Booker, Gillibrand, and Harris all had dinner together last night

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2017/02/09/the-democratic-cool-kids-of-the-senate-grab-dinner-in-d-c/?utm_term=.aa64542520f9

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These three also had their picture taken together back in November, when Harris was in town to set up her Senate office:



Maybe they’re all good friends, which means that they won’t all decide to run against each other in 2020.  On the other hand, maybe they are all planning to run, and having dinner together is an elaborate ploy to do oppo research on their opponents.  I can just imagine Booker leading a drinking game like “Never Have I Ever”, in order to uncover any embarrassing episodes from the pasts of both Gillibrand and Harris, which he’ll use in negative campaign ads in New Hampshire three years from now.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Of course they did.

[houseonaboat]

Man, Booker is a big guy

[heatcharger]

Great restaurant! Freedom trio!

[OneJ]

After this pic, they had a food fight for the Democratic nomination.

[Lief 🗽]

Hopefully 2 of 3 of them are on the ticket in 2020!

[Vosem]

Is Harris really plotting a 2020 run? She seems like someone who obviously has POTUS in mind as an eventual goal, but I don't remember reports of her visiting early states yet and she hasn't been as thorough in voting against Trump's nominations as Booker or Gillibrand (and while Klobuchar might be planning to run as a "friendly centrist" Kasich type, I doubt Harris either has that in mind or would be able to pull it off). Seems like Harris, who has goals in common with both Booker and Gillibrand, might be looking into becoming a sort of intermediary between the campaigns, keeping communication flowing and keeping the campaign from turning into a circular firing squad. It's hard for me to imagine either Booker or Gillibrand backing off a 2020 run at this point.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Man, Booker is a big guy

Or maybe Harris and Gillibrand are small.  Have you thought of that?

[Confused Democrat]

Not a fan of any of them.

[Mr. Morden]

Is Harris really plotting a 2020 run? She seems like someone who obviously has POTUS in mind as an eventual goal, but I don't remember reports of her visiting early states yet and she hasn't been as thorough in voting against Trump's nominations as Booker or Gillibrand (and while Klobuchar might be planning to run as a "friendly centrist" Kasich type, I doubt Harris either has that in mind or would be able to pull it off). Seems like Harris, who has goals in common with both Booker and Gillibrand, might be looking into becoming a sort of intermediary between the campaigns, keeping communication flowing and keeping the campaign from turning into a circular firing squad. It's hard for me to imagine either Booker or Gillibrand backing off a 2020 run at this point.

You're right, unlike Booker and Gillibrand, Harris hasn't really done anything to indicate interest in 2020.  She and Sherrod Brown are the two people who tend to get frequently included on 2020 lists despite not really doing anything (at least not yet) to indicate interest, by virtue of the fact that many people think they'd be strong contenders for the nomination if they did run.

EDIT: I guess, to be precise, there are two things Harris has done since the election that one could read as a clue indicating presidential ambition:

1) The woman she hired as her communications director was the Clinton campaign's spokeswoman during the Iowa caucus campaign.

2) She's already set up a leadership PAC.

Neither of those two things are really determinative though.  There are certainly Senators who set up leadership PACs yet never end up running for president.  But certainly the Senators who do have leadership PACs tend to be more likely to run for president some day than those who don't.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Not a fan of any of them.

Same here.

[Shadows]

Ofcourse they would, 3 good corporate Democrats, Even Harris led GS go away with anything & everything.

[Kingpoleon]

Man, Booker is a big guy

Not really. He's just 6'3".

[BlueSwan]

Gillibrand just doesn't strike me as someone who truly has the stomach for the dogfight that a presidential run is. I just don't see it as this point.

Booker and Harris, absolutely! And I'd wholeheartedly support either of them. But while it is clear as sky that Booker will most definitely run in 2020, I'm not sure Harris is going to go for it just yet. This could be Booker trying to get Harris and Gillibrand in his corner, because everyone knows that he is running.

[Trapsy]

Gillibrand just doesn't strike me as someone who truly has the stomach for the dogfight that a presidential run is. I just don't see it as this point.

Booker and Harris, absolutely! And I'd wholeheartedly support either of them. But while it is clear as sky that Booker will most definitely run in 2020, I'm not sure Harris is going to go for it just yet. This could be Booker trying to get Harris and Gillibrand in his corner, because everyone knows that he is running.

Booker tries too hard and it rubs off as elitist. I think if Harris loosens up and stop playing the Clinton 2016 playbook and follow Obama/Sanders route she'll have a chance but right now she is too stiff and has no national following. Gillibrand is too trapped in any liberal elitism.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The topic of conversation was probably how to use identity politics against progressives.

[NickCT]

Is Harris really plotting a 2020 run? She seems like someone who obviously has POTUS in mind as an eventual goal, but I don't remember reports of her visiting early states yet and she hasn't been as thorough in voting against Trump's nominations as Booker or Gillibrand (and while Klobuchar might be planning to run as a "friendly centrist" Kasich type, I doubt Harris either has that in mind or would be able to pull it off). Seems like Harris, who has goals in common with both Booker and Gillibrand, might be looking into becoming a sort of intermediary between the campaigns, keeping communication flowing and keeping the campaign from turning into a circular firing squad. It's hard for me to imagine either Booker or Gillibrand backing off a 2020 run at this point.

This is a very good explanation...

[Famous Mortimer]

All 3 are potential candidates of the neo-liberal identity politics wing of the party. If more than one of them ran, it would be redundant and keep any of them from winning. Obviously they were discussing who is the strongest between them.

[Cashew]

Again, why is capitalism a bad thing for so many of you green avatars? There's a difference between Trump-style capitalism and Bill Clinton-style capitalism.

Not when it comes to financial regulations and big pharma. Again, most green avatars are still capitalist in some form or another, it's just that white collar crime is higher on our priority list than most.

[RaphaelDLG]

Again, why is capitalism a bad thing for so many of you green avatars? There's a difference between Trump-style capitalism and Bill Clinton-style capitalism.

Not when it comes to financial regulations and big pharma. Again, most green avatars are still capitalist in some form or another, it's just that white collar crime is higher on our priority list than most.

As a recovering green avatar, STRONGLY agree with the quoted