# The Democratic Front Runner for 2020 Presidential race is: **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 28, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921 "2018-06-28T15:04:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/81 "2018-06-30T20:43:44Z")
How about [Pete Buttigieg](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/27/buttigieg-2020-president-off-message-217712)? Or maybe as VP candidate? He seems to be pretty centrist on certain issues, Afghanistan veteran, Rhodes Scholar, mayor of South Bend, IN, openly gay, favors redevelopment (and completed his redevelop program on schedule), supports health care, etc. Actually, the more I write the more I think he’d be a great VP candidate with… SOMEone, but who the hell knows now. He’s only 36, so might be too young? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/82 "2018-06-30T21:21:15Z")
Good VP choice, I agree. His last name is too weird for him to be the presidential candidate. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it isn’t. I also know people said the same thing about Obama’s name, but for a different reason - its ethnic origin. But “Obama” is easy to pronounce, and it’s easy to spell, and it’s actually a very pleasant combination of vowels and consonants. The same cannot be said of Buttegieg. Ok, I’m pretty sure I didn’t spell it right. (Checks). Nope. Didn’t. This is a lot less ridiculous of a concern than it sounds, when you think about it logically. The way a word or name sounds is extremely important to how we humans make connections (both emotional and practical) with whatever the word represents. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/83 "2018-06-30T21:40:58Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Good VP choice, I agree. > > His last name is too weird for him to be the presidential candidate. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it isn’t. I also know people said the same thing about Obama’s name, but for a different reason - its ethnic origin. But “Obama” is easy to pronounce, and it’s easy to spell, and it’s actually a very pleasant combination of vowels and consonants. The same cannot be said of Buttegieg. Ok, I’m pretty sure I didn’t spell it right. (Checks). Nope. Didn’t. > > This is a lot less ridiculous of a concern than it sounds, when you think about it logically. The way a word or name sounds is extremely important to how we humans make connections (both emotional and practical) with whatever the word represents. Yes, and Orange Turd would maturely call him “Butt-man” or something. :rolleyes: But a VP debate with Buttgrieg and Pence would be funny. My bet is Pence wouldn’t shake his hand because of, you know, getting gay germs in his body. I remember Dukakis running, many of the lady folk in my family did not like his name (not American enough) and he was too short! (gasps) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/84 "2018-06-30T22:17:09Z")
It would be amusing to troll the Republicans with the Senator from Illinois, who was born in another country, but to an American father, and has a weakness, it would hopefully be noted, on the opposite end of her body from the guy she would be going up against. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/85 "2018-06-30T23:14:45Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > How about [Pete Buttigieg](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/27/buttigieg-2020-president-off-message-217712)? Or maybe as VP candidate? > > He seems to be pretty centrist on certain issues, Afghanistan veteran, Rhodes Scholar, mayor of South Bend, IN, openly gay, favors redevelopment (and completed his redevelop program on schedule), supports health care, etc. > > Actually, the more I write the more I think he’d be a great VP candidate with… SOMEone, but who the hell knows now. He’s only 36, so might be too young? A great idea if you’re trying to lose the election. As far as this country has come on gay rights, we’re not ready for a gay president. And a VP is a president in waiting. And as I said in other threads, when was the last time someone went from mayor to president? And small town mayor, at that. (And yeah, Trump. If this guy was a national celebrity, you could compare him to Trump. Butt i’s gnot.) Let’s not screw things up and hand the presidency to the Republicans again. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/86 "2018-06-30T23:28:11Z")
But that’s the problem. I’d LOVE Biden… if he was younger. And he’s still considered as an Obama licker by many goofball GOPers, I’m sure. Now it seems like the only candidate to beat Trump is someone that can out-celebrity him. Who the hell could that be? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/87 "2018-07-01T02:41:01Z")
Famous NY mayor Rudy G ran for president and was crushed in the primaries . Can’t recall another mayor running for president as a serious candidate in the recent past other than Rudy. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/88 "2018-07-01T02:53:51Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Famous NY mayor Rudy G ran for president and was crushed in the primaries . Can’t recall another mayor running for president as a serious candidate in the recent past other than Rudy. Maybe John Lindsay, but that was a different time and Lindsay was certainly unique. ---
**Author:** ![Warm\_blood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Warm\_blood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Warm_blood)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/89 "2018-07-01T03:13:09Z")
Um, are we ignoring that Biden has the same baggage that was said to have cost Clinton the election? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/90 "2018-07-01T14:33:11Z")
I never heard anybody call him “Crooked Joe”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/91 "2018-07-01T22:10:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Hickenlooper. Duckworth. Heck, Al Gore. I would love, love, love to see Tammy Duckworth run. Any Democrat will have my vote, but she’s my preference. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/92 "2018-07-01T23:28:48Z")
Don’t bet on her status as a wounded vet getting her any special consideration. I remember Max Cleland. “I like people who still have both their legs.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/93 "2018-07-01T23:37:08Z")
