As one looks ahead to 2020, this author and blogger wishes to indicate who he considers to be the 14 best potential Democratic Presidential candidates for 2020.
There are an estimated 30 or more potential candidates who might announce for President, but many of them seem wanting in many respects, and as stated by this author yesterday, having more than about a dozen would be counterproductive.
Of course, individual politicians who wish to run are not going to concern themselves with numbers, but I wish to indicate the list that I feel is the most legitimate, and most likely, that we will see the final few Presidential contenders emerging as serious possibilities.
So in no special order, except by geographical sections, here goes:
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
Former Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware
Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Former San Antonio Mayor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro of Texas
Former Congressman Robert Francis (Beto) O’Rourke of Texas
Governor Steve Bullock of Montana
Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Senator Kamala Harris of California
Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles
Congressman Eric Swalwell of California
So the list includes 8 Senators, 2 House members past or present, three Mayors past or present, 1 Governor, and 1 former Vice President of the United State, who served in the Senate for 36 years..
It is an impressive list, heavily weighted toward US Senators, but with some alternatives from elsewhere, and some from farther left and others more toward the moderate center, with the question being what is the best strategy for the Democrats for the Presidential campaign of 2020.