The Political Revolution: Bernie Sanders' New Deal

[Confused Democrat]

November 08, 2016

Going into election night, most pundits and election forecasters were confident in their assessment that Bernie Sanders was going to become the next POTUS. Nate Silver put Sander's chances of winning the election at 95% and the Democrat's chances of taking back control of the Senate at 81%. Every other major election forecaster put Sander's odds at greater than 99%. However, the real focus among analysts and commentators alike was wether or not the Democrats would take back control the House and how Donald Trump was going to react to the election results.

Electoral Map as of 9:25 PM:

Bernie Sanders (D-VT) / Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): 257 EVs
Donald Trump (R-NY) / Chris Christie (R-NJ): 73 EVs


Throughout the night, various news outlets were trying relentlessly to get comments about the state of the race from Trump campaign officials, but they only got silence in return. Video feeds of Trump HQ were being broadcasted on televisions throughout the nation, and nearly every news commentator described the feeling in the room as "melancholy" and "somber" as Trump supporters became increasingly pessimistic about their odds throughout the night.

As the electoral map grew more and more dim for the Trump campaign, Trump sent out an explosive tweet claiming that the election was rigged. The tweet also said that the election shouldn't be called until there was an investigation into voter fraud, and that he would not concede the election.

This tweet sent shockwaves throughout both the media and the internet, and put pro-Trump pundits who were live on television in an awkward position where they were forced to defend a statement by their candidate that they knew was wholly indefensible.

STAND BY FOR A MAJOR CNN PROJECTION

Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord engaging in a heated debate about Donald Trump's tweet

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Sanders HQ, Burlington:

Bernie Sanders giving his victory speech before an estimated crowd of 300,000

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Final Results:

Bernie Sanders (D-VT) / Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): 402 EVs
Donald Trump (R-NY) / Chris Christie (R-NJ): 136 EVs

Closest States:

GA: D+4
MT: D+4
MO: D+2
IN: D+1
AK: D+0
TX: R+2
KS: R+3

Democrats take control of both the House and Senate.

[Confused Democrat]

Authors note: I'll be going into further detail about the new makeup of the House and Senate in my next post. I also hope for this to be an interactive timeline (see Hindsight is 2020) with users participating as pundits. Reply and claim a pundit if interested.

[Confused Democrat]

Authors note: I'll be going into further detail about the new makeup of the House and Senate in my next post. I also hope for this to be an interactive timeline (see Hindsight is 2020) with users participating as pundits. Reply and claim a pundit if interested.

I'm touched

Also, I would very much like to claim Rachel Maddow

also, how exactly did Bernie win the nomination over HRC in this verse?

To be honest, I haven't really thought about it.

If I had to say, I would say that Sanders manages to beat her decisively in Iowa and carries that momentum on to win NH and NV as well. His winning streak serves as a cushion for him in the Southern primaries, where he's still beaten but not as badly.

He over performs Obama in caucus states and the Midwest (winning states like PA, IL, OH), and Wikileaks begins leaking Podesta e-mails way before the DNC. This causes Clinton to start bleeding support, Super Delegates start defecting, etc. Sanders manages to pull off wins in states like CA and AZ, and pulls really close in states like NY and picks off a couple more North Eastern States .







 

[Confused Democrat]

Just fyi - there's a pretty major typo in the title.

Thanks, I think I got it.

[Confused Democrat]

Can Burlington even support 300,000 people for a rally?

I don't see why not.

[Confused Democrat]

Can Burlington even support 300,000 people for a rally?

I don't see why not.

That's half of Vermont's population.

True, but I'm sure accommodations can be made.

[Confused Democrat]

2016 Senate Election Results:

Democrats: 54 (+10)
Republicans: 44 (-10)

2016 House Election Results:

Democrats: 220 (+32)
Republicans: 214 (-32)

Democrats picked up every seat they won in the real 2016 election (Trump vs Clinton) plus these 26 seats:

MN-2
MN-3
NE-2
CA-10
CA-21
CA-25
CA-49
CO-3
CO-6
FL-18
FL-26
IA-1
IA-3
ME-2
NY-19
NY-22
PA-8
PA-16
TX-23
VA-10
AZ-2
KS-3
UT-4
IN-9
MI-1
MI-7

------------------------
Authors Note: Sorry for being so inactive. I've been busy with school. I'll now be starting to update this TL more frequently.

