# Who’s on the bench for President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 23, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683 "2023-01-23T23:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/61 "2023-01-28T03:54:29Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I am an enormous fan of Jon Tester, but the rumor is that he’s ready to go back to his farm and put Washington, DC firmly in the rearview mirror. Yeah, it seems to me that the biggest roadblock to my plan to see Jon Tester become president is his complete disinterest in becoming president. But he strikes me as the type of plain spoken, direct, “tell it like it is” person that millions deludedly think Trump is. I’ve always enjoyed hearing him speak. Of course, if it were solely up to me, my pick would be > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Buttigieg The best presidents in my opinion (I.e. Teddy Roosevelt, Obama, Lincoln) were on the younger side and inherently brilliant, the types who could digest a book in a night or write their own speeches. Booty-judge strikes me as of that caliber; we should aspire to have a president who can converse in multiple languages, for example. Yeah, I get that the real issue is who can take the office - my two earlier suggestions (Whitmer and Tester), I believe, can do just that. But who would make the best President? For me, it’s Buttigieg. (Or Liz Warren, her 73 years of age be damned!) ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/62 "2023-01-28T04:54:02Z")
I was a big fan of Jay Inslee too because of his platform of Climate Concerns and supporting Unions. He did very badly in the debates. How can someone who does so much in the public fumble because of a spotlight.? Hickenlooper too. Good ideas but bad presentation. There is the governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear who would be good for geographic and policy making. The Virginia senators Warner and Kane are smart and dedicated to progress but neither has the persona to win. (Who even remembers Kane as the VP candidate in 2016. ) Kamela Harris needs to be given an Ambassadorship to Brazil or Belgium as a reward for not making a fuss. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/63 "2023-01-28T05:06:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That’s not the point. You need people who are not base Democrats to vote for her. Saying she’s over a bar that consists of a line painted on the floor isn’t enough. I’m sorry, are you kidding? She’s a Democrat that crushes in a rust belt state, the exact type of state they need to win to win the WH. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/64 "2023-01-28T09:29:17Z")
> [@Beesnest](#): > > The Virginia senators Warner and Kane are smart and dedicated to progress but neither has the persona to win. (Who even remembers Kane as the VP candidate in 2016. ) What makes your point even stronger is, you’re misremembering his name… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/65 "2023-01-28T11:54:16Z")
At this point, Buttigieg has my vote. Just about a year to the 5 March Super Tuesday primaries. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/66 "2023-01-28T11:55:22Z")
I’d want Buttigieg to get a few more years of experience under his belt, but yes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/67 "2023-01-28T15:28:33Z")
There’s [Roy Cooper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cooper) He’s been elected governor of North Carolina twice, and he’s term limited out in 2024. I really don’t know anything about him, but he must have broad appeal since he’s a democrat in a more red than purple, Southern state. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/68 "2023-01-28T16:10:06Z")
This Politico article from this past week argues newly-elected Pennsylvania and Maryland governors are squarely on the Dem bench: [Gov. Josh Shapiro & Gov. Wes Moore.](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/26/democratic-bench-josh-shapiro-wes-moore-00079538) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/69 "2023-01-28T16:21:09Z")
It amazes me how little VP Harris has been mentioned in this thread, just because she has mostly (and necessarily) limited herself to the Constitutional duties of her office. She’s not on the bench, she’s on deck! Just because she isn’t strutting up to home plate years before the current batter gets a hit or is struck out loses no points in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/70 "2023-01-28T17:33:06Z")
If you’re going to reach all the way back to post #34, then why not also quote post #41? > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This is great, exactly the sort of defense and support I would like to see more of. These are reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/71 "2023-01-28T17:33:39Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > She’s not on the bench, she’s on deck! She’s the de facto favorite and all roads go through her first. But many, including me, find her to be a lackluster campaigner. She was a strategic pick by Biden and not the best IMHO, though it worked for him at the time. I think she is more vulnerable to internal challenge than most modern VP candidates I can think of and I am wary of her ability to seal the deal if she does get the nomination. But if I were a betting man, she’d be the safest bet to take the primary. VP inertia is usually tough to overcome. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/72 "2023-01-28T17:45:13Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > He’s been elected governor of North Carolina twice, and he’s term limited out in 2024. I really don’t know anything about him, but he must have broad appeal since he’s a democrat in a more red than purple, Southern state. I’m pretty sure that Democrats have actually been in the majority in North Carolina for a decade or more; they’re just not able to vote. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/73 "2023-01-28T18:24:24Z")
> [@Beesnest](#): > > There is the governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear who would be good for geographic and policy making. Beshear is a great governor but probably doesn’t have the charisma to get through a Presidential campaign. We’ll be lucky if he gets re-elected this year, since he made himself the face of COVID restrictions and the troglodytes blame him for all the problems now. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/74 "2023-01-28T18:50:45Z")