Cleland was from very red Georgia and got caught up in the post Sept 11 hysteria. Duckworth is from blue Illinois and has been quite good at serving constituents and staying close to Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/94 "2018-07-01T23:46:56Z")
Duckworth would make a fantastic VP candidate. I don’t see her being a viable Presidential candidate _this_ time around, though possibly in the future. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/95 "2018-07-02T00:04:37Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Duckworth would make a fantastic VP candidate. > > I don’t see her being a viable Presidential candidate _this_ time around, though possibly in the future. We are going to need to see her long form birth certificate, too. Need to thai up any loose ends in that area. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/96 "2018-07-02T01:34:30Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > There’s a good conversation to be had here if we leave aside speculation about who is the frontrunner or who is likely to win the nomination. The Democrats desperately need someone who can be coherent off the cuff, who can speak the unspeakable in a good cause, who can go toe to toe with 45 without losing his cool in any sense (no eye rolls, no smirks, no snarkiness, just hard facts and data and dead calm) and also be firm and assertive when the BS begins. Not Bernie, because he looks and speaks like the stereotypical old nut case. Not Al Gore, he puts people to sleep. Not Michelle Obama because we don’t need a dynasty, no matter how attractive. It needs to be someone dynamic and challenging, but not too scripted or committee-made. I don’t know if there is such a person, but 45 has changed the game enough that what the Democrats have put forward before isn’t going to work now. [https://youtu.be/V\_2HCG1usCE?t=104](https://youtu.be/V_2HCG1usCE?t=104)\* > [@John\_Mace](#): > > If the Republicans win again in 2020, the Democratic front runner for 2024 will be the sitting governor of California, Gavin Newsom (that’s two predictions in one). He might actually pull off the impossible-- a “San Francisco liberal” winning the White House. I thought for sure he had killed his chances way back when he was mayor of SF and he started allowing Same Sex Marriages, contrary to state law. But my how the times have changed!! > > Or, who knows. Maybe he’ll be the VP candidate in 2020. Could he maybe _even run at the top of the ticket that year???_ I have no doubt he’s been planning his way to the presidency for many, many years and 2020 might be just the right time, other than that he’ll have been in Sacramento as governor for such a short period of time. I’m still big on Amy Klubachar’s name gaining enough prominence over the next eighteen months to seriously contend for veeping for Will Arnett er I mean Gavin Newsome. > [@Chronos](#): > > Speaking for myself, I do _not_ want someone exciting. Trump is exciting. I want a nice, boring, conventional President. O’Malley came to mind. Fits the bill?😛 So then am I to be pilloried (well, at this ridiculously early:rolleyes: stage in the game - sure, possibly) at the prospect of dusting off the antediluvian shoulders of Al Gore? (failing my earlier bets?) \*Awesome killer quotes from deceased: “I have no use for those on welfare”.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/97 "2018-07-05T02:54:05Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > But that’s the problem. I’d LOVE Biden… if he was younger. And he’s still considered as an Obama licker by many goofball GOPers, I’m sure. Now it seems like the only candidate to beat Trump is someone that can out-celebrity him. Who the hell could that be? [Michael Avenatti?](http://www.newsweek.com/michael-avenatti-says-hed-absolutely-beat-trump-2020-election-and-be-his-1008494) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/98 "2018-07-05T12:12:24Z")
> [@Warm\_blood](#): > > Um, are we ignoring that Biden has the same baggage that was said to have cost Clinton the election? Being the target of a partisan smear machine for literally decades? No, he hasn’t, but there’s time to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/99 "2018-07-05T17:21:56Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Just for the fun of it I looked up when some other candidates announced exploratory committees. > > [Obama](http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/16/obama.papers/) Jan 2007, [Romney](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/whats-an-exploratory-committee/237309/) April 2011 and most others that cycle in the March April time period. [Trump’s](https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/18/politics/donald-trump-2016-elections-exploratory-committee/index.html) was actually in March 2015. In 2013 the exploration was about a possible run for NY governor. > > It’s simply too early for that step. > > [Here](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/if-you-want-to-know-whos-running-in-2020-watch-capitol-hill-not-iowa/) and earlier [here](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-7-signs-that-someone-might-be-running-for-president-in-2020/) are simple guides from 538 about what signs to look for this early on. The first link is more recent and discusses how they position themselves doing their current work, the other evaluates seven signs: > > Hit a few and you may be running for president. The exploratory committee is a late sign, a lagging indicator. Democrats who have visited either Iowa or New Hampshire. The three men have two things in common, aside from Politics. They are all old and from the North Eastern Region. The below article is from 2-19-18. A lot of time has passed. [http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/374318-2020-dem-contenders-travel-to-key-primary-states](http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/374318-2020-dem-contenders-travel-to-key-primary-states) ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921/100 "2018-07-07T05:38:32Z")
I imagine it is more likely to be someone not on the radar in any major way right now. I found his appearance on MSNBC last night impressive so [why not Gov. Jay Inslee?](https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/gov-inslee-trump-does-not-intend-to-reunite-families-1271895107686?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ai) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-front-runner-for-2020-presidential-race-is/816921.md?page=6)