[Confused Democrat]

November 9, 2016

Even though Bernie Sanders defeated Donald Trump with a massive landslide on election night, Trump, yet again, chose to break another US tradition and refused to concede the election. Bernie Sanders did not receive a phone call on election night, and Trump did not address his supporters. Instead, Trump sent out this series of early morning tweets:

The duo appeared jubilant as the press captured images of the two laughing as they walked down the Collonade of the White House.

Their meeting was mostly focused on how to move forward quickly with Sander's legislative agenda, but the makeup of Sanders' cabinet was also discussed. With newly minted Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, Sanders wanted to learn from and avoid the mistakes that Obama made during his first term. However, there were also reports that Obama and Sanders shared a tense exchange about the fate of the TPP during their meeting, highlighting the fact that Bernie Sanders wasn't your standard issue Democratic politician.

Also, while President Obama met with President Elect Sanders, the Sanders-Warren Transition Team sent out a press release denouncing the statements Trump made on twitter earlier that morning:

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Trump Tower, New York City:

Later that night, thousands of peaceful protesters gathered outside of Trump Tower. It wasn't a planned protest or organized by any specific interest group. It seemed to spur out of blue and caught many people in the media and political establishment by surprise.

Throughout the night, protesters could be heard chanting things like "NO CONCESSION NEEDED" "THE REVOLUTION IS HERE," and "WE HAVE THE POWER." They're overarching message appeared to be that they didn't need or want validation from Donald Trump, and that they were the political revolution that elected Bernie Sanders and would change this country for the better. The atmosphere and mood in the crowd was not angry or desperate; instead it was electric, hopeful, and full of confidence. People were beginning to realize that they had the power to affect real change in this country, and they were putting the political establishment on notice.

Was this the power of Bernie Sanders political revolution coming to fruition? He seemed to think so...

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[Confused Democrat]

Btw, I'm claiming Morning Joe's Mika & Joe.

[Confused Democrat]

November 10, 2016

MIKA:

In other news, yesterday- do I really have to say his name? I'm not saying it. *audible sigh* Yesterday, in an early morning tweet storm the former Republican nominee for President of the United States made a series of unfounded and and unsubstantiated claims about the results of our elections.

Claiming, without citing any evidence whatsoever, that millions of people voted illegally, that the voting machines were faulty, and calling into question the job performances of Secretaries of States all across the country.

He went on to call President-Elect Bernie Sanders illegitimate, and announced that he would be holding  a "major" press conference today an hour after the President-Elect's press conference at noon.

*audible sigh*

JOE:

This is unacceptable Mika.

For the former Republican nominee for President of the United States to call into question, without ANY evidence at all, the legitimacy of our country's elections is reckless, un-American, and frankly damaging to our democracy and it's many important democratic institutions.

The founding fathers are rolling in their graves.

MIKA:

They are, and I'm just going to say it...

The American people really dodged a bullet with this one, because this man appears to be mentally unstable, and I'm not joking when I say that.

This is NOT normal behavior.

JOE:

I will say this though.

The Sanders-Warren Transition Team's response to this whole debacle demonstrates exactly why the voters chose Bernie Sanders on election day. It promptly called out the former Republican nominee for lying and pivoted straight to the issues that got him elected.

Like they said. This is a distraction created solely for attention, and the American people do not have time for things like this.


Washington, D.C:

The Sanders-Warren Transition Team sent out another press release that morning naming a couple of people to key White House staff positions, and pushed up President-Elect Sanders press conference to 1:00 PM, the same time as Trump's scheduled press conference. Many pundits saw this rescheduling as a strategic move by the Sanders-Warren Transition Team.

