Scorched Earth: A Short 2024 Timeline

[Octowakandi]

November 8, 2020
The Biden Residence, Wilmington, Delaware

He wanted to make the call alone. For once, he didn’t want his staff all around him. Not even his wife. He had been elected because people wanted a change, and they wanted change by going back to the way things were. Well, the way things were before the President before even, even before that. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure where he was going with this. He thinks it was Bill Clinton he was referring. What a guy, what a guy.

Joe Biden squinted as he read the numbers on the sticky note that his campaign manager, Jennifer Dillon, had given him and pressed the corresponding numbers on his Android. It was rough. In his old days, back when he was in the University of Delaware’s law school, oh boy, could he remember numbers like crazy. So many phone numbers, trying to get ahead of the game and know everybody who was anyone. Back he was young handsome Joe. Quite the looker, he’d say. All the ladies knew Joe. At least that’s what he thinks was the case. At the very least he remembered their phone numbers. Wait… Did he they cell phones back then… No, they definitely didn’t. That was in the 90s. Good times, the 90s. Bill Clinton.

“Yes?”

“Ah Mitch,” Biden said. “How are you doing this morning?” Too late he remembered it was 7 PM.

“Very good, Mr. Vice President,” came back the famously monotone voice. He didn’t say President-Elect. Biden noted that.

“Look, Mitch. I get there’s some bad blood between you and me. But it doesn’t have to be like that,” Biden said, choosing to ignore the slight. “We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other these next four years.”

The President-elect chuckled, noticing too late that it sounded more like a kitten’s cry. Silence dragged on before McConnell finally spoke.

“Mr. Vice President, I am afraid I can’t talk about this right now. We are currently uncertain as to the outcome of this ele-“

“OH COME ON, MAN!” Biden snapped. “That’s a bunch of malarkey. He ing lost, you know it, I know it, the country knows it, and frankly, he knows it. So let’s quit pussyfooting around and talk about the next four years.”

More silence. Then it broke.

“Let’s just say that the President did indeed lose and you were going to be inaugurated on January 20th.” The words came slowly, almost methodically as if the Senator from Kentucky was circling around him like a wolf around a wounded deer. “if that were the case, then it’s clear that with 52 Senate seats-“

“You might lose those seats,” Biden reminded.

“Perhaps,” McConnell admitted. “But if we don’t lose those seats, your agenda is dead on arrival.”

“I have a mandate,” said Biden weakly.

“Right. Poor Nancy with her 10 seat majority will be having a fun time, I’m sure. Regardless, I don’t intend to let you just run roughshod over me, despite your mandate. All this talk about Bernie Sanders in Labor or Elizabeth Warren in Treasury, it ain’t happening.”

“I don’t want those two in my Cabinet!” Biden chuckled, this time convincingly. “Mitch, you’ve saved me from having to explain to Andrew Yang why I was lying about bringing him into the administration. We can work together. We can make this an effective partnership. Like… uh, like. Reagan and Tip O’Neill. Or…”

Who else was a good President?

“Clinton! And uh, Gingrich?... or Dole… Lott… But look, we gotta get stuff to deal with Covid. We gotta get people wearing masks and staying home and not gathering. And we need some stimulus! You can’t blocking this stuff. Now, I know Nancy was playing hardball too, but the election is over. For the good of the country, Mitch.”

The turtle cleared his throat. “I certainly see the need for stimulus until we can mass produce a vaccine. However, I must say I am worried about the horrible cost it could have on our government debt.”

“You’re sh**ttin’ me.” Biden blurted. “Your president added like a trillion dollars to the debt and now you’re worried about deficit?!”

“Mr. Vice President, the people retained a Republican majority on the Senate and increased the Republican House membership because of basic issues. The deficit has always been one of our priorities, and while I am willing to negotiate a stimulus, I must put a hard cap at 500 billion dollars.”

“You son of a-“ Biden wanted to throw his phone out the window. “You little snake, you don’t care about governing.”

“I care about responsible governing.”

“F**k you.”

“And confirming judges. Did you hear Judge Flaum is retiring from the 7th Circuit at the end of month? Guess what I’m going to do.”

“F**k you, Mitch. I thought we could work together.”

“You’ll get a chance to confirm a couple judges. It’s not our top priority though, maybe one district court judge a month, maybe a year.”

“F**k you again. I was willing to give you a chance.”

“Your Cabinet will be heavily scrutinized. Maybe someone like Jamie Dimon for Treasury? Do you think AOC would like that?”

