President Bernie Sanders and the Decline of America

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

*I do plan on continuing my still-in-progress timelines, A Different Big Accomplishment and The Democratic Revival, at some point in time, but for a while, I'm going to start off something different.*

In a never before seen technique in my timelines, I will be telling this story from the viewpoint of a politician speaking several years into the future. This is someone currently in office, their identity will be revealed at a later point.

"I remember when it all began. That fateful night of March 8, 2016. Bernie Sanders won the Michigan primary in a shock upset:

Sanders 52%
Clinton 46%
Uncommitted/Other 2%

The momentum continued on March 15, with Sanders winning in Ohio 51-48, in Missouri 53-46, in Illinois 54-45, and only losing North Carolina 45-52. I remember that night well because John Kasich dropped out after losing the Ohio Republican Primary by 700 votes.

Clinton still won Arizona 53-45 on March 22 due to hefty early vote, but Sanders responded by racking up wins in a whole host of states afterward. Clinton still won NY, MD, and DE, but by underwhelming margins of 52-47, 56-42, and 54-46, and Sanders responded with victories in PA by 54-46, in CT by 58-42, and in RI by 70-30. Sanders then won nearly all the remaining contests, with Clinton victories coming in only Guam, the Virgin Islands, DC, and New Jersey (the last of which Clinton won by just 51-49).

In the end, due to Clinton's racking up of wins early on in the calendar, Sanders came out with only a silm lead in pledged delegates that the superdelegates could easily have overridden, but Clinton decided to avoid angering the democratic base and quickly conceded the nomination to Sanders. Donald Trump had locked up the Republican nomination in Mid-May - Cruz had achieved narrow victories in Indiana and Nebraska, but suffered a campaign-ending loss in Oregon.

Sanders then proceeded to win the Presidency despite the NYT model showing Trump with a 60% chance of victory:

Sanders/Heinrich: 280
Trump/Pence: 258



It was a perfect execution of strategy. Heinrich delivered the west to the ticket and allowed Sanders to win despite Trump causing a fracture in the so called 272 firewall by winning WI. You might think that Sanders threw us a bone by letting Governor Martinez appoint a Republican Senator, but that didn't end up mattering. Senate campaigns actually saw Democrats pointing out their differences with Bernie Sanders, which resulted in several over-performances of the top of the ticket:



We did keep the house by a margin of 235-200, so at least we had that to cheer about. But it wasn't really much in the grand scheme of things. We had just entered a new era of the entire political system of our country."

[Captain Chaos]

I already figured out this story is from a Republican politician's point of view.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I already figured out this story is from a Republican politician's point of view.

Yeah that is supposed to be obvious. But I'll be giving very few clues about who exactly it is, the only stipulation is that it is someone in office somewhere, so you've got everything from City council members to congressional leadership as possibilities.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

2016 Lame Duck Session

"While not officially filing any lawsuits, Trump refused to officially concede the election for weeks, blaming it on the interference of Russian Individuals who were afraid of what he'd do as President. He said that thousands of illegal immigrants had voted in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, tipping the scales to Sanders, and that America was no longer a Democracy but a sham dictatorship of the "liberal media elites". The House Intelligence Committee immediately opened an investigation into Russian interference in the election, a move that was mocked by incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as nothing more than a "partisan joke".

As much as Trump might not have wanted to believe the election was over, one person who certainly did was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He went on national TV the day after the election and announced the Senate would immediately consider the nomination of Merrick Garland before Sanders nominated someone much more liberal. The hearing began the Monday after the election, and was over by Wednesday Afternoon. GOP members of the committee attended a "strategy and behavioral session" just before the hearing in which it was rumored that they were told to not ask any aggressive questions. Most of the committee members on both sides did not even take their second round of questioning time. A few outside witnesses were called, but less than usual. Garland breezed through the hearing. The Committee then unanimously consented to forgo written questioning, and that Friday, held a markup. At the markup, they reported out Garland by a unanimous vote of 20-0, and also reported out five Texas nominees, two Pennsylvania nominees, and one California nominee that had had their hearings but had been left to die in committee.

