Something strange is happening in the 2020 Democratic primary.
At a time when the list of candidates should be getting smaller, and long-shot hopefuls should be wrapping up their campaigns,more Democrats are jumping into the race, including former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
“I admire and respect the candidates in the Democratic field,” Patrick said in an announcement video released Thursday morning. “They bring a richness of ideas and experience and a depth of character that makes me proud to be a Democrat. But if the character of the candidates is an issue in every election, this time is about the character of the country.”
The former governor also said he is getting into the 2020 Democratic primary for people who “feel left out” and want a future “not built by somebody better than you, not built for you but built with you.”
“You can’t know if you can break through if you don’t get out there and try,” Patrick said later in a separate interview Thursday with CBS News.
Notably, he adds that he does not support the multi-trillion dollar “Medicare for all” scheme championed by fellow 2020 candidates, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Patrick did say, however, that he supports a “public option.” He also said that soaking the wealthy with massive tax rates “makes a lot of sense directionally,” but that he thinks “a much, much simpler tax system for everyone” makes more sense.
“I don’t think that wealth is the problem. I think greed is the problem,” Patrick said, adding “taxes should go up on the most prosperous and the most fortunate [but] not as a penalty.”
There you have it. He is going to run as a moderate Democrat, despite that the clear front-runner, Joe Biden, and others, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, have that niche covered already.
Funny enough, having to explain repeatedly to Democratic primary voters why they should support him over better known, and better polling, moderate candidates likely will not even be the biggest headache for Patrick’s 2020 campaign. Indeed, the former governor will likely have a much harder time explaining his business background, including that he worked for Bain Capital until his resignation Wednesday evening. Yes,that Bain Capital, as in the much-maligned, “vampire capitalist” Democratic bogeyman that once employed Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.
Patrick’s presence in the 2020 Democratic primary will demand his opponents stake out one of two positions: Condemn him directly for his work with Bain or disavow the Democratic Party’s earlier attacks on 2012 GOP nominee for doing the same.
There ismore trouble for Patrick where this comes from, including his work for the now-shuttered sub-prime mortgage lender Ameriquest. But I imagine his most recent brush with the venture capital group that Democrats highlighted to paint Romney as a heartless monster will prove to be Patrick’s most immediate stumbling block in the 2020 race.
He will get no love from hardcore progressives on account of the fact that he is too moderate and that he has staked out a position already against one of their crown jewels. But Patrick will likely get no love from moderates either on account of they already have a champion in Joe Biden, whose candidacy does not require them also to disavow everything they said about Romney in 2012.
Byall realistic measurements, Biden is still clearly the 2020 Democratic favorite to win. Why, then, are people like Patrick andformer New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergjust now jumping into the race, despite that they likely have nothing to gain and everything to lose in terms of having their reputations on the Left irreparably tarnished by friendly fire?
The answer likely lies somewhere between personal delusion and the hope that Biden goes down as collateral damage in the House’s impeachment investigation of President Trump. Regardless, the two latest entrants to the 2020 Democratic race have long odds of getting their party’s nomination.
