The 2020 Race for President Has Begun

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

13 September 17

know it’s only 2017, but the testing of the waters has begun in Iowa and New Hampshire. Progress Iowa, at its annual corn feed event, hosted Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend. Did Martin O’Malley ever leave Iowa? Bernie has been to Iowa twice in the last month and a half and spent Labor Day in New Hampshire. Representative Tim Ryan — yes, the one who challenged Nancy Pelosi for leadership in the House — will be in Iowa in a couple of weeks. I am also hearing that Representative Tulsi Gabbard is coming to Iowa next month.

It’s just the beginning. We know that Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and the most speculated non-candidate of 2016, Senator Elizabeth Warren, may be sticking their toes in the water soon. And when since 1988 has former vice president Joe Biden not been rumored as a possibility?

I hope Bernie signals his intentions early, so candidates like Merkley, Warren, and Gabbard avoid splitting the progressive vote. As for the rest? The more, the merrier. Harris, Ryan, Booker, Biden, and whoever else wants to can run to split the beauty contest vote. You know the voters who vote based on the package.

I have to admit that before I heard him, I thought Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend was the ultimate, perfectly packaged candidate who I was afraid would be an empty suit. When he ran for Democratic Party Chair, I heard all of the rising star praise and became skeptical.

He would be the first openly gay president, which would be a good thing.

His speech Sunday hit all the right notes, and he impressed me with his ability to articulate a vision, something our last nominee struggled to do. I will take a closer look at him if he decides to run.

The senator from Oregon was the one I went to see. Senator Jeff Merkley was the only senator to endorse Bernie Sanders in 2016. During a meeting with Sanders supporters on Sunday evening, Merkley said there was fear then among many of his colleagues that if they didn’t back Hillary Clinton, there would be years of retribution. The senator said he doesn’t play that game, and he endorsed Bernie. So right away I applaud Jeff Merkley’s independence.

Pete D’Alessandro, who ran several states including Iowa for Sanders, introduced Merkley to the group, reminding everyone that the senator endorsed Bernie at a time when it wasn’t popular. Clinton was on a roll and Bernie was slumping. It would have been an easy time to stay neutral like Elizabeth Warren and not anger the Clinton camp. But Merkley stuck his neck out, which says a lot about his character.

I didn’t know much about the senator other than his endorsement of Sanders and his filibuster of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. I was impressed with his story. Too many politicians are in office because they feel that their wealth and privilege give them the right to the title of Senator or Governor. Not Jeff Merkley — he said he was tired of trying to get politicians to vote the right way, so he ran for office so he could do what is right.

I am still 100% behind Bernie Sanders, but in the event that he doesn’t run in 2020, we have an excellent bench of candidates lining up. Jeff Merkley is one of them. Mayor Pete, as they call him in South Bend, has potential as well; I need to take a closer look at his record. I’m always skeptical when party leaders call someone a rising star.

I am not among those who are angry with Elizabeth Warren for staying on the sidelines. I have reservations when it comes to Tulsi Gabbard’s foreign policy, but she is part of an impressive bench of progressives who would make great presidents. Our job is to keep the movement growing that Bernie started and get one of them into the White House in 2020. I still hope it’s Bernie.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott moved to Des Moines in 2015 to cover the Iowa Caucus.

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