The next week was Thanksgiving, but when the Senate came back the week after that, it was time for the vote-o-rama on last-minute confirmations of once-terrifying Obama nominations, lest Sanders get even more liberal picks. We were to confirm every single nominee who had been granted a hearing but had not been confirmed. It was a bit weird - no Obama nominees had been confirmed since July, and a few had been stalled since their hearings back in 2014 - but everyone in the party understood it had to be done. And Dems said as long as we didn't skip over anyone, they wouldn't object. And so on the Wednesday of that week, the agreed upon debate time expired, and the Senate voted one after the other. Some votes were narrow, some votes were unanimous voice votes, but all the nominees were confirmed. I think I still have the list somewhere, it was widely publicized as a historic day for the Judicial Branch. Every network covered the votes. Ah, yes, here's the list:

Merrick Garland, to the U.S. Supreme Court
Donald Karl Schott, to the Sixth Circuit
Jennifer Klemestrud Puhl, to the Eighth Circuit
Lucy Koh, to the Ninth Circuit
Juilen Xavier Neals, to the District of New Jersey
Edward L. Stanton, to the Western District of Tennessee
Mark A. Young, to the Central District of California
Gary Richard Brown, to the Eastern District of New York
Susan Paradise Baxter, to the Western District of Pennsylvania
Robert J. Colville, to the Western District of Pennsylvania
Marilyn Jean Horan, to the Western District of Pennsylvania
John Milton Younge, to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Mary S. McElroy, to the District of Rhode Island
Clare E. Connors, to the District of Hawaii
Inga S. Bernstein, to the District of Massachusetts
Stephanie A. Gallagher, to the District of Maryland
Suzanne Mitchell, to the Western District of Oklahoma
Scott Palk, to the Western District of Oklahoma
Ronald Russell, to the District of Utah
Paul Lewis Abrams, to the Central District of California
Winfield D. Ong, to the Southern District of Indiana
Stephanie A. Finley, to the Western District of Louisiana
Claude J. Kelly III, to the Eastern District of Louisiana
Donald C. Coggins, Jr., to the District of South Carolina
Kathleen Marie Sweet, to the Western District of New York
David C. Nye, to the District of Idaho
Florence Y. Pan, to the District of D.C.
Walter David Counts, to the Western District of Texas
E. Scott Frost, to the Northern District of Texas
James Wesley Hendrix, to the Northern District of Texas
Irma Carrillo Ramirez, to the Northern District of Texas
Karen Gren Scholer, to the Eastern District of Texas
Jeanne E. Davidson, to the Court of International Trade
Elizabeth J. Drake, to the Court of International Trade
Elizabeth Ann Copeland, to the Tax Court
Vik Edwin Stoll, to the Tax Court
Nancy B. Firestone, to the Court of Federal Claims
Thomas L. Halkowski, to the Court of Federal Claims
Armando Omar Bonilla, to the Court of Federal Claims
Patricia M. McCarthy, to the Court of Federal Claims
Jeri Kaylene Somers, to the Court of Federal Claims
Frances Marie Tydingco-Gatewood, to the District of Guam

Of course, this was really more of a down-payment on Judicial vacancies than a complete fill of the courts. 20 nominations remained pending before the Judiciary Committee and would see their nominations die, having never had a hearing, and there were a number of other vacancies for which Obama had not even nominated someone for whatever reason. So there would still be plenty for Sanders to do, but it was the best that could be done to mitigate the damage. After funding the government and passing the 21st Century Cures Legislation in Early December, Congress went home for Christmas, hoping the new year would be okay."

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Sanders Cabinet Picks

"While the 114th congress had adjourned sine die, Incoming President Sanders was hard at work during the Christmas Break, announcing his new Cabinet. It was immediately praised for its great progressivism by the Media."



Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Obama Holdover)



Secretary of the Treasury Barney Frank



Secretary of Defense Jim Webb



Secretary of State Wendy Sherman



Secretary of Education Jack Markell



Secretary of the Interior Mark "Uterus" Udall



Secretary of Energy Felicia Marcus



Secretary of Agriculture Steve Beshear



Secretary of Commerce Fred Hochburg (The progressive cherry on top here is that Hochburg is openly gay)



Secretary of Labor Tom Perez (Obama Holdover)



Secretary of Transportation Michael Nutter



Secretary of Health and Human Services Neera Tanden



Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jesse Jackson, Jr.



Secretary of Veterans Affairs Heather Wilson (Token Republican)



Secretary of Homeland Security Martin O'Malley



EPA Administrator Kevin De Leon



OMB Director Peter Welch



UN Ambassador Tulsi Gabbard



US Trade Rep Gary Locke



Director of National Intelligence James Stavridis



CIA Director David S. Cohen



Administrator of Small Business Ursula Burns

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

January 2017

"I remember the last days of the Obama Administration. The new democratic senate was sworn in.

