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

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gov-cuomo-seek-reelection-run-president-article-1.2874698

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Revisiting this non-denial denial from two weeks ago, I guess this is the exact wording:

http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/11/asked-about-2020-cuomo-says-run-in-2018-107374

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"I plan to run for reelection and that's it" seems to have been enough for Wikipedia to say that Cuomo has already declined to run for prez in 2020.  But I don't know.  Reading that answer as a whole, it sounds like a classic non-denial denial to me.

[/]

^Yeah, I wouldn't consider that a denial.

[henster]

If Tulsi Gabbard were Senator Gabbard then she'd be a very strong contender for 2020, unfortunately she seems boxed in Hawaii with nowhere to go. Abercrombie losing in 2014 was probably the worst thing for her career considering she could've ran for Gov when he termed out. Hirono and Schatz aren't going anywhere so she is stuck.

[RogueBeaver]

Biden might run. https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/805923064382898177

[Progressive]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/05/joe-biden-predicts-he-will-run-for-president-in-2020-adds-that-he-is-not-yet-committed.html

The story on Biden

[Mr. Morden]

Biden might run. https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/805923064382898177

If you take that quote at face value, then he's already announced his candidacy. 

[Kingpoleon]

Biden is the only person Julian Castro would make sense for.

[Chief Justice Keef]

If Tulsi Gabbard were Senator Gabbard then she'd be a very strong contender for 2020, unfortunately she seems boxed in Hawaii with nowhere to go. Abercrombie losing in 2014 was probably the worst thing for her career considering she could've ran for Gov when he termed out. Hirono and Schatz aren't going anywhere so she is stuck.

Gabbard is still incredibly young, so I think a 2020 presidential run would be an unwise career move for her. If Hirono decides to retire in 2024, she could easily win the Senate seat and she'd only be 43, or she can make a run for the governor race in 2022 when Ige finishes his second term.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Biden might run. https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/805923064382898177

Eh, maybe. I'm not as enthused for a Biden run as I was for 2016, but I could be convinced to support his candidacy.

[Mr. Morden]

A couple of pages ago in this thread, I noted how Booker, Gillibrand, and Klobuchar sneakily all did some campaigning in both Iowa and New Hampshire this past year either for Clinton or for other Democratic candidates.  Well, if we’re now going to take Joe Biden 2020 as a serious topic of conversation, I just tried searching for the places where he campaigned for Clinton this year.  One early primary/caucus state he campaigned in was Nevada:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/joe-biden-campaigns-hillary-clinton-nevada-candidates-during-las-vegas

Otherwise, he was stumping for Clinton in FL, NC, OH, PA, and WI this fall.  No Iowa or New Hampshire that I could find.  But I just did a quick Google search, so maybe it’s there, and I just didn’t find it.

[Young Conservative]

I keep wondering why James Lankford is never talked about for the Republican nom? Can anyone explain?

[Hindsight was 2020]

Now that Ben is taking over HUD it should be watched closely as any story of HUD doing worse or better than now will be the fueling decision for Julian Castro

[Illiniwek]

I love you Biden, but don't p*ss around with this now. You won't run in 2020, but you probably should have run this year. I love you, and you've been great, but now its time to ride off into (what is hopefully a fun and amusing) retirement.

[Phony Moderate]

Biden might run. https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/805923064382898177

It'd be helpful to hear audio of that, but it seems like typical Biden irony.

[Mr. Morden]

I keep wondering why James Lankford is never talked about for the Republican nom? Can anyone explain?

Has he done anything to indicate that he's interested in running?  The people I'm talking about in this thread are people who have done *something* to indicate that they might be interested in running.

In any case, with Trump presumably running for reelection in 2020, it's not even clear that the GOP nomination will be contested.  If it is contested, I'm guessing that it'll be someone from the "Liberty wing" of the party, with Justin Amash being the most likely.  Amash actually made multiple statements in the last year to indicate that he's interesting in running for president some day, and he's so far been chief critic of Trump within the Republican caucus in the House.  He tweets some criticism of Trump's comments or policies every few days, while all the other Congressional Republicans are playing nice (for now).

[The Other Castro]

Audio of Biden:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/biden-wont-rule-out-2020-presidential-run/2016/12/06/92564a74-bbcd-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_video.html

It sounds half joking, half serious to me.

[Mr. Morden]

Dan Malloy has been reelected as chair of the DGA:

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-malloy-dga-chair-again-20161205-story.html

I don’t know if Malloy actually has presidential ambitions, but DGA chair is a job that gives you an excuse to travel around the country raising money, and many past DGA and RGA chairs have gone on to run for president.