“F**k you. You damn soulless freak.”

“And if you even think about pressing charges on the President if he leaves office, I imagine Hunter will need to answer some questions before the Senate.”

“You know what, Mitch,” Biden’s Irish temper rose. “Two can play your game. You think you’re going to turn me into Jimmy Carter? Do you know who I am? I’m the man who just beat your mad god king, and I didn’t even have to leave my basement to do it. You think your husk of a body is going to stop me?! I’M JOE BIDEN AND I WILL F**KING BURY YOU, MITCH. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, MITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME-“











Two years later

“CNN is now projecting that Mike Lindell has defeated Tim Walz’s reelection bid and will become the next Governor of Minnesota. A really shocking result, John. Most consultants I spoke to didn’t see this as a competitive race, did they?”

“No, Wolf, they did not. Lindell, the owner and founder of My Pillow, was a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, but this is a state that Donald Trump lost by seven points. Nobody really expected it to be competitive again. But he really targeted the suburban areas of St. Paul/Minneapolis and found a surprisingly open audience for his optimistic message.”

“Sorry to interrupt you, John, but we are going to switch to Governor Chris Sununu’s victory speech for his successful election as Senator of New Hampshire.”

Jill Biden put the TV on mute while Ron Klain, the President’s Chief of Staff, had his nose down at his smartphone. “Looks like Reschenthaler is going to hold that Pennsylvania Senate seat. I told those idiots to not like Fetterman run for that seat. It should have been the other way around with Shapiro running for Senate and now both of them lost.” The President just kept looking forward at another screen where Chris Sununu wordlessly waved to the crowd.

“Why do us Democrats seem to have the worst darn luck with midterms?” Biden muttered as his wife gently stroked his arm.

Klain’s face turned pale and he looked up from his phone. “Mr. President, I hate to ask you this but can you please change the channel to TRUMP TV.”

Jill gave Klain a nasty look but the President switched dutifully to the newest sensation in the nation.

“The nation’s obviously sick of Sleepy Joe, and they don’t want to deal with the Democrats and their radical socialism. This is honestly, remember, you know all these people, remember, they came on my show, okay? They sat here and talked to me and I endorsed them. And so far, they’re all winning. It’s incredible. So I think you can call this the Trumpwave. And Sleepy Joe better watch out, because if I were to run for President again in 2024, which may not happen, I’m not guaranteeing it, you never know what happens, but if I were to, I would crush Sleepy Joe now that the China Virus is no longer making me look bad. Okay? Unfortunately Sleepy Joe probably won’t run. Kamahalala will demand she take the slot, or AOC. But I’d beat them all regardless.

“But you know, I have a big beautiful company, a tremendous company, and I’m very proud of this media empire I’ve built and I have many beautiful hotels being built around the country and one in Dubai, so I’d hate to leave that if there is somebody that can run on a platform of America First. That’s essential to me. We got all these wonderful people who love America into the House and Senate. So maybe it’s time for new people.

“So tonight, I’m announcing a weekly new show on TRUMP TV, The Contender, every Friday at 7 PM, prime time. I will be making sure we are ready to take back the Presidency on 2024 from radical leftism, from jobs fleeing this country, from harassment of people just for being conservative. We are going to make America employed again, we are going to make America strong again, we are going to make America respected again, and ladies and gentlemen, we are going to Make America Great Again! Thank you, thank you.”

The screen cut to black. It took the President a second to realize it was Jill who had shut off the TV. “Looks like we are getting Trump again,” she said with disgust.

Klain sighed deeply. Biden felt a vibration in his pocket and checked his caller ID.

INCOMING CALL: KAMALA HARRIS

Biden dropped his head towards the ground. “Come on…”

"Don't answer it," Jill advised. The President nodded.

It was going to be a long two years.

[NewYorkExpress]

Ooh, did House Republicans run on impeaching Harris and Biden?

[Octowakandi]

Ooh, did House Republicans run on impeaching Harris and Biden?

It's just your standard midterm bump! Nothing too crazy although Trump has said they should be impeached (although for what, he's unable to articulate) and some freshman R's in safe seats have definitely called for impeachment (again, on what is not said).

Surprised you found this one. I wasn't going to continue it unless there was sufficient interest. Seems like there's a lot of 2024 stories right now haha.

[KaiserDave]

Very well written. But waaaayyyy too real and painful for me to follow closely. That's just how good the writing is.

