Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

The 2020 Democratic Primary Is Already Out of Hand

Why are these candidates running for president instead of winnable races?

February 16, 2018 at 1:07 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

How about running the great state of Maryland first?
Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call

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I'm getting extremely cranky about something happening on the Democratic side over the last several months, but I keep going back and forth about who I'm actually annoyed with: A handful of misguided politicians? Or the rest of U.S. political culture and media coverage, myself included?

Way too many people are running for president.1518733641619 They have dubious credentials and/or low practical chances to win the nomination. If they care so much about Democratic causes, why don't they dedicate themselves to more realistic opportunities? They'll have better shots at actually getting elected and making an impact.