Democrats Want Biden, Bernie, and Beto for 2020

According to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, Democrats are beginning to get a feel for which candidates they’d like to see run for president in 2020 against Donald Trump. The new survey shows that among the candidates currently said to be considering a run for the White House, Joe Biden is the number one choice of voters with 28% of Democrats and independents casting their support his way. In second place is Vermont socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who nearly upset Hillary Clinton in 2016 to win the Democratic nomination.

And rounding out the top three is Texas upstart Beto O’Rourke, whose campaign against Ted Cruz in the midterms drew enormous, adoring coverage by the mainstream media, which no doubt accounts for his sudden rise in the rankings.

“Beto is the kind of fresh face who could shake up the Democratic race,” said pollster Mark Penn. “He starts off by blowing past some well-known names. Biden loses support upon his entry.”

The pollsters note, however, that when Hillary Clinton is included in the survey, it knocks O’Rourke down to fourth place. Popular, but not quite as popular as one of the most despised women in America. Well done, Beto!

The Hill notes that Democrats, desperate for some sort of media superstar who can recreate that old Obama magic, are practically begging Beto to throw his hat into the ring, despite having very little on the resume side of things to recommend him for the presidency.

From The Hill:

During his Senate campaign, O’Rourke had firmly said he wouldn’t mount a presidential run in 2020. But last week, he told reporters that he’s no longer ruling it out.

“Amy and I made a decision not to rule anything out,” O’Rourke told reporters after a town hall in El Paso, Texas, referring to his wife.

There have been growing calls among Democrats for O’Rourke, who lost to Cruz by less than 3 points in the November midterms, to take on Trump after the Democrat’s strong performance in the Senate race.

O’Rourke drew headlines during his Senate run for saying he’d support a vote to impeach Trump following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He’s also earned high praise from allies and aides to former President Obama, who compared O’Rourke to the former president. Obama himself recently heaped praise on the Texas Democrat.

A lot can happen in two years’ time, but it’s really tough for us to imagine any one of these Democrats mounting a serious threat to Trump’s second term. The media will do everything it can to sway the scales, of course, but man, the Democrats aren’t going to give them much to work with. We’re confident that Trump can swat any of these challengers away, including and especially Crooked Hillary Vol. 3.