[blackentheborg]

[President Biden Democrat]

This is really scary and the thing is.... it is so realistic!

[Octowakandi]

Trump TV Headquarters, Tampa, Florida
November 8, 2022

"Cut!"

Donald Trump frowned as the cameras stopped rolling. It wasn't the best address that the Real President had given. He could feel a twitch in his nose as he spoke. No doubt that threw him off his game. It was probably that make up artist from earlier. Whatever powder they used, no doubt that was what caused his nose to twitch. Who was she anyway? Someone would have to look through her record. He didn't like her attitude. She could even be a Democrat for all he knew, or worse, a Republican that dared not vote for him. Those people had ruined America, but they were repudiated today.

Trump only looked up when he noticed the pristine glass put before him, filled near to the top with the brown fizzy liquid that was the drink of kings. He glanced up at the man who delivered his 11th Diet Coke that day.

"Good, Corey. Good timing," the President murmured as he shifted in his seat.

"Happy to serve you, Mr. President," Lewandowski grinned. He was a good boy. Always very loyal. Very loyal. Everybody had shown their true colors after the election. Some betrayed him. Some gave up all hope. It's all over, they said like cowardly sons of bitches. But Corey was here.

"What's the count?" the President demanded.

"It's about 40 seats which is pretty-"

"No no no," the President shook his head. "I don't care about Mitch or Kevin's people. I'm talking about my people. The Trump babies."

Lewandowski implausibly extended his smile even wider. "37 Congressmen and women, Mr. President! Not including the ones we already have like Gosar or Gaetz."

"That'll show them," Trump nodded. All that time, promoting these MAGA boys on Trump TV had worked after all. When has Fox and their crashing ratings ever gotten anyone elected? He remembered shortly after the election when he had considered just stating an online subscription service for Trump TV. In hindsight, there was no way he would have gotten this level of influence if he had done that. Deciding to buy OANN and Newsmax under one mega wing was one of the best decisions he could have made. Chris Ruddy was doing a great job as Executive Vice President. As long as he knew who the boss was.

He was a force now. Even Mitch couldn't deny it. They all knew what he could do. Piss him off enough and all he had to do was say the magic words, the same words he had said when he came down those escalators 6 years ago.

Downing the rest of his Diet Coke with alarming speed, he slammed down the glass and rose up from the Resolute Desk.

Well, the model of the Resolute.

He walked around the scale model of the Oval Office, motioning to Lewandowski to follow him which the advisor happily obeyed. Trump took him to the massive framed map on the wall. On it was the Electoral College, a sea of red covering Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and of course, Georgia.

"I won that twice," Trump muttered. "I won it easily. And they stole it from me. And they let them steal it from, those useless elected Republicans I got elected. They were laughing at me, they aren't laughing now."

Lewandowski nodded. "Sure thing, sir! That loser Raffensperger lost his race in the primary and our new guy won in the general. And now you have your Trumpsters in office to direct things."

The President nodded absentmindedly. He raised his hand to the map and touched Minnesota, still blue. Then he turned to Lewandowski, squinting as if he was looking into the sun.

"I won Minnesota too," he decided. "Get me a new map, Corey. One with Minnesota red."

___

Time Warner Center, New York City, New York
November 8, 2022

Election Night Coverage was where all washed up political hacks ended up. To think if a 70,000 more lazy bastards had showed up to vote in three states, she wouldn't have been here was humbling/infuriating for the former Chief of Staff in waiting.

"Huma, what do you think about these results," Wolf asked. "Surely it's a stunning rebuke of President Biden and the Democratic Party. Do you think Hillary Clinton, if she had won, would have done much better."

Ah yes, gotta love the Wolf way of pissing you off and sounding completely innocent about it. Huma forced a smile. She avoided the chuckle. She learned that real quick in politics.

"Well, I'm not going to speculate how Secretary Clinton's administration, but I will say one thing to note is that President Biden has continued to maintain high approval ratings throughout this year. What seems to be happening is that the party's approval ratings have not been able to match with Speaker Pelosi's especially quite low. But neither is Minority Leader McCarthy or Leader McConnell's very high, especially after their failure to provide substantial Covid stimulus nor did they display much leadership after the vaccine mishap. So we should not blame the administration or the Democratic Party for all this.

And I will also note that a sizable portion of all these gains are from redistricting anyway. So yes, the Republicans manipulated the public, destroyed businesses, and gerrymandered their way to a victory. I congratulate on using every dirty trick in their book."

