# I realize it's early, but how should Democrats approach 2020? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 9, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-realize-its-early-but-how-should-democrats-approach-2020/781800 "2017-03-09T21:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-realize-its-early-but-how-should-democrats-approach-2020/781800/7 "2017-03-10T01:05:40Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > I’m a conservative Republican, so obviously I hope the Democrats lose, but here’s my thoughts. > > They should just run as themselves. Elizabeth Warren has made herself the face of her party, and the Democrats wholeheartedly supported her during the Sessions episode, so if they back down from her brand of politics and try to appear moderate to appeal to Trump voters, they’ll probably see it for what it is: shameless politicians without principles trying to clumsily pander for their votes. > > I admire it when a politician, Republican or a Democrat, runs based on their own personal beliefs, not based on where the prevailing political winds of the public says their beliefs should be (even if they aren’t truly genuine). > > For example, although I oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I wasn’t impressed when Hillary changed her position on it and decided to oppose it; she didn’t do so out of a genuine change of heart (she previously called it the “gold standard of trade deals”), but did so when it was convenient for her in an effort to defeat the socialist Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, a man who, although I disagree with him on a lot, truly and genuinely opposed it from the start. > > That’s my advice, and good luck to you guys, although not too much luck! 😉 I can see your point, but I’m starting to get really uncomfortable with populism and the desire to find someone with deep ideological values they will not waver from. I’m a leftist, but Venezuela is falling apart because they elected a populist leader who had no idea how to function in a global marketplace (people are eating zoo animals down there to avoid starving). The US just elected a populist leader who will likely put the US at a disadvantage relative to China and probably europe as well as harming many alliances. If the US emerges from Trump with our economy and reputation only somewhat damaged, I’d consider that the best case scenario. The idea of voting for someone just because they have convictions isn’t really that great if those convictions are terrible ideas. ISIS has convictions and will stand by them even when they are unpopular. I think the US is falling into a less serious version of what happened in China. They kept pursuing ideologically pure policy and big ideas/easy solutions under Mao which constantly screwed everything up. In the late 70s they said ‘alright, screw ideology. Lets just do what works’ and things have been improving ever since. I think/hope the US goes through something similar. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-realize-its-early-but-how-should-democrats-approach-2020/781800)._