Malloy has made several trips to both Iowa and New Hampshire in the past year and a half.  First, he went to New Hampshire in August 2015 to campaign for Clinton:

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Malloy-to-stump-for-Hillary-Clinton-in-New-6457863.php

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Then back to NH in November 2015:

http://www.walb.com/story/30444356/connecticut-governor-to-stump-for-clinton-in-new-hampshire

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Then Iowa in December:

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-malloy-iowa-hillary-clinton-1218-20151217-story.html

Then back to NH to stump for Clinton in January:

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-malloy-campaigns-new-hampshire-clinton-20160129-story.html

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Then back to Iowa in July for the National Governors Association meeting:

http://www.radioiowa.com/2016/07/14/connecticut-governor-in-iowa-for-nga-touts-his-states-gun-laws/

Malloy may seem like an odd choice as a presidential candidate, considering that, last time I checked, his home state job approval #s are in the basement, with him being one of the least popular governors in the country.  (Has that changed?)

Then again, plenty of other politicians have run for president while not being popular in their home states.  Heck, Rick Santorum suffered a landslide defeat in his home state, and then went on to run for president and won multiple primaries in 2012.

—

On the Republican side, Scott Walker took over as the new chairman of the RGA a few weeks ago:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/11/14/walker-gop-governors-group/

I think Walker does have ongoing presidential ambitions, but doubt he would challenge Trump for the nomination in 2020.  Maybe he’ll run again in 2024 though.

[Mr. Morden]

Something else I learned from those stories quoted above….looks like Chris Murphy also traveled to New Hampshire in the past year to campaign for Clinton…first in December 2015 for the primary:

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-malloy-iowa-hillary-clinton-1218-20151217-story.html

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And then in early November of this year for the general election campaign:

http://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-murphy-clinton-campaign-new-hampshire-story.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Someone else who did some campaign events for Clinton in early primary states this past year: Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  Villaraigosa briefly flirted with running for president himself in 2016 (back when Clinton was nominally undecided on running, so the prospect of a more wide open contests existed), and now chairs the “Latino Victory Fund”, “a PAC that supports candidates who “reflect Latino values,” according to the group’s website.”

He did events for Clinton in the primaries in various states, including early states Iowa and Nevada:

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20160314/former-la-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-stumps-for-clinton-slams-trump

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What about a return to elected office?

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[Mike Thick]

Someone else who did some campaign events for Clinton in early primary states this past year: Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  Villaraigosa briefly flirted with running for president himself in 2016 (back when Clinton was nominally undecided on running, so the prospect of a more wide open contests existed), and now chairs the “Latino Victory Fund”, “a PAC that supports candidates who “reflect Latino values,” according to the group’s website.”

He did events for Clinton in the primaries in various states, including early states Iowa and Nevada:

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20160314/former-la-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-stumps-for-clinton-slams-trump

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What about a return to elected office?

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If it helps, he's running for Governor of California in 2018:

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-governor-villaraigosa-20161110-story.html

[Mr. Morden]

Someone else who did some campaign events for Clinton in early primary states this past year: Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  Villaraigosa briefly flirted with running for president himself in 2016 (back when Clinton was nominally undecided on running, so the prospect of a more wide open contests existed), and now chairs the “Latino Victory Fund”, “a PAC that supports candidates who “reflect Latino values,” according to the group’s website.”

He did events for Clinton in the primaries in various states, including early states Iowa and Nevada:

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20160314/former-la-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-stumps-for-clinton-slams-trump

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What about a return to elected office?

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If it helps, he's running for Governor of California in 2018:

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-governor-villaraigosa-20161110-story.html

Oh yeah.  I read about that last month, but then promptly forgot about it.

Oh well.  If he's not elected governor, then he has a Nixon-esque path to the White House in front of him. 

[Mr. Morden]

Biden "clarifies" his 2020 remarks on the Colbert show:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/12/06/joe-biden-2020-president-stephen-colbert

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[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

^Malloy was also speaking to a bunch of state delegations at the DNC this year. I was at North Carolina's delegate breakfast one morning, and when he walked in he sat right next to me. We got to talk for a bit.

#Malloy2020

His amazing 24% approval rating should resonate with America.

[jimrtex]

If Joaquin Castro runs for Mayor, or becomes the VP nominee, couldn't Julian Castro run for Joaquin's House seat?

Maybe Julian Castro will run for Doggett's seat?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

^Malloy was also speaking to a bunch of state delegations at the DNC this year. I was at North Carolina's delegate breakfast one morning, and when he walked in he sat right next to me. We got to talk for a bit.

#Malloy2020

I'm surprised because he seems like a major dick. Lindsey Graham was a real dick when I met him.