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

[Mr. Morden]

Steyer reportedly told staffers at his organizations (Need to Impeach and NextGenAmerica) that he's going to run for president after all:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/07/tom-steyer-2020-run/593434/

Billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who in the last decade has been both the top Democratic donor in the country and the prime engine for pushing for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, appears ready to become Democratic candidate number 26. Last week in San Francisco, Steyer told staffers at two progressive organizations he funds, Need to Impeach and NextGen America, that he is launching a 2020 campaign, and that he plans to make the formal announcement this Tuesday.

But don’t take that to the bank yet—Steyer had told people to expect his presidential run in January, and he had even scheduled a trip to Iowa for a kick-off, only to change his mind in the final days before launch. That resulted in what was perhaps a first in presidential politics: A trip to Iowa to announce he was not running. Instead, Steyer hosted a town hall for his Need to Impeach group, which currently has 8 million members and in the space of two years has become the largest progressive-leaning organization in the country.
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Heather Hargreaves, the executive director of NextGen America and a central player in Steyer’s campaign planning, declined comment on his plans and on the meeting in which Steyer made the announcement to staff. “I can’t comment right now,” she told me Sunday night when reached by text.

[Mr. Morden]

WaPo also says that “two Democrats familiar with the discussions” say Steyer plans to enter the race, and that an announcement could be made Tuesday, but it’s not certain:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/billionaire-activist-tom-steyer-tells-friends-he-plans-to-enter-2020-presidential-race/2019/07/08/464fec06-a136-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html?utm_term=.9d9d126a85a8

The former hedge fund manager could make an announcement Tuesday, the people added, but a firm rollout plan is still being deliberated.

“You never know with Tom until he actually pulls the trigger, but he’s telling a lot of people he works with and trusts that he’s going to do it,” one of the Democrats said, when asked about the discussions. “He wants in.”
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Heather Hargreaves, a veteran Democratic field organizer who worked on President Obama’s 2008 campaign, is expected to manage the campaign, the people said. She is a top aide to Steyer and serves as executive director of NextGen America, a Steyer-founded advocacy group. Associates frequently describe Hargreaves as Steyer’s leading political strategist.

[RogueBeaver]

https://twitter.com/markzbarabak/status/1148262537252757506

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

https://twitter.com/markzbarabak/status/1148262537252757506

F

[Ilhan Apologist]

https://twitter.com/markzbarabak/status/1148262537252757506

F

F

[DaWN]

https://twitter.com/markzbarabak/status/1148262537252757506

Oh dear, how awful, what a shame

[brucejoel99]

I guess Swalwell realized he needs to pass the torch to a real candidate.

[Mr. Morden]

More on Steyer: He'll speak at Netroots Nation on Thursday, but whether that's part of a presidential campaign rollout or not is unclear:

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/billionaire-tom-steyer-may-enter-the-2020-field-as-rep-eric-swalwell-bows-out/

In recent weeks he instructed advisers to conduct polling and other research to gauge his prospects, people briefed on his preparations said. He has designated a longtime aide, Heather Hargreaves, as his campaign manager-in-waiting, and recorded a television ad that could air in the early voting states in the event he becomes a candidate. That launch, associates said, could happen as soon as this week.

Steyer hasn’t announced a political calendar, but Netroots Nation, the annual conference for the party’s left wing, said he would appear at its opening keynote address Thursday in Philadelphia.

[Mr. Morden]

Amash is speaking at Freedom Fest on July 20th, so conceivably we might learn more about whether a presidential run is in the mix for him based on his comments there:

https://freedomfest2019.sched.com/speaker/justin_amash.1zmoiima
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/justin-amash-libertarian-presidential-run

For now, Amash is only running to keep his seat—but the election won’t be until 2020, and he faces threats both from Republicans, who are preparing to primary him, and Democrats, who now see an opening to score a seat in Western Michigan. And he might be blazing another path. Next week, Amash is scheduled to make a high-profile appearance at Freedom Fest, where libertarian activists—and more importantly, high-dollar donors—will convene. (His speaker bio does little to quell the rumors: “Will he? Won’t he?…One thing is for certain, we are looking for a presidential candidate that embrace principles of liberty to the MAX. Is Justin Amash the one?”)