> [@Beesnest](#): > > Hickenlooper too. Good ideas but bad presentation. I had the chance to meet him once. He’s a dorky guy. Just is. I love him - he’s a scientist by training, and as you said has good ideas, but he simply doesn’t have the gravitas that a modern president needs. (Not that you were endorsing him) > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It amazes me how little VP Harris has been mentioned in this thread Perhaps people were abiding by the OP > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > assume Biden isn’t going to or can’t run for some reason, and Harris just doesn’t want the job. But it’s also true that her role as VP (as it usually is) has been obscure and uneventful, and isn’t creating any momentum for her candidacy. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/75 "2023-01-28T20:56:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m pretty sure that Democrats have actually been in the majority in North Carolina for a decade or more; they’re just not able to vote. I’m not sure that’s the whole story. Barack Obama carried the state in 2008, and Cooper got two terms, but otherwise, both state government chambers are in republican hands. Both US senators are GOP, too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/76 "2023-01-28T20:57:02Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’d want Buttigieg to get a few more years of experience under his belt, but yes. We would need large swaths of America to get over their ingrained homophobia. Won’t happen for at least a decade, must longer is assholes like DeSantis has his way. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It amazes me how little VP Harris has been mentioned in this thread, j The OP disqualified her. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’m not sure I’m using the right phrase, but the question is: assume Biden isn’t going to or can’t run for some reason, and Harris just doesn’t want the job. Who’s the backup candidate? Clearly, she is the #1 after Biden himself. She polls well against most of the leading GOP possibles. > [@Moriarty](#): > > But it’s also true that her role as VP (as it usually is) has been obscure and uneventful, and isn’t creating any momentum for her candidacy. Which is more or less a Good Thing, as the news doesnt much report good things, just fuck ups. if Trump is the candidate- it has to be Joe. (health assumed in both cases). ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/77 "2023-01-28T22:25:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The OP disqualified her. Yeah, I’m just curious who else might be waiting in the wings just in case the worst happens. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/78 "2023-01-28T22:27:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m pretty sure that Democrats have actually been in the majority in North Carolina for a decade or more; they’re just not able to vote. North Carolina voting laws are no more restrictive than Georgia’s (arguably less so – Cooper has vetoed proposed voting restrictions passed by the Republican-dominated state legislature). Yet Georgia has voted for Raphael Warnock four times in two years while NC voted GOP in consecutive Senate elections. It’s not just about voter suppression. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/79 "2023-02-01T00:33:49Z")
If you define the “bench” as people that the average voter would consider as a potential candidate, then perhaps the bench status is related to name recognition and, of course, whether that recognition is positive or negative. While this sounds simplistic (what about qualifications? position on the progressive spectrum? track record of accomplishments?), 538 did an analysis that argues that early (about a year out) popularity of candidates correlates with nomination success. > **[We Analyzed 40 Years Of Primary Polls. Even Early On, They’re Fairly Predictive.](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-analyzed-40-years-of-primary-polls-even-early-on-theyre-fairly-predictive/)** > > Over the past few weeks, FiveThirtyEight has explored who led in early primary polls of presidential cycles from 1972 to 2016 and who went on to win the nominat… And here is another take on the 538 analysis that tries to refine the predictive aspects. > **[Presidential primary candidate name recognition matters | Nicholas M. Michalak](https://nickmichalak.com/post/2019-07-30-name-recognition-matters-but-not-how-fivethirtyeight-leads-you-to-predict/name-recognition-matters-but-not-how-fivethirtyeight-leads-you-to-predict/)** > > Key takeaway FiveThirtyEight claims that early national primary polls can become more useful for predicting party nomination success if one takes candidate name recognition into account. But so few low-name recognition candidates have won their... With that in mind, based on this recent data (Q4 2022) on recognition and popularity data of public figures in the Democratic party, we might want to take a closer look at Jimmy Carter. He’s still eligible for another term. 😜 > **[The most popular Democrats in America | Politics | YouGov Ratings](https://today.yougov.com/ratings/politics/popularity/Democrats/all)** > > The most popular Democrats in America according to YouGov Ratings. Popularity is based on millions of responses from the American public and YouGov's innovative survey methodology. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683/80 "2023-02-01T13:46:28Z")
Very interesting cites; thank you. There are significant differences in how the Ds and the Rs run their primaries. Which, all else equal, IMO would tend to have the Rs rewarding early popularity / name recognition more than Ds. Despite all the graphs in the articles having blue and red lines, those different lines do not stand for the two partys’ results. Given that this thread is discussing D candidates specifically, I think that 538s result, although no doubt statistically accurate math, is probably over-stating the extent of early name recognition on D candidates specifically. Which therefore understates whatever other factor(s) will ultimately prove decisive in the 2024 priD mary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-on-the-bench-for-president/978683.md?page=5)