The “Who is running in 2020?” tea leaves thread, Part 4

[henster]

McAuliffe wouldn't even have a chance of making the debates.

[UWS]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/831710/joe-biden-might-wait-until-easter-announce-2020-run

Biden might wait until Easter to announce 2020 presidential run

So that means that he will announce around April 21 as Easter takes place on Sunday April 21 this year.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/831710/joe-biden-might-wait-until-easter-announce-2020-run

Biden might wait until Easter to announce 2020 presidential run

So that means that he will announce around April 21 as Easter takes place on Sunday April 21 this year.

Is he going to play up his Catholic upbringing or something?

[Sestak]

McAuliffe? Lmao.

[JG]

At the rate Biden is going, we will still be getting "leaks" in october 2020 that Biden plans to announce around November 3rd.

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/28/bennet-president-2020-elections-1241711

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said Thursday that he is "very inclined" to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, telling his MSNBC interviewers that his decision would have nothing to do with whether former Vice President Joe Biden enters the race.

“I'm very inclined to do it, and we're looking at it. And I think, look, the American people need somebody who's going to run and tell them the truth in 2020,” he said on “Morning Joe.”

[UWS]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/831710/joe-biden-might-wait-until-easter-announce-2020-run

Biden might wait until Easter to announce 2020 presidential run

So that means that he will announce around April 21 as Easter takes place on Sunday April 21 this year.

Is he going to play up his Catholic upbringing or something?

Or rather maybe seizing Easter as an occasion to fundraise while announcing his 2020 bid.

[Thatkat04]

At the rate Biden is going, we will still be getting "leaks" in october 2020 that Biden plans to announce around November 3rd.

They'll put a podium on the debate stage "just in case".

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

At the rate Biden is going, we will still be getting "leaks" in october 2020 that Biden plans to announce around November 3rd.

Joe Biden will decide to announce at a brokered convention at this rate.

[Xing]

I don't think Biden will necessarily hurt himself by announcing later, but I have to wonder what's preventing him from pulling the trigger. I have to think that he's not as 100% sure as some "sources" would lead us to believe.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Biden is such an attention whore, good grief!

[UWS]

I don't think Biden will necessarily hurt himself by announcing later, but I have to wonder what's preventing him from pulling the trigger. I have to think that he's not as 100% sure as some "sources" would lead us to believe.

As I heard, it is partly because of his strong name recognition and so he has the luxury of waiting until Easter to announce his candidacy. Hillary Clinton too announced her 2016 bid in April and her name recognition is one of the factors of her victory in the 2016 Democratic primaries.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/831710/joe-biden-might-wait-until-easter-announce-2020-run

Biden might wait until Easter to announce 2020 presidential run

So that means that he will announce around April 21 as Easter takes place on Sunday April 21 this year.

Calling it now: Biden will formally announce he is not running for president on April 18, only to have three women discover his FEC filing three days later.

[beaver2.0]

Biden is such an attention whore, good grief!

Can the Democratic Party just expel him already.  We’re done with his sh**t

[Mr. Morden]

"Abrams builds massive political network":

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/30/stacey-abrams-2020-1243850

But in recent months, [Abrams] has mounted a nationwide, largely below-the-radar effort to expand her donor and political network that will make her an instant force whatever she decides.

Abrams has traversed the country meeting with top Democrats since her narrow loss in the Georgia governor’s race. She’s met with every leading candidate for president, and become a regular draw on the big-ticket fundraising circuit, donors and fundraisers told POLITICO. Abrams headlined major donor events for the Democratic National Committee, the progressive donor collaborative Way to Win and former Sen. Barbara Boxer in recent months, and has discussed her political future with top Democratic donors.
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In contrast to Beto O’Rourke, who wrote Medium posts and took a road trip after his loss, Abrams has been keenly focused on the nuts and bolts of building her political base. She’s attended dozens of events across the country, according to descriptions of her itinerary from sources close to Abrams and others who’ve spoken with her. She also drew high marks for her performance delivering Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in February.

All the while, Abrams, who maintains a spreadsheet of her life ambitions, has stoked the buzz surrounding her next move by taking meetings with national figures from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to former Vice President Joe Biden.

[Mr. Morden]

Moulton’s in Iowa, where he was asked about 2020:

https://dailyiowan.com/2019/03/29/congressman-and-military-veteran-seth-moulton-speaks-at-ui-while-considering-2020-presidential-bid/

“I haven’t decided yet if I’m running,” Moulton said to the crowd in Iowa City.  “It’s a family decision for me because I have a five and a half month old at home and a wife with her own successful career. So we’ve got a lot of work to do as a family to figure this out.”

Moulton’s also going to be on CNN’s “State of the Union” tomorrow:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-0330-tvhighlights-20190330-story.html

[PaperKooper]

Joe Sanberg, who's apparently some sort of millionaire investor is considering running on a platform of economic growth through progressive policies. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/joe-sanberg-mulls-long-shot-presidential-campaign/586087/

“I’ve got to make the case on behalf of our party that our progressive positions are moral, and also the smart thing for our economy,” Sanberg said, standing in central Iowa at an event with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He admitted later that he’s gotten serious about running for president again because of Trump’s clear preview of a 2020 campaign all about calling Democrats socialists. “Good luck to them if they want to call me a socialist, because businesspeople aren’t socialists,” he told me.
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Sanberg said he won’t make a final decision about his own presidential plans until April 15, when Working Hero’s focus culminates on tax day. Days later, he’ll head back to Iowa and South Carolina to host Passover seders—he’ll do the Iowa one in Ames and invite Steve King, a local congressman who’s become famous for his apologetic attitude toward white nationalists.