[AltWorlder]

Re-sticky this thread, another speculative target inbound!

Mark Sanford, SC Republican, former US Rep considers presidential run against Trump

Sanford, in an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Post and Courier, confirmed he will take the next month to formulate whether he will mount a potential run against Trump as a way of pushing a national debate about America’s mounting debt, deficit and government spending.

He would run as a Republican.

“Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message,” Sanford said. “I feel convicted.”

...

“I’m a Republican. I think the Republican Party has lost its way on debt, spending and financial matters,” he said.

Sanford conceded he had been waiting to see if any other high-profile Republicans, such as former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, would primary the president.

If he finds a presidential run is not viable, Sanford said he might pursue setting up a think tank aimed at addressing the deficit.

now that's Joe Sestak energy

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Re-sticky this thread, another speculative target inbound!

Mark Sanford, SC Republican, former US Rep considers presidential run against Trump

Sanford, in an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Post and Courier, confirmed he will take the next month to formulate whether he will mount a potential run against Trump as a way of pushing a national debate about America’s mounting debt, deficit and government spending.

He would run as a Republican.

“Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message,” Sanford said. “I feel convicted.”

...

“I’m a Republican. I think the Republican Party has lost its way on debt, spending and financial matters,” he said.

Sanford conceded he had been waiting to see if any other high-profile Republicans, such as former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, would primary the president.

If he finds a presidential run is not viable, Sanford said he might pursue setting up a think tank aimed at addressing the deficit.

now that's Joe Sestak energy

Needless to say, he would not be a serious contender.

[Mr. Morden]

Sanford also did an interview on CNN today, in which he also stated that a presidential run for him is possible, and that his decision timeframe is “the next month”:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/mark-sanford-considering-challenging-trump-2020/index.html

He said there is "no discussion of debt, deficit and government spending in Washington these days," when asked why he is considering a run.

"The President said we're not going to touch the very things that drive debt and spending," he said. "So I think that we're walking our way into one heck of a financial storm and there's no discussion."

Sanford said there is "more than enough commentary" about the President's "noxious" and "weird" comments, and his bid would instead focus on debt and spending.

[Mr. Morden]

Bill Kristol says he's hoping Dem. donors will give his organization $ to fund a primary challenger against Trump (though probably not Kristol himself):

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/678/transcript

Bill Kristol
Honestly, if I were a Democrat, I would call me up and say, here's a lot of money for a primary challenge-- and we have talked to a lot of Democrats about this, obviously-- against Donald Trump. I mean, that's actually the single best thing you can do to weaken Trump. You can help Elizabeth Warren, or Kamala Harris, or Cory Booker right now. But we don't know which of those will actually be a good nominee against Trump. The one thing you do know is if Trump has to spend money against the primary challenger, if he loses 32% of the vote in New Hampshire, which is entirely possible, and it's embarrassing, it would be helpful to weaken Trump.

David Kestenbaum
Wait, but is your goal to run somebody who's going to win the nomination and maybe the presidency? Or is your goal just to take down Trump?

Bill Kristol
Both. Obviously, the first would be the best. But I would regard the second as an adequate result, and I think actually an important result, if I can say.

[Mr. Morden]

Sanford has released this new campaign-style video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9SeHQUVxg

In it, he plugs this website: https://www.marksanford.com

[Mr. Morden]

Sanford was on The View today, and said he'll "give it 30 days" to decide:

https://ijr.com/sanford-plans-to-give-it-30-days-before-officially-challenging-trump/

“I’m neither [in the race, nor out]. What I have said is I’ll give it 30 days and see whether, you know, energy and people and resources come my direction as I explore this over the next 30 days or not. And if they don’t, no. I’ll look for other ways of highlighting what I think is the most critical issue out there that’s not being talked about, which is debt, deficit, and government spendings for its implications in every one of our lives.”

