People may not know it yet, but Iowa and New Hampshire won't matter in 2020
newsdepo.com
Once upon a time, being good at “retail politics” maybe mattered. The media world was … different than it is today. Without getting into the weeds about it, all we need to do is point to Donald Trump. He can’t do retail politics to save his life, anPeople may not know it yet, but Iowa and New Hampshire won't matter in 2020
Once upon a time, being good at “retail politics” maybe mattered. The media world was … different than it is today. Without getting into the weeds about it, all we need to do is point to Donald Trump. He can’t do retail politics to save his life, and wouldn’t do it to save his life. Yet his mastery of media manipulation propelled him to the White House. Iowa and New Hampshire have justified their unjustified “first in the nation” status by claiming it gives underdog candidates a chance to compete against deep-pocket establishment types. If that ever mattered before, it sure doesn’t matter now. And certainly, we can point to the demographics of those states and make a compelling argument why their lily-white complexion makes them grossly out-of-step with the modern Democratic Party. But no need for that now. It’s this simple—the candidates who will be competitive are those who can build mass movements behind them. I’m talking strong social media presence, email list in the millions, and the ability to rally tens of thousands of people instantaneously. There are just a handful of candidates, out of the 25 or so Democrats who we think are running, who fit the bill at the moment: Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, maybe Beto O’Rourke, and … I’m having a hard time coming up with more (though undoubtedly, additional candidates will get there during the next year). If you can’t build that movement in 2019, then you have no business running for president. And no, Iowa and New Hampshire won’t save you. Why? Because of California. Read more