Steve Welch, a liberal Democrat, served as Governor of Oregon between 1999 and 2005. As Governor, Welch implemented a public healthcare option, lowered taxes on the middle class, gave small businesses tax breaks, raised the state minimum wage, implemented free preschools, and banned high-capacity gun magazines. When the Bush Administration planned to invade Iraq, Welch became one of the war's main opponents, saying Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that invading Iraq was a distraction from the War on Terror.
Welch announced his presidential campaign on March 22nd, 2003. He ran as a supporter of healthcare expansion, repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and closing corporate tax loopholes, gradually withdrawing from Iraq, repealing NCLB, renegotiating NAFTA and implementing a tax on outsourcing, safe, legal and rare abortion, same-sex civil unions, some gun control, and the creation of a Small Business Tax Credit. Welch defeated John Kerry, Wesley Clark and John Edwards for the Democratic nomination.
With the goal of better appealing to Midwestern voters, Welch chose Dick Gephardt as his running mate. He campaigned across the Midwest and Southwest on the same positions as in the primaries. Bush campaigned on remaining in Iraq, continuing his economic policies and further reforming healthcare, while attacking Welch ss a coastal elitist. However, Welch defeated Bush in the debates, after hiring a debate coach.
Welch was pretty much ahead of Bush before the Bin Laden video, which narrowed the race to:
As President, Welch repealed Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, created a $50,000 tax credit to expand health coverage, fully covered eligible children in Medicaid, raised the federal minimum wage, banned waterboarding, legalized same-sex civil unions nationwide, raised teacher salaries and federal funding for education twofold, created a reinsurance pool for employers, and worked with the private sector to create 1,000,000 private insurance plans. He failed to repeal the No Child Left Behind Act and ban high-capacity magazines/clips for firearms, however. On foreign policy, Welch failed to renegotiate NAFTA, but started transferring responsibility for the Iraq War to Iraqis themselves, joined the Kyoto Protocol, and formally labeled China as a currency manipulator.
However, the Great Recession still happened.
John McCain ran on a platform of moderate fiscal and social conservatism. McCain partially blamed Welch's tax hikes on high earners for the Recession, while calling for the Fed to keep the dollar strong, spending 1 trillion dollars to keep America's biggest employers afloat, lowering taxes on the middle class and to a lesser degree the wealthy, free trade with Europe and Latin America, healthcare and school vouchers for low-income families, remaining in Iraq until the country was completely stabilized, increasing oversight of the financial sector, and investing into electric cars and nuclear energy. His VP was Tim Pawlenty.
Given the poor economy, McCain managed to pull through.
The McCain Administration was marked by progressive tax cuts, the implementation of healthcare voucher and school choice policies, a work requirement for TANF, continuing and expanding the bailout of corporations started under his predecessor, greater regulation of financial corporations, a federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a focus on nuclear energy and the expansion of offshore drilling. On foreign policy, McCain sent 30,000 additional troops to Iraq, imposed sanctions on Iran, supported Syrian rebels, bombed Libya, continued Welch's tough stance on China, and signed free trade deals with Colombia and the European Union.
Senator Barack Obama defeated Bill Nelson and Bernie Sanders in the 2012 Democratic primaries, as Welch refused to run due to the recovering economy. Obama ran on a populist platform of economic reform, calling for the addition of a public option to Welchcare, the renegotiation of detrimental free trade deals, raising the federal minimum wage from 7 to 12 dollars per hour, guaranteed employment, free preschool, legalizing gay marriage, and leaving Iraq.
McCain campaigned on continuing his current domestic policies while withdrawing from Iraq, pointing out the gradual economic recovery and reduction of violence in Iraq. Barack Obama was hurt by scandals and accusations of inconsistency and inexperience
During his second presidential term, John McCain continued his economic policies, and began to withdraw American military personnel from Iraq. He deregulated the insurance market, reformed immigration, widened HSA deductibility, and boosted the bargaining power of small employers with insurers, while building thousands of charter schools, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, expanding the child tax credit, allowing religious exemptions for institutions unwilling to serve LGBT people, and implementing a requeriment of parental notification and consent with a judicial bypass for minors seeking abortions.
Vice President Pawlenty defeated a primary challenge from right-wing populist and billionaire businessman Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination. Given this, Trump ran as the Constitution Party nominee, calling for renegotiating NAFTA, building a wall along the Mexico Border, and banning Muslim immigration.
Welch won the Democratic nomination again by defeating Bernie Sanders. He campaigned as a modernized version of his 2000s self by championing a public healthcare option, legalizing marijuana, putting significant effort into cutting emissions, working with America's global partners and increasing funding for scientific institutions, gun control, renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA, implementing free preschools and community colleges, raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour, and regulating corporations across the board.
Pawlenty campaigned on continuing and expanding President McCain's policies. But the Republican schism caused his defeat. Welch became the second US President to win two nonconsecutive terms, and Elizabeth Warren became the first female Vice President.
During his second nonconsecutive term, Welch implemented a carbon tax and C02 emission cuts, implemented the transpacific partnership albeit with more protection for American manufacturing, renegotiated NAFTA and the Trans -Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, raised the federal minimum wage to 12 dollars per hour, decriminalized soft drugs, began an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, imposed an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, decriminalized soft drugs, implemented universal background checks for firearms purchases and a public healthcare option with adequate funding and controls on prices, and successfully made preschools free for toddlers. However, the 2018 midterms were a red wave, causing gridlock.
In 2020, US Senator for Nebraska Ben Sasse defeated his Texan colleague Ted Cruz, political commentator Tucker Carlson and Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley to win the Republican nomination. The election was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which Sasse said was overblown, and that lockdowns were ineffective and unfair violations of Americans' freedom. His other policy stances included tax cuts, gun rights, naming conservative judges, law and order, a strong foreign policy, school choice, and free-market solutions for climate change.
Elizabeth Warren defeated a challenge from moderate US Senator for Indiana Evan Bayh, being nominated by the Democrats. She promised to legalize marijuana, follow scientific advice, implement a Green New Deal, raise the federal minimum wage to 15 dollars per hour, implement free community college, codify Roe vs Wade into federal law, continue Welch's policies on foreign trade and diplomacy, fix America's infrastructure, and implement campaign finance reform. After super spreader rallies by Sasse and the President's good handling of COVID, warren pulled ahead, becoming the first female POTUS.
As President, Elizabeth Warren legalized marijuana, signed the WHPA and a massive infrastructure bill into law, implemented tax breaks for companies producing electric cars, and more recently, free community college. The economy is recovering, but Warren's dovish approach to Ukraine is hurting her popularity.