[The Other Castro]

"Scoop: John Delaney's staffers have asked him to drop out"

On July 9, John Delaney's senior team sat him down and told him to drop out of the presidential race by mid-August, according to three sources close to the campaign.

https://www.axios.com/john-delaney-2020-presidential-campaign-drop-out-44634be2-0973-403b-aca0-55278a9c37da.html


Delaney campaign response to this article:

"Alexi McCammond’s report on our campaign this morning is incorrect.  No one on my team asked me to drop out of the race and I have no plans to drop out of the race. In addition, anyone who spent any time actually reading the FEC reports would see clearly that we did not spend $19 million on the campaign - we spent $9 million since we launched my Presidential campaign. Ms. McCammond is including a large interparty transfer in her calculations. This easy to confirm error puts the accuracy of the whole story in perspective.”

[Mr. Morden]

A correspondent named Charlie Gasparino on Fox Business Network says people close to Howard Schultz are telling him that Schultz is still weighing a run, and that Biden’s drop in the polls since the June debate has made it more likely that Schultz will run (since Schultz probably wouldn’t run if Biden is the nominee):

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/howard-schultz-reportedly-hasnt-ruled-174015122.html

[eric82oslo]

If Howard f*c*i*g Schultz is gonna jump in, I and I think the rest of Norway and probably the rest of Scandinavia if not the rest of Northern Europe will be jumping in and save this world from a total destruction!

[Mr. Morden]

Amash on Sanford:

https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/politics/trump-critic-justin-amash-welcomes-potential-sanford-presidential-run/article_9acaa314-aa12-5c96-aa09-60d7382dae61.html

"My perspective is that the party is lost for quite a while and that this party system is corrosive, and I don't think it can be redeemed anytime soon," he added. "But it's good to have voices out there. And the more voices you have, the more likely a miracle could happen."

Amash again brushed off questions about his own presidential ambitions, saying he was focused on providing independent representation for his constituents in Congress.

He did rule out the possibility of running in the GOP primary as Sanford's running mate.

"I don't want to get involved in the Republican primary in that way," Amash told CNN.

[Mr. Morden]

Richard Vague did a long interview with Ali Velshi a few days ago, and here's the audio:

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/event-a-conversation-with-ali-velshi-and-richard-vague/

At about the 27:20 mark, Velshi asks him about where he is with his deliberations on whether to run for president.  But Vague just talks about his focus group activities and doesn't directly answer the question.

[Mr. Morden]

Sanford says he doesn’t think anyone is going to stop Trump from winning the nomination, but might run anyway:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sanford-mulling-gop-primary-donald-trump

“I always like to be real, and I don’t think anybody’s going to beat Donald Trump. That’s my personal opinion,” the former South Carolina governor and congressman said in an interview Monday with Fox News.

But Sanford, who last week announced he was taking 30 days to decide whether to launch a primary challenge against the president, said that if he runs, it’s not about ousting the president. At least not completely.
“I think it’s about trying to force a larger national debate and a debate within Republican circles,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abrams spoke before the NAACP about voter suppression today, but didn’t give any update on whether she’s going to run for president:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/07/22/stacey-abrams-detroit-naacp-convention/1799663001/

[beesley]

Is Roquefort de la Fuente running?

[brucejoel99]

Is Roquefort de la Fuente running?

Yes, as a Republican.

[Mr. Morden]

Sanford did an event in Charleston, SC on Thursday:

https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/at-charleston-event-mark-sanford-says-he-would-be-willing/article_5ecfc6a2-afa0-11e9-8b3a-e7a0ef55e245.html

He said he would be willing to debate President Donald Trump.

He said he has been talking to people in both Iowa and New Hampshire, two key early presidential primary states where any candidate would need to win delegates.

And, in a subtle dig, he promised he would release his own tax returns if he decides to launch a Republican 2020 presidential bid of his own.

What the former South Carolina congressman and governor would not say at The Post and Courier’s Pints and Politics event was whether he is leaning toward running for president, or whether his next steps in politics will include an advocacy group or think tank to push the conversation around debt, deficit and government spending.

That’s what the coming month is for, he said multiple times when pressed about a potential campaign.

[Mr. Morden]

New interview with Amash here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqYsHxGneMw

At about the 19:10 mark, he’s asked about where he is in deciding on a presidential run:

Amash: Well I think what goes into the calculation is deciding and thinking about where I can use my skills and my influence best.

Then he goes on to say that he enjoys representing his community, but he does think about what other roles in government might make him most effective at affecting his agenda.