Senate Democrats Gingerly Avoid Endorsements in Packed 2020 Race

Senate Democrats Gingerly Avoid Endorsements in Packed 2020 Race

(Bloomberg) -- The proliferation of Democratic senators running for president is making for some awkward moments in the clubby chamber.

"Could they all be president? Could I endorse them all?" joked Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “If there were one or two or three maybe you would feel pressure to get behind a friend. But when you have so many people running, it makes a lot of sense to say a lot of nice things about everybody.”

With a few exceptions, Senate endorsements don’t sway many voters. But they do open the door to donor networks and provide a roster of well-known surrogates who can help rally voters in primary states.

At this point four years ago, Hillary Clinton had already racked up endorsements from Democratic senators, eventually lining up nearly every one of them in her 2016 Democratic primary campaign against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. With so many senators eyeing the White House, support from their colleagues will be hard to get, but it could be all the more valuable as a result.

“It can be useful, especially early,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who was a top aide for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. “Early endorsements help them break through the pack and are a nice validation for their candidacy.”

Six Democrats

So far six Democrats in the Senate have mounted campaigns seeking the party’s 2020 nomination to take on President Donald Trump: Sanders, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. A seventh, Michael Bennet of Colorado, says he also may enter in coming weeks and will decide after surgery to treat prostate cancer.

There haven’t been this many incumbent senators vying for the White House since 1976, when seven Democratic senators joined the race at various points in the first post-Watergate presidential election.

Another factor likely holding back endorsements is uncertainty about what former Vice President Joe Biden is going to do. Biden is still expected to launch a campaign despite allegations that he made some women uncomfortable in their interactions with him. He remains the front-runner in polls and could rack up some endorsements among senators who knew him during his six terms in the chamber.

In past presidential elections, key endorsements from colleagues have given a jolt and sense of legitimacy to campaigns.

In the 2008 election, then-Senator Barack Obama got early traction with the endorsement of fellow Illinois senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 leader in the chamber. Later after Obama won South Carolina’s early primary, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts delivered a bombshell by siding with him over Clinton. Clinton, herself a former senator, scored her own win eight years later when Warren, a heavyweight among progressives, backed her over Sanders in the 2016 race.

Cachet With the Base

While today’s Senate may not have anyone quite like Kennedy, some senators have a bit more cachet with the party base and will be heavily sought after, political strategists say.

They include Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a leading spokesman for the party’s working-class agenda who heralds from a swing state that went for Trump, said Brian Fallon, a Democratic strategist who was a top aide on Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Others include Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who could be a valuable traveling surrogate for any Democratic candidate, and Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who won her last election in a Trump-won state by 11 percentage points, he said.

“Progressives have a lot of fondness for Baldwin because she’s a pretty true-blue progressive but she’s also proven to be very successful as a politician in a purple state that Trump won last time,’’ Fallon said.

Durbin would be another sought-after backer, given his status as a member of Senate leadership and his access to vast fundraising networks in Chicago, Conant said.

But all of those senators are among the dozens who say they won’t make up their minds for many months. Baldwin said that because her home state will be the site of the 2020 Democratic convention in Milwaukee, she will hold out. Brown said he wants to wait to see which candidates embrace policies that benefit workers and reflect “the dignity of work.”

‘Make Their Case’

Durbin said that as a party leader he won’t endorse until after the field is winnowed. Merkley, who was the only Democratic senator to endorse Sanders in 2016, insists he’ll wait to ensure candidates talk about issues he cares about, including health care, affordable housing and a living wage.

“I don’t have any plan to endorse for a very long time to come,” Merkley said, declining to discuss any early conversations with other senators. “I encourage all those who are in that primary to go out and make their case robustly.”

So far, only seven Democratic senators have endorsed candidates, almost all of them following a tradition of backing home-state counterparts. Senator Bob Menendez has endorsed New Jersey colleague Booker, and Senator Tina Smith has backed fellow Minnesotan Klobuchar. Senator Patrick Leahy, who in 2016 snubbed Sanders when he backed Clinton, in mid-February came back into the fold when he endorsed Sanders.

Biden, a former six-term senator from Delaware, has backing from Democratic Delaware senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper. In a home-state snub, Senator Dianne Feinstein has said she will likely back Biden if he enters the race, rather than endorsing Harris, her fellow Californian.

Gillibrand, who has faced the loss of some home-state endorsements by House lawmakers, isn’t likely to get early backing from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who says he doesn’t want to take any sides.

‘Loved by Many’

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, Democrats’ 2016 vice presidential nominee, said he hasn’t decided who he’ll endorse. Asked whether Biden will be able to pull some to his side, he said there is little doubt he can.

“He is loved my many senators here, so the answer to that is probably yes,” Kaine said.

One twist of this campaign is that some of the senators who could pull along some voters are seeking the nomination for themselves, including Warren, Sanders, Harris and Booker. That might keep the candidates from attacking each other early on to avoid poisoning the well with colleagues they may end up courting down the line.

“The most dynamic senators whose endorsements would be most sought after are actually running for president themselves,” Fallon said. “If Cory Booker wasn’t running himself, he’s one of the most compelling personalities that is a really good surrogate. And an endorsement from someone like him would be very sought after. Same with Harris.’’

For many who are sitting it out, the ultimate question will be who has the best chance of forcing Trump out of the Oval Office.

“It’s who can beat Trump,” Murphy said. “Clearly I care deeply about having a candidate who believes strongly about stronger gun laws and who’s going to run on national security. But I care mostly about winning.”

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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