Yes We Will: The Hillary Clinton Presidency (2009-17)

[Nightingale]

"November 4, 2008

Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters
Arlington, Virginia
11:45 PM

"Yes we will! Yes we will!"

Hilllary Clinton's supporters keep their chants wide and loud as their candidate arrives onstage to deliver her victory speech. The President-Elect waves her arms and stretches her arms, energizing her supporters even more. Then she begins her victory speech for the world to hear and see.

"...Today, we accomplish another big step in realizing our vision for a greater America. An America where people have decent jobs and wages, where people have decent homes and means to travel, where people do not have to worry when they get sick."

She then continues. "And to those girls out there watching us right now, I tell you this: there are no limits to what you can achieve. The glass ceiling has been broken, and I believe that in the future, one of you will become the next female President!"

Hillary Clinton addressing supporters after her victory, November 4, 2008
​

Hillary Clinton had done what no other woman was able to do before: become the President of the United States, however, this nearly did not happen at the time during the Democratic primaries. Senator Barack Obama, then a freshman Senator from Illinois, mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge to her. Today, historians and political experts consider her last-minute decision in February 2008 to remove resources from Iowa to focus from New Hampshire and beyond may have saved her campaign from faltering, as John Edwards won and she was able to manage a strong victory in the New Hampshire and Super Tuesday primaries. Obama ended his campaign soon after Super Tuesday, and in the Democratic National Convention, he nominates Hillary Clinton by acclamation.

Clinton would then pick Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as her running mate, and would then win the general election against Republican John McCain and his running mate, Tom Pawlenty.

A screenshot from 270towin.com showing the 2008 Electoral Map
​

Clinton would also enter the White House with massive coattails in Congress. In the House of Representatives, Democrats gained a 257-178 majority. In the Senate, Democrats managed to gain a 62-38 supermajority, removing any threat of Republican filibusters. The Clinton campaign smelled blood in all Senate races, most notably the Minnesota, Kentucky, Mississippi and Georgia Senate races, where the election polls were somewhat leaning Republican, but given the right push from the national Democrats, they could win. Hence, they campaigned with the respective Democratic candidates there, as they thought that for the Clinton legislative agenda to pass, they must also enable Democrats to win at the state level. In Kentucky, Bruce Lunsford managed to defeat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In Mississippi, Ronnie Musgrove managed to defeat Roger Wicker. In Georgia, Jim Martin defeated Saxby Chambliss. In Minnesota, Al Franken managed to win over Norm Coleman in one of the closest races in the state's history.

Her Cabinet would be composed of the following people. She decided to appoint more females to the Cabinet than any other President in history, achieving a 50-50 balance:

Secretary of State: Richard Holbrooke
White House Chief of Staff: Huma Abedin
UN Ambassador: Susan Rice
Trade Representative: Caroline Kennedy
Treasury Secretary: Larry Summers
Veterans Affairs Secretary: Claudia Kennedy
Defense Secretary: Robert Gates
Attorney General: Barack Obama
Homeland Security Secretary: Janet Napolitano
National Security Adviser: Jane Harman
HHS Secretary: Howard Dean
Transport Secretary: Steve Hemminger
Education Secretary: Joel Klein
Interior Secretary: Sally Jewel
HUD Secretary: James Clyburn
Commerce Secretary: Terry McAuliffe
Agriculture Secretary: Tom Vilsack
Labor Secretary: Hilda Solis
Energy Secretary: Lisa Jackson
EPA Administrator: Ed Rendell
OBM Director: Sylvia Burwell
Director of National Intelligence: Dennis Blair
CIA Director: Susan Gordon
Small Business Administration Administrator: Karen Mills

​

After assembling her Cabinet, Hillary Clinton would then be inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Flanked by her husband Bill and daughter Chelsea, Hillary, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, she was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.

"For 232 Years, America has been able to succeed and rise up to conquer its challenges and trials. And today, we will once again overcome our problems and be stronger together than ever before.""

-Excerpt from "Yes We Will!" by Anthony Summers, 2059

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It's about time a detailed Hillary Clinton 2008 TL be finished until the Present Day. Previous TLs were not able to finish until the Present Day. I intend to stop until the present day. And I will not put this TL in the backburner until I finish it.

Some of the stuff I will put here do not conform to my beliefs and values, since many stuff Hillary believes in does not mesh with my beliefs and values. However, I am interested to discuss what Hillary would have done if she had won in 2008.

I also have that other "Onward March of Freedom" TL to work on, and it will get its needed attention soon.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

An interesting premise, but I don't think things will be all that different than OTL. Prove me wrong!

