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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDem senator sees opening on left for possible 2020 bid
Dem senator sees opening on left for possible 2020 bid
By Reid Wilson - 04/18/18 06:00 AM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is quietly making clear to liberal advocacy groups that hes available for a 2020 bid, even as the Democratic field of potential White House hopefuls fills with better-known progressives.
Merkley, the soft-spoken liberal who sent his kids to the same public school he attended in a blue-collar neighborhood here, commands neither the star power nor the crowd-thrilling electricity of his close Senate allies, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). But what he lacks in wattage, he has begun making up for with powerful new friends.
Every two weeks, Merkleys Senate office plays host to a meeting between progressive senators Warren is a frequent attendee and the outside groups channeling Democratic excitement ahead of this falls midterm elections. The inside-outside meetings, as Merkley calls them, give liberal groups like Indivisible, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the Daily Kos a chance to compare notes.
We have to do a lot better job in coordinating the inside-outside conversation, for these mass-action groups to understand the battles we face in this building, for us to understand their sentiments, their organizations, their passions, and try to have us all moving in the same direction, Merkley said in a recent interview in his Capitol Hill office. Maybe not using the same boats or the same paddles or moving the same speed, but at least not crashing into each other.
As Merkley plays host, he has also built alliances with those groups, which could serve as a platform for a presidential run.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/383664-dem-senator-sees-opening-on-left-for-possible-2020-bid
KPN
(15,646 posts)to have Merkley as one of my two Senators.
Renew Deal
(81,860 posts)Especially the libertarian minded types. Im not sure he matches up well in a GE, but Im not sure he doesnt.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)Freddie
(9,267 posts)Not well known in most of the country can do really well. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter come to mind. We NEED a fresh face to run in 2020. Not Joe and not Bernie.
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)It's not impossible for someone to seek two offices in the same year, but it presents difficulties. Being on the ballot twice in November has been done by candidates for Vice President (Lyndon Johnson, Joe Lieberman, and Paul Ryan, among others). For the top of the ticket, it's harder.
One alternative for him would be to start a campaign for President in 2019 and see how it goes. If he crashes and burns early, he could withdraw and run for the Senate. The longer he waits, though, the more of a problem he creates for his party in his home state. When Rubio did that last time, Republicans who had already declared for his Senate seat were put in a bad spot.
If he nevertheless decides to run anyway, he'd be among those I'd strongly consider supporting.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)seems like a good guy.
OregonBlue
(7,754 posts)He was speaker of the House here and he was really well liked.