Inside the Plan That Could Beat Maga and Corporate Democrats

Part 2 of my political fiction series shows how it actually happened: the leaders, the money, and the message all moving in the same direction for the first time.

This is Part 2 of my three-part series imagining what happens if progressives stopped asking for permission and start acting like they can win. Part 1 was the diagnosis — why we’re losing despite having the money, the people, and the popularity. This installment is the turn: the moment a presidential-led movement, a unified slate, and a $300 million war chest come together to start beating both Trump and the Democratic establishment at the same time.

The Daily Show interview went viral. By Thursday, it had 50 million views—Saikat Chakrabarti sitting across from Jon Stewart, saying what everyone had been thinking but no one would say on TV.

"Bernie Sanders told us the system was rigged. He told us some Democrats were in on it. What he didn't do was join us in the electoral fight against those Democrats."

Stewart leaned back, doing that thing with his hands. "But come on, he campaigned for Jamaal Bowman—"

"At the end." Chakrabarti wasn't backing down. "After AIPAC had already spent millions defining Jamaal for months. Bernie shows up for a rally two weeks before the election and thinks his personal charisma can overcome a $15 million onslaught. Meanwhile, our side responds with what—scraping together a couple million? That's not a fight, that's a gesture."

"So what do you want?" Stewart pressed.

"Look, I can win. I can beat Pelosi. The campaign has momentum. But what happens after that? What we need is transformational change. I can’t deliver that on my own. That will take a movement."

Chakrabarti leaned forward. "Bernie called for a political revolution. Millions of us answered that call. The movement was ready to deliver. Still is. But when we need him to stand with us against his own colleagues, when we need him to use the trust people have given him—their dollars, their time, their belief—he steps back. That has to change."

"Because he's afraid?" Stewart asked.

"We're all afraid. But people aren't asking us not to be afraid—they're asking us to lead through the fear. Look at what's happening. Trump's putting National Guard on the streets. He's weaponizing the DOJ. If you're not afraid, you're either not paying attention or you're delusional."

Stewart nodded. "So fear is rational."

"Exactly. Leadership isn't about the absence of fear. It's about accepting that fear, acknowledging the real threats, and standing up anyway. Bernie has something no one else has—he's the most popular politician in America. Plus 11 net approval while everyone else is underwater. That credibility could change everything. He just has to decide to use it."

The clip exploded across social media. Not just the confrontation—the moment after, when Stewart stared at the camera and said, "He's not wrong, you know. We've all been waiting for someone else to fix this."

The Response

Bernie's phone didn't stop ringing. Not from donors or party leaders—from the movement. Union members who'd knocked doors since 2015. Young organizers who'd upended their lives to work on his campaigns. Small-dollar donors who'd given till it hurt.

The message was different now: "Bernie, you called for a revolution. We answered. Now lead it."

Jon Stewart called too.

"That conversation," Stewart said. "Made me realize I've been doing the same thing—diagnosing problems for twenty years, making jokes, then telling people to vote. Maybe it's time to stop diagnosing and start doing."

Three days later, they met. Sanders, Chakrabarti, and Stewart in a Brooklyn diner.

"You think I've abandoned the movement," Sanders said, not a question.

"I think you asked for a political revolution, then waited for it to deliver change," Chakrabarti replied. "The movement you built is still here, still ready. But we need you to help lead it, not just inspire it."

Stewart cut in: "Bernie, you're the most popular politician in America. You know what you do with that? You use it. You don't save it for special occasions."

Sanders was quiet for a long moment. Then he stood, walked toward the door. Chakrabarti and Stewart exchanged glances.

"Bernie—" Stewart started.

Sanders turned back. "You know what really scares me? Not splitting the party. Not the attacks. It's that I've become exactly what I spent forty years fighting against—someone who chose comfort over courage."

He sat back down, heavily.

"You're right. I've been telling people to stand up and fight while I played it safe. I thought keeping relationships was more important than keeping promises. That ends now."

"So what changes?" Chakrabarti asked.

"Everything," Bernie said. "If we're doing this, we're doing it all the way. No more half measures. No more gestures. We build the political revolution I've been talking about."

The Gathering

The meeting happened in Warren's Senate office on a Thursday night. The progressive movement's key players: AOC from New York, Tlaib from Detroit, Omar from Minneapolis, Khanna from Silicon Valley, Casar from Austin, Sara Nelson from the flight attendants' union, Shawn Fain from the UAW, among others.

Warren started: "Saikat forced us to confront an uncomfortable truth. We've been playing defense while calling it offense."

"We have everything," Bernie said, standing up. "The policies we champion are already popular. The politicians blocking them are at historic lows—Schumer at 39% favorable in his own state. So why are we acting like we need permission?"

AOC shifted. "You know what terrifies me? What if we primary these people and lose the general? What if Trump—"

"Trump's already winning," Tlaib interrupted. "He's federalizing police, purging civil servants, investigating opponents. While we're worried about being divisive, he's dismantling democracy."

"Exactly," Bernie said. "I've been making those excuses for forty years. We called for a political revolution. People answered. They gave us their trust, their money, their time. And what did we do? We got comfortable. We passed amendments instead of transforming the party. That ends now."

"The data's clear," Warren added, pulling up polling. "Progressive policies poll higher than any politician in either party. We're not pushing voters left—they're already there, waiting for us to catch up."