"You can't gerrymander the Senate, Huma."

"What did you just say to me, Rick?" Abedin glared at the two timed failed presidential candidate.

"I said you can't gerrymander the Senate," Santorum snapped. "You can't gerrymander a three seat gain in the Senate no matter how hard you try."

Abedin turned away from Santorum. She thought nasty thoughts but realized they were in the same boat, doomed to a CNN panel, arguing until Judgment Day like Sisyphus with the boulder.

"Huma, what does this bode for 2024," Wolf asked.

Who the hell knows, Huma wanted to respond. Who the hell knows anything these days.

"I'd say the President has some big decisions to make here, Wolf. He first needs to decide if he's running for a second term but if not, he has to announce that early enough so other people in the party can throw their hat in the ring. It also matters who the President endorses."

"Like Vice President Harris? Or do you see someone else? Like Secretary of State Coons?"

Huma shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Wolf. I do know that whoever the nominee is has a very good chance of beating the Republican nominee. Donald Trump has suggested he will run, and if he does, he will win the nomination and lose badly. But so would anyone else the Republicans put out for they are a deeply divided party that the country just doesn't trust."

Santorum scoffed. "You don't actually think that. You don't work for the party anymore. You can be honest. And besides, considering how AOC and her 'Squad' have accusing everyone in the part-"

"Actually Rick, we do have Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with us on the other line. Let's turn to her now. Congresswoman, what do you make of tonight?"

On the screen across the studio, they could see the famous smile of the socialist rock star.

"Well, Wolf, I would say the American people are really showing how they feel about politics in this country. They are sick and tired of moderate Democrats who don't offer any solutions. Meanwhile, proud socialists like myself and Congresswoman Omar and Congresswoman Tlaib and Congressman Bowman are increasing our ranks throughout the country. We want to welcome David Kim who just won his election in California's 34th District for instance and Suraj Patel in New York. Everywhere people are just tired of politics as is."

With the cameras clearly not on the panel, Huma Abedin had a chance to be honest. Towards the screen displaying that smug face, Huma flipped the Congresswoman from New York the middle finger.

[Octowakandi]

Cabinet Room, White House, Washington DC
November 10, 2022

The Cabinet Room was one of the most photographed rooms in the White House, but one where the least amount of work occurred. It was always great for a photo-op to have the President crammed in with all his Secretaries. It gave the impression of Very Serious Work being doing, which was especially important for the White House cameraman, creating plenty of B-roll footage for campaign ads as well as distributing to the press.

“Listen up, folks. The issue here is that we can’t let these midterm results discourage us. Because we still are in control of our destiny. You know, there’s an old saying. I’m not sure where’s it from. I heard it in Delaware too, but also in the Senate. It was Senator Eastland who told it to me, but you don’t know who that is, you young’uns. Chris, do you know? Ah, a little past your time. Yeah, how about you, Ernie? You gotta know. Yeah, great guy, although very racist, but it was a different time. Half the Senate was weird like that. But here’s the thing, folks. You know told me this saying, which again, I think is from… well, he was the Senator from Mississippi so probably somewhere there. I mean, he could have gotten it from another Senator from a different state, but it’s very folksy is my point. So there’s a lot of reasons to believe it is a very special saying. But that saying…”

Kamala Harris sat very patiently, looking attentively at the President. She had mastered this ability to appear to listen without listening. In fact, one could argue that was all anyone really learned in the Senate without trying. As the President continued his pep lullaby, the Vice President noted the inability of some of the Cabinet members to really hide their inattentiveness. Not that the President minded. He was such a good sport about everything, having gone this entire two years without firing a single Cabinet member.

It was one nice difference between now and the previous administration. For the President, the Democrats completely flopping the Georgia runoffs was a benefit in that it relieved him of all those pesky promises of Cabinet positions like Bernie Sanders to Labor or Elizabeth Warren to Treasury or Andrew Yang to HUD. “Bye, Felicia” was the response to those folks as Biden instead appointing *gasp* technocrats, long time allies, and people he genuinely enjoy working with. And then of course Pete Buttigieg.

The UN Ambassador especially looked attentive, folding his hands and nodding periodically, his eyes squinted in focus at the President. The little bastard. He was trying to earn back his place in the graces of the President again after Biden shut down his proposal that Meg Whitman be fired and he replace her as Secretary of Commerce. Again, Biden doesn’t fire anyone. Doesn’t mean he likes everyone though.