Democrats continued to allow Republicans to avoid confirming Sanders nominees to several judicial seats. It was rumored that even some in the Democratic Caucus were glad to have a slightly fewer amount of Sanders nominees. With no Attorney General Nominee to hold a hearing on due to Loretta Lynch staying on, the Judiciary Committee had time on its hands to help out. 12 Nominees from the Obama Administration would have hearings and be confirmed during these final days:

Myra C. Selby to the 7th Circuit
Rebecca Ross Haywood to the 3rd Circuit

Mary Barzee Flores, to the Southern District of Florida
Dax Eric Lopez, to the Northern District of Georgia
Terrence J. Campbell, to the District of Kansas
Donald W. Beatty, to the District of South Carolina
Patricia D. Barksdale, to the Middle District of Florida
William F. Jung, to the Middle District of Florida
Phillip R. Lammens, to the Northern District of Florida
Patricia Timmons-Goodson, to the Eastern District of North Carolina
Regina M. Rodriguez, to the District of Colorado
Anne Rachel Traum, to the District of Nevada

Meanwhile other committees were holding cabinet position hearings. A few nominees, such as token Republican Heather Wilson and moderate Jim Webb, breezed right through.
But others received a reminder that there were still conservatives in Congress. Kevin DeLeon received perhaps the harshest attacks, and was visibly sweating throughout the hearing.

Sanders's inauguration was a joke for anyone who cared about this nation. Sanders became the first president in modern history to not use the bible as his swearing in instrument. He instead used a packet that included both a copy of the U.S. Constitution and a copy of his signature medicare for all bill. He did say the entire oath, but after repeating "so help me God", he visibly showed annoyance on his face.


6 cabinet nominees were confirmed on inauguration day - Steve Beshear, Heather Wilson, Tulsi Gabbard, Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley and James Stavridis. Loretta Lynch and Tom Perez, held over from the previous administration, did not need votes and so also began serving Sanders immediately.

Additional nominees confirmed in January:


Barney Frank confirmed 64-31 on January 23
Wendy Sherman confirmed 65-32 on January 24
Jack Markell confirmed 68-30 on January 26
Felicia Marcus confirmed 57-42 on January 30

Still pending:

Udall
Hochburg
Nutter
Tanden
Jackson, Jr.
De Leon
Welch
Locke
Cohen
Burns

[Independents for George Santos]

Intriguing to see this back! Definitely still interested.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

February 2017

Nutter confirmed 60-38 on February 1
Locke confirmed 71-25 on February 2
Cohen confirmed 67-31 on February 6
Tanden confirmed 62-35 on February 8
Welch confirmed 58-41 on February 10


Udall confirmed 59-40 on February 13
Burns confirmed 53-47 on February 15
Jackson Jr. Confirmed on a party line vote of 51-49 on February 17

Hochburg confirmed on a party line vote of 51-49 on February 20

The confirmation vote for De Leon, the final nominee to be confirmed, was scheduled to take place in the balance of the week of the 20th, but Chuck Schumer was having problems with the whip count. Joe Manchin and Joe Donnelly were firm Nos on this nominee. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were in agreement to vote Present to give Schumer a longer leash, but other republicans who had been friendly to the cabinet were not so kind. Even Mark Ronchetti, the appointee to replace Martin Heinrich who had voted for every nominee except Jackson Jr. and Hochburg to boost his brand ahead of a special election, was a firm no.

Ultimately, the vote was firmly up to North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who refused to say how she would vote ahead of the vote. If she voted Aye, it would be a 49-49 tie for Heinrich to break. If she voted Present or Nay, the nomination would be dead.
On all procedural votes, Heitkamp voted Aye, and Heinrich broke the tie, which gave Schumer some level of confidence. But Heitkamp repeatedly said she still wasn't sure yet on final passage. She had a phone call with the nominee less than an hour before the vote which seemed heated.
Less than 10 minutes before the vote, Schumer came on the floor and canceled the vote. Seconds later, a tweet from Heitkamp confirmed - she had decided she would be a No.

The nomination of Kevin DeLeon was dead. We all thought that would be the beginning of the rejection of socialism. If Only that was true....