2020: Sen. Jon Stewart (D-NJ) vs. President Donald Trump (R-FL)

[Alben Barkley]

Bob Menendez was perilously close to losing his primary in 2018, and I think if his challenger was Jon Stewart, he would have easily lost. Stewart then would have comfortably gone on to win the general election, and been a senator for a couple years before setting up a presidential run against his longtime nemesis Donald Trump.

What would have happened? I tend to think Stewart would have easily done just as well as Biden, possibly winning NC, FL, and maybe even coming close in OH on top of everything.

[Alben Barkley]

Even with a few years of political experience, Stewart would be seen as too much of a polarizing 'Hollywood elite' type to do as well as Biden did. He would lose the EC but win the popular vote, similar to 2016.

Stewart has done a remarkable job appealing to and standing up for working people though. I don't think he would have the "Hollywood elite" image at all, certainly not as much as someone like say Bill Maher.

He's also highly charismatic and persuasive. Even the Newsmax comments seem to largely be reluctantly siding with him after his interview there yesterday. If he can persuade a Newsmax audience, I have a very hard time seeing him lose Pennsylvania in 2020.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

there'd be some criticism of him trying to "springboard" to the presidency with NJ, though Obama did the same in 08.

He wouldn't fall to a lot of the same criticisms Biden had to endure but there would still be some attempts to tag him with the "elitist hollywood" type. Overall, I'd guess he'd win, but I'm not sure about the margins.