 

[BP Booker]

but I don't thing things will be all that different than OTL

Well, there was a reason why Hillary was angling herself as Obamas Third Term. Hilary was much more of a parliamentarian than Obama, both had a very clear vision, but Hillary just knew better how to deal with Republicans. Under President Hillary I would expect a stronger push and successful push for the Public Option, which would in turn help mitigate the catastrophe of the 2010 midterms, the democrats might keep the House by a razor thin margin. Stimulus package might be bigger. Push for a parental leave law/universal pre-k in second half of terms. Hillary wins re-election, without or without a stronger margin than 2008. Serious attempt at immigration reform after 2012, which might backfire, leading to bad midterms in 2014. More Troops in Afghanistan, more pressure on Pakistan, more intervention in Syria - but no boots in the ground. Stronger reaction against Putin in 2014. Push Ukraine to join NATO/EU. Come 2016 Obama is the front runner for the nomination, but the left of the party, after 8 years of diligent but not very revolutionary center left might make a go at it. Russ Feingold (if he doesn’t loose his seat in 2010) might be a strong challenge. Obama can and could become the first Democrats to succeed a fellow democrat to office without the previous one having died (And the GOP might actually go with JEB! ugh). One thing we might see is that if the dems are in a stronger position in 2015, Hillary could nominate someone like Paul Watford or Sri Srinivasan to replace Scalia instead of the more centrist Garland.

Expect roughly a billion trillion articles about whether or not Chelsey Clinton will run for Office

 

[Nightingale]

An interesting premise, but I don't think things will be all that different than OTL. Prove me wrong!

Well, there was a reason why Hillary was angling herself as Obamas Third Term. Hilary was much more of a parliamentarian than Obama, both had a very clear vision, but Hillary just knew better how to deal with Republicans. Under President Hillary I would expect a stronger push and successful push for the Public Option, which would in turn help mitigate the catastrophe of the 2010 midterms, the democrats might keep the House by a razor thin margin. Stimulus package might be bigger. Push for a parental leave law/universal pre-k in second half of terms. Hillary wins re-election, without or without a stronger margin than 2008. Serious attempt at immigration reform after 2012, which might backfire, leading to bad midterms in 2014. More Troops in Afghanistan, more pressure on Pakistan, more intervention in Syria - but no boots in the ground. Stronger reaction against Putin in 2014. Push Ukraine to join NATO/EU. Come 2016 Obama is the front runner for the nomination, but the left of the party, after 8 years of diligent but not very revolutionary center left might make a go at it. Russ Feingold (if he doesn’t loose his seat in 2010) might be a strong challenge. Obama can and could become the first Democrats to succeed a fellow democrat to office without the previous one having died (And the GOP might actually go with JEB! ugh). One thing we might see is that if the dems are in a stronger position in 2015, Hillary could nominate someone like Paul Watford or Sri Srinivasan to replace Scalia instead of the more centrist Garland.

Expect roughly a billion trillion articles about whether or not Chelsey Clinton will run for Office

Remember, Hillary ITTL has a 62-38 supermajority in the Senate come January 20, 2009

 

[Raferty]

Hillary had the ability to usher in an era of Democratic dominance in '08 (unless the Clintons piss it away with scandals, which wouldn't shock me) because she could have retained all of those Jacksonian Democrats due to her gun friendly and socially moderate rather than liberal positions, while cleaning up with women voters.

However, it would be interesting to see how the Republicans recover. Because the Democrats in this case would have the populist voters on their side, does the party double down on upper middle class friendly Libertarian type stuff? Do they try to pry away Clinton's populist white voters on an issue like immigration? Perhaps the Buchananist wing of the party becomes resurgent.

I see that the Republicans hold Virginia and NC in '08, but lose WV. Perhaps that indicates Clinton and the Democrats retreating from the environmental issue. Republicans can get quite populist on that issue, so if it is taken from them, they might decide to double down on the college graduate vote and try to reform the George HW Bush coalition which was based around the suburbs rather than rural areas and made crime and NIMBY concerns paramount in messaging.

 

[BP Booker]

Because the Democrats in this case would have the populist voters on their side, does the party double down on upper middle class friendly Libertarian type stuff? Do they try to pry away Clinton's populist white voters on an issue like immigration? Perhaps the Buchananist wing of the party becomes resurgent.

I see that the Republicans hold Virginia and NC in '08, but lose WV. Perhaps that indicates Clinton and the Democrats retreating from the environmental issue. Republicans can get quite populist on that issue, so if it is taken from them, they might decide to double down on the college graduate vote and try to reform the George HW Bush coalition which was based around the suburbs rather than rural areas and made crime and NIMBY concerns paramount in messaging.

God anything but the Tea Party! Remeber, Bush got one third of Hispanic voted and 2000 and 45 percent in 2004. 2008 is not too late to kick the racists out and build a coalition that can support 50 percent of the hispanic electorate, plus the asian american vote.

 

[Raferty]

God anything but the Tea Party! Remeber, Bush got one third of Hispanic voted and 2000 and 45 percent in 2004. 2008 is not too late to kick the racists out and build a coalition that can support 50 percent of the hispanic electorate, plus the asian american vote.

