ARE DEMOCRATS TRYING TO LOSE IN 2020?

As self-evident as it may seem to liberals that the Trump presidency has been a disaster and is doomed to defeat, the daily cycle of scandal and outrage that dominates social media is no substitute for a viable presidential candidate. And the Democratic Party, it seems, has yet to learn the key lessons of Hillary Clinton’s failure in 2016. While Donald Trump has already filed paperwork for his re-election campaign, Democrats are facing a distressingly shallow bench of potential challengers. Trump may be flirting with an all-time low approval rating, but many of the politicians maneuvering to challenge him are not necessarily in a much stronger position.

There are the usual buzzed-about hopefuls, of course, that remain beloved on the left, including Joe Biden, who just launched his own political action committee, and Elizabeth Warren, whose progressive credentials are unimpeachable. But Biden would be 78 by the time he would assume the presidency, and Warren—whether or not you believe her—has said repeatedly that she isn’t running. The remaining names on the 2020 shortlist, meanwhile, are a pretty motley crew—and sure to leave a bad taste in many liberals’ mouths.

There are other names on Allen’s list, too, such as Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. Some names, like Gillibrand and Harris, may have some promise. But the rest may as well have been grown in a lab by Republican scientists in order to guarantee a Democratic defeat. McAuliffe—a major fundraiser with longstanding ties to the Clintons—has a storied history of sketchy business dealings, was investigated by the F.B.I. for receiving $120,000 from a Chinese-owned business, and aided the campaign of the wife of a F.B.I. official investigating Hillary Clinton. Cuban is a billionaire with few ties to progressive politics whose Trump-lite demeanor should come with its own trigger warning. Emanuel has made few friends by clashing with liberal activists, the Chicago teachers union, and Black Lives Matter. Booker is, to some, an inveterate opportunist whose reach exceeds his grasp. (Then there is the matter of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who remains a villain in progressive circles despite his recent attempts to shift left.)

After an election in which nearly half of Democratic voters were galvanized by a radical progressive firebrand in Bernie Sanders, and subsequently left disillusioned by Clintonism, the left seems to be stumbling toward another electoral shellacking as the proto-primary field fills up with potential candidates reflecting some of the Democratic Party’s worst instincts.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/no-one-likes-prospective-democrat-2020-candidates?mbid=social_facebook