Anxious Democratic Establishment Asks, 'Is There Anybody Else?'

[BeyondGeography]

Party leaders who are fatalistic about Democrats’ chances in 2020 are musing about possible late entrants to the race. Sherrod Brown? Michelle Obama?

WASHINGTON — When a half-dozen Democratic donors gathered at the Whitby Hotel in Manhattan last week, the dinner began with a discussion of which presidential candidates the contributors liked. But as conversations among influential Democrats often go these days, the meeting quickly evolved into a discussion of who was not in the race — but could be lured in.

Would Hillary Clinton get in, the contributors wondered, and how about Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor? One person even mused whether Michelle Obama would consider a late entry, according to two people who attended the event, which was hosted by the progressive group American Bridge.

It’s that time of the election season for Democrats.

“Since the last debate, just anecdotally, I’ve had five or six people ask me: ‘Is there anybody else?’” said Leah Daughtry, a longtime Democrat who has run two of the party’s recent conventions.

With doubts rising about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s ability to finance a multistate primary campaign, persistent questions about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s viability in the general election and skepticism that Mayor Pete Buttigieg, of South Bend, Ind., can broaden his appeal beyond white voters, Democratic leaders are engaging in a familiar rite: fretting about who is in the race and longing for a white knight to enter the contest at the last minute.

...”There’s more anxiety than ever,” said Connie Schultz, a journalist who is married to Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, another Democrat who some in the party would like to see join the race. “We’re both getting the calls. I’ve been surprised by some who’ve called me.”

“I can see it, I can feel it, I can hear it,” Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor, said of the unease within the party. He said he thinks Mr. Biden is best positioned to defeat Mr. Trump but called the former vice president’s fund-raising “a real concern.”

Mr. Biden’s lackluster debate performances and alarmingly low cash flow — he has less than $9 million on hand, not even half of some of his rivals — has fueled the Democratic disquiet. But if the causes of the concern are plain to see, what exactly can be done about it is less clear.

More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/us/politics/democratic-candidates-2020.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

I’m with the top-rated commenter:

Or the headline could read "Business as Usual Democratic Party Insiders Fret Over Possibility of Presidential Candidate That Might Actually Stand For Something Besides Business as Usual"

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. That comment says it for me too

" Business as usual" Is not going to win elections. Or result in the growth of the Democratic Party by new and enthused members

[BeyondGeography]

3. This might be even better

“They're not afraid Elizabeth Warren will lose to Trump. They're afraid she'll win and they won't be able to control her.”

[Lexblues]

8. Either way, Warren will not be the nominee in 2020

I'm a student of political history and I don't think the party has ever nominated anyone like Warren in recent memory. If Biden falters, i anticipate someone not currently running will jump in. Neither Sanders or Warren will be the nominee in 2020. The establishment always wins in the end.

[BeyondGeography]

15. They have a very weak hand this time around

Biden is an unimposing front runner, the proof being that voting is three months away and many of these so-called insiders are already giving up on him. Buttigieg is a plausible back-up, but I fear they are right re. his ability to attract enough black support to overcome Warren, who is already making inroads there. Harris has been a very uneven candidate. And then there’s Klobuchar, who inspires relatively few people. Brown had the chance to run and passed. Are voters clamoring for more candidates or is it just the cocktail circuit?

It’s quite possible this is the field, Student of Political History.

[saljr1]

18. As i've stated numerous times on this thread, Warren will be the nominee

JMHO. Watch and Learn

[Demsrule86]

36. It has nothing to do with establishment. The Democratic Party is not super liberal...never have

been. And the establishment as you call them worries, it is because they know Warren won't win a general. So they worry she will be the nominee and lose or won't be the nominee and divide the party. You need more than Democrats ...but this is a center left country. Biden will win though... they are worried about a repeat of 16 when Warren loses the primary ...and angry Democrats vote for Stein or some other third party candidate...they should stay out of it because another candidate will make it worse.

[Buzz cook]

40. If you've ever been to a state caucus or convention

You would know that's not true. At the grass roots level democrats and the public in general are more liberal than the national democratic party.

[thesquanderer]

42. Or maybe that varies by the state? n/t

[Lexblues]

43. The issue is that African-Americans are more center left than ultra left

And AA's are the backbone of the party in a lot of states. Black voters tend to vote for establishment type candidates and history bears that out. That's why Biden and other candidates like him tend to get the nomination. If caucuses and conventions determined our nominee, Bernie would've easily won in 2016.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Quite frankly, they echo my concerns at this point ...