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President-Elect Sanders' Press Conference:

President-Elect Sanders and Donald Trump both held their press conferences at 1:00 PM. Every major news network carried Sanders' press conference and largely ignored Donald Trump's.

Q: What do you make of Donald Trumps comments about the legitimacy of your election and the claims he made on twitter? Do you believe there is any validity to his claims?

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Q: I'm wondering if you could comment on recent reports that came out of your meeting with Barack Obama yesterday about a clash you had with him on the TPP. Are you still planning on withdrawing from the TPP completely or are you going to look to renegotiate it in some way?

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Q: But are you going to withdraw from the TPP?

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Q: Once you take office, do you plan on re-nominating Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court? If not, could you give us some names as to who you might be considering?

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The rest of President-Elect Sanders' press conference went on for about half an hour. A lot of the questions dealt with the makeup of Sanders' cabinet, but he didn't give any hints as to who he might be nominating. There were also some questions about the fate of Obamacare. Sanders appeared to dodge the questions and continued to reiterate his support for a Medicare for all single-payer system. It wasn't clear what his first major policy item was going to be once he took office, but pundits speculated that it would either be health care, infrastructure, or education.

Trump Tower, NYC:

Trump's press conference was largely panned as a joke and unserious by media pundits. Trump reiterated his claims that millions of people voted illegally and that the voting machines were faulty. However when he was pressed by reporters to answer wether or not he was going to file for voting recounts in any of the states that he lost, he remarked:

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The response raised eyebrows, and all but confirmed to the media that this was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

[Confused Democrat]

December 01, 2016

The month of November went smoothly for President-Elect Sanders and his transition team. The hype and media coverage surrounding Donald Trump had largely died down. Trump never ended up filing for recounts in any of the states that he lost, and he never retracted his claims about the President-Elect being illegitimate and voter fraud. However, these things were irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. People were far more focused on and interested in the makeup of Sanders' cabinet.

The Sanders-Warren transition team was pumping out nominations relatively quickly compared to previous transition efforts, making seven key cabinet nominations in the month of November alone.

Sanders' Current Cabinet Nominations

Robert Reich, United States Secretary of the Treasury

Robert Reich is a political commentator, professor, and author. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.

Reich has been the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley since January, 2006. He was formerly a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and professor of social and economic policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University. He has also been a contributing editor of The New Republic, The American Prospect (also chairman and founding editor), Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Tulsi Gabbard, United States Ambassador to the United Nations

Tulsi Gabbard has been the United States Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district since 2013. Elected in 2012, she is the first American Samoan and the first Hindu member of the United States Congress and has served on both the Committee on Armed Services and Committee on Foreign Affairs. She served in a combat zone in Iraq. Gabbard served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004, becoming at age 21 the youngest woman to be elected to a state legislature at the time

Joseph Stiglitz, United States Secretary of Commerce

Joseph Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979). He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and is a former member and chairman of the (US president's) Council of Economic Advisers.

Maura Healey, United States Attorney General

Maura Healey is the current Attorney General of Massachusetts, and the first openly gay state attorney general elected in America. She graduated from Harvard College in 1992. She then spent two years playing professional basketball in Austria before returning to the United States and receiving a Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law, in 1998. After clerking for federal judge A. David Mazzone, she worked in private practice for seven years, also serving as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County.

Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as Chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She was then appointed Chief of the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau and then Chief of the Business and Labor Bureau.

Larry Cohen, United States Secretary of Labor

Larry Cohen is the former president of the Communications Workers of America, a 700,000 member labor union representing workers in Canada and the United States. Cohen has chaired major contract negotiations in both the public and private sectors, at employers including Verizon and AT&T, as well as Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility). He is also a founder of American Rights at Work, and a member of the Democratic National Committee.

Patty Judge, United States Secretary of Agriculture

Patty Judge served as the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011, and previously as the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007.

Michèle Flournoy, United States Secretary of Defense

Michèle Flournoy is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the seventh-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Defense, and in that role served as a principal advisor to U.S. Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and Leon Panetta from February 2009 to February 2012.

She currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group and as a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She also serves as CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which she co-founded with Kurt M. Campbell in 2007.

