Yesterday, former West Virginia congressional candidate Richard Ojeda—a Trump-voting, pro-gun Democrat—announced his bizarre candidacy for U.S. president. For some reason, some progressives cheered, as though THIS is what America needs now, as if there was a dearth of actual liberals more representative of their party vying for the 2020 crown.
Here’s the state of play: I’m counting more than 23 Democrats considering a presidential bid. Here they are, in no particular order:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts); Sen. Kamala Harris (California); Sen. Corey Booker (New Jersey); former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (Virginia); former Gov. Deval Patrick (Massachusetts); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota); Mayor Mitch Landrieu (New Orleans); Mayor Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles); Howard Schulz (Starbucks CEO); Tom Steyer (billionaire); former Mayor Michael Bloomberg (New York City); Gov. John Hickenlooper (Colorado); Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont); Gov. Steve Bullock (Montana); Michael Avenatti (obnoxious lawyer); Rep. John Delaney (Maryland); Rep. Tim Murphy (OH); Gov. Andrew Cuomo (New York); Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (New York); former VP Joe Biden; former Attorney General Eric Holder; Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio); and others I’m forgetting.
Yup, it’ll be that crazy.
Lots of great options in that crowd, and lots of potential villains. But here’s the thing: in a cycle where record numbers of women ran and won, in a party which won big because of women (which voted Democratic 59-40 last week), and in a climate in which women are key drivers of the Resistance—from the Women’s March, to #BlackLivesMatter, to leadership in new groups like Sister District and Indivisible—you have to be particularly daft if you think the zeitgeist is calling for a white male Democratic savior.
White men voted Republican 60-39 last week. Liberal white men can work on that number, and get their peers to pull back from that conservative brink. Meanwhile, the people actually building the new progressive majority, the women and people of color: this is their party. And whether some of you like it or not, that’s what primary results are going to reflect.
For too long, liberal women and people of color have played a supporting role to a never-ending stream of white men. That world no longer exists. I know it’s hard for white men to swallow, but it’s their turn to play “supporting role.” It’s not a bad place to be! These white guys can use their institutional advantages in networks and money to help elect amazing people from new and different walks of life. We did it in 2018, and it was wonderful!
I’ll call it right now: our 2020 ticket will be all-woman, and it should be all-woman.
It won’t be all-woman because I said so, but because the hunger and desire is there, the Resistance movement has been leading to this moment, and we have the talent to make it happen.
Flame away.