On paper, Montana’s Governor Bullock looked like a promising candidate. A Democrat from a red state who was reasonably articulate and didn’t scare the chickens. But in a race where the first tier candidates were either socialists or Joe Biden, and the second tier candidates were playing some sort of identity politics card, race, sexuality, etc, he never really had much of a shot. And now he’s out with hardly anyone noticing it.
That’s good news for Republicans. And bad news for Democrats.
In the DNC of not so long ago, Bullock might have been national talent. But these days not having an identity politics hook or the ability to tap into one of the big two networks, the Clintons or the Obamas, is politically fatal.
The Dems in 2020 have burned through their front bench and back bench talent the way that Republicans did in 2016. The long term results are likely to be just as much of a shakedown at all levels of the party even if Sanders and Warren never become the nominees, let alone win an election.
Also, tellingly, governors, once a reliable pipeline for presidential nominations, have never even been a factor in the 2020 race.
Hickenlooper and Inslee never went anywhere. Neither did Bullock. The field is dominated by current and former Senate members. That’s also a bad trend. Governors have executive experience and a good feel for local elections. The DNC is increasingly nationalized and out of touch.
Dem governors never had a shot at 2020. National ideologues like Sanders and Warren dominate the field.
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