The Next First Lady:

Katie Couric sits down with the next First Lady, Jane Sanders

COURIC:

When was the first moment that it began to sink in that you were going to be the First Lady of the United States? Do you remember?

SANDERS:

To be honest, I don't really know if it's fully sunk in yet. I remember watching the results roll in on election night, and it was just an absolutely surreal moment when I saw my husband's picture pop up on the screen with a caption reading "President-Elect Bernie Sanders."

COURIC:

What were you thinking in that moment?

SANDERS:

It was a whole mess of emotions...

*chuckles and begins to tear up a bit*

Bernie and I turned towards each other, no words, and I just gave him the biggest hug I think I've ever given him in my life. *wipes away a tear* I remember thinking how much this must have meant to him, and how much this was going to mean to all of his supporters. I mean, Bernie came from nothing. And it's just so incredibly humbling to me that the people of this great nation chose him to be their President.

*sniffles and chuckles*

I'm sorry, you've got me crying now.

COURIC:

Don't worry, it's perfectly okay. It must have been an extremely emotional moment for you and your family.

SANDERS:

It was...

COURIC:

You're a successful woman. President of two colleges, key advisor to your husband, First Lady of Burlington, and now First Lady of the United States. How do you plan to imprint on your new role?

SANDERS:

Well, Bernie and I traveled all across this country during the campaign, and one thing we did everywhere we went was listen. We just listened. We listened to the many grievances facing the working and middle class of this country, and one thing that stuck out to me everywhere we went was the serious opioid epidemic that's gripping this country.

I think that's what my first priority is going to be as First Lady. Figuring out a way to solve this opioid epidemic.



 

[Confused Democrat]

December 09, 2016

On the evening of December 8th the Sanders-Warren transition team began notifying the press that President-Elect Sanders was going to be making a major announcement tomorrow afternoon. The transition team was very vague regarding the specifics of the announcement, only detailing that it would have something to do with the filling of a cabinet post. This led to late night cable news shows dedicating most of their time to speculating who and what cabinet post President-Elect Sanders would be filling.

The general consensus from most reporters was that the announcement was most likely going to be Sanders' pick for Secretary of State, since that is widely considered to be one of the most high profile and import cabinet positions in any new administration.

The Sanders-Warren transition team was extremely tight lipped about the whole thing, but that didn't stop the media from putting together a shortlist based on sources "close to the transition team." By the end of the night heading into early morning, the list had been narrowed down to three names with one person emerging as the frontrunner.

Later that afternoon...



BREAKING NEWS: SANDERS NAMES HILLARY CLINTON AS NEXT HHS SECRETARY

The announcement came as an utter shock to those in the media establishment and even more so to the base that elected Bernie Sanders in November. Reporters and news anchors were genuinely perplexed by Sanders' choice of Clinton as HHS Secretary. She was no doubt highly qualified for the job, but Sanders campaigned on a medicare for all single payer healthcare system while Clinton campaigned on a more incremental approach bashing Sanders' plans as unrealistic and too idealistic.

What had changed?

Hillary Clinton delivered some relatively short but extremely powerful remarks. She talked about how Sanders renewed her faith in accomplishing single-payer healthcare in the United States and harkened back to the days when she first started working on healthcare reform in 1993. She reminisced about how she always dreamt big back then but lost that sense of idealism along the way as the years of constant gridlock grated on her.

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She capped off her remarks by giving Sanders a warm hug and thanked him again.

Her remarks were praised by those in the media as being honest, genuine, and moving. Her remarks were also well received by the public.

[Confused Democrat]

January 20, 2017:

The much-anticipated day had finally arrived for the Sanders/Warren Transition Team. The candidate that they had all worked so hard to elect was finally being inaugurated President of the United States. It was a truly emotional day for many Americans, and they chose to show their support by turning out in unprecedented numbers on inauguration day. Shattering the record set by former President Barack Obama, Sanders' inauguration drew a crowd of over 2.1 million people between the Capitol steps and Lincoln's feet. There were also multiple demonstrations of joy by progressives in capitals across Europe and major cities throughout the United States.

