The Democratic guru talks to the New Yorker Magazine about the early 2020 Democratic Presidential race status…..
He comments on several of the early candidates including Schultz, an independent, Harris, Warren, Booker, O’Rourke. He settles down on Joe Biden after talking about the Obama admin and Hillary Clinton’s problems….
On Kamala Harris….
I think Kamala Harris has had a very strong rollout. She has a theory of the case, and the theory of the case is that, if she can get through these early states and get to more diverse states, New Hampshire and Iowa not being terribly diverse—if she can get through there doing reasonably well, she goes to Nevada, where she would be a strong candidate, and then South Carolina, where fifty-five per cent of the vote will be African-American.
The other thing is that she understands the power of the African-American vote in the nominating process. Not only is it a big constituency in some of these major states and Southern states but it also is supersized, because, if you have congressional districts that are overwhelmingly Democratic in their performance, they get extra delegates. So this is why Hillary Clinton was able to shake off Bernie Sanders.
On Joe Biden….
Look, I think there’s no doubt that he has appeal in Pennsylvania and those working-class Midwestern states and places where Trump made inroads. I think there are a few issues. He is, without question, the most experienced guy out there. He was an extraordinary asset to the Administration when he was there. Thirty-six years in the Senate. He understands that process, and, for those who are looking to restore a sense of normalcy, restore a sense of ballast, those are very appealing qualities.
The flip side of them is that they are very much establishment qualities, and the other flip side of them is it bespeaks a career that’s almost half a century along, and age is a concern that people have. I also think that the left will take aim at him if he gets in the race, because he is a more centrist Democrat with a long record. We heard some of it. But there’s no doubt that, at least on day one, he enters the race, he’s going to take up a lot of space. If he doesn’t enter the race, I think other people may. I think it’s more likely that Bloomberg would run if Biden didn’t run. You may see Mitch Landrieu come into the race if Biden doesn’t run. So he’s formidable, and there are more candidates in this race on the left than there are kind of center, center-left, and that is largely because Biden takes up a lot of space in this race….
image…TheHill