As mentioned on the Three Martini Lunch podcast and elsewhere, a lot of not-so-well-known Democrats are getting louder about running for president in 2020. Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said on Stephen Colbert’s program that he’s thinking about it, and Ohio congressman Tim Ryan is reportedly gearing up for a bid, counting on, er, “the yoga vote.” Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, Michael Avanetti, insists he’s serious about a run.
There’s an “early start” incentive for any Democrat thinking about running, as the first big-name Democrat to announce a presidential bid — sorry, John Delany, I said big-name — will get quite a bit more coverage than the sixth, seventh, and eighth ones. The more crowded the field gets, the tougher it will be to stand out — and good luck getting headlines for your five-point plan to fix America’s schools when President Trump is tweeting something outrageous every day, and someone like Avanetti is lobbing bombshells from cable-news studios.
The 2020 campaign is likely to start sooner than ever — probably right after the midterm elections. This could generate some really short-lived and forgettable campaigns. Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack announced he was running for president on November 30, 2006. His campaign ran out of money and he departed the race on . . . February 23, 2007.
