Never Mind the Bullock, Here's the Debate

Montana governor Steve Bullock is one of the stronger candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, positioned in the center but liberal enough on key issues to appease all but the most hardcore leftists.  He's pro-choice, he supports campaign finance reform and Internet neutrality, and he believes climate is a real problem that must be dealt with. 

But people outside Montana, most of whom have never heard of him, likely won't get to hear what he says about anything, because he doesn't have enough individual donors or doesn't score high enough in polls to qualify for the two-day Democratic presidential debate later this month.  According to the rules set by the Democratic National Committee, which I won't get into here, a seasoned politician like Bullock can't qualify for the first debate but inexperienced candidates like Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang do.

Some say that Bullock should have declared his candidacy earlier to get traction sooner, but he was busy getting the Republican-dominated Montana legislature to expand Medicaid (successfully, as it turned out) because he thought that governing is more important than campaigning.  Bullock has protested the formula the DNC uses to determine who will be in this first debate and who won't be and which polls are used, but it's more likely than not that he'll have to sit this one out.  He might get in to a later debate if other candidates drop out and if he's able to meet the higher threshold for qualifying in debates down the road, so what he should do is ramp up his campaign in Iowa to get himself noticed.

Only one out of these 23 candidates can win the nomination, though, so Bullock will more likely be a Cabinet officer than President if the Democrats win back the White House in 2020.  I say, make him Secretary of the Interior.  And Washington Governor Jay Inslee, if he's not President, should be EPA director.

Right.  Fifteen Democratic presidential candidates down, eight to go, including Joe Biden . . . and I may have to revisit some of the others . . .