An aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is already talking about his plans for a 2020 presidential run even though Sanders has yet to announce he’ll be a presidential candidate.
“This time, he starts off as a front-runner, or one of the front-runners,” Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager, told the Associated Press. “It’ll be a much bigger campaign if he runs again, in terms of the size of the operation.”
Weaver added Sanders would have a “much bigger” campaign operation if he chose to run in 2020.
Advisers to the self-proclaimed democratic socialist predict that Sanders would have a leg up from the last election and would be entering the 2020 primary season as a political powerhouse. But Sanders could be hampered by a new, younger generation of progressive Democrats who are also eyeing a run.
“There are other people picking up the flag and holding it high, and you know, it could be Bernie, but I think there are other people as well,” said Sanders supporter and former state senate majority leader in New Hampshire Burt Cohen. “It’s not ‘Bernie or bust.’ That’s certainly not the case.”
Cohen was referencing a slogan of the 2016 election, when many who turned out to vote for Sanders in the Democratic primaries were not as motivated to turn out to support Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Among those considering a 2020 presidential run are those who have been loyal to Sanders and embraced some of his ideas, including a single payer healthcare system and a $15 minimum wage.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Sen. Kamala Harris of California are considering entering the 2020 primary field seeking the Democratic nomination.
