Your Turn: Who Should Run for President in 2020?

We know, we know, the midterms haven’t even happened yet. But the Home Depot down the street just put up its Christmas display right next to the Halloween stuff, and the field of 2020 presidential hopefuls is already beginning to take shape.

Whose name would you like to see on the ballot?

Democrats and Independents

Former Vice President Joe Biden, 75, has been meeting with potential donors and stumping for fellow Democrats in recent weeks. A CNN poll this week showed Biden far ahead in a large field of potential Democratic presidential candidates. As Vice President, Biden listed middle-class economics, violence against women, cancer eradication, and foreign policy as his top issues.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), 69, is publicly considering a 2020 presidential run and has been positioning herself for a bid in recent months by crisscrossing the country to coordinate with local and state campaigns to help elect Democrats nationwide. The Washington Post reported today:

“During the past six months, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has quietly built a shadow war room designed to elect Democrats across the country in the midterm elections, overtaking some of the traditional duties of Democratic Party campaign committees and further positioning herself for an all-but-certain 2020 presidential bid.”

Warren sees heath care as a “basic human right,” seeks to “level” the economic playing field, and backs gun law reform, among her other positions.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 76, just this week changed his party affiliation back to Democratic, after changing his party registration three times over the past few decades. The New York Times reported in September that he’s thinking about running in 2020, even though he’s not entirely aligned with the Democratic party on issues such as bank regulation, stop-and-frisk policing, and #MeToo. In an interview with the Times, he criticized progressives’ approach to big business and specifically singled out Warren’s push to break up the banks as a bad idea.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 77, who lost to Hillary Clinton in 2016’s Democratic primary, appears to be back on the scene. In his own words:

“The American people must make a fundamental decision. Do we continue the 40-year decline of our middle class and the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, or do we fight for a progressive economic agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all? Are we prepared to take on the enormous economic and political power of the billionaire class, or do we continue to slide into economic and political oligarchy? These are the most important questions of our time, and how we answer them will determine the future of our country.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), 49, recently gave a speech in Iowa that many viewed as the unofficial launch of his candidacy. Iowa – along with New Hampshire and South Carolina – is an early primary state, and appearances by politicians at political events in those states often signal presidential ambitions. Booker has also paid a recent visit to South Carolina. Booker lists civil rights, justice and public safety, and education among his top priorities.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), 53, has a visit scheduled to South Carolina before the midterms, and has also published a book during this campaign cycle – another indicator of possible presidential ambitions. According to her website:

“Since taking office, she has introduced and cosponsored legislation to raise wages for working people, reform our broken criminal justice system, make healthcare a right for all Americans, address the epidemic of substance abuse, support veterans and military families, and expand access to childcare for working parents.”

Booker and Harris both captured national attention during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, particularly regarding sexual assault allegations against the judge.

Republicans

President Donald Trump, 72, has made no secret of his intention to run for a second term. Trump’s priorities include growing the economy, “protecting the American homeland by enforcing immigration laws,” and “promoting fair and reciprocal trade.”

While political parties generally support their incumbent in a bid for eight years in the White House, it’s not impossible that Trump could face Republican opposition. Indeed, veteran GOP operative Bill Kristol is building a political war machine and seeking a Republican candidate to take Trump on in 2020. Kristol has engaged with three potential Republican primary candidates who are outspoken critics of the president:

• Term-limited Ohio Governor John Kasich, 66, could take another run at the presidency after losing to Trump in the 2016 primary. According to his 2016 campaign site:

“In his first 100 days as President, John Kasich will send Congress a comprehensive plan that creates the climate for job creation by balancing the budget in eight years, cutting taxes for families and businesses, reining in federal regulations, tearing down barriers to increased energy production, and returning major federal responsibilities back to our states and communities where they can be performed more efficiently and responsively to serve Americans.”

• Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), 46, has been a vocal Trump critic on a number of occasions, particularly on comportment that Sasse considers to be “beneath the dignity” of the presidential office, as well as Trump’s sparring with the media. That said, Sasse has been a consistent vote for items on the Trump agenda, voting with him nearly 90 percent of the time. Sasse just published a new book – Them: Why We Hate Each Other – and How to Heal – aiming to figure out what it is that’s made American politics so tribalistic and vicious, and to offer suggestions for reconciliation. Sasse says that sustained U.S. prosperity:

“will require a more serious Congress, committed to reforming entitlements, telling the truth about fake federal budgets, modernizing national security for the age of global terror networks, and helping the next generation recover a sense of optimism about the American Dream for everyone of every race in every neighborhood.”

• Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), 55, has become one of the most vocal Republican Trump critics over the past year. He delivered a scorching rebuke of the president from the Senate floor in October when he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2018. Many saw the move as the first step in an eventual challenge to Trump’s incumbency. Flake opposes expanded federal government spending and the growing national debt, supports a free-market-based healthcare system, and believes in a “workable and robust” immigration system, among other priorities.

United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, 46, has said that she won’t be a candidate “for any office” in 2020. Haley resigned her ambassadorship abruptly last week, effective in January. Haley appeals to Americans on both sides of the aisle, and has generally been seen as a steadying influence in a relatively tumultuous Trump White House. She said her resignation was simply about needing a break after six years as South Carolina governor and two at the United Nations, but many have questioned the timing and what it might mean. Her possible candidacy is currently a matter of external speculation, but a whole lot of disparate voices seem to think there’s a chance she’ll run.

What do you think?

Whom would you like to see on the 2020 presidential ballot? Tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / chokkicx)