McCain was far more pro-amnesty than Obama was, though. Obama supported the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and deported a shit ton of illegals in 2009-2010, while McCain associated himself with amnesty advocates like Mel Martinez and Al Cardenas and supported comprehensive immigration reform (the only time he got serious on the border was when he faced a primary challenge in 2010).

Hillary wasn't the open borders extremist she was in 2016 in 2008, either, and she might get a bit harder on the border in this timeline.

If there was a problem with the Tea Party, it was that it allowed itself to get coopted by Libertarian doctrinaires in the DC think tank circuit that pushed the GOP into radicalism on fiscal issues. Immigration restrictionism is broadly popular and good for the Republican Party, when it doesn't branch off into ugly nativism but rather focuses on protecting low wage American workers and stresses the importance of the rule of law. The reason Hispanics generally don't vote Republican is not because of immigration stances but rather because Hispanics are disproportionately poor and without healthcare. More Hispanics voted for Trump than McCain.

 

[Hubert Humphrey Fan 1968]

I'm pretty sure there will be a public option ITTL, which is always nice.

 

[Nightingale]

Soon, on Yes We Will:

​

 

[Nightingale]

CHAPTER I - HILLARY'S FIRST TERM

PART I - THE FIRST 100 HUNDRED DAYS

Excerpt from

Yes We Will: The Hillary Clinton Presidency
by Joe Manson​

President Clinton arriving at Capitol Hill for the signing of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and to address a joint session of Congress, January 28, 2009
​

President Clinton would swiftly take Washington and the United States like a lightning bolt. With massive Democratic majorities in Congress and an experienced, gender-balanced cabinet, she began to work as soon as she entered the White House. On January 24, Hillary Clinton signed an executive order banning torture on incarcerated terrorists. On January 26, Hillary would sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a move befitting of the first female US President. The Act states that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. Moments later, she address the 111th Congress, stating, "moments ago, we passed landmark legislation enabling women to achieve equal pay with men. My fellow Americans, today and beyond, let this be a sign that we must always make sure that everyone gets an equal chance to prosper and offer their talents to our beloved country."

President Hillary Clinton introduces the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.​

That night, she introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bill entailed two trillion dollars of spending until 2016. One trillion dollars would be spent renovating Northeastern Corridor as a high-speed system, Amtrak improvements, roads, improving water and sewage systems, government facilities, telecommunications, IT, technology, energy infrastructure (esp. clean energy), housing construction, public health and health research, education (tax breaks for low-income children to enter preschool, increased tuition and public university funding, job training programs), scientific research projects, NASA improvements, and others. 400 billion dollars would be spent on filling the gap in all state budgets. 210 billion dollars would be spent on welfare, 200 billion dollars for unemployment benefits and other benefits, 120 billion dollars for tax incentives, and 70 billion dollars for business tax incentives. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would raise four to five million jobs in 2009 alone. Republican leaders decried the plan as "big-bloated government action that will not help the American economy recover", as House Minority Leader John Boehner lamented. However, President Clinton was not willing to negotiate with Republicans on the stimulus bill. Without fears of a filibuster in the Senate with a 62-38 supermajority, the Democrats and Hillaryland carefully crafted the bill to be palatable to their caucus only. On January 31, 2009, the ARRA passes the House, 234-201, with all 178 Republicans and 23 Democrats voting against the bill. On February 9, the bill passes the Senate on a party-line vote and with Republican Senator Arlen Specter's (R-PA) vote, and was signed by President Clinton on February 17 as her first major piece of legislation since the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Hillary Clinton addressed supporters of the law that day. "This act will ensure that Americans will be able to quickly recover and rise out of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and we ought to make it equitable for each American."

President Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at the signing of the ARRA in her former campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, February 17, 2009
​

Afterwards, pollsters put her approval rating at 65% following the passage of the ARRA. Her political honeymoon was not about to stop.

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I expect that ATL President Hillary Clinton would be able to negotiate a much larger stimulus than Obama given her Congressional experience, and this is very much incredibly boosted and sealed by the fact that Democrats hold a 62-38 supermajority + Arlen Specter's vote in the Senate ITTL, so they won't water down the bill over fears of Republican filibusters.

 

[BP Booker]

Oh man that stimulus bill is so sexi

 

[Nightingale]

Oh man that stimulus bill is so sexi

Well, Hillary Clinton ITTL doesn' t care about any Republican votes for the bill 'cause she won't worry about the filibuster. So she hikes up the spending instead.

Meanwhile, I, realized, by the 2000s, even the more conservative Democrats were actually more to the left on fiscal issues than the median Republican and more palatable to requests for support from national Democrats. This gos a long way to enable big support for the stimulus from even the Democrats from blood-red states.

 

[CalBear]

Political subject. Can not move to Chat due to Poll.

On a personal note, this is starting to happen too often.

Be a really good idea if folks figured this out.