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Democrats should feel good about our prospects in 2020
Back shortly after the 1996 election, I publicly predicted that the 2000 presidential race would be between Al Gore and George W. Bush and that the result would be very close. People in the room either snickered or rolled their eyes, but this prediction proved surprisingly prescient.
I start my post with that story because the number of predictions I have made that did not come true are legion. As a result, I’m going to hang my claim to expertise on that one prophesy. My record also gives me an out if it turns out that my predictions here today are incorrect.
That said, I do base my opinion on my involvement in numerous Presidential campaigns both as an outside observer and, in a number of cases, as an inside staffer. A persistent theme I hear among Democrats right about now is “where are our candidates for 2020?” I’m not concerned. I feel like we’ve been here before.
The truth is that the ultimate nominee emerges through the process. At the beginning of the process, virtually none of the candidates are particularly well-known outside their home states. Oftentimes, the nominee everyone predicted at the beginning of the process ends up faltering. Be honest, did you really know much about Barack Obama, a one-term Senator from Illinois, prior to the start of the 2008 campaign? Early on, did you expect…
