Let the 2020 Speculation .... BEGIN! : Saturday Political Soap Box 202

Hey, look!  My one and only meme!

Bernie Sanders announced his intent to run for President yesterday.   In 2016, I proudly voted for him in the primary, and was happy to see him push the party in the direction it needed to go in.

In the general election, I voted for Hillary Clinton.  She was clearly more competent than Trump (ok, virtually anyone was more qualified than Trump), and the second most qualified person in the country to do the job.

The most qualified person was Joe Biden, whom I proudly voted for twice.  He and Barack Obama proved to be the best American leaders of my lifetime.

This time, I don't intend to vote for any of them.

I think it's time to turn to a new generation of leadership.  That's not age specific. It's just time to give new figures a chance, a time to move to a new politics and approach.  Elizabeth Warren is close to the three I mentioned above in age, but she is more modern in her approach to issues and a fresher face to the American voting populace.

So far, we have announced; Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kristen Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, and Bernie Sanders.  Waiting in the wings, and more likely than not to run, include  Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Eric Swindell, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Sherrod Brown, and there may be many more I'm leaving off.  Unfortunately, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will not be the constitutional age to run for President until 2024.

For me, Elizabeth Warren is the frontrunner, but I have not committed to any candidate yet.

What is it that will shape my decision?  Part will be how well they actually compete with each other.  Many of them will be weeded out fairly quickly.  In any crowded garden, some wither away competing for the sunlight.

Here are my main criteria:

1)  This one is unconditional.  You have to be for Medicare For All.  If you call a single-payer, universal plan by something else, that's ok.  But you have to cover everybody - NO EXCEPTIONS, NO ONE LEFT OUT.  If you weasel on this at all, you're out! And yes, that right there eliminates ALL Republican candidates.

2)  You have to understand that the gravest crisis facing America and the planet is...global warming.  The candidates who have the best plans to mitigate climate change and green our economy are going to move to the front of the pack.

3)  You need to be generally progressive on a host of issues.  You don't need to be in lockstep or have the most radical plans, but you need to be concerned about and address - income inequality, raising the minimum wage, making college more affordable, and restoring us as a country that cares about democracy, at home and abroad.

4)  I will be looking most closely at candidates who raise their money from small donors and be less inclined to those that use PACS and wealthy donors, individual and corporate.

5) Finally, everything else being equal, I intend to vote for a female candidate.  It's time.  It's way past time.  As shown above, we should have already had our first woman President.  So, it's overdue, and it's not like we have to reach deep into the bench to find one.  We'll have a half-dozen or more highly qualified and capable women in the race.

Not only that, I think it's time to double down.  The Democrats should pick female candidates for President AND Vice-President.  Think that's too much?  I don't.  There's a lot of catching up to do.  Right now, the men have a lead in Presidents and Vice-Presidents of 93 to zero!  It would take a couple of centuries just for women to break even.

Not on my list of considerations is how well a candidate is poised to beat Trump.  First, Trump may not even be the Republican candidate in 2020.  His odds of resignation or impeachment are increasing daily. They have to be prepared to run not just against Trump, but the Republican agenda.  Secondly, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, if we re-elect Trump, knowing all we now know (well, what I've always known, but many have had to play catch-up), then we deserve our fall from the status of great nations, we are indeed a nation of the damned, and will descend into the trash heap of history, another once bright but now failed idea.

The good news is, many candidates meet all of my screening requirements.  

So, sorry, Bernie.  Forgive me, Joe.  Thank you for your service, Hillary.  If you happen to get the nomination, I'll happily vote for you over any Republican candidate.  And the same is true if we once again turn to a male candidate.

But for my top tier?

Go, Elizabeth!

Go, Kamala!

Go, Kristen!

Go, Tulsi!

Go, Amy!

I can't wait for you to join forces with the most powerful and competent Speaker of the House, not just of our times but perhaps of all American History...

Nancy Pelosi ROCKS!