If the United States was a sophisticated European democracy, the headline to this article would be way out of place. After all, as Gabe Fleisher reports in Wake Up to Politics, it is 1,246 days until Election Day 2020.
But unlike the United Kingdom, we are not the country of the six-week campaign. Our presidential campaigns are essentially perpetual. And just today, the Washington Post published an article, “The Trump effect: Everyone’s thinking of running for president.” Through a link with “The Hill,” they list forty three people who might run against Trump in 2020.
In Part I of a two-part series, we are listing those names with some added demographic information. In Part II, we will work at establishing some criteria for acceptable candidates (Spoiler Alert: Disqualifiers will include tight ties with entrenched money and obvious psychological liabilities).
Below, in alphabetical order, is the list of actually 44 possibilities (the Washington Post article reference Adam Schiff [D-CA and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee; The Hill did not).
| Name | Position | Age-2020 | Gender | Minority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden | Former VP | 77 | M | |
| Cory Booker | Senator, D-NJ | 51 | M | Yes |
| Jerry Brown | Governor, D-CA | 82 | M | |
| Sherrod Brown | Senator, D-OH | 67 | M | |
| Julian Castro | Former HUD Secretary | 45 | M | Yes |
| Mark Cuban | Entrepreneur | 61 | M | |
| Andrew Cuomo | Governor, D-NY | 62 | M | |
| Mark Dayton | Governor, MN | 73 | M | |
| Howard Dean | Former Governor, D-VT | 71 | M | |
| Bill deBlasio | Mayor, NYC | 58 | M | |
| Tammy Duckworth | Senator, D-IL | 52 | F | Yes |
| Keith Ellison | House Reps., D-MN | 56 | M | Yes |
| Russ Feingold | Former Senator, D-WI | 67 | M | |
| Al Franken | Senator, D-MN | 68 | M | |
| Tulsi Gabbert | House Reps., D-HI | 39 | F | Yes |
| Eric Garcetti | Mayor, Los Angeles | 49 | M | |
| Kirsten Gillibrand | Senator, D-NY | 53 | F | |
| Al Gore | Former VP | 72 | M | |
| Kamala Harris | Senator, D-CA | 55 | F | Yes |
| John Hickenlooper | Governor, D-CO | 68 | M | |
| Jay Inslee | Governor, D-WA | 69 | M | |
| Dwayne Johnson | Wrestler | 48 | M | |
| Tim Kaine | Senator, D-VA | 62 | M | |
| Amy Klobachar | Senator, D-MN | 59 | F | |
| Mitch Landrieu | Mayor, New Orleans | 59 | M | |
| Sean Patrick Maloney | House Reps., D-NY | 53 | M | |
| Terry McAuliffe | Governor, VA | 63 | M | |
| Seth Moulton | House Reps., D-MA | 41 | M | |
| Chris Murphy | Senator, D-CT | 46 | M | |
| Gavin Newsom | Lt. Governor, D-CA | 52 | M | |
| Michelle Obama | Former First Lady | 56 | F | Yes |
| Martin O'Malley | Former Gov., MD | 57 | M | |
| Deval Patrick | Former Gov., MA | 63 | M | Yes |
| Tom Perez | Chair, DNC | 58 | M | Yes |
| Sheryl Sandberg | COO, Facebook | 50 | F | |
| Bernie Sanders | Senator, I-VT | 78 | M | |
| Adam Schiff | House Reps., D-CA | 60 | M | |
| Howard Schultz | CEO, Starbucks | 66 | M | |
| Tom Steyer | Billionaire Environmentalist | 62 | M | |
| Mark Warner | Senator, D-VA | 65 | M | |
| Elizabeth Warren | Senator, D-MA | 70 | F | |
| Jim Webb | Former Senator, D-VA | 74 | M | |
| Oprah Winfrey | Media mogul | 66 | F | Yes |
| Mark Zuckerberg | CEO, Facebook | 35 | M | |
| 9 Females | 10 Minorities |
There are wizened political figures on the list including former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. There are fresh faces such as Michelle Obama, Mark Cuban and Mark Zuckerberg. Some are not well known such as Representatives Tulsi Gabbert of Hawaii or Sean Patrick Maloney of New York. Of the forty-four on the list, nine are women and ten are of minority ethnic groups in the U.S. Five are minority women (Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, Gabbert, California Senator Kamala Harris, Former First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.) A simple analysis with this amount of political correctness would drive Trump nuts, but he might be assured to know that thirty-one of the forty-four are white men.