When the meeting ended, Harris stood up. The President was already moving towards the door; Harris had to move past. Almost knocking over Transportation Secretary Kasich, Harris moved swiftly. Following the President, she hurried out the door and stood face to face with Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

“Madame Vice President!” he said with fake surprise. “You are moving very quickly.”

Harris looked over Klain’s shoulders. The President was rounding a corner with his entourage around him.

“Excuse me, Ron. I’m just trying to get to the President,” Harris said as she made her way past him. Klain immediately stepped in front of her.

“The President is extremely busy right now. You’re just going to have to wait for the next weekly lunch which is in…” Klain checked his phone. “In five days. Oh, how fun.”

Harris looked around to make sure nobody was overhearing. “Why are we doing this, Ron?”

“Doing what?”

“Working against each other like this. We should be working together, to create a more progressive agenda for America for the rest of the decade. As a woman of color and the first woman to become Vice-“

“Okay, I’m walking away. Don’t follow me.”

"Stop being childish?"

Klain, who had already turned away, swung back to face the Vice President.

"Are you kidding me? You want to talk to POTUS about 2024 literally the day after we got drubbed in the midterms? And I'm the one being childish?"

"I said nothing about 2024."

"Oh yes, you just want to talk to the President to chitchat about your favorite pizza toppings. For Christ's sake, Kamala, I'm just trying to help him fix the mess from four years of insane mismanagement and you're already plotting the boss's funeral? I already had to tell Pete to back off about 2024 as well."

"Pete wanted to talk to you about 2024?" This was deeply disturbing. If Buttigieg was already making a play this early, that means all bets were off. Everyone, from Cuomo to Kloubachar must be making their steps towards the throne. Harris would need to move even fa-

"Is this all you people think about?!" Klain could hardly suppress his rage. "We have a President. He is elected now. Can you f**king pay attention to here and now instead of fantasizing about what happens in two years? Jesus Christ. Look, Madame Vice President," he said icily, "you're going to have your lunch with POTUS in five days. I will call you if we need you before then."

Klain moved improbably quickly to catch up to Biden’s entourage. Harris gritted her teeth. “Okay, you win this round, Tubs," she thought. She needed to get ahead of the curve. She was the Vice President, for f**k's sake! She should have first dibs. Wasn't that the entire point of picking her? Klain may be salty, but that was just what happens with overly attached staffers. No doubt the President would understand. That was the deal, two years ago when Harris arrived at Biden's residence in Delaware to have dinner with the family. Joe just wanted to get to know her, was how it was framed. One of those deals everyone knew happened though there wasn't a single bit of documentation about it. She intended to make good on that deal.

And then her mind snapped right back to the now where she felt the strangest thing. Like something just wasn't right.

In a flash, she rushed back into the Cabinet Room to find Secretary Kasich standing with his ear suspiciously pressed against the wall. His eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

“Um… oh boy, haha… I, uh, thought I heard a, um, squirrel in the wall. Like it fell in, and uh, oh golly gee, haha…”

Harris walked out of the room without another word. Once again, her instincts were right. She was being listened to. Dammit. That was going to be fun, reading the inevitable Politico article being retweeted throughout the White House about “tensions in the White House”, supplied by the press’s “anonymous source.”

F**king bipartisanship.

[KaiserDave]

Folky John

[NewYorkExpress]

This scenario reads more like "Kamala and Buttigeig pressure Biden to make his intentions for 2024 clear" than "Kamala and Buttigeig plan to primary Biden".

[Octowakandi]

This scenario reads more like "Kamala and Buttigeig pressure Biden to make his intentions for 2024 clear" than "Kamala and Buttigeig plan to primary Biden".

Yes that is accurate. Both are assuming Biden doesn't run for reelection as the man will be 82.

[Nightcore Nationalist]

In a flash, she rushed back into the Cabinet Room to find Secretary Kasich standing with his ear suspiciously pressed against the wall. His eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

“Um… oh boy, haha… I, uh, thought I heard a, um, squirrel in the wall. Like it fell in, and uh, oh golly gee, haha…”

Harris walked out of the room without another word. Once again, her instincts were right. She was being listened to. Dammit. That was going to be fun, reading the inevitable Politico article being retweeted throughout the White House about “tensions in the White House”, supplied by the press’s “anonymous source.”

F**king bipartisanship.

LMAO!  Loving this!

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

So is Trump going to run again or not?

