The “Who is running in 2020?” tea leaves thread, Part 2

[Progressive Pessimist]

Latest from Biden:

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/380079-biden-if-i-dont-run-in-2020-its-not-because-im-afraid-of-losing

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That's a pretty honest answer and confirms my thoughts that he really doesn't have his mind made up one way or the other.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Kander hires Des Moines Register scribe amid 2020 buzz

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With Greitens imploding this doesn’t make sense, MO-GOV is right there for him.

Yeah he's still quite young. He can afford to wait until he is elected to a higher office.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Steyer is taking his impeachment road show to Iowa next month:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/383358-steyer-taking-impeachment-tour-to-iowa

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In other news, Hickenlooper suggests that a run for president is something he may start thinking about this summer.  Though he reiterates that no final decision will come until after he leaves office next January:

http://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/national/480283913.html?ref=913

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Next January is truly going to be an interesting time.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Report: Kamala Harris heads to Drumpf country for 2020 'shadow campaign'

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-2020-election-Drumpf-country-Michigan-12890494.php

We all know she is going to run but this could be an interesting trial to see if she could appeal to, or even salvage, some of those voters that Clinton lost.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Report: Kamala Harris heads to Drumpf country for 2020 'shadow campaign'

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-2020-election-Drumpf-country-Michigan-12890494.php

We all know she is going to run but this could be an interesting trial to see if she could appeal to, or even salvage, some of those voters that Clinton lost.

I hate how they characterize Michigan & Wisconsin as 'Drumpf country' were they ever described as Obama country? No.

I agree but it is important to remember how and why they voted for Trump if the Democrats want to flip it back in 2020.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Blankenship floats a primary challenge to Drumpf:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-hazard-of-don-blankenships-senate-campaign-in-west-virginia

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This should serve as a reminder to everyone that no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse. 

I hate our reality so much...

[Progressive Pessimist]

Why is color of Republican Party blue and Democrat Party red?

On this forum it's so that the colors can better correlate with the international associations between left and right. In most countries red represents parties that are affiliated with some sort of left-wing ideology and blue typically represents a right-wing political party.
The only reason we use the opposite here is because of the 2000 election and the colors that were arbitrarily used that year for Bush (red) and Gore (blue). People got so used to seeing those colors as the election results continued to be disputed for nearly a month, that they have just sort of been accepted by this point by the parties and most Americans.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Sherrod Brown's participation at the CAP Ideas Conference prompts the obvious question about whether he has presidential ambitions.  Here's his response:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national-govt--politics/brown-appearance-forum-begs-question-running-for-president/8kNBLZZHzENgG1ZQzspYJJ/
http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180516/sherrod-brown-says-he-has-no-interest-in-2020-presidential-bid

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Please run Sherrod

I honestly can't blame him for not wanting it considering the stresses of the modern presidency, but the country on the whole could really use him, and I think he has a very good shot at both primary and general.

I can't blame him either. I actually don't know why anyone would want to be President! It's not nearly as glamorous as it seems. Just ask Trump, he is obviously in over his head.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Brown will not run if DeWine wins its as simple as that.

As much as I would like to see him run, it's smart thinking on his part to stay planted in the Senate should DeWine be victorious. That's assuming he wins again this year, of course, which he probably will. If Cordray wins though, I'm not sure what he'll do. He could also become a very favorable running mate choice for nearly any candidate at that point if he doesn't win the primary or run at all.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Nina Turner to do an event in New Hampshire on June 30th:

http://www.wmur.com/article/nh-primary-source-our-revolution-president-nina-turner-to-headline-nh-event/20891553

We are truly in the dumbest timeline

I doubt she's running for President. Maybe Levi Sanders asked her to come.

Thank you for citing additional evidence that we are in the dumbest timeline.

[Progressive Pessimist]

bruh what is the chances of Andy Kaufman coming back from hiding and running for president

For awhile that's what Trump's candidacy came off to me as. If he wasn't serious it would have been a brilliant piece of performance art where he poses as a caricature of what the Republican Party has become. If Trump was smarter he might have been putting our country through a social experiment like "The Wave." Obviously, this was not the case.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Comey for President:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/06/crooked-comeys-latest-tweet-has-people-saying-hes-running-in-2020/

You do realize you're posting an article from a rabidly pro-Drumpf site that dismisses Russia-gate as "fake news"?

Comey's not running...at least not for President. (I could see him being the running mate for a Kasich campaign).

What I am doing in that post is being facetious.

By the way I believe Russiagate is fake news.  Drumpf has in action been the most anti Russian President since Reagan.  He is also.been determined to not let the Chinese run over us.

People just ignore the facts and pretend that everything is ok because things have not been as sensational in the past few news cycles, how dumb is the American public at large?

Very.

Roger Stone Says Trump might not Run in 2020

please

and that he has someone to challenge a Pence-Haley Ticket

no

I also agree with this post.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/sen-kamala-harris-not-ruling-out-2020-white-house-run-n886166

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This is a surprise to basically no one.

