Scandal exists in a sort of parallel universe to our current political climate. In an early episode, Cyrus mentioned the Bush administration in an offhanded joke, but the show's tried to distance itself from reality since then. The Obamas aren't figures in the Scandal-verse; former presidential candidate Edison Davis (Norm Lewis) would have been the first black president in Scandal's America. And the late Frankie Vargas would have been the country's first Latino president. Neither of them are in consideration at this point, but it's worth pointing out that both Cyrus and Mellie (Bellamy Young) would still be noteworthy choices to be the show's POTUS 45.