Former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett predicts that the next Democratic Presidential nominee will be Deval Patrick.
I haven’t been able to find any elaboration on this prophecy, which Jarrett offered at a conference last month sponsored by Skybridge Capital, purveyors of hedge fund products. So we’re working with a blank canvas here. Thoughts?
Please share widely!
We could do worse than a successful businessman, two term Governor, civil rights champion and ‘up from his boot straps’ Horatio Alger as our nominee in 2020.
Can we please drop the “successful businessman” boilerplate from any worthy credentials for anyone running for public office? Successful businessman to government is like “champion ballroom dancer” to orthopedic surgeon. One does not mean talent in the other, as we are painfully discovering.
Um, you’re assuming that Trump is any more successful in reality than his ego would like us to think he is:)
Far and away the best of the speculated contenders so far.
A view to the contrary of the first two commenters from my perspective as an advocate for low-income people. Sad but true that Charlie Baker has done more for my clients in two years than Deval Patrick did in two terms.
I thought I was clear enough about the scope of my reaction.
Which of the speculated contenders will be better than Mr. Patrick?
Interesting.
Does Valerie know Deval from way back?
Deval Patrick was out of his depth as a governor. He’d be at the bottom of the sea as president.
His political talents lie in retail politics, not the kind of politics demanded from a political campaign.
Patrick did some good things–and certainly better than his first opponent would have done–but I bet he would have a hard time finding much enthusiasm in Massachusetts now.
I think the BMG bubble overstates how successful and popular he was. I’ll ditto Mark Bail and HP. My adopted niece and nephew came out of DCF and it’s shameful how he mismanaged it and allowed the problems to fester for so long with zero accountability or oversight. Baker has been a far more successful administrator-he just lacks the inspiring vision Deval had for our transit system. Also working for Mitts former company isn’t a good look for the class woke part of the party. I’ll work my tail off for him if he’s the nominee but he’s right down there with Booker and Hillary with people I don’t want to see us pick.
Booker will not get much support from teachers unions. His educational policy was odious.
He may not be married to Wall Street, but he’s definitely sleeping with it regularly.
Booker is also sleeping with Big Pharma on the weekends…..I have NO time for them Dems….
“BMG bubble” – I do wish you’d be specific with stuff like that.
I think Patrick was long on vision and short on management, which was kind of the impression that we all had at the beginning. Baker is the exact inverse – a better administrator and no challenge whatsoever to the political (class, economic, environmental, justice) status quo. Back and forth we go.
I don’t know how deep his vision went, but I pretty much agree with you, Charley.
I echo your framework and think Baker could be a great governor if he were willing to take risks. Patrick would’ve been a great governor if he knew how to follow through on management. What I mean by bubble, and I include myself as a PM member, is that most of us have been here for the last decade and tend to be more progressive and better informed than the average MA voter.
Our priorities are not theirs. The gas tax vote starkly illustrates that divide. So for us it’s a huge deal he did a lot of good on climate, marriage equality, and social issues. These are all issues most voters can’t feel in their pocketbook. Baker does a better job than most Democrats on the kitchen table stuff.
He presents himself as someone keeping careful watch of the tax dollar and willing to fire people that don’t do their jobs. He even sacked his own DCR appointees when they abused their car privileges-Deval never fired anybody. Baker seriously reshuffled the T and got rid of all the perks the workers abused that the average voter hates. Deval never seemed to care about that stuff. It matters to voters.
I think we have a steep climb in this state when it comes to progressive economics. Most people are too rich to get benefits and too poor to really enjoy the local economy and are being squeezed. Deval did a lot for the upper income liberal voter who cares about the environment and social equality. He really cared about fighting poverty and making MassHealth work for our working poor like my sister. What he didn’t do is appeal to the middle class voter who decides elections in this state. And those are the folks we need a plan for if we want to beat Baker-because they love him-including most members of our own party.
“He really cared about fighting poverty.” Curious about examples beyond MassHealth
Fair point. Taking in refugees and caring for them? Otherwise you’re correct he cut the hell out of DCF and mental health care which hurt a lot of poor and disabled kids.
I wonder if Valerie is sending a message to the current field (not so fast), and the potential field (give it a shot).
Ooh, goody. Will he run with Mitt for an all Bain Capital platform?
Here’s one relatively recent (15-May) enumeration of possible Democratic candidates for 2020.
