The political futures of Tulsi Gabbard and Jared Polis

[Blue3]

I see these two as the Democratic Party's brightest rising stars.



Gabbard is a female Veteran, ethnically Pacific Islander, religiously Hindu, has a degree in business administration, had founded two nonprofit organizations, yet is still very young (born in 1981), and is currently a Congresswoman from Hawaii.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsi_Gabbard










Polis is a young entrepreneur and philanthropist, a Congressman from swing-state Colorado, openly gay and is currently raising children with his partner. He helped start (and later sold at a very high price) a few businesses. He has founded an education nonprofit that supports teachers in public schools and increases their access to technology, and founded charter schools. He has also founded a college aimed towards immigrants and youth as risk of being homeless. He helped lead a ballot measure to ban gifts from lobbyists to elected officials, create an independent ethics commission, and a 2-year ban on Colorado's elected officials from becoming lobbyists, which passed with 62%.  Polis was chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education. He also helped pass a ballot measure to modernize the aging school infrastructure.  As congressman, he helped introduce "Race to the Top." He is also sponsoring bills to make healthier lunches for kids in school, and another providing earlier intervention and more funding for students with disabilities, by slashing certain military programs. He supports ending the prohibition on marijuana. He supports total troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Polis is very pro- civil liberties. He is critical of SOPA, PIPA, and CISPA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Polis










What do you think about them, and their futures?

(And are there any other young Democrats with such bright futures?)

[Sol]

Polis seems to be interested in House leadership (or at least that's the impression I got when I last googled him). Gabbard probably will go for Governor or Senate at some point.

[Skill and Chance]

Colorado and Hawaii are both bottlenecked in terms of Dems wanting to move up, though.  Maybe Gabbard would go for governor in the future?

[Mister Mets]

Gabbard has an excellent shot at statewide office soon. Hawaii is a small state, so there will be less competition for likely openings. Granted, it's a state that has elected elderly officeholders a lot, so while Neil Abercrombie is probably going to end his career after his next term as Governor (assuming he wins) Mazie Hirono might stick around in the Senate for a long long time. She has the background and progressive record to run a credible grassroots national campaign. If she has national aspirations, Washington may be better than being Governor of a group of islands in a different time zone than the rest of the country.

Polis has a bit more trouble. Colorado is fairly conservative, so statewide office may not be his best bet (although Tammy Baldwin's election in Wisconsin suggests it's a valid route.) On the other hand, Democrats are expected to be the minority in the US House for a while, which may make other positions more attractive. But those might not open. Bennet's probably going to stick in the Senate for some time, and while Udall will be seventy in 2020, 70-year old Senators tend to run for reelection.  Things can change. I've argued that Bennet's a great pick for Veep, in which case there may be an open seat in 2016. Udall might lose, an opportunity for a Democratic challenger in 2020. And there should be an open primary for Governor in 2018.

[Miles]

I got to hear both the College Democrats convention last summer. I really think Gabbard will be something big, but Polis struck me as kinda meh.

[Never]

Gabbard has an excellent shot at statewide office soon. Hawaii is a small state, so there will be less competition for likely openings. Granted, it's a state that has elected elderly officeholders a lot, so while Neil Abercrombie is probably going to end his career after his next term as Governor (assuming he wins) Mazie Hirono might stick around in the Senate for a long long time. She has the background and progressive record to run a credible grassroots national campaign. If she has national aspirations, Washington may be better than being Governor of a group of islands in a different time zone than the rest of the country.

Polis has a bit more trouble. Colorado is fairly conservative, so statewide office may not be his best bet (although Tammy Baldwin's election in Wisconsin suggests it's a valid route.) On the other hand, Democrats are expected to be the minority in the US House for a while, which may make other positions more attractive. But those might not open. Bennet's probably going to stick in the Senate for some time, and while Udall will be seventy in 2020, 70-year old Senators tend to run for reelection.  Things can change. I've argued that Bennet's a great pick for Veep, in which case there may be an open seat in 2016. Udall might lose, an opportunity for a Democratic challenger in 2020. And there should be an open primary for Governor in 2018.

If Bennet or Udall end up losing a Senate reelection or end up as President (unlikely) or Vice President, then Jared Polis could probably advance to the Senate. However, if Gardner wins this year, Polis' best hope would be that Clinton opts for Bennet as her running mate (as you mentioned, Mister Mets), because I think Gardner seems like he would be a very difficult incumbent to dislodge, along the lines of Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) or Mark Warner (D-VA).

Tulsi Gabbard should definitely consider running for Governor of Hawaii if she wants to advance at the state level, since HI has two Democratic incumbent senators, and probably will for a very long time, but if Schatz retires to run for Governor in 2018(which seems unlikely), Gabbard could run for that Senate seat in the 2016 election, and she might end up being the youngest senator in the body, which would give her plenty of time to be a running mate or run for the Presidency herself. Gabbard might want to move up in the House leadership if she doesn't view any openings in Hawaii, and she could advance quickly if she proves her worth.

Between the two, I view Gabbard as having the brighter political future, but I wouldn't be surprised to see either on a national ticket in the next 10-20 years.

[Adam Griffin]

Polis doesn't strike me as the type that has all that much of a stellar future, but I could be wrong. Being gay isn't really an issue for him when it comes to statewide office in the future, but I would argue that if there's one element in which it could be a problem, it'd be an aesthetic one with him and his husband. Polis (37) looks quite a bit older than he is, while Reis (33) looks like he's still jailbait. At first glance, it looks like some odd daddy-son relationship.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

So...

[Grassroots]

So...

Stop bumping random sh*t. Do you have anything meaningful to add?

[Skill and Chance]

Well, Polis is now a very plausible 2024 nominee.

[Orser67]

The Polis prediction was decent and OP can't really be blamed for Gabbard, as she did look good on paper

[MR DARK BRANDON]

Polis idk

Gabbard has a very good shot at one day becoming president as yangs brand of politics flows through the nation.

[Orwell]

Polis idk

Gabbard has a very good shot at one day becoming president as yangs brand of politics flows through the nation.

Gabbard doesn't have a political future lol

[Tartarus Sauce]

Well these two's fortunes certainly diverged down different paths.

[Flyersfan232]

Polis doesn't strike me as the type that has all that much of a stellar future, but I could be wrong. Being gay isn't really an issue for him when it comes to statewide office in the future, but I would argue that if there's one element in which it could be a problem, it'd be an aesthetic one with him and his husband. Polis (37) looks quite a bit older than he is, while Reis (33) looks like he's still jailbait. At first glance, it looks like some odd daddy-son relationship.

i can see him as a running mate in 24 maybe if he runs for president later maybe his husband will look older

[Flyersfan232]

I got to hear both the College Democrats convention last summer. I really think Gabbard will be something big, but Polis struck me as kinda meh.

Funny how fast things changed

[NewYorkExpress]

Gabbard probably can still win back her old seat in the House or get elected Governor of Hawaii in the future. Her national political career is over.

Polis easily could be on the 2024 ticket if he wins reelection in 2022 (either as President or Vice President).