Sanders, instead of swearing his oath of office over a religious text, chose to swear his oath over a copy of the U.S. Constitution, perhaps setting a new precedent for future U.S. Presidents.

President Sanders giving his inaugural address to an estimated crowd of 2.1 million people

President Sanders gave a rousing inaugural address in which he made several newsworthy announcements. He announced that he plans to pass a universal healthcare bill within the first year of his presidency. He also alluded to a major infrastructure bill that he plans to introduce within his first 100 days in office. He spoke much about unity, the working class, and how respect for American democracy had surged around the world.

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Liberal media pundits lauded the speech as unifying, optimistic, and awe inspiring. Comparing President Sanders to FDR. On the other side of the political spectrum, right wing media pundits decried the speech as being Marxist-Lenninist, reminiscent of Fidel Castro, and one of the darkest moments in American history. The contrast in coverage was stark and highlighted the toxicity of America's media landscape.

Hours after Sanders inauguration:

BREAKING NEWS: MCCONNELL GIVES A STUNNING PRESS CONFERENCE

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave a stunning press conference hours after President Sanders' inauguration in which he rebuked the President's inaugural address and committed to making Sanders a one term President, the same commitment he made during former President Obama's tenure as president.

Q: President Sanders outlined in his inaugural address this morning that he plans to get a major infrastructure bill through Congress within his first 100 days in office and a universal healthcare bill by the end of his first year. Can you see yourself working with the President and Democrats on those two agenda items?

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Q: Did the Democrats not win a mandate with this election? How can you possibly say those things if a vast majority of the American people elected Democrats across the board?

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Q: Will you consider confirming the President's nominee for SCOTUS if he/she is a qualified but liberal leaning judge?

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McConnell's press conference was short but blunt. He effectively communicated to the newly minted Sanders administration that Republicans will not compromise, they will obstruct, and that they consider President Sanders their enemy.

Shortly after McConnell's press conference:

BREAKING NEWS: FIRST WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING

Press Secretary Jeff Weaver holds his first White House briefing

Q: What is the White House's response to minority leader McConnell's pledge to make President Sanders a one term president?

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Q: McConnell also promised to obstruct. Stating that he would use the filibuster to block the President's SCOTUS nominee and universal healthcare bill. Will the administration consider pushing for the abolishment of the filibuster on SCOTUS nominees?

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Q:You didn't answer my question. Is getting rid of the filibuster on SCOTUS nominees something the administration plans on pushing?

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Weaver's comments were considered explosive, but his briefing sent a clear message to Congressional Republicans. The Sanders administration was not going to make the same mistakes the Obama administration did when they had majorities in both chambers of Congress. If Republicans want to continue to obstruct, Democrats will just work around them.

Democrats have the power now, and they sure as hell aren't afraid to use it.

Five cabinet secretaries were confirmed on Sanders' first day in office:

26th United States Secretary of Defense, Michèle Flournoy

69th United States Secretary of State, Jim Webb

11th United States Secretary of Education, Carmen Fariña

17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Jealous

31st United States Secretary of Agriculture, Patty Judge

The Sanders administration had a busy and successful first day in office. They managed to get five members of their cabinet confirmed by the Senate, with a few historic additions. Michèle Flournoy being the first woman to become Secretary of Defense and Carmen Fariña becoming the first hispanic woman to serve as Secretary of Education.

However their first day did not come without pitfalls. The Sanders administration originally had seven cabinet nominees slated to be confirmed on the President's first day in office, but Republicans managed to delay two of them.

Republicans begin their obstruction campaign:

[Confused Democrat]

How did you do these photoshops?

I'm just good with the program lol.

[Confused Democrat]

How did you do these photoshops?

I would imagine that most of these are just copy-pasting new text on already-existing images, which isn't hard to do.

I think he's referring to the images of Jane Sanders with Couric, Weaver at the podium, and Sanders at the inauguration. Those were tougher to do.

[Confused Democrat]

Any updates?

Soon, I just got back from vacation.