A year and eight months to go before the 2020 election, and the Democratic field is already crowded. Is that a good thing?
It's like the opposite of 2016, where Hillary Clinton was the presumed candidate from the git-go. (Sorry, Bernie.)
This time Hillary is not running, and that might turn out to be bad news for Donald Trump. In 2016 he campaigned against the woman, using her political baggage (Bill and other items) to demonize her. There's a good chance her presence in the race put him over the top.
This time the only thing he has going for him is that he's the incumbent, which often works in a candidate's favor. Unless he's really a horrible president.
The problem for Democrats is, a very large number of Trump voters simply cannot detect that the man is as horrible as he is.
One of Trump's biggest supporters is Donald Trump. The man thinks he's doing A+ work as president, and can't imagine anyone in the country who wouldn't see the same thing. Based on this, reelection should be a lock.
Trump knows that politics is the only reason anyone complains about him and his excellent performance. What he doesn't get is that opposition to him is based on who he is and what he does (or wants to do).
On the other hand, politics IS the reason he gets a lot of his support. Many Republicans feel stuck with Trump. They don't much like him, but they can't do anything about it. Not now, anyway. Maybe in 2024.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is coming on strong. But he has two problems: every damn day the man gets older, plus he may find it impossible to win a national election for religious reasons.
You may recall leaked emails that had Hillary's folks speculating about Bernie, about the fact he's Jewish. And worse, that he might be an atheist.
Will Americans at large vote such a guy into the presidency? Pretty sure it would be the first time, if they do.
In the meantime, a lot of his ideas from 2016 have gone mainstream among Democratic candidates. And they seem to find favor with a lot of voters, too. Turns out, you don't need Bernie to get Bernie's platform.
Maybe that's his ultimate contribution. That and enthusiastic campaigning for whatever Democratic candidate that emerges from the pack.
And the sooner the better.
The best thing the Democrats could do is settle on a viable candidate as early as possible and begin to pound away on Trump. One on one. If too many people attack the fellow he might emerge with sympathy. That would be annoying.
(Fortunately, Trump doesn't know what to do with sympathy. He's a winner, damn it!)
Perhaps the candidates could collude to limit the field. At the very least they need to fight relentlessly positive campaigns during the primaries. Present themselves to the people and let the process do the work of winnowing.
Keep the focus on Trump right up to the national election. Assuming he's not in prison by then.
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