Election Equation 2020: Character, Likability, Strength, Money, Age
NC Senator John Edwards did not win the Democratic primary in 2008, but what if he had? It was revealed during the general election season he was cheating on his terminally ill wife on the campaign trail and fathered a ‘love child’. Would he have been forced out as the party’s nominee? Would he have gone quietly or fought? Would party delegate remedies have kicked in? Would the scandal have thrown the election to Republican John McCain?
One thing I think we can agree on is that character does matter to Democrats. Fast forward to the 2016 election. It was abundantly clear during the campaign that Trump was a deeply immoral person. Yet a false equivalency was created in the media messaging that Hillary was a ‘flawed candidate’ as well. I won’t litigate her flaws here. I’ll simply point out she was and is 100 times more moral than Trump, a sociopath with no moral core at all.
So what are Democrats looking for in a candidate for 2020? What will we demand of our chosen candidate? I believe our standards are higher than ever this time around. It is the Me Too era. There will be no non-repentant adulterers, harassers or assaulters given a pass. There will be no billionaire CEO, hedge fund manager, or any billionaire at all. Our collective conscience tells us it is somehow immoral to accumulate billions in personal wealth when so many suffer in poverty and oppression around the world. We may admire billionaires for their success and their philanthropy, but we’re still suspicious of their motives.
Let’s talk about age. Have age 70+ candidates like Biden and Sanders aged out as viable candidates? I’m afraid so. Not because their faces are wrinkled or because they lack the charisma to inspire young voters. I think Sanders disproved that premise. Rather, its because our experience with two seventy-something presidents (Trump and Reagan) has revealed significant, progressive mental decline while in office. There is also an increased risk of mortality for a sitting president approaching his or her life expectancy. But what does this mean for candidates well into their sixties? Liz Warren is 69. Jay Inslee is 68.
Despite some valid concerns about aging candidates and presidents, I believe that ageism is actually decreasing. The 2016 election proved that. If Warren and other 60-something candidates appear vibrant, energetic and healthy, they should not and will not be pushed out on the basis of age. I realize that Warren, in particular, will be over 70 by election day. However, there wasn’t really room for her to run in 2016. I believe the calculation was that two strong women running would result in neither getting the nomination. If Warren remains as vibrant as she seems today, I don’t believe her age will rule her out. There are individual differences in how people age. Consider Jimmy Carter and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
What about likability? The last election showed that likability is very subjective. For Republicans, it seems, a likable candidate is a man who projects confidence with a loud, crude mouth--a nonintellectual. Democrats are more evolved and nuanced. We chose a strong, eminently qualified, intellectual woman to represent us last time around. We’re not going to fall for arguments that strong intelligent women aren’t likable. We’re going to strike down those insinuations in the media and from Republicans. If anything, we’re more aware of ingrained gender bias and stereotypes than before.
I will finish by saying, may the best woman—or man—win the nomination and the presidency in 2020.