Scarred by Trump, challengers eye 2020

Washington, United States | AFP | One year on from Donald Trump’s shock election, US Democrats are still struggling to heal the wounds of Hillary Clinton’s calamitous defeat and identify a champion to challenge a deeply unpopular president in 2020.

For Democrats it has been a sobering first 10 months under Donald Trump. Republicans control the White House and Congress. With Trump’s upset wins in once-liberal bastions Wisconsin and Michigan, the heartland is trending more conservative.

But with Trump’s approval ratings in quicksand, frustration has also grown among divided Republicans.

If presidential tumult persists and the investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia gets legs, Democrats may not be the only ones eyeing a White House run.

– Open field –

As the Democratic Party of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton struggles to return to relevance, some lawmakers see the political glass half full.

The party is “more united and more energized today than it was a year ago,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons told AFP, referring to the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders divide which consumed Democrats.

Nearly 1,100 days before the next presidential election, a Democratic shadow campaign is in full swing, with several hopefuls already visiting early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire.

“There’s really no heir apparent, no figure who dominates the field,” said political science professor Chris Galdieri of Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.

For Democrats seeking their political savior, another hurdle lies in the way: reclaiming lost congressional seats in next year’s mid-term elections.

“What happens in 2018 is important for what happens in 2020,” Senator Chris Van Hollen said.

The potential presidential candidates stretch into the dozens. With Clinton acknowledging she is “done” being a candidate, here are the top likely contenders:

– Veterans –

Senator Bernie Sanders, the 2016 also-ran against Clinton, is still a player. He attends political rallies, debates Republicans on television, and maintains a vast grassroots army.

In an October New Hampshire poll of 2020 Democratic primaries, voters put Sanders first.

Popular former vice president Joe Biden, a crucial party bridge to white working-class voters, came second, and if there is a veteran Democrat waiting in the wings, it could be him.

He has acknowledged that his son’s death from cancer in 2015 was the sole reason he did not pursue the nomination last year.

Sanders would be 79 on election day, and Biden 77.