Below, the names are listed by their age in 2020, in descending order:
| Name | Position | Age-2020 | Gender | Minority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Brown | Governor, D-CA | 82 | M | |
| Bernie Sanders | Senator, I-VT | 78 | M | |
| Joe Biden | Former VP | 77 | M | |
| Jim Webb | Former Senator, D-VA | 74 | M | |
| Mark Dayton | Governor, MN | 73 | M | |
| Al Gore | Former VP | 72 | M | |
| Howard Dean | Former Governor, D-VT | 71 | M | |
| Elizabeth Warren | Senator, D-MA | 70 | F | |
| Jay Inslee | Governor, D-WA | 69 | M | |
| Al Franken | Senator, D-MN | 68 | M | |
| John Hickenlooper | Governor, D-CO | 68 | M | |
| Sherrod Brown | Senator, D-OH | 67 | M | |
| Russ Feingold | Former Senator, D-WI | 67 | M | |
| Howard Schultz | CEO, Starbucks | 66 | M | |
| Oprah Winfrey | Media mogul | 66 | F | Yes |
| Mark Warner | Senator, D-VA | 65 | M | |
| Terry McAuliffe | Governor, VA | 63 | M | |
| Deval Patrick | Former Gov., MA | 63 | M | Yes |
| Andrew Cuomo | Governor, D-NY | 62 | M | |
| Tim Kaine | Senator, D-VA | 62 | M | |
| Tom Steyer | Billionaire Environmentalist | 62 | M | |
| Mark Cuban | Entrepreneur | 61 | M | |
| Adam Schiff | House Reps., D-CA | 60 | M | |
| Amy Klobachar | Senator, D-MN | 59 | F | |
| Mitch Landrieu | Mayor, New Orleans | 59 | M | |
| Bill deBlasio | Mayor, NYC | 58 | M | |
| Tom Perez | Chair, DNC | 58 | M | Yes |
| Martin O'Malley | Former Gov., MD | 57 | M | |
| Keith Ellison | House Reps., D-MN | 56 | M | Yes |
| Michelle Obama | Former First Lady | 56 | F | Yes |
| Kamala Harris | Senator, D-CA | 55 | F | Yes |
| Kirsten Gillibrand | Senator, D-NY | 53 | F | |
| Sean Patrick Maloney | House Reps., D-NY | 53 | M | |
| Tammy Duckworth | Senator, D-IL | 52 | F | Yes |
| Gavin Newsom | Lt. Governor, D-CA | 52 | M | |
| Cory Booker | Senator, D-NJ | 51 | M | Yes |
| Sheryl Sandberg | COO, Facebook | 50 | F | |
| Eric Garcetti | Mayor, Los Angeles | 49 | M | |
| Dwayne Johnson | Wrestler | 48 | M | |
| Chris Murphy | Senator, D-CT | 46 | M | |
| Julian Castro | Former HUD Secretary | 45 | M | Yes |
| Seth Moulton | House Reps., D-MA | 41 | M | |
| Tulsi Gabbert | House Reps., D-HI | 39 | F | Yes |
| Mark Zuckerberg | CEO, Facebook | 35 | M | |
| 9 Females | 10 Minorities |
Jerry Brown was the youngest governor of California at the age 36 and now is the oldest at the age of 79. Would he be too old to be president when he’s 82? Joe Biden seemed to be too old to run for president at age 73, how about age 77? Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is currently too young to be president, but in 2020 he will reach the requisite age of 35.
There are likely excellent candidates who are not on the list. They may be under the radar because they don’t travel in moneyed circles or have no current claim to fame. But we all know that there is no special correlation between qualifications for president and viability as a candidate.
What we do know is that for anyone considering running for president in 2020, the nearly three and one-half years between now and Election Day will be filled with millions of words, hours of scripted media, and a few moments of unexpected candor. Unless you’re a political junkie, you don’t need a front row seat now, but it still is wise to keep a bird’s eye view on what’s happening in our section of Planet Earth.