Background:
Although the 2020 Presidential election is still over two and half years away, several Democratic senators are already preparing to become the next Democratic Presidential candidate. There are around six senators that are said to be possibly considering Presidential bids: Cory Booker (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Kamala Harris (CA), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Elizabeth Warren (MA), as well as Democrat-ish Bernie Sanders (VT).
The preparation for the 2020 race has caused many of the senators mentioned above to lean left, with some senators refusing to vote for any bill that doesn't include protections for the people previously protected by DACA. However, many senators running for re-election in 2018 in "Trump states" are nervous about leaning too far left and alienating their base, causing a division between Democrats who would like to avoid government shutdown and Democrats who are willing to let the government shutdown in order to ensure that DACA passes.
Questions:
1. Do you think individual Democratic senators preparing for the 2020 election is severely fracturing Democratic party unity?
2. Should the Democratic senators try to focus more on solving issues that are important in their party instead of the 2020 Presidential election?
3. Do you think any of the possible 2020 Democratic party candidates have a strong chance to win the general election if Trump runs against them?
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/us/politics/democrat-senators-presidential-election-left.html
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/politics/democrats-daca-immigration-politics/index.html
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/if-you-want-to-know-whos-running-in-2020-watch-capitol-hill-not-iowa/
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4 comments:
I think it's quite interesting to view the influence that the future election has on senators who are currently in office. However, I'm not sure that it's drastically different from the past. The textbook talks about the way many begin to prepare for elections soon after the previous one ends. I think that the balance between the views of Democrats and the concern about support from "trump" states will allow them to find some sort of middle ground. Finally, I think that its too early to say whether those who run have a stronger chance just because Trump runs against them. Many people claimed that Hilary had a strong chance solely because she was running against Trump and we can all see how that turned out. I think we have to see where Trump and his administration take this presidency before making any assumptions.
I understand that the senators must begin building their image for the 2020 election, but I believe that they are placing too much importance on the upcoming election when their focus ought to be elsewhere. 2020 is still a ways away, and there are more pressing issues at hand to deal with, rather than preparing for the election. As we have seen before, polarization or fractures within parties leads to difficulty coming to a compromise. The Democratic party is already pretty fractured, and when some senators begin to lean extremely to the left, it would just make things worse. Focusing on DACA that concerns millions of lives should be at the top of their priorities at the moment. Compromises must be made but with this fracturing, that would be very difficult.
I agree that the Democratic party should fix some of the issues that they currently have within their parties. As of right now the Republican party has a pretty strong grip in the nation. The democratic party need to focus more on getting their organization back in line and try to get more people on their side because as it is now things are just a mess. I get that building an image for the party to be ready for the next election is important in a sense but as of right now. The election is too far in reach and They should focus on their foundation as a party.
I would like to agree with Ariana in that this trend is nothing new. Senators begin preparing for the election and tend to lose their role as a lawmaker. It disheartens me that our public officials must divert so much time from policy making to run for office. Instead of learning more about possible bills and collaborating with their peers, they must spend time and effort fundraising to keep their campaigns alive for the next elections—as we saw last semester. By running for the presidency, Senators only take more time away from doing their jobs and spend more time preparing for the elections. I see this as one of the greatest issues of our government: the never ending cycle of running for reelections.
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