Do you believe in coincidences?
Today. TODAY. Both the New York Times and The New Yorker have articles about how centrist and establishment Democrats are apoplectic over what is happening in the Democratic Primaries.
Biden is fading, mentally and politically. He’s hanging on for dear life to a presumption coming into the primaries that he had what it takes, but he doesn’t. Bernie and Warren are viewed as gateway drugs to general election disaster. (For a brutal takedown of Warren’s electoral chances from a progressive view, read Why Criticize Warren? in Current Affairs.)
The others in the race all have problems, from stone cold boring to non-starters. Kamala Harris is the biggest disappointment, there’s no there there.
And there’s one person they both note who could walk away with the nomination, but doesn’t appear to want it.
From Jonathan Martin in the NY Times, Anxious Democratic Establishment Asks, ‘Is There Anybody Else?’ (emphasis added):
When a half-dozen Democratic donors gathered at the Whitby Hotel in Manhattan last week, the dinner began with a discussion of which presidential candidates the contributors liked. But as conversations among influential Democrats often go these days, the meeting quickly evolved into a discussion of who was not in the race — but could be lured in.Would Hillary Clinton get in, the contributors wondered, and how about Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor? One person even mused whether Michelle Obama would consider a late entry, according to two people who attended the event, which was hosted by the progressive group American Bridge….With doubts rising about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s ability to finance a multistate primary campaign, persistent questions about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s viability in the general election and skepticism that Mayor Pete Buttigieg, of South Bend, Ind., can broaden his appeal beyond white voters, Democratic leaders are engaging in a familiar rite: fretting about who is in the race and longing for a white knight to enter the contest at the last minute….“With Trump looming, there is genuine concern that the horse many have bet on may be pulling up lame and the horse who has sprinted out front may not be able to win,” said David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
Eric Levitz in The New Yorker writes, How Centrist Democrats Botched the 2020 Primary: (emphasis added):
A specter is haunting “pro-business Democrats” — the specter of change they can’t believe in.
With just over three months until Iowa gets caucusing, Elizabeth Warren is their party’s front-runner. She’s running neck and neck with Joe Biden in the polls — and Biden’s campaign is living hand-to-mouth. The former “senator from MBNA” is losing to a democratic socialist at the fundraising game. And time seems to be depleting Biden’s (always limited) verbal skills even faster than it’s draining his campaign coffers. Meanwhile, the most viable alternative for “Leave Billionaires Alone” Democrats seems to be a college-town mayor with fewer black supporters than Donald Trump. As of this writing, betting markets now put the odds of blue America nominating either Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders in 2020 at over 50 percent….
Bloomberg is reportedly mulling a run, but could never win. Michelle Obama could win, but would never run. Hillary Clinton is almost certainly not delusional enough to throw her hat in the ring. And none of the other names floated by the Whitby diners — Deval Patrick, Eric Holder, John Kerry, and Sherrod Brown — have any obvious advantage over the standard-issue Dems already in the race….
… the Whitby Democrats’ fantasies of a Michelle Obama candidacy may be delusional, but this delusion is an understandable response to a grim reality. Their faction has unintentionally placed all of its bets on an old, increasingly lame horse who was infamous for mounting lousy presidential runs when he was in his prime….
Michelle Obama’s name being floated in mainstream Democrat house organs is not surprising. At least not to us.
We’ve been predicting it for over two years:
Michelle says she doesn’t want it. But just wait until Bernie or Warren or Bernie/Warren or Warren/Bernie looks likely to get the nomination.
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