[Octowakandi]

So is Trump going to run again or not?

Well, you know, that's a very good question. A very good question. A tremendous question because a lot rides on that. Many people have told me that he should run again. Many people, very good people even. Just the greatest, and they tell me, they tell me that Donald Trump was one of the greatest Presidents of all time. Best President perhaps even since Honest Abe. And you know, many people weren't talking about Honest Abe until he became President. Not many people at all. So there's a lot of amazing support for him, but you know, he's built a tremendous company. A tremendous company worth many billions of dollars. Not millions but billions. So that has to factor in. So it's a tremendous company, it's a lot to put away to run again. So he's not sure. But in the meantime, he'll talk to people. People he really like, people that were very supportive. And he will see, maybe they can be a good candidate as well. But he'll have to see. He'll have to see. He'll have to see. But in the end, it's not really clear to anyone if he's running or not. It seems most likely not, but he's keeping his options open. Big league.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Really good so far!

[Octowakandi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oESM64gU5M

(music plays)

A cold winter day in Washington.

Lacrimosa

The weather was far too cruel as she climbed the steps up the Capitol.

Dies illa

The security guard with hardly a glance let her through

Qua resurget

Through empty halls, she walked as the blank painted faces of far greater predecessor like Henry Clay, Champ Clark, and Sam Rayburn looked down at her.

Ex favilla

She waited outside the door for a second to soak in the moment, the last time she would ever have this feeling before all would be changed. She turned the knob.

Judicandus

Inside was a conference room table. Seated on the two sides were Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. And at the head of the table was none other than the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Hakeem Jeffries.

Homo reus!

Jeffries smiled wryly. “Have a seat, Madame Speaker.”

(music cuts)

__

Capitol Building, Washington, DC
November 19, 2022

“Hello everyone, I am Hakeem Jeffries! Speaker Pelosi could not be here today, so I am here instead to lead new Congressperson orientation! It’s so good to see all these new faces!”

Jeffries was ecstatic and smiled warmly at the near 40 Congressmen and women in the crowd, all sitting on folding chairs inside the spacious room within the Capitol Building. As it’s mostly a Republican wave, you only see one person who decided to show up to Orientation in a Handmaiden costume. You’re not sure which of the handful of DSA primary challengers that is in particular. About a half dozen of your colleagues are wearing their MAGA hats. You considered bringing yours but decided against it. First impressions mattered, and while the President may have been what inspired you to enter politics, you felt just showing up in the traditional get up was a better way of showing that you’re someone they can work with.

You’re just a normal guy who lived in an old working class town in Michigan. Your dad was a welder, and the independent man that he was, decided to start his own company. A small one of course, never more than twelve employees. But it was good work, lots of interaction with US Steel which kept the bills paid. It made him feel a part of the community. People knew who your dad was. Not in a high falutin’ way, just that they knew his name and he knew theirs.

He was a Clinton voter two times. Big fan of the economy. You didn’t know much about politics. You just knew you voted for whoever kept the economy going. Your dad was one of those “undecided voters” in 2000. You don’t remember which he voted for, he seemed fine either way. You were in high school then. You had considered working in the family business, but your dad said you should go to college. You’d be the first in your family to do so, but he stressed that the business he worked in wasn’t going to keep booming. Manufacturing was starting to disappear, factories shutting down and going to lands of cheaper labor. So you studied hard for college, worked on your SAT, and got a fantastic grade.

9/11 tremendously affected you as a person. You set aside college plans, though promised to your dad that you’d go to college after you returned. You signed up for two years, wanting to do your time but still having plans after all. You missed the Afghanistan deployment, but finished training in time to get deployed to Iraq. You came in with patriotism, but three years of mismanaged war, uncertain goals, and surviving ambushes in a country that didn’t want you there despite what Bush and Rumsfeld said disillusioned you.

You went home, hugged your parents, and immediately was accepted to Dartmouth. Part of you wanted to go work in NYC at some big investment firm, but your time in Iraq made you think about what you really valued, what you wanted in life. Something seemed wrong about abandoning your town. 2008 only confirmed that for you. Towns like yours were devastated in a way hard to fathom. The dwindling jobs were smashed even further. The kids you went to high school with were all gone, moved to the Tristate Area, Chicago, San Francisco, just anywhere but here.

You voted for Obama. Your old man did too. You wanted some of that change. You didn’t know what kind of change. But you just wanted change.

