With due respect to elections in Canada and the European Parliament, the west’s most important democratic event of 2019 will be a saga of intra-party jostling with no actual votes taken until the following year. Prepare for the US Democrats to choose a presidential candidate.
In the coming year, state governors will begin to give speeches of national sweep. Senators from California and New York will develop a mysterious interest in Iowa (whose caucus happens to begin the formal nomination race). Books of excruciating earnestness, blending “visions” for America with mawkish self-disclosure, will cascade from the various candidates. Donors will be turned upside down and shaken until their pockets are bare.
What defines this contest is not just the high stakes but the unpredictability. Some 20 or more hopefuls are expected to run for the right to take on Donald Trump in 2020. Clintonian mastery of the party machine has dissolved. As Bill and Hillary speak to disappointing audiences on their national tