Last week, Aaron Blake did “an analysis” for the Washington Post-- the silliest conventional wisdom you’ll see anywhere, The top 15 Democratic presidential candidates for 2020, ranked. Pure clickbait, it looks more like the headline for a supermarket checkout line tabloid than like something that belongs in a serious newspaper-- and it’s worse when you read it.British diplomats report Trump is on the path to 2020 victory and a new poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal show that just 36% of Americans would vote for Trump and that 52% said that they would vote for whoever the Democrats run against him. Only 18% of voters said they would “definitely” vote for Señor Trumpanzee, while 38% said they would definitely vote for Trump's opponent.The senior British diplomats reported to Theresa May that “they think that despite a string of negative headlines the US president has largely kept his support base onside since entering White House. Possible Democratic contenders are seen as either too old-- such as Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden-- or lacking in the name recognition needed to defeat Mr Trump. There is also a belief the US president has curbed some of his most radical policy instincts since taking office, such as ignoring Nato or pulling out of Afghanistan.” Funny how out of touch with reality diplomats can be-- even ones that speak English as a native language.But that could be a fair description of Beltway-based journalists as well. Blake announced he would rank the top 15 possible Democratic nominees. At least he was awake enough to take silly non-candidates Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Garcetti, Tim Kaine, Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Cuban off his list. He did put Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) on it though-- at which point anyone sane turn the page. He also added (or kept) other space-fillers to his list-- creepy conservative Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Oprah Winfrey… presumably because someone thinks the American voters want another reality TV personality with no government experience, the first one having worked out so well.Anyway, that brings us to the top 10. And at #10, Blake suggests the widely loathed governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, another New Yorker-- like Trump-- who would probably be rejected by his own state-- at least in any primary. No one sees Andrew Cuomo as a presidential candidate other than Andrew Cuomo, people he pays and Beltway journalists looking to fill up space with nonsense. #9 is Sherrod Brown who’s supposed to have “white working-class appeal.” Let’s hope he has enough of it to keep from being defeated for reelection in increasingly red Ohio next year. More ridiculous is#8, California’s 80 year old governor, Jerry Brown, the guy who made sure single payer wasn’t enacted in his state. And then #7, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who biggest accomplishment has been to go on Rachel Maddow’s show frequently. He joined the New Dems as soon as he got into Congress, better than the Blue Dogs, but not better enough to matter. #6- Cory Booker, there self-promoting corrupt guy from New Jersey best known-- other than for self-promotion-- for backing charter schools. Far less accomplished than any of the other nonentities on the conventional wisdom list is Kamala Harris (#5), who was a pretty terrible and widely unknown California Attorney General, best know for being pawn of Wall Street, and living proof that there is no longer a viable Republican Party in California. She may be a real candidate-- in a dozen or so years-- if she ever does anything.Moving up the list is Kirsten Gillibrand, a flippy floppy ex-BlueDog/fake progressive who is increasingly seen as an opportunist trying to use an anti-male parade to march her onto the national ticket. Gillibrand would be the one candidate who could prove the British diplomats right. There is no worse candidate the Democrats could ever find.OK, that brings us to the 3 serious candidates:
3. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Previous: 4)If Warren runs, I think she tops this list. But I have a difficult time seeing her running if Bernie Sanders does, and I think Sanders is very likely to run. Warren has shown comparatively little inclination to run and hasn't been front-and-center in helping elect Democrats or speaking to the media-- though the latter seems to be changing at least somewhat.2. Former vice president Joe Biden (Previous: 2)Biden remains in the second spot on this list, but not as firmly as before. The recent spate of sexual harassment allegations against politicians-- and the reevaluation of past allegations-- has put Biden's handling of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings back in the spotlight. Biden, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, has apologized more than once for how Anita Hill was treated, while also stressing he opposed Thomas's nomination. But Hill has said Biden's apology isn't good enough. If the Democratic Party continues to make this a focal point over the next couple years, Biden's actions could be gone through with a fine-toothed comb in a way he would rather they weren't.1. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (Previous: 1)A must-read story from Politico's Gabriel Debenedetti recently showed how Sanders conspicuously seems to be addressing the shortcomings that hampered his candidacy in 2016-- most notably his lack of familiarity with foreign policy and of inroads with powerful pro-Democratic groups, such as the American Federation of Teachers. Sanders has done nothing to diminish speculation that he will run again; the biggest question is, and will be, his age (76)-- as it is with Brown (79) and Biden (75).
What I’m hearing, from very reliable sources, is that Bernie and Elizabeth Warren will run on the same ticket from the git-go. And Biden’s decades of supporting the financial industry and authoring Bush’s bankruptcy bill may wind up being even greater disqualifiers than his constant fondling of women.Dates of birth of the top candidates:
• Elizabeth Warren- June 22, 1949 (age 68)• Trumpanzee- June 14, 1946 (age 71)• Joe Biden- November 20, 1942 (age 75)• Bernie Sanders- September 8, 1941 (age 76)
It's worth mentioning that of the 4, only Trump is enmeshed in full blown senility, although Biden has his moments as well. More important though-- which candidates represent the energy of the day?
