2020 hopefuls dodge Iowa and New Hampshire

[DonViejo]

There's a new set of must-stop destinations for potential presidential contenders.

By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI 10/28/2017 06:56 AM EDT

In the early run-up to 2020, would-be candidates are skipping Iowa and New Hampshire for a new set of must-stop destinations: big battleground states like Florida, Ohio and Michigan.

Wary of planting a Trump-sized target on their backs so far out from the election, many potential 2020 hopefuls are avoiding headline-drawing trips to traditional primary-season destinations like Des Moines, Manchester, Columbia and Las Vegas. Instead, at least half a dozen Democrats with the potential to become serious contenders — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey — have been quietly visiting battleground states that will likely be front-and-center in the next presidential election.

The official purpose of the trips is almost always to raise money for colleagues up for reelection in 2018. But the visits also provide White House wannabes an easy way to build in-state credibility and ties to local power-players and contributors who may prove influential three years down the line.

“It’s smart politics because electability is going to be such a big factor in this primary: Are you going to be able to beat Donald Trump? And do well in these big battlegrounds? So they’re going to build support in Florida and Ohio and Virginia. They’re going to grow their networks there,” said Democratic operative Scott Arceneaux, the Florida Democratic Party’s former executive director.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/28/2020-candidates-early-states-244212

[DK504]

1. ALL of these people would be amazing in the VP slot.

I'm afraid the country will demand a white male as President in 2020 and it can't be the Traitor. Unfortunately the divide has been breached so extensively by these a-holes the Rethugs we may have to take another step back so we may able to step forward again.

And this is destructive to the country, unfair, infuriating, etc. Just from a tactical strategy point of view. Is this horrible? Yes. Yes it is.
I have that sick feeling if we want to get control of our country again we may have to run a white male. The only person I can think of is Joe Biden. He can cross so many lines as a son of the middle class, like all of these fine people mentioned above, but he can reach across party lines.

This isn't about ignoring Iowa, they have to go there for the middle of the country and these hard core people that keep voting against the town best interests.

This is purely speculative strategy that may be the only thing to get us back on track. I wish more than anything it weren't this way, but we have been ripped apart and we need to be work backwards instead of forward.

[Merlot]

2. Good. I hope this trend continues. These little states have to much influence.