Whether or not he runs—and if he does, he said, he won’t self-fund—Sanberg said he’s determined to try to push Democrats to a different way of talking about poverty and economics.

“When we were growing up, we used to think that your view of whether you were conservative or liberal was about how you should help people, not whether you should help people,” Sanberg told me.

[Mr. Morden]

Abrams talked 2020 on Wednesday:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-27/stacey-abrams-needs-a-little-time-to-decide-if-she-s-running

Former Georgia state legislator Stacey Abrams said she needs “a little time” to decide if she’ll once again answer the calls of people asking her to run for political office.

“I declare nothing,” Abrams, 45, said Wednesday at Bloomberg’s Equality Summit in New York. “My responsibility is to make a choice that is grounded in my values and the ethic of doing the right thing.”
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“You shouldn’t run for an office just because an office is there," Abrams said. "You shouldn’t run for an office as a stepping stone to another office, and you should run when you are called to be the person to make that change.”

AP story from earlier in the week about Team Biden laying the groundwork in Iowa:

https://apnews.com/79d6ab1d35be459587002babe7ff3e1e

Although Biden hasn’t decided whether to launch a third presidential campaign, one of his top associates, Pete Kavanaugh, was in Des Moines on Wednesday meeting with potential senior staff and longtime supporters. He discussed a senior role on Biden’s team with Jessica Vanden Berg, a former state Democratic Party executive director who has worked on past presidential caucus campaigns.
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Biden associates and others have said no offers have been extended in Iowa or elsewhere, though they are charting out their list of names and where they would likely be slotted. There has been discussion within Biden’s circle and some potential hires of possible salary ranges for some posts, with the important caveat that there is no campaign fundraising organization in place yet to pay staffers.

Biden’s team has also begun focusing on key staffing moves in South Carolina, home to the first Southern primary a few weeks after the caucuses.

Aides to Biden have spoken with Kendall Corley, a veteran Democratic strategist with strong ties to 2018 gubernatorial candidate James Smith and a key adviser on Alabama Sen. Doug Jones’ 2017 campaign. Besides being recommended by Smith, Corley was also backed by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who is the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a Biden supporter.

[Mr. Morden]

Moulton says decision in "next few weeks":

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/31/seth-moulton-2020-president-1245495

"Liz and I, my wife, are talking about this. It's a family decision. It's something that we have to commit to together," the Massachusetts Democrat said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Ultimately, Liz and I are going to are going to talk about this. We're going to decide in the next few weeks."
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Moulton, who served several tours in Iraq as a Marine, signaled that national security would be a cornerstone of his candidacy, which would be a long shot in an already crowded primary field.

Similarly, Ryan, while in Iowa, says he'll decide "in a couple of weeks":

https://ktiv.com/2019/03/30/ohio-congressman-tim-ryan-visits-sioux-city/

Ryan says that he plans on making a final decision to run in the 2020 election in a couple of weeks.

[Mr. Morden]

So, McAuliffe said that he'd decide on whether to run this month, but is reportedly announcing said decision in April rather than March.  His first interview of April will actually be tomorrow morning at 8:05am on The John Fredericks Show:

https://bluevirginia.us/2019/03/is-tmac-going-to-announce-for-president-on-april-fools-day-appropriately-on-trumpster-radio

Apparently, the John Fredericks Show is a conservative radio talk show in Virginia?  I would assume that McAuliffe isn't going to actually announce his 2020 decision on said show on April Fool's Day, but maybe he'll give us an update.

Indeed, I wonder if we might get one or more announcements this week.  Candidates like Swalwell, McAuliffe, Ryan, etc. might just be waiting for April to start, because they don't want to file a 1st quarter fundraising report.  But April Fool's Day itself is probably not a great launch day, so maybe one of them will announce on April 2nd?

[Former Crackhead Mike Lindell]

But April Fool's Day itself is probably not a great launch day, so maybe one of them will announce on April 2nd?

Oh god we're going to get some fake announcements, aren't we?

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

But April Fool's Day itself is probably not a great launch day, so maybe one of them will announce on April 2nd?

Oh god we're going to get some fake announcements, aren't we?

Biden is done, they say, then my bet is...
https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton/status/791263939015376902

[Progressive Pessimist]

But April Fool's Day itself is probably not a great launch day, so maybe one of them will announce on April 2nd?

Oh god we're going to get some fake announcements, aren't we?

Biden is done, they say, then my bet is...
https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton/status/791263939015376902

That tweet is depressing in every way. And I don't even mean that in a condescending way. I wish she was President.

[Mr. Smith]

But April Fool's Day itself is probably not a great launch day, so maybe one of them will announce on April 2nd?

Oh god we're going to get some fake announcements, aren't we?

Biden is done, they say, then my bet is...
https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton/status/791263939015376902

That tweet is depressing in every way. And I don't even mean that in a condescending way. I wish she was President.

Given how 2018 went vs what would've happened, I disagree...even if Donnelly/McCaskill/Nelson both squandered their chances and Beto didn't quite pull through enough which prevented the Senate from flipping.

[Mr. Morden]

WaPo story on Biden’s reaction to the Flores story:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-bidens-affectionate-physical-style-with-women-comes-under-scrutiny/2019/03/31/a41a81d0-5275-11e9-8d28-f5149e5a2fda_story.html

He is still believed to be leaning toward entering the presidential race in late April.

But then there’s this odd phrasing from the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/31/us/politics/joe-biden-flores.html

Mr. Biden’s advisers indicated on Sunday that the accusation would not dissuade him from entering the 2020 campaign, which they suggest he still intends to do at the end of April or just after.

"At the end of April or just after"?  So just after the end of April would be May?  Is Team Biden now suggesting that he might not announce his intentions until May?