Which Political Dramas Would the Democratic Candidates Star In?

The junior Vermont senator represents a post-Occupy Wall Street type of liberalism. His progressive economic agenda demands higher taxation for the wealthy and large corporations to thereby protect the dwindling middle class. Sanders also proposes a "living wage" of $15 an hour.

If any Democratic candidate is the antithesis of Donald Trump, it’s Sanders. If elected, he would sign the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act into law and work on additional immigration reform to protect undocumented immigrants. Tough on the Second Amendment, he also wishes to demilitarize police forces and have law enforcement focus on the eradication of hate groups.

Sanders’s platform caters largely to millennial voters in various ways. He is big on acknowledging climate change, eliminating the gender pay gap, protecting reproductive rights, and passing antidiscrimination legislation for the LGBT community.

Sanders could easily appear in House of Cards and it would totally make sense. He's brutally honest and a little rough around the edges, like the rogue underdog Frank Underwood was in the show’s early seasons. He addresses corruption on Capitol Hill and doesn’t pander to the voters, and if you’ve been watching the debates, you’ll know that he’s also guilty of the occasional snarl or eye roll. His platform is a little ambitious, however, and reflects a post-Obama era of political campaigns — much like Underwood's American Works program. Remember that? So, yeah, Sanders is a little like Frank Underwood. But not like him in, well, every other way.

The political force is back this election cycle with a revised platform to match. Like Sanders, Clinton is tough on the upper class and corporations. If elected, she would reform political spending and campaign-spending entities like Citizens United, in particular.

Clinton is also aggressive on matters of national security and thinks the creation of the Islamic State could have been avoided had they trained and equipped moderates in the Middle East during the Bush presidency — but ultimately, she puts the responsibility on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the region, which she described in the last debate as "complicated."

The presidential hopeful is definitively liberal when it comes to social issues. She wants to optimize our clean energy usage, preserve social services, end the era of mass incarceration, and close the gender pay gap. Clinton’s platform also reflects classic feminist ideals. She hopes to ensure paid family leave, protect reproductive rights, and confront campus sexual assault.

Clinton is a seasoned politician and represents the old-school brand of politics displayed in The West Wing. Like the show, Clinton is a classic, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t had to update her political ideologies to accommodate the changing times. If elected, she would be the first female president — which works for and against her. Though she is inspiring to many voters, she sometimes has to take a cue from Press Secretary-turned-Chief of Staff C. J. Cregg and say, "I got this."

OK, so Veep isn't a drama, but hear me out! The Washington DC native and former Maryland governor is focused on rebuilding the American dream. In his 15-step proposal, O'Malley hopes to increase families' net worth by reducing college tuition rates, cutting the gender pay gap, and creating new jobs in the clean energy industry.

Like Clinton, O'Malley is intent on reforming campaign financing and preserving social services like social security and Medicare. O'Malley is also a big veteran supporter — a descendant of a War of 1812 veteran, himself — and has proposed additional legislation to improve veteran employment and health care.

O'Malley has a very progressive approach to immigration. If elected, he would provide immigrants — or New Americans, as he refers to them — relief from deportation with work authorizations, encourage and conduct naturalization outreach, and use detention as a last resort.

Watching O’Malley in the debates is kind of like watching an episode of Veep; it's enjoyable, it adds some poignant commentary, and when it's over you're left thinking, "Well, that was nice." While O'Malley’s platform doesn't differ greatly from those of his competitors, he has yet to duplicate their considerable followings. But perhaps, like Julia Louis-Dreyfus's beloved show, O'Malley wasn’t meant to be an instant success and will instead garner attention at a slightly later time.