The “Who is running in 2020?” tea leaves thread, Part 3

[Joey1996]

Another instance of Jeff Flake calling for someone to run against Trump, despite voting for Kavanaugh and doing nothing to really oppose Trump.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/flake-calls-trump-supporters-lock-her-up-chants-disturbing-and-fears-for-future-of-republican-party

Umm Jeff, maybe you should run yourself 

Doubt he wants to embarrass himself like that

[Joey1996]

When do yall think Warren will announce?

[Joey1996]

Moulton says he doesn't think a presidential bid is the best way he could serve the country right now.

Hmm, so he's not running from Senate, Speaker or President? Interesting

[Joey1996]

Joe Kennedy going back to New Hampshire

https://twitter.com/adamsextonwmur/status/1052665540496506885?s=21

Nah he isn't running. If anything he replaces Warren if she plans on retiring from the Senate after running for president

[Joey1996]

Sanders says a discussion with Warren over whether they’re really going to run against each other is a possibility:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/20/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-2020-919825

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Another possibility has also been floated:

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Lol, I'm making a what if timeline on the premise that potential progressive candidates have a pre-primary discussion about which sole person runs. Glad this may be reality

[Joey1996]

Need Jeff Flake to primary Trump just to get a Jeb 2.0 moment

[Joey1996]

High chance Gabbard runs

https://www.tribuneindia.com/mobi/news/world/tulsi-gabbard-planning-to-run-for-us-presidency-in-2020-sources/681953.html

[Joey1996]

So it looks like

Brown
Warren
Merkley
Gabbard

Are all running, add Bernie and maybe de Blasio and the progressive vote will be split ten ways till Sunday

[Joey1996]

Somewhat surprised we haven't gotten more fringe candidacies declared yet

[Joey1996]

Buttigieg says he'll announce his plans by year's end.

I hope he's only doing this to get more support for a 2020 Indiana governor's race.

[Joey1996]

Obama and Clinton administration aides are throwing Beto O'Rourke into the mix.

I'm willing to bet that Deval Patrick and Eric Holder have taken quite a hit on the Obamaworld list.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/obama-aides-say-beto-o-rourke-reminds-them-ex-president-n942576

Yeah, I don't need someone who reminds me of Obama.

[Joey1996]

This is moving a lot slower than any of us expected. Maybe the field won't be as large as intially thought? Probably closer to 15 than 20

[Joey1996]

Pretty hilarious article about Eric Swalwell

https://splinternews.com/thirsty-forgettable-congressman-willing-to-hop-on-pret-1830934772

[Joey1996]

Beto met with Al Sharpton recently.

[Joey1996]

https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1072891149252247552

hurk

Wonder if this puts pressure on some of the other longshot candidates to announce?

[Joey1996]

https://twitter.com/feliciasonmez/status/1073011353659559936

Just announce you've formed an exploratory committee already. Saying you're "seriously considering" for the umpteenth time isn't real news.

[Joey1996]

Not that it matters, but here's an awesome response from AOC to a ridiculous article suggesting she runs and challenges the 35+ age eligibility.

https://twitter.com/Ocasio2018/status/1073030060171509761?s=19

[Joey1996]

Eric Holder suddenly endorses Medicare for All, for some reason.

https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/15/eric-holder-democrats-obamacare-ruling-medicare/

He actually framed this endorsement really well

[Joey1996]

https://twitter.com/KateNocera/status/1074764504104345600

Interesting

[Joey1996]

Buttigieg’s dog again. Big if true.

https://twitter.com/firstdogtruman/status/1074757617749233664?s=21

Pete is a good guy, but a bit too early for the presidency. A cabinet position? Absolutely.

I agree. The most obvious position thrown out there has been HUD, but I’ve heard Homeland Security thrown out there too. Personally HUD would make the most sense.

Homeland is a better platform to build a future presidential run though, no?

[Joey1996]

https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg/status/1074693862856237058

Well then, I guess he's running for president, because there's no other compelling reason not to run for another term.  Also:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/south-bend-mayor-pete-buttigieg-moves-toward-presidential-run/2018/12/17/e51930a2-fe5e-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html

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A presidential announcement also might not come right away in 2019, because he has a book coming out in February, and may want to do the book tour before officially becoming a candidate.

Indiana does have a Gubernatorial Election in 2020, so he might end up running for that office instead.

Do you think it's possible that Indiana splits the ticket and votes for Trump for president and Buttigieg for governor?

[Joey1996]

Harris prepares for a campaign launch that may come in mid-to-late January:

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-run/articles/2018-12-17/kamala-harris-expected-to-move-quickly-on-2020-race-in-january

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So Harris will be our first major announcement, this will put pressure on everyone else to declare by April

[Joey1996]

There will be at least 3 vets running if Buttigieg runs which is pretty impressive for the party. Unfortunately all of the likely candidates are lower tier, wish we had more viable vet candidates considering many were part of the success in 2018.

Duckworth would be a strong candidate but has shown no signs that she's running.

[Joey1996]

Harris prepares for a campaign launch that may come in mid-to-late January:

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-run/articles/2018-12-17/kamala-harris-expected-to-move-quickly-on-2020-race-in-january

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So Harris will be our first major announcement, this will put pressure on everyone else to declare by April

YES! QUEEN KAMALA, the first female President of the United States!

I have no idea why people love her. At first I just thought she was just overhyped, but she' actually terrible. Her office:

- Defended a prosecutor caught making up a transcript of a fake confession

- Hid massive abuses in the state crime lab

- Argued that a guy ruled not guilty should still be in prison because he didn't prove his innocent fast enough

- Supported a bill that would have locked up poor parents of color for kids' truancy

- Argued that people should be kept in prison longer because of cheap labor

- One of her top advisors was involved in a years-long MeToo scandal involving retaliation

- Started her career with nepotism

- Sent out a tweet purporting to raise money for Stacey Abrams last month, when half the money actually went to herself

That's on top of all the Mnuchin stuff that always gets attention. I mean whatever, if people don't want to care about any of that, that's their choice. But any time Harris becomes really controversial (which WILL happen, especially if she does well) there will be plenty of material to get her with.

Yeah I mean I would vote for her if she's the nominee but she won't even be my 6th choice in the primary. Horrid criminal justice reform record.

[Joey1996]

Dunno if we caught this, but

https://twitter.com/petebuttigieg/status/1075031309632892930?s=21

The Mayor is headed to Iowa!

I don't understand Buttigieg hype.  The guy was mayor of a city of 100,000.  South Bend isn't in the top 10,25,50, or even 100 cities.  According to Wikipedia it's ranked 301 in the US.  And he's not even like Ojeda, who has a message that's especially different from the party mainstream.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the guy, but Pete Buttigieg just doesn't seem like Presidential material at this time.

But if this is how we're going to do things, Boulder Mayor Suzanne "Zan" Jones 2020!  She runs the 280th largest city in the US.

I think Trump's win has really eroded the idea that a president needs tons of prior experience.

I'm for Buttigieg running for president if he drops out before Iowa and expands his base heading into a potential 2020 Indiana gubernatorial run. With an enthusiastic campaign and a Libertarian candidate making it a 3 way race he may have a shot.