

The still-overcrowded Democratic 2020 presidential field is getting larger when it should be shrinking. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has inexplicably jumped into the race, and ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has all but officially announced that he will be doing the same. While it can be argued that the late entries of two veteran Northeastern pols, who together generate the buzz of a dried-up honeybee trapped in a windowsill, have more to do with vanity than any genuine chance of winning, their candidacies also point to a more disturbing trend for Dems.
Absence of Emergence
This primary battle has been contested full-time since April, if not earlier. This means that after seven-plus months, not one Democrat candidate has emerged as an authentic force to be reckoned with. True, it is still somewhat early in the broad view of things. Not a single vote has been cast. But it is quite late in other regards. While no aspirant has been established as a dominant personage yet, the disquieting fact is that none of these uninspiring figures betray even a hint of becoming such an entity.
Life In the Slow Lane
Not a single Dem has been able to achieve anything close to this. The always-dubious Warren Surge now has been replaced with the Buttigieg Boost. Mayor Pete of South Bend, IN, is suddenly staking out a strong lead in Iowa polling. Is there a reason for his out-of-nowhere acceleration? Buttigieg has had no special or defining moments on the campaign trail, and his message differs in no serious way from any of the other progressive candidates. It does come wrapped in a corny Midwestern Opie Taylor packaging, but that has hardly energized grassroots Dems on the local soapbox or the nationally televised debate podium. There is every reason to believe that, two weeks from now, we will be hearing about another Dem elbowing Buttigieg aside and having his or her electrifying nanosecond. Is Amy’s Klobuchar Craze on the horizon?


Pete Buttigieg
The 2020 Dem primary has all the makings of a turtle race right up to the party’s convention in July. And now, with Patrick and presumably Bloomberg, more turtles are crawling instead of fewer. Eventually one turtle will slink over the finish line, but that’s a long way down a stultifying road. What this will do for Dem voter enthusiasm in a general election brawl with the feisty Trump is the big question. Trump’s galvanizing effect as a president progressives love to hate may help some, but a turtle crawling under a firecracker is a messy and depressing scenario for a great many Dems to envision.
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