President Trump released his first reelection campaign ad on Monday to highlight what his administration has accomplished in its first 100 days, but he is not the only person looking ahead to 2020.
Up to a quarter of the Senate's 48-member Democratic caucus are mulling 2020 presidential bids, along with several other prominent Democrats in various public office positions, the New York Times reported Sunday.
In a largely leaderless party, two distinct groups are emerging, defined mostly by age and national stature. On one side are three potential candidates approaching celebrity status who would all be over 70 years old on Election Day: [Former Vice President Joe] Biden, and Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
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Competing against the Democrats' senior cohort is a large and relatively shapeless set of younger candidates who span the ideological spectrum: governors, senators, mayors, wealthy executives, and even members of the House. They are animated by the president's turbulent debut and the recent history, from Barack Obama's victory in 2008 to Mr. Trump's last year, of upstart candidates' catching fire.
In the Senate alone, as much as a quarter of the Democrats' 48-member caucus are thought to be giving at least a measure of consideration to the 2020 race, among them Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Kamala Harris of California. All are closer to 40 than 80.
One of the potential contenders on the Democratic side, Biden, visited New Hampshire on Sunday night for the state's annual Democratic Party fundraiser. His appearance at the dinner caused Democrats to buzz about him potentially running for president in 2020, since New Hampshire is a popular state for presidential contenders to visit.
"Guys, I'm not running," Biden said at the fundraising dinner.
Several figures outside the Senate, including some private citizens, are also considering White House runs, according to the Times.
Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a 38-year-old veteran of the Iraq war who has been a pointed critic of Mr. Trump, has not ruled out running in private conversations. High-profile city executives–like Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, 46, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, 56, who did a tour of cable shows last week after overseeing the initial removal of Confederate statues from his city–may also consider the race.
The Times piece prompted Politico's chief White House correspondent, Shane Goldmacher, to write on Twitter, "Every Democrat for president 2020."
Every Democrat for President 2020 https://t.co/R0riiHQvfr
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) May 1, 2017
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) dodged multiple questions Friday during an MSNBC interview on which Democrats could beat Trump in a hypothetical 2020 matchup and who the de facto leader of the Democratic Party is. Schumer would not name specific individuals, instead using general phrases like "Lots of people" and "We have a bunch of leaders."
Schumer is not the first Democrat to not know who the de facto leader of the party is now that Barack Obama is no longer president. Many Democrats have been asked in recent months to address this question, but their answers have varied, naming several different politicians, according to the Washington Free Beacon.