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2020 its started already
grumpygy
Member Posts: 48,464 ✭✭✭
quote:By Election Day 2016, ambitious Democrats had already resigned themselves to an eight-year wait for their chance in the national spotlight. Hillary Clinton was an overwhelming favorite against Donald Trump and, assuming she won, running a primary challenge against her in four years would be a fool's errand.
Then Clinton lost.
While this most stunning upset in modern presidential history has produced (and will produce) a thousand aftershocks, one of the most unlikely and important is that the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 is now open.
That opening is made all the more remarkable by the fact that there is simply no logical heir (or even heirs) to President Obama or Clinton - no obvious candidate waiting in the wings to step forward and rebuild the party. Vice President Biden appears to have decided that he's done running for office. As a two-time loser, Clinton is done, too. And after that, the bench is, well, pretty thin.
Politics, of course, abhors a vacuum. So candidates will run. Here's a look at who they might be:
* Sen. Cory Booker: Booker has been a national figure since the mid-2000s, when he was elected mayor of Newark. His r?sum? - football at Stanford, Rhodes scholarship - is very impressive,and many Democrats see the young (he's 47), charismatic, African American U.S. senator as the second coming of Obama. But the campaign Booker ran for Senate in 2013 was more competitive than it should have been largely because of his shaky performance. He might start the 2020 race as the front-runner but still has lots of questions that need answering.
* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Gillibrand might be the most logical heir to Clinton in the 2020 field, but it remains to be seen whether that's a good thing. When Clinton was chosen as secretary of state by Obama, Gillibrand was appointed to her Senate seat and then won two subsequent elections to hold the seat, thanks to a rock-star-level fundraising ability. Gillibrand, according to the New York Post, is already feeling out some of Clinton's major donors about what comes next for the party. At 49, Gillibrand is one of a handful of women primed to be the next generation of female leaders for Democrats.
* Kamala Harris: Harris won't officially become a U.S. senator from California for more than a month, but she's already regarded as national-candidate material in four years. It's not hard to see why. She is the first African American woman elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley-Braun in 1992. Harris also represents the largest and most Democratic state in the country, a huge financial launchpad to a presidential bid. (Through mid-October, Harris had raised more than $13 million for her Senate candidacy.) Her law-and-order background - she was elected and reelected attorney general in California - also will appeal to many Democrats. Whether Harris wants to - or will be ready to - run for national office so soon after being elected to the Senate remains to be seen.
* John Hickenlooper: The Colorado governor was almost Clinton's vice presidential pick this time around. And in a field filled with Washington types, the governor of a swing state in the West could have real appeal. Hickenlooper also has a terrific life story - a Denver brewery owner who became mayor and governor - and a down-home demeanor that screams "I am not a politician." Hickenlooper's biggest problem as a candidate might be that he is viewed as too moderate for the current Democratic Party. But some governor (Missouri's Jay Nixon? Delaware's Jack Markell?) will run for president, and, at the moment, Hickenlooper seems first among equals for that role.
* Amy Klobuchar: Like Gillibrand, Klobuchar is an accomplished and ambitious senator who cuts the sort of profile that should put her in the mix for 2020. Unlike Gillibrand, however, Klobuchar represents Minnesota - not exactly a fundraising hotbed for a national candidate. But she has a very interesting legislative background - she worked with Republican Rep. John Kline (Minn.) on ensuring veterans got the leave benefits they were promised before deploying, and she is a leading voice on adoption in the Senate.
*Michelle Obama: Let's say this first: The soon-to-be former first lady has never run for elected office and, to date, has shown absolutely no interest in doing so. But let's also say this: She gave the two best political speeches of the past two years - the first at the Democratic National Convention in July, the second in New Hampshire in the fall, an emotional condemnation of Donald Trump's America. Michelle Obama has one thing - with the possible exception of Booker - that the rest of the people on this list lack: true star power. She would start the race not only totally known by base Democrats but absolutely beloved. The issue for Michelle Obama is that being a candidate in your own right is very different from being a surrogate for a candidate.
Then Clinton lost.
While this most stunning upset in modern presidential history has produced (and will produce) a thousand aftershocks, one of the most unlikely and important is that the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 is now open.
That opening is made all the more remarkable by the fact that there is simply no logical heir (or even heirs) to President Obama or Clinton - no obvious candidate waiting in the wings to step forward and rebuild the party. Vice President Biden appears to have decided that he's done running for office. As a two-time loser, Clinton is done, too. And after that, the bench is, well, pretty thin.
Politics, of course, abhors a vacuum. So candidates will run. Here's a look at who they might be:
* Sen. Cory Booker: Booker has been a national figure since the mid-2000s, when he was elected mayor of Newark. His r?sum? - football at Stanford, Rhodes scholarship - is very impressive,and many Democrats see the young (he's 47), charismatic, African American U.S. senator as the second coming of Obama. But the campaign Booker ran for Senate in 2013 was more competitive than it should have been largely because of his shaky performance. He might start the 2020 race as the front-runner but still has lots of questions that need answering.
* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Gillibrand might be the most logical heir to Clinton in the 2020 field, but it remains to be seen whether that's a good thing. When Clinton was chosen as secretary of state by Obama, Gillibrand was appointed to her Senate seat and then won two subsequent elections to hold the seat, thanks to a rock-star-level fundraising ability. Gillibrand, according to the New York Post, is already feeling out some of Clinton's major donors about what comes next for the party. At 49, Gillibrand is one of a handful of women primed to be the next generation of female leaders for Democrats.
* Kamala Harris: Harris won't officially become a U.S. senator from California for more than a month, but she's already regarded as national-candidate material in four years. It's not hard to see why. She is the first African American woman elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley-Braun in 1992. Harris also represents the largest and most Democratic state in the country, a huge financial launchpad to a presidential bid. (Through mid-October, Harris had raised more than $13 million for her Senate candidacy.) Her law-and-order background - she was elected and reelected attorney general in California - also will appeal to many Democrats. Whether Harris wants to - or will be ready to - run for national office so soon after being elected to the Senate remains to be seen.
* John Hickenlooper: The Colorado governor was almost Clinton's vice presidential pick this time around. And in a field filled with Washington types, the governor of a swing state in the West could have real appeal. Hickenlooper also has a terrific life story - a Denver brewery owner who became mayor and governor - and a down-home demeanor that screams "I am not a politician." Hickenlooper's biggest problem as a candidate might be that he is viewed as too moderate for the current Democratic Party. But some governor (Missouri's Jay Nixon? Delaware's Jack Markell?) will run for president, and, at the moment, Hickenlooper seems first among equals for that role.
* Amy Klobuchar: Like Gillibrand, Klobuchar is an accomplished and ambitious senator who cuts the sort of profile that should put her in the mix for 2020. Unlike Gillibrand, however, Klobuchar represents Minnesota - not exactly a fundraising hotbed for a national candidate. But she has a very interesting legislative background - she worked with Republican Rep. John Kline (Minn.) on ensuring veterans got the leave benefits they were promised before deploying, and she is a leading voice on adoption in the Senate.
*Michelle Obama: Let's say this first: The soon-to-be former first lady has never run for elected office and, to date, has shown absolutely no interest in doing so. But let's also say this: She gave the two best political speeches of the past two years - the first at the Democratic National Convention in July, the second in New Hampshire in the fall, an emotional condemnation of Donald Trump's America. Michelle Obama has one thing - with the possible exception of Booker - that the rest of the people on this list lack: true star power. She would start the race not only totally known by base Democrats but absolutely beloved. The issue for Michelle Obama is that being a candidate in your own right is very different from being a surrogate for a candidate.
Comments
That's a good one right there.
Bwahahahaha!!.........
The FACT that the Republic may have awakened to the leftist agenda
and will NEVER elect a leftist politician again.
If TRUMP follows through with just an inkling of what he's promised...
It may be enough to set the national political agenda for a long time.
***
So... Unless the Democraps can come up with a better 'non' politician in 2020 and again in 2024...
Corey Booker is not in any way an impressive person. He is an affirmative action stooge. Listen to him speak sometime and see if he strikes you as intelligent.
Michelle Obama gave the two best political speeches of the last two years? On what planet?
It is going to be fun to watch the American left try to salvage their fortunes from the ash heap where history has placed them. This 'review' of future possible candidates appears to be wishful thinking to the point of delusion. I can only imagine it will get worse.
That's a well written analysis, but I really don't think any of those candidates have a snowflake's chance in Hell of being elected President - at least in many of our lifetimes.
I agree with retroxler, that if T does half of what he says he's going to do - and by the looks of his Cabinet picks so far it looks like he's VERY serious about truly making America great again - then it will be at least 8, and maybe 16 (or more) years before the Socialist 'rats can run an even half-way legitimate candidate who will be taken seriously.
It's very possible T can undo a majority of the "advancements" the Socialist 'rats have made in the last 60 years. If his economic, trade, tax and money policies can put America back on the road to prosperity, it may be a long, long time before the 'rats can field a candidate who won't be laughed off the stage for suggesting a Socialist America.
Let us pray.
So they think they could win again with another "dark" horse? Black the new magic bullet.
California? +P magic bullet for being black and a woman. I see a pattern a emerging. Now if she were to come out as a lesbian +P+. Also if she converts to muslim (being a lesbian might make this difficult) would make her beyond magic bullet in to Rail Gun territory.
Colorado, I see vote for me and I'll legalize pot for everyone plus well fare. This one might have legs. Sell pot, with the tax money from sale of pot fund everything.
As for the last one. Read on here they'll be moving to California and there will be wetting themselves to have her take the mantle of boxer, pelosi, fienstien. I hope I'll have two state buffer before this happens.
Corey Booker is the text book definition of a Liberal hoodrat. This POS from NJ has his eyes set on becoming our Governor. He needs to have a heart attack and just friggen die. Picture Micheal Brown, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on crack. That is Corey Booker.[:(!][:(!][:(!][}:)][:(!] Just the mention of his name , makes me want to become a raciest. I am serious.[:(!]
Booker has one to many boyfriends in his down low closet.