Talk Elections

I'd say Klobuchar. She's neither a radical nor a DLC type, vaguely charismatic but not overwhelmingly so, from a state that has a Dem lean but is no Vermont.

Gillibrand. She's better than Klobochar but is still an establishment Hillary primary supporter.

I actually might go with Castro on this one, just by virtue of being an enigma.  No congressional voting record, and has spent the last several years on Obama's team, not promoting his own ideas.  So he's kind of a blank slate.

It is hard to tell at this point. A lot of us thought Marco Rubio was the Generic R candidate... until he wasn't and the primary voters showed themselves to be radically different from what we thought they were.

The way I see it, this one question actually poses three separate and distinct questions.

First, which candidate is most likely to replicate "Generic D" on surveys. I would give that to Biden. At this point in his long career, his positives and negatives as a candidate are pretty baked in.

Second, which candidate is the most "generic" or boring/plain/unoffensive. The clear answer here is McAuliffe. Jeff Merkely and John Hickenlooper are also in this tier of boring.

Third, which candidate is the most "blank slate" and can appeal to the most people. Like Morden, I would put Castro at the top of this list, but would also throw Kander and Gillibrand on here.

Among these: Probably Klobuchar. Overall, probably Andrew Cuomo.

Cory Booker

When you think generic there's really only one option: Martin O'Malley.

Andrew Cuomo and Cory Booker are about as "generic D" as Charlie Baker and Brian Sandoval are "generic R."

I actually think Harris.

Center-left, relatively unknown and undefined, minority woman from California.

Klobuchar. Boring public persona, few brave stands, relatively anonymous besides political wonks and Minnesotans.

Klobuchar is too folksy

Booker already has his own reputation
Gillibrand already connected to Hillary
Franken = comedian
Sanders = socialist
Brown = leftist
Biden = Biden
Bullock = redneck
Warren = Warren
Castro = dweeby token Hispanic



Harris is the most undefined, the most generic D.

After that hearing against Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, not so sure that last part is true.

1. Even hardly any of us watched that
2. How did it change perception of her?


I don't see this poll as favorite/best Dem, just answering what it's asking... most generic.

Not that many people base their votes on it, but Klobuchar is pretty far to the right of her party's base on foreign policy and issues of international relations. For that reason alone, I disagree with the contention that she is, in any way, a generic Democrat.

Klobuchar but it's not a bad thing

Klobuchar is not nearly as dull as most people give her credit for. She's a great fit for Minnesota.

Bullock seems like a completely regular person. I could easily pass him on the street without even noticing. Chris Murphy looks like a generic TV politician.

Gillibrand. She's from a safe party-line blue state and isn't as extreme as some of the others. Klobuchar would have problems appealing to the Bernie wing.

Booker and Gillibrand are both the closest to the center of the party ideologically, but have demographic considerations that make them not very "generic".

Voted Gillibrand.

Klobuchar

I'd like to hear a few of the 50% of Democrats who are to the right of Cory Booker economically, LOL.  Seriously, I know the "neoliberal Democratic Party that abandoned working Americans and now Trump is populist and muh realignment" is gospel here, but GMAFB.

Biden has a lot of baggage but I still voted for him because he is the only potential Democratic candidate who represents the history of the Democrats of past 30 years in a way that people like.

Biden was able to shake off the baggage and come to high favoribility rating as Veep, but he has failed badly the two times that he has ran. In 1988 heplagarized Neil Kinnock (British Labor Party leader) who was not even a successful or popular politican That ruined his campaign when the media found out. In 2008 he was barely noticeable next to Hillary and Obama duking it out. But even John Edwards did much better than Biden in 2008 and posed more of a threat to Clinton and Obama than Biden did.

So Biden has never been a good presidential candidate, but the situation may have changed for his eight years soaking up the good and not the bad as Veep. He has demeanor and people want to like him. He also has working class appearance to him. He may have gained a teflon layer that he did not have prior to 2009.

Progressive Punch (http://progressivepunch.org/) ranks Cory Booker as the 4th most progressive Senator based on lifetime rankings, making him more progressive than Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, Tammy Baldwin, and Jeff Merkley to name a few.

Sure, its only one ranking and these things have to be taken with a grain of salt but it just goes to show that Booker's "moderatism" is way over-blown.  He's a run-of-the-mill liberal Democrat by any objective standard who will have a massive advantage in the primary if he's able to consolidate African-American voters.

The ones on the Forum who keep comparing Booker to Howell Heflin or Dale Bumpers are the one who need to GMAFB.

I'd agree.

She's been in office for a while, which is a generic Democrat thing to do.

Not 2020 candidates, but I'd say Chuck Schumer or Dick Durbin

Maggie Hassan?

If I'm correct, Gillibrand is a bit farther to the left than the center of the Democratic Party, but I see her coming off as the most generic Democrat, coming from a liberal bastion and drawing Hillary comparisons.

Policy wise, I think Booker and Klobuchar might be more accurately represent the aggregate ideology of elected Democrats.

Klobuchar is not vaguely charismatic. She is not charismatic at all. Democrats would literally be better off nominating the avatar that appears for people on Facebook who don't have a profile picture.