Since when is 2019 a presidential election year?

This post was published as a column in The Wilson Times March 30, 2019.

It’s not a presidential election year, is it? This is an odd-numbered year. Shouldn’t we be protected from presidential campaign promises for nine more months?

I guess not.

At last count (the counting done by CNN), sixteen Democrats are in the race to succeed President Donald Trump (who, as an incumbent, presumably will have little, if any, Republican opposition). But wait: CNN lists eleven more Democrats who “might” run. There are also four Democrats who have said they won’t run and another one who officially dropped out of the race.

I hope all of you registered Democrats and Independents (who can vote in either primary, but not both) are paying attention.

Much has been made of the Democratic Party’s lean toward the left. With candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (a 2016 candidate), Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke favoring many of the policies of the party’s liberal wing. A freshman congressman, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, has generated a lot of media coverage for her outspoken leftist views, including a video arguing that socialism is better than capitalism, but she is not in the presidential race … yet.

Not all the Democratic candidates are as far to the left as Sanders or Warren, but most analysts agree that the Democratic base has a stronger leftward tilt this year. Even candidates who are more moderate will be painted by Republicans with liberal colors. Already, Ocasio-Cortez has become the stereotype Trump has assigned to all Democrats.

Although the Democratic base may have shifted, the nationwide electorate has not moved leftward, or at least not by much. Most Americans see themselves as moderates and are likely to vote that way in the 2020 elections. If the Democrats hope to defeat Trump, they will need a moderate candidate who honors patriotism, effective immigration reforms, secure borders, restrained federal spending, free trade, sensible regulatory authority and inclusive “big tent” politics.

The Democratic field for 2020 is “diverse” if nothing else. I counted six women, one Hispanic, two Jamaican-Americans, one Indian-American, one African-American, one Asian-American, one Pacific Islander-American, two Hindu Americans, one gay American, and one “spiritual counselor.” They range in age from 37 to 77. (Some candidates fit in more than one category.)

The ones who seem to be front-runners have not excited me yet. Sen. Cory Booker comes across as sanctimonious and overly aggressive. Sen. Elizabeth Warren hits some good notes, but she also sounds like a policy wonk who is talking down to ordinary voters. Sen. Kamala Harris makes her leftist views sound positive, but she hasn’t won over moderate voters yet. Beto O’Rourke talks and acts like a front-runner, despite limited experience and a loss in last year’s challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate. O’Rourke can raise money, but can he win a big election? Maybe his looks, which remind me of Bobby Kennedy, will help him. If they decide to run, Joe Biden or John Kerry could probably beat any of these candidates in a primary.

I like to remind people that presidential campaigns have grown far too long. John F. Kennedy announced his 1960 presidential bid on … wait for it … Jan. 1, 1960. He managed to do pretty well only 10 months later.

Hal Tarleton is a former editor of The Wilson Daily Times. Contact him at haltarleton@myglnc.com.

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