And, well, you didn’t get it. What else is there to say. While Obama touted fantastic growth, you saw no difference in your area. When 2012 came around, you wanted to vote for someone else, but the Republican Party put out a man who called people like you lazy bums who didn’t pay taxes and who spent most of his life destroying jobs. You voted for Obama again because what option was there? Then four more years of lecturing by the President, culture wars, pointless government shutdowns. You had no time for the Tea Party even though you were pissed that mortgage firms got bailed out while businesses like your dad’s were left to struggle.

But you survived. Then 2016 came around. Suddenly came this candidate who was speaking your language. He was talking about bringing back jobs, but not by forcing people in the Old Economy to learn how to code and become part of the globalized system. He was talking about jobs like coal and steel, bringing back manufacturing, fighting China which hadn’t been playing fairly. He denounced the Iraq War as a waste of time, money, and lives, something you had always felt but spent tremendous amounts of cognitive dissonance to suppress. But it was more than just policy. It was hard to put your finger on it, and you didn’t realize it until the man came into town for a rally. Nobody visited your town! But here he was, and he went up on stage and talked and rambled like he was sitting on your porch and that’s when you realized it. For once in your life, you saw a presidential candidate that didn’t seem like detested people like you, having to roll up their sleeves and pretend they were one of you while laughing about it at their next $1,000-a-plate dinners. There was something genuine in all that crudeness, the everyman’s frustration with the way the country was going and that the entire political class seemed content to let drift. And he as the man to put a stop to it.

November 8, 2016 was one of pure joy. The next three years as the economy boomed and yes, you were annoyed by the latest controversy but for the first time since 2007, the family business starting to boom. The Old Economy, based on not transnational supply lines but all within the United States, seemed to be implausibly reviving. It looked like the system had worked and things were turning around.

Then Covid, lockdowns, 2020, stimulus negotiation failure, it was like the world was turned upside down again. Your dad shuttered his business. He was getting too old and keeping things afloat was getting too much for him not only physically but emotionally. That was when you decided to run for Congress, beating a state senator in the primary for the nomination. That was when you became one of the 29 new populist babies, one of the many veteran/businessman candidates that were elected as part of the wave. The man himself was a mixed bag, your opinion having certainly decreased ever since his temper tantrum after his loss, but you can’t help but feel but see him as someone who changed things for the good, someone you just couldn’t see in the way 51% of the nation did.

And now you were here, in the one building you never expected to be outside of a guided tour. And you wonder, maybe the American Dream isn’t dead. Maybe it’s not too far gone…

__

“Corey! Corey!”

Lewandowski charged into the room. “Yes, Mr. President!” he said in between short breaths.

The one term President looked up from the gold-trimmed plate where several fried drumsticks from KFC were sitting. But in his hands was disposable fountain drink cup.

“Corey, do you know what this is?” He squished the cup around as if that was supposed to be an indicator.

“Uhhhhh, a Coke?”

“Yes, Corey. You are correct.” Trump nodded. “It is a Coke… but I don’t drink Coke, do I?”

“No, Mr. President.”

“I drink Diet. Why the hell did you bring me normal Coke?!”

“I am so sorry, Mr. President.”

“You better be, Corey. I gave you this ing job. You want me to take it away from you? How does that sound, Corey?”

“I would never forgive myself, Mr. President. Please give me another chance.”

Trump folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Very well, Corey. Bring me a Diet Coke. With ice. And we’ll forget this ever happened.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

__

“And that’s really what you’re going to experience as a Congressperson,” Jeffries finished, his smile not having left his face the entire hour-long presentation. Until now. “Oh boy.”

“Hello, newest members of the Squad!” From the corner of the room entered the legend herself. “If you’re one of the gang, and you know who you are, please follow!”

A smattering of individuals rose from the seat and followed the bartender turned political extraordinaire to a room where several seats were arranged in a circle. Already sitting down was Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. It was the Squad indeed.

AOC took her seat and all the other new Representatives followed. All in all, about 8 of them were newly elected, all of them having taken down Demosaurs to get here.

“Guys, I am so excited to work with everyone here!” AOC said with genuine giddy. “I think I already follow all of you on Twitter but let me just say how excited I was when you guys won your races. Some of the people you beat, let me tell you, they drove me craaaazy. Basically Joe Manchins here in the House which is just unacceptable in progressive districts. And you all did what you had to do, and it’s just so inspiring. And this year really was a tremendous victory all around for the cause of socialism, and it’s because of each and every one of you.”

