The “Who is running in 2020?” tea leaves thread

[Mr. Morden]

Howard Fineman has a column here devoted to the prospect of Franken 2020, with several quotes from the man himself:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/al-franken-democrat_us_592746d9e4b01b9a593788af

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There’s also this sidebar on Franken not wanting to step on Klobuchar’s toes:

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[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Senator Warren was on Obama legacy podcast Pod Save America today.

The podcast is quickly shaping up to be a 2020 cattle-call, featuring Cory Booker, Warren, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Senator Klobuchar, and other rumored candidates over the past couple months.

But again, this could just be people trying to be on the national Democratic stage without running for President.

[Mr. Morden]

Franken says he's running for a third term for Senate in 2020:

http://www.twincities.com/2017/05/30/al-franken-will-seek-third-term-in-2020/

This may or may not preclude him running for president.  I don't know whether the law in Minnesota allows you to run for two offices at once.

[Mr. Morden]

Kamala Harris:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/30/kamala-harris-california-trump-resistance/

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That story has some other fun tidbits about Harris, like her calling John Kelly at home over the travel ban.  And general discussion of how she’s not keeping her head down:

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[RogueBeaver]

Biden PAC.

[MAINEiac4434]

Biden PAC.

He's running.

[The Other Castro]

So, yeah, Clinton is not running again:

Kaitlan Collins‏ @kaitlancollins
Clinton is asked why she did Goldman Sachs speeches.
HC: "Why do you have Goldman Sachs here?"
Recode: "They paid us."
HC: "They paid me"


O'Malley helping out in SC-5:

Gabriel Debenedetti‏ @gdebenedetti
More pre-2020 work from @MartinOMalley: the ex-gov just sent out a fundraising email for @Archie4Congress in SC (yes, an early state).

[America Needs R'hllor]

So, yeah, Clinton is not running again.

Kaitlan Collins‏ @kaitlancollins
Clinton is asked why she did Goldman Sachs speeches.
HC: "Why do you have Goldman Sachs here?"
Recode: "They paid us."
HC: "They paid me"

I love that.

[Mr. Morden]

Biden PAC.

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[Shameless Lefty Hack]

So, yeah, Clinton is not running again.

Kaitlan Collins‏ @kaitlancollins
Clinton is asked why she did Goldman Sachs speeches.
HC: "Why do you have Goldman Sachs here?"
Recode: "They paid us."
HC: "They paid me."

I love that.

It's refreshing honesty, but doesn't diminish any of my concerns with the practice.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Go Joe!

[foxh8er]

What's ya'lls take on Bill McRaven running? Ultimate dark horse.

[The Other Castro]

What's ya'lls take on Bill McRaven running? Ultimate dark horse.

No.

[Dmitri Covasku]

I mean, I don't see Hillary running again. And I definitely don't see Bernie running. Do the Democrats have any good candidates to be honest?

[Mr. Morden]

Wikipedia's categorization of the 2020 candidates has gotten even dumber, as they've added a section for "candidates having a PAC", with Biden being the only person listed there even though every single Senator considering a presidential run has a PAC (and in most cases, has had one for years).  AFAIK, O'Malley's PAC is also still operating.

[MAINEiac4434]

I mean, I don't see Hillary running again. And I definitely don't see Bernie running. Do the Democrats have any good candidates to be honest?

I mean, we have like eighteen months before even exploratory committees are formed. That's a lot of time for someone to make a name for themselves and position themselves as a strong candidate.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

AFAIK, O'Malley's PAC is also still operating.

You appear to be right. The last report from the committee showed that it ended calendar year 2016 with 23k cash on hand. They haven't filed any reports since.

The non-federal PAC terminated itself in Sept 2016 though.

[Shadows]

Elizabeth Warren went on to the Young turks & had a 30 minute interview.

Cenk Uygur pushed her on not endorsing Bernie in 2016 (including Bernie's ideological similarity & marginal losses in Iowa, Mass), what she feels about primarying centrist democrats, her support & U-turn on Ben Carson, effect of money in politics, praised her work for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, called her the 2nd most progressive in the Senate & asked her if she doesn't run & Bernie runs in 2020, will she enthusiastically endorse & campaign for Bernie ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmVAygJh7js&t=14s

[Shadows]

My childhood in Brooklyn was shaped by two profound realities. First, my mom, dad and older brother Larry, who graduated from Brooklyn College, lived in a 3 1/2 room rent-controlled apartment. As with many families who don’t have a lot of money, financial pressures caused friction and tension within our household. From those experiences I have never forgotten that there are millions of people throughout this country who struggle to put food on the table, pay the electric bill, try to save for their kids’ education or for retirement—people who face painful and stress-filled decisions every single day.

The second reality that impacted my life was that my father left Poland at the age of 17 from a community which was not only very poor, but from a country where anti-semitism, pogroms and attacks on Jews were not uncommon. While my father emigrated to the United States, and escaped Hitler and the holocaust, many in his family did not. For them, racism, right-wing extremism and ultra-nationalism were not “political issues.” They were issues of life and death—and they died.

In response to these very serious problems it seems to me that we have two choices. First we can throw up our hands in despair. We can loudly proclaim that we can’t beat the system. It is not an acceptable response because the reality that we face today impacts not only our lives, but the lives of our children, the lives of our grandchildren and, with regard to climate change, the very future of this planet. The truth is that the only rational choice we have is to stand up and fight back—reclaim American democracy and create a government that works for all of us, and not just the 1 percent.

Sanders with a moving commencement speech at Brooklyn College

https://qz.com/994609/transcript-heres-bernie-sanders-full-commencement-speech-at-brooklyn-college/

[LastMcGovernite]

What's ya'lls take on Bill McRaven running? Ultimate dark horse.

I'd strongly support him as a vice-presidential nominee. He'd be ideal for that role.

[Mr. Morden]

OK, looks like Wikipedia has already dropped the "PAC" category from their 2020 presidential list.  I guess someone realized that it made no sense.

In other news...

Franken’s asked if he’d endorse Klobuchar if she runs for prez, and also talks his own presidential prospects:

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/335829-franken-dodges-supporting-klobuchar-for-2020-presidential-bid-calls-her-great

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He used the f-word. 

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Wiki is great for a lot of things, but it's god-awful at listing potential candidates. Especially because they don't read into comments and take them at face value (I don't blame them, but it's not useful in many cases).

[Mr. Morden]

Update on John Kerry, who two weeks ago said that he wasn’t “ruling anything in or out":

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/03/01/john-kerry-lands-another-post-government-gig-visiting-distinguished-statesman-think-tank/JeAVT7OVhmb5QlfXQmrWBP/story.html

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And, further follow up on this: This news is several weeks old now, but apparently at a private event last month.....

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/03/politics/john-kerry-future/index.html

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[This account no longer in use.]

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Update on John Kerry, who two weeks ago said that he wasn’t “ruling anything in or out":

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/03/01/john-kerry-lands-another-post-government-gig-visiting-distinguished-statesman-think-tank/JeAVT7OVhmb5QlfXQmrWBP/story.html

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And, further follow up on this: This news is several weeks old now, but apparently at a private event last month.....

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/03/politics/john-kerry-future/index.html

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I hope, I hope, I HOPE, that this means that he's open to another term as Sec State in the next Dem administration.

Though yet again. As a shameless hack for the Prog Populists, I hope all of these centrist has beens run, and I hope only one of ours runs. We'll have it wrapped up by Super Tuesday.