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Sanders Trump 2020? Should The Democrats Make Bernie Sanders New Leader Of Democratic Party After Donald Trump Defeat Of Hillary Clinton In 2016 Election

By Daniel Ketchum
Published on: 11:10 PST, Nov 11, 2016

Is a Sanders Trump 2020 contest possible? After the humiliating and unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election – and the resulting elevation of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States – it’s fairly clear the Democratic Party needs to make some major changes. Can Bernie Sanders fill the role of new leader of the Democratic Party and head the ticket in 2020?

Who Are the Alternatives to Sanders?

The truth is that the Democratic Party doesn’t have a particularly deep bench at this point. They lost control of the House, the Senate, and many of the governorships across the country. And some of the biggest names in the party are now considered has-beens. Certainly, Hillary Clinton won’t be running again.

Of course, the person who leads the Democratic Party over the next four years won’t necessarily be the same one who runs in 2020. But a Sanders Trump 2020 contest would be a logical extension of the 2016 primary race in which Sanders did so well. And as reported by the Associated Press, Sanders hasn’t ruled it out.

It’s fairly clear that the next Democratic leader – and its nominee in the 2020 election – has to be someone who opposes unfair free trade, promotes job growth in the United States, and attacks the unfair advantages of the wealthy. In other words, he or she has to be a progressive like Sanders.

For various reasons, ranging from his age to the multiple times he’s already failed to get the Democratic nomination, Vice President Joe Biden is highly unlikely to be running in 2020. In addition, he represents the old guard of establishment Democrats – when change is clearly needed.

As noted by CNN, while Chuck Schumer leads the Democrats in the Senate, he lacks the name recognition necessary to make a 2020 run. More than this, Schumer is also a part of the establishment in a way that Bernie Sanders clearly isn’t.

Another alternative to Sanders might be Elizabeth Warren, but Warren’s support of Hillary Clinton in this election cycle made her anathema to many on the left in the Democratic Party. Still, it’s conceivable that – with Sanders’ support – she could get the nomination in 2020.

Younger politicians like Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, and Tammy Duckworth have also been floated as potential presidential material. But the lack of name recognition makes these choices less than optimal. Of course, with Tammy Duckworth having just won a Senate seat after serving in the House of Representatives, she might have that name recognition by 2020.

But still, the obvious choice at this juncture for guiding the Democratic Party out of the wilderness and leading the charge in the 2020 campaign against Donald Trump – or whoever the Republicans nominate – is Bernie Sanders.

Who Would Be Facing Sanders?

Trump 2020 discussions are already in the air amongst Republicans, but this doesn’t necessarily mean Donald Trump will actually be running next time. Any number of things could prevent Trump from being the Republican nominee.

For instance, he could make the decision not to run again, he could lose the Republican nomination to someone else, or – given his age and obesity – he could depart this vale of tears. There is also the call by some – as reported by ABC News– that a Trump presidency end in impeachment.

But assuming that a Sanders Trump 2020 presidential race does become a reality, the election polls taken during the primaries make it fairly clear that Donald Trump would have had a much more difficult time defeating Bernie Sanders than he did Hillary Clinton. There are several reasons for this.

Democrats Tried to Be Republicans

Ever since the Reagan revolution, the Democratic Party has tried to move further and further to the center. In fact, it moved so far to the center that it virtually transformed into what used to be the moderate wing of the Republican Party.

The assumption by many in the Democratic Party upper echelon was that the country as a whole had moved to the right and that they had to follow it to get elected. But this overlooked other fundamentals that influence voter’s decisions. The most important of these is the economy.

It’s the Economy, Hillary

One of the principal reasons that Hillary Clinton lost this election was that she didn’t understand the problems of the nation’s Rust Belt. Since the overall economy was doing relatively well – and certainly Wall Street was making money – she like many others assume that the economy wasn’t really a factor in the election.

But there is no single economy in the United States. It is perfectly possible for people in New York to be doing fine, while folks in Detroit are out of work. People throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio blamed establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton – justly or not – for allowing the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States. Bernie Sanders spoke to this situation, but Hillary Clinton didn’t.

Bernie Sanders supporters in Flint. Sanders Trump 2020 possible? [Image by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]

Manufacturing Loss Reality

The truth is, unfair trade practices are only one reason why manufacturing jobs in the United States have dropped like a stone over the last 16 years. The demand that factories should be brought back to the United States overlooks the fact that many of them actually have come back. But those returning factories now use extensive automation and don’t need as many employees.

Donald Trump tapped into this by pretending he’ll be able to get all these manufacturing jobs back by eliminating free trade deals and hammering China and Mexico. Bernie Sanders recognized the concerns of working class families as well, which is why a Sanders Trump 2020 contest could come down to Sanders pointing out how Trump failed to solve this problem too.

[Featured Image by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]

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