With Hillary Clinton declaring that she does not intend to run for president ever again (though that is yet to be seen), it begs the question as to who the democrats will nominate in 2020 to fight President Trump. There is no doubt that the current president is a phenomenon, someone American politics has never witnessed before, with ambitious policies that could transform the economy forever.
Many Democrats believe that the solution is to steer further to the left
However, in the face of a radical Republican President, many Democrats believe that the solution is to steer further to the left.
With many rust-belt states that consist of voters who have felt ignored by their traditional party for decades, some of the potential contenders believe that the answer to regaining working-class support is to preach the closest thing the United States has had to socialism so far, making any measures Obama implemented seem right-wing.
Bernie Sanders' bid to become his party's 2016 nominee has inspired a progressive movement in the Democrat Party. Already, he has visited early states in anticipation of the open primaries that are less than two years away. Other potential candidates include Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both of whom share the same liberal economic agenda.
The most progressive list of candidates since 1972
Howard Dean, a former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee chairman, said that all the possible contenders for the 2020 nomination represents the most progressive list of candidates since 1972.
Other front-runners may include Californian Senator Kamala Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Retired Iowa senator and contender for president in 1992, Tom Harkin, a stalwart of the liberal wing of the Democrats, said it was about time this happened.
Many policies that seem popular in the Democratic Party at the moment include increasing minimum wage rates and easing student debt. Potential 2020 candidates Harris, Warren, Merkley, Gillibrand, and New Jersey Senator Cory Brooker have announced they will co-sponsor Bernie Sanders' Medicare-for-all bill.
It remains a mystery as to who will be rewarded with the 2020 nomination. Bernie Sanders has already visited battleground states like Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. He has repeatedly traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire this summer, too. And he has refused to rule out running in 2020.
But Warren seems like the favorite candidate so far. She is holding meetings with donors and activists, while making speeches to liberal groups. She is also preparing to raise funds at a grassroots level.
Either way, whoever wins the nomination could well be from the progressive wing of the party. But if Trump can restore economic prosperity with his own policies, it's a doomed effort to take the Democrats further left. When has that ever worked in any country?
