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut for vice president (Lieberman had previously been Al Gore's running mate on the Democratic ticket in 2000.) He campaigns on a platform of rejecting both ideological extremes, but many voters see him as little more than a protest candidate.
On Election Day, voter turnout is the lowest in several decades; exit polls show TJ taking relatively equal percentages of support from both TNF and Cathcon, but he manages to take enough support from Republicans, which, coupled with TNF's popularity in many border states, hands several GOP-leaning states to the Democrats (including Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia.) This, in turn, helps TNF win the presidency with a solid 398-140 victory in the Electoral College.