Casar leaned forward: "In Texas, I see it every day. People ready to fight, ready to build. But they look to us for leadership and we tell them to organize themselves. If we're not willing to lead, why should they follow?"

"That's the thing," Chakrabarti said. "The movement Bernie called for? It exists. It's funded. It's organized. It just needs its leaders to actually lead it."

The Plan Emerges

Chakrabarti pulled out his laptop. "We stop asking and start building. Every progressive with a platform, every union, every organization—we coordinate."

He showed them the numbers: "Bernie's list—3 million emails. Warren's infrastructure. AOC's social reach. The Squad's combined audience. Pool it all. We're talking $300-500 million in coordinated progressive funding. More than enough to primary every corporate Democrat blocking progress."

"But primaries are brutal," Omar said. "Look what they did to Bowman and Bush. AIPAC alone spent—"

"$15 million against Bowman, $9 million against Bush," Bernie cut in. "And you know what? They almost survived anyway. With real backing, they would have. We have three times AIPAC's budget if we coordinate. We just haven’t used it in this way."

Sara Nelson stood up. "My members are done waiting. They want fighters, not negotiators. You give us candidates who'll actually fight for workers, we'll move mountains."

"Same with UAW," Fain added. "Our members don't care about party unity. They care about results."

"This means war with the establishment," Warren said.

"They declared war on working people decades ago," Bernie replied. "I thought they’d wake up. But look at the results they demonize us and learn nothing. We're losing anyway. At least if we fight, we lose with dignity. But I don't think we'll lose."

Stewart had been quiet, processing. Finally: "You know what? Fuck it. I'm tired of being polite to people destroying the country. I'm tired of pretending Chuck Schumer is on our side when he's on Wall Street's side. I'm tired of the whole goddamn charade."

The room went silent.

"Sorry," he said. "Actually, no. Not sorry. That's the problem—we're always apologizing for having convictions. For wanting better. For calling out corruption. I'm done with that."

Bernie stood up again. "For forty years, I've told America that the system was rigged. Now we're going to prove we can fix it. Every single Democrat who takes corporate money over people's needs gets a primary challenger. And I'll be standing with those challengers. No more neutrality. No more 'my good friend' bullshit. You're either building the future or you're in the way."

Breaking the Rules

Within 72 hours, the progressive movement shattered every norm in Democratic politics.

Bernie held a press conference: "I called for a political revolution. Millions answered. But I didn't want to lead it. I was waiting for the change to come organically. That changes now. We're primarying every Democrat who stands with corporations over communities. And I'll be campaigning alongside the challengers."

The press went wild. "Senator, aren't you afraid of—"

"Of course I'm afraid," Bernie interrupted. "Any rational person would be. But I'm more afraid of what happens if we don't fight. I'm more afraid of letting down the millions who believed in the revolution we promised."

AOC announced she would primary Chuck Schumer: "Chuck's approval is underwater even in New York. Mine's at 64%. This isn't about ambition—it's about representation. New York deserves a Senator who fights for them, not Wall Street."

Warren endorsed challengers against eight Massachusetts Democrats: "My colleagues will call this betrayal. But they betrayed their constituents first."

Stewart made his own announcement: "I spent twenty years making fun of these people. Turns out that's not enough. Time to replace them."

The establishment responded predictably: "Circular firing squad!" "This helps Trump!" "You're destroying the party!"

Bernie's response: "The party's already at 29% approval. We're not destroying it. We're rebuilding it. Finally."

The Movement Responds

Something unexpected happened. When progressive leaders stopped pushing responsibility onto voters and took it themselves, the floodgates opened.

Small-dollar donations exploded—not from guilt or desperation, but from hope. Volunteer numbers skyrocketed. Union locals that had been waiting for direction suddenly had it. Young people who'd been told to "be the change" finally had leaders actually making change.

Within two weeks:

• $87 million raised in small dollars

• Primary challengers recruited for 73 corporate Democrats

• 12 million union members formally aligned

• A complete governing blueprint drafted

"When we took responsibility," Bernie would later reflect, "we discovered millions were ready to share it. They weren't waiting for permission. They were waiting for leadership."

The Realization

Late December 2025. The progressive leadership met again, this time in Burlington.

"You realize what we've built?" Warren said, looking at the numbers. "We have more resources than AIPAC more than DSCC or the DCCC. More organization than the Tea Party ever had. More popular support than any movement in modern politics."

"The Tea Party and MAGA transformed through destruction," Bernie said. "We're going to transform through construction. They tore down. We're going to build up."

Chakrabarti pulled up his final slide: "But here's the key—we can't just promise what we'll build. We have to show them who'll build it. Not another campaign. A government in waiting."

Stewart's eyes lit up. "Holy shit. You want to announce the whole thing. The entire cabinet. Every position. Before the election."

"Two years before we take office," Chakrabarti confirmed. "Let them work together, prove competence, show results. Make the campaign about capability, not just criticism."

"That's..." AOC paused. "That's either brilliant or insane."

"Both," Warren said. "Which is why it might actually work."

Bernie smiled—really smiled—for the first time in months. He realized that the political revolution he’d called for was finally going to happen. And he, reluctantly, would help to lead it.

The movement had stopped being about protest. It had become about power—taking it, using it, and proving they deserved it.

But first, they had to show America exactly how.

Parh 3 hits next week.