I'm inclinded to say we have a lot of very good, but exactly zero GREAT candidates. I don't mean as people or even as politicians, but looked at solely as POTUS candidates to beat Trump in 2020.

I feel like what we really need is an amalgam of Biden, Warren, Harris, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg.

Just my $.02, felt like this since the beginning. Part of why I'm still Undecided.

My dream White Knights? A Gore/Clinton ticket

[demmiblue]

5. Gore/Clinton... yeah, that'll work!

[Blue_Tires]

10. We don't even need a "great" candidate

even though we DO have several of them running...

What we need is a smarter campaign... Don't buy into this bullshit narrative that Trump is invincible and we need to run a 100% perfect race with the 100% perfect candidate that doesn't offend anybody to defeat him.

[TidalWave46]

34. I've seen Gore campaign.

He sucks at it. That’s actually more praise than he deserves with respect to campaigning.

[ritapria]

4. Dear Establishment

If you want a moderate Democratic nominee you believe will Defeat Trump in 2020, you will have to donate more money to Mr. Biden ….Sherrod Brown would be an excellent candidate but it is far too late for him to join the race ….Bloomberg ? That is a ridiculous Concept ...That boat ain't going to float ….I don't care how much money he puts into the race ………….For you guys , It's Joe - Or Bust ….Deal with it …….

[dflprincess]

31. Establishment Democrats have been screwing us

Since they bumped Henry Wallace off the ticket in 1944.

[Demsrule86]

37. Progressives insisted on candidates that could not win like McGovern and screwed themselves...

They also screwed themselves in 2000,2004 and the mother of all screw ups 2016. They refuse to believe they are (sadly) in the minority.

[vsrazdem]

6. I got news for them. Most of us do not want business as usual.

[George II]

13. 20% isn't "most".

[vsrazdem]

19. Where did the 20% come from?

[George II]

22. Where did "most" come from?

[vsrazdem]

24. The entire democratic party ideology is NOT business as usual. Fair/equal wages, climate change,

Justice reform, healtcare reform, tax reform, etc. These are not status quo issues. They have now been brought to the forefront of the democratic party. Most of the country agrees with them, not just 20%.

[doc03]

7. I will refrain from making a comment, it may

be misunderstood as bashing Democratic candidates. I don't have a favorite but will vote for whoever is nominated all are better than Trump.

[Blue_Tires]

9. It's agitprop bullshit and quite frankly I'm surprised to see it here...

Literally every even-numbered year like clockwork we get the

"DEMOCRATS DON'T HAVE A PLAN AND ARE IN TOTAL DISARRAY BECAUSE ALL THEIR CANDIDATES ARE THE SAME AND DON'T "EXCITE" ANYONE SO THE LIBERALS AND MODERATES WILL STAY HOME FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME AND THEY WILL LOSE IN A LANDSLIDE!!!!!!111111111" hot take and then we take the bait, panic by switching things up for the sake of switching things up, abandon what was already working for us AND THEN THAT SAME HOT TAKE WRITER will chastise us for cheap pandering instead of sticking to our guns... Rinse and repeat.

I went canvassing on Saturday, knocked on 67 doors, and didn't hear that bullshit even once...

[Thekaspervote]

17. Thx for your input, and your hard work! Both are appreciated

[ismnotwasm]

25. K&R

[Demsrule86]

38. Blue Tires...you nailed it as usual.

[betsuni]

41. So true.

[dchill]

11. Franken/Gillibrand.

The Sparks would fly!

Seriously, though, our field of candidates is just fine.

[LonePirate]

12. The Establishment is afraid that Biden is slipping and there is no centrist next in line.

This is all about the Establishment despising a progressive like Warren or Sanders winning the nomination.

[Voltaire2]

27. Buttigieg is basically a centrist.

But perhaps the establishment is scared about running an openly gay candidate so I guess they've just dismissed him offhand.

I'm not a big fan of his policy positions, but I would seriously enjoy the cranial implosions if he beat Hair Shitler.

[awesomerwb1]

14. More of "The Establishment" nonsense

I'm getting my tin foil hat.

