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2020 Democrats: We're Thinking About It

(Updated)

December 3, 2018

There are literally dozens of Democrats who are mulling, considering, and thinking about running against President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020.

There's Obama administration officials like former Vice President Joe Biden, who still has to decide with his family whether it's the right thing to do, ex-Attorney General Eric Holder, who will decide soon, former Secretary of State John Kerry, who is "going to think about it," and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, who is "likely" to run.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) said he will make a final decision over the holidays after he talks to his family and friends, as will Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.). Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) is "seriously thinking about it," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) promised to take a "hard look" after the midterms, Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) wouldn't deny interest in a run when pressed by an NBC News reporter, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) is considering it after promising in 2018 to serve a six-year term in the Senate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) said she's talking about it with people, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) said he's "exploring the possibility."

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) is "absolutely" considering running, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) is hoping voters don't mind her being a parrot for Bashar al-Assad as she thinks about the White House, and Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D., Texas) has flipped from definitely not running to not ruling it out in the aftermath of his closely fought Senate race in Texas.

Don't forget the governors, former and current, like Terry McAuliffe (Va.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Jay Inslee (Wash.), Deval Patrick (Mass.), and Steve Bullock (Mont.).

Then there's Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, billionaires like former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and liberal megadonor Tom Steyer, and even some non-politicians, like attorney Michael Avenatti and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Finally, there's former 2016 candidates who could be back at it, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who is openly considering a run and is being called a front-runner by his 2016 campaign manager, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who said he "might" run when asked last year.

Don't forget Hillary Clinton, who claimed she was finished being a candidate and said in October she didn't want to run again.

But?

"Well, I'd like to be president," she said.

Not every Democrat has dithered about the decision. Rep. John Delaney (D., Md.) started officially running for president last year, as has West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda.

UPDATE: Wednesday, 8:45 A.M.: This article was updated to include Merkley, Landrieu and Ojeda as possible and declared contenders, respectively.