PrintPossible independent candidates scaring both parties
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz appeared on 60 Minutes last night and proceeded to scare the bejesus out of the Democratic Party.
I am seriously thinking of running for president. I will run as a centrist independent, outside of the two-party system we're living at a most-fragile time not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what's necessary on behalf of the American people and are engaged, every single day, in revenge politics.
What makes Democrats so skittish is that Schultz doesn't fit the mold of your typical far-left Democrat and would be attractive to several sorts of middle-of-the-road voters. And, of course, he's got more money than King Midas.
Julián Castro, who is contemplating his own run in 2020 as a Democrat, was first out of the box to respond to Schultz.
"I have a concern that if he did run, that essentially, it would provide [President] Donald Trump with his best hope of getting re-elected," Julian Castro – a former Housing and Urban Development secretary under the Obama administration and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate himself – said Sunday when asked by CNN about Schultz's possible run. "I would suggest to Mr. Schultz to truly think about the negative impact that that might make."
The savvy political operative David Axelrod also weighed in on a Starbucks candidacy:
.@HowardSchultz running for POTUS as an independent would put the froth on @realDonaldTrump ‘s Cinnamon Dolce Latte, splitting the opposition and making Trump’s low ceiling potentially high enough.https://t.co/O6HsJAL8sP
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) January 21, 2019
So what are Democrats so worried about? As it looks now, the 2020 presidential election is going to be as close as 2016. A few thousand votes in a couple of states will almost certainly mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Schultz wouldn't have to get millions of votes to get Donald Trump elected. Just 2-3% of the vote – especially in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida – would assure the president of a second term.
Schultz will have a billion dollars to get his message out. That's an awful lot of campaign commercials. And certainly enough to build a nationwide organization.
Democrats are assuming that most of Schultz's votes will come from disaffected Democrats. But what about disaffected Republicans? Media tycoon Michael Bloomberg has all but announced his candidacy. He says he will run as a Democrat, but in such a crowded field, he may feel he's more competitive as an independent.
"He's not going to be running to the far left like the other candidates are. He describes himself as fiscally moderate, fiscally conservative, but he's clearly socially liberal and he's a key driver of social policies," said a top Bloomberg insider. "For Mike, it's not ideologically driven, [i]t's pragmatic. People die from an excess of guns in America. People are dying and suffering and will continue to from the effects of climate change."
Bloomberg is polling and collecting data, the source said, and climate change and guns are "going to drive Democrats to the polls." The politics of climate change have been front and center with the opening of the new Congress as Democrats discuss making a "Green New Deal."
Bloomberg's top boosters insist he hasn't made up his mind about running. He'll make an announcement within a month.
If he runs, Bloomberg told reporters in Iowa last month, he would make climate change "the issue."
Guns won't be far behind.
No, he can't win the election running on those issues. Again, like Schultz, he doesn't have to get a ton of votes to upset the race. To those Republicans looking for an alternative to Trump, Bloomberg might fill the bill.
In truth, it's unknown what real impact either Schultz or Bloomberg will have on the race. Neither party wants to find out.