Omar and Tlaib all nodded in agreement. AOC explained further. “Now, I know you guys are all excited to be here. The thing to understand is here in the House, it’s so easy to get left behind. That’s why people like us have to stick together. We are a Squad after all, although I guess now it’s more like a Platoon. I’m going to add you guys all to the Twitter group DM so we can work together on legislation and amendments. I am always open for direct DMs as well if you want to talk personally. Now some people in have been asking about the idea of us having a Discord server. I’m warming up to the idea, especially as so many new people continue to join our caucus. So I’ll keep you up to date on a possible Discord, but we’ll see. Great to see all of you guys in person!”

As the Representatives-elect began to leave in conversation with each other as well as with Tlaib or Omar, the Representative for the 18th District felt a hand touch her shoulder. Turning around, she saw AOC herself, with that brilliant smile of hers.

“Sara, I just wanted to chat real quick,” AOC said. “Congresswoman Innamorato, I just want to say what a brilliant campaign you led. You just absolutely ran circles around Doyle.”

Innamorato smiled politely. “Well, Congressman Doyle was not a very good representative for the district. I just felt it was a time for a change, and I’m happy the people of Pittsburgh recognized that socialism had more to offer them than just status quo establishmentarianism that Doyle offered since 1995. Even if it was a pretty white district!”

The two briefly talked about Innamorato’s rise. It was in fact her third primary challenge against old school good old boy Pittsburgh Democrats. With nothing but hard work and a DSA endorsement, she had knocked out ten-year incumbent Dom Costa, of the Costa Pittsburgh political family, in the primary for a State Rep position. That was a satisfying victory, especially after Costa had tried to use to his advantage a quote from Innamorato taken out of context: “My district, which I know is like white working class, poor folk, who are racist, because it’s so much easier for them to look to their side and say, ‘I’m going to blame that person.'” It was a dumb quote, but she was just trying to get a point across, that it was extremely easy for that kind of environment to forget about all the other people out there struggling, to blame them for problems that are fundamentally that of a cruel capitalist system that not only left the little people behind but set them up against each other.

Because that was what she had seen her whole life. She remembered the struggles her father had with opioids. A sweet and gentle man, but one due to an accident early in life was hooked on pain killers. She remembered the drives with her mother as they dropped her father off at rehab. The hope of an addiction put behind and then always the horrible relapse. The entire family had to separate to somewhere with more stability emotionally though not financially.

Her father passed away in 2009, never being able to beat the addiction. From that moment on, she knew she wanted to dedicated her life to helping people. So she had worked on community service, helping those in distress, and ultimately running for office. Despite every organized local force mobilizing against her, she had won the nomination in 2018. She won in 2020 against the 25-year incumbent Allegheny District Attorney too. And then in 2022, she had made the move against Congressman Doyle and emerged triumphant. Sure, the county Democratic Party was pissed at her for it and blamed her comments on “Defunding Marcellus Shale” on the loss of Conor Lamb in the neighboring district, but the establishment was always trying to blame people like her for bringing change into the system.

“I just really admire your courage,” AOC said. “Feels like we’ve walked a similar path in many ways. Look, I have to get going, but let’s stay in touch, okay? I’m working on a special project. I think you can help me.”

And with a wink, AOC was gone.

That, Innamorato thought, was what a legend looked like.

[Octowakandi]

Had a discussion with some people on another forum. Thought I'd share:

Comment: Solid update, but I gotta admit I kinda don't like how you write AOC in this? It just feels kind of off.

My Response: Honestly I kind of agree. I just don't know her as well. Help me out here. Give me some things I should emphasize or even some ticks.

Either way, I take this maybe too seriously but I will take some time to get used to her, listen to her, and try to figure out what makes her tick for the sake of the writing. I noticed writing her didn't come as easily and it's from my direct lack of familiarity about her the way I am with other figures. So I'll be doing some research and if other people have contributions, I'll be happy to reflect on it.

I think one thing that's missing is the earnest desire to create change for the better. So I noticed her lines sound extremely vacant of substance or any earnestness. Which is great if you're writing Kamala Harris or whoever, but really doesn't match AOC or show why she lit such a fuse on the grassroots

[John King wannabe]

Is this dead? I really enjoyed this tl

[blackentheborg]

please sir I require more

[Utah Neolib]

Bump

[John King wannabe]

Forgot about this and now I crave for more

[blackentheborg]

For the love of god man pls revive