Here are the first few:
“First tier”
1. Joe Biden
2, Bernie Sanders
3. Elizabeth Warren
“Second tier”
4. Cory Booker
5. Andrew Cuomo
6. Al Franken
7. Kamala Harris
8. Jay Inslee
9. Tim Kaine
10. Terry McAuliffe
11, Chris Murphy
“Third tier”
blah blah blah
“No tier” (“Rich businesspeople who’ve never run for anything before” — CNN’s words, not mine)
Against this spectrum, I stand by my reaction to a Deval Patrick run.
If that’s the field, I’m with Franken. I’d consider Harris but I don’t know much about her. I wouldn’t vote for Kaine unless he became the nominee. Jay who?
I love Franken and think his 2014 campaign is a great template for a presidential run. People also forget MN is a purple state-Clinton carried it by less than 2% of the vote. Michelle Bachman was from there-not Alabama.
Jay Inslee is governor of WA and a key plaintiff in overturning the Muslim ban. He’s getting very high marks for being a bold progressive executive in policy circles-obviously he’s gotta build up his name recognition đŸ˜‰
Prior to a reality TV star getting elected as president, I would have put Franken on a 20% odds of winning the White House……now I put him at a 75%….with no disrespect to him whatsoever. I have always liked him, his politics, his intellect, but I thought he was not “presidential” ….Trump just proved me wrong.
And unlike Donald Trump, Al Franken is good enough; he’s smart enough; and doggone it – people like him!:)
The top tier is simply too experienced.
Joe Biden will be 78 on inauguration day 2021.
Bernie Sanders will be 79 on inauguration day 2021.
Elizabeth Warren will be 71 on inauguration day 2021.
For context, Barack Obama was 47 on his first inauguration.
And look, lots of people live in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic — but how is it that 8 of the 11 in their list (including all top three) hail from Virginia and points north? I recognize that the Mid Atlantic and Northeast is where much of the Democratic bench is, but it’s more than a bit absurd.
So far as I can tell, the most recent long-time national politicians elected POTUS are George H W Bush and Dick Nixon. For Dems, go back to LBJ and, before that, Harry Truman.
If we limit our search to long time national public servants from blue states, we’re in for another election result like 2016 — with all of us scratching our heads, wondering how it is the rest of nation can be so [insert derogatory word here].
I really don’t think age per se should be a deal-breaker with so many people more active later than life compared to even a generation ago.
I disagree, and turn 65 this summer.
The reality is that 40 is too old to start playing professional baseball or football, and probably too old to enlist for combat.
Being president is an incredibly demanding job that has visibly aged each of the men who’ve done it. Look at before-and-after photos, going as far back as you like.
Ronald Reagan was 69 when he took office, and was suffering obvious signs of dementia even during his re-election campaign. Donald Trump is 70, and various age-related disorders are already being offered to explain his bizarre behavior.
While I’m not ready to cite a specific number, a candidate who is under 60 is clearly NOT too old. I agree with stomv that 78, 79 and 71 is too old for 2020, at least for my taste.
I agree with stomv 100%. My first choice is Steve Bullock. Read my profile on him. This guy isn’t a bolo tie wearing, coal and gun loving eccentric like Schweitzer, but a bona fide progressive who has taken on the special interests of his state and ran 20 points ahead of Hillary in a solidly red state. He won many of the Trump voters in his state. There’s someone who can win back the states we lost without having to learn how to speak blue collar. His op-ed in the New York Times is great.
Is he my first choice ideologically? No, but I think Warren will have a tough time in the general and Bernie will have a tough time in the primary. Bullock is probably our most progressive red state governor and that’s good enough for me. His signature issue is getting money out of politics and overturning CItizens United, which he personally challenged as MT AG. He has a fully pro-choice and pro-gay rights record, and he recently vetoed gun rights expansion. He has fought MT energy interests to protect wildlife and public lands. I think he’s a good fit, and could bit the Carter/Clinton role of a red state Washington outsider.
I liked Bernie Sanders until about 5 minutes into his first presidential debate.
I like having Deval Patrick in the race. I welcome as many candidates with as much diversity as we can find.
I welcome a wide field-I think a narrow one in 2016 hurt us more than helped. I do not share your enthusiasm for Deval nor your skepticism toward Bernie-but that’s ok-we’re a big tent!