[Progressive Pessimist]

What do you folks think of Bloomberg?

http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/26/bloomberg-presidential-run-2020/

Bad idea. He is too moderate, too rich, and the exact kind of candidate that Trump would perform the best against (which is ironic because he is also a New York billionaire, but for whatever reason he always gets a pass for everything). Bloomberg should put all his political efforts into donating to Democratic candidates instead.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti says he'll run for prez in 2020 if he doesn't think there's anyone else in the field who can beat Trump:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/04/avenatti-2020-trump-reelection-stormy-daniels-lawyer-694056

http://www.newsweek.com/michael-avenatti-says-hed-absolutely-beat-trump-2020-election-and-be-his-1008494

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good God

There are much better ways for him to attempt to take down Trump. I guess ultimately it doesn't matter since I can't see him getting that far in a Democratic primary.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti says he'll run for prez in 2020 if he doesn't think there's anyone else in the field who can beat Trump:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/04/avenatti-2020-trump-reelection-stormy-daniels-lawyer-694056

http://www.newsweek.com/michael-avenatti-says-hed-absolutely-beat-trump-2020-election-and-be-his-1008494

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good God

There are much better ways for him to attempt to take down Trump. I guess ultimately it doesn't matter since I can't see him getting that far in a Democratic primary.

Is he even a Democrat? I thought he was implying a third party/independent bid.

I think I remember reading about how he said that he would run as a Democrat.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The 2020 Dem field is now officially a clown car.

Well the official campaigning hasn't even started yet, so that might be a little premature to say. It definitely could become a clown car though.

[Progressive Pessimist]

So is Stein gearing up to be the sacrificial lamb of the Greens for the third time in a row, or...? It would be interesting to see how much media attention she'd receive given her now infamous status post-2016, TBH.

Her level of support would probably depend on how the Democratic primaries turn out and who is nominated. Not to mention if Russia continues to underhandedly promote her.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Steyer’s in New Hampshire this week, where he’s spending $ on turning out young people in the midterms:

http://www.wmur.com/article/nh-primary-source-steyer-in-nh-organizing-young-voters-pushing-for-trump-impeachment/22120836

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That's what he should be spending money on. Not ads for a lost cause, or his pipe dream of being President.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/politics/2020-democrats-chat/index.html “Part 2” of their definitive ranking. They go over what they missed, and Chris makes a good case that Bullock is a hidden liberal. He was the first governor to order net neutrality be protected, banned “dark money” in MT elections post-Citizens United, passed an equal pay bill, refused to send the MT National Guard to the border, and fought as a private citizen for a minimum wage ballot measure.

That's what makes Bullock such an appealing candidate. His ability to appeal to Montanans and yet remain a mostly mainstream liberal with actual accomplishments that could play very well in a general election.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Tim Ryan is telling people he's running, and believes yogi will be his base along with blue-collar Midwesterners. Also told Third Way “You’re not going to make me hate somebody just because they’re rich. I want to be rich!”

He's so much more progressive than Pelosi!

[Progressive Pessimist]

Smart move to try to get name out there. Focusing on money in politics and jobs might pay off when the rest of the candidates start overdoing it on race and gender identity.

They do focus on jobs, it's just that people like you can't stand to hear that we live amongst racism and bigotry and any candidate who mentions it is accused of "overdoing it" and peddling identity politics.

The sad truth is minority identity politics are always going to "look" and poll worse than WWC identity politics, just because white folks don't see the latter as identity politics.

It's a conveniently overlooked fact, isn't it? Basically any political rhetoric designed to connect with groups of voters is a form of "identity politics." It's a necessary facet of connecting with people in a political context, because it's more emotional and relevant to day-to-day life than just droll hypothetical policy assessments.

I've been saying this for well over two years. I often rail against what I see as nebulous buzzwords, and "identity politics" is one of them.

[Progressive Pessimist]

If Steve Bullock does end up running, he'll fill the primary voter niche for... fans of private prison contracts, I guess?

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(Source)

Well...I finally found something to dislike about Bullock. Yeah this would not play well in the primary.

[Progressive Pessimist]

All those books have mediocre titles but it seems to be required that they have subpar titles.

Definitely nothing as pithy Dreams From My Father or The Audacity of Hope, although Harris tries.

Some of them are amusingly bad: Landrieu's could be a white supremacist memoir, Castro's sounds like the title of a fan-fiction Hangover sequel.

Sasse's is just one word away from being something great - Them: Why We Hate Each Other--and How to Heal Prevail.

I'm just waiting for a sitting politician to buck the trend and write total fiction. How about writing kafkaesque horror? Scifi? Murder mytseries? Nobody wants to read ghost written memoirs.

Gillibrand bucked it, kind of, by writing a children's book.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Oh, and there are two more books by prospective candidates that didn’t make the CNN list.  Both Gabbard and Moulton have books coming out in April 2019:

”Is Today the Day?: Not Another Political Memoir” by Tulsi Gabbard

”Called to Serve: Learning to Lead in War and Peace” by Seth Moulton

I'm not particularly fond of Tulsi Gabbard, but that meta title is pretty great.