I wonder, if Bernie is so concerned that the Democratic Party is so controlled by this "Establishment", isn't he by extension conveniently joining the "Establishment" come election time to use "Establishment" resources?

[Thekaspervote]

20. I keep my tin foil hat right beside my bed 🛌 Really good for when it rains unicorns

[ritapria]

32. Everyone uses the use Term " The "Establishment"

Big Media , Big Banks , Big Oil , Big Pharma . They serve on each others Board of Directors ...They attend the same conferences …..They socialize with each other at posh resorts . ..They fund the campaigns ..They want return on Investment …. Candidates like Bernie and Warren are free to take More Progressive stands on Issues because they don't take their money ………They are the future of the Democratic Party ... ...The "little people" are tired of this shit ……...8 years from now, it will become politically toxic for Democratic Presidential candidates to take their money ….

[George II]

16. Guess what? The majority of Democrats are "establishment" as it's been defined.

[Thekaspervote]

21. No???!!! Really

[TidalWave46]

23. I really dislike these articles and find a lot in this one to be pretty foolish.

There is no such thing as the status quo or business as usual right now.

That said, let me drop some f bombs on the “establishment.”

EW has a proven fucking track record of of building fucking coalitions and working not just with the fucking “establishment,” but with their best fucking interests at heart. She has been a fucking rockstar for our party and is a fucking Democrat to her fucking core.

I don’t know who I will be voting for in the primary. Yes, Biden is near the top of my list. I have a lot of respect for what people refer to as the establishment but a couple too many of them feel the way the article states. Biden isn’t the only proven pro-establishment candidate. These “few too many” need to grow a spine and get their heads out of their asses.

If you look at this field and yearn for someone else, you will never be happy.

[randr]

26. The way the race has gone so far has

left the possibility of a dark horse candidate very likely

[Voltaire2]

28. We haven't gotten to the first primary.

So realistically the 'race so far' still hasn't left the starting gate.

[randr]

46. True

And so far they are all fighting for the inside track

[ancianita]

29. This is media horse-racey bullshit to gaslight Americans looking at the abyss of dictatorship,

AS IF there's a NORMAL, VIABLE race between NORMAL, VIABLE candidates.

THERE ISN'T.

This is made up media weakening of one party to draw horse racey normalizations of gradual dictatorship, and to promote the false equivalency between a party of the abyss, and a party of The People.

Adults are
-- patient.
-- Patient readers of the actual Special Counsel Report, along with Congress.
-- Patient 2020 voters.
-- Patient witnesses, as current indictments are unsealed after the new president is sworn in and new trials begin.

There will be impeachment vote after impeachment vote.

All the way, Palace Guard Media will gaslight the Democrats. Believe that.

[Scurrilous]

35. ...

[abqtommy]

30. I had to go to the end of the op to see the source of this drivel. Oh, of course, it's the NYT.

[BeyondGeography]

44. WaPo has just put out a companion piece

Anxiety rises among Democrats worried about party’s prospects in 2020:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/anxiety-rises-among-democrats-worried-about-partys-prospects-in-2020/2019/10/22/b9c015d4-f4d9-11e9-8cf0-4cc99f74d127_story.html#comments-wrapper

Must be Establishment Freakout Day.

[abqtommy]

47. That's ok, I cancelled my WaPo subscription long ago. Never have subscribed to NYT.

[GeorgeGist]

33. F**k those losers.

[Peacetrain]

39. What George said...

[Iggo]

45. Sells papers.

Or...well...it encourages clicks.

[marlakay]

48. This happens every time the establishment

democrats push their person out and make everyone think they are the only person that can win because of some elections back 40 years ago!

We are a different country now. Look who our president is!

Just in the last 10 years things are exploding with the internet and reality shows.

Most people are on a merry go round with all the constant information from news to what their friends cat did 5 min ago and too caught up in all of it to stop and think about what they really need.

We have no real idea of how a bunch of people will vote because unfortunately a lot of them vote very casually with almost no thought to it at all.

But we do know polls say most Americans like the idea of a better health care system, most care about the environment and want to fix it, most want pot legal, I could go on and on. Knowing all that are you completely sure that they want a moderate who will not give them some of those things? Yes they will work on environment and jobs and make things better like Obama but the big changes that people want they do know they have to vote for it which is why Bernie got so many votes last time.

[BlueMTexpat]

49. Responses #1 &

#3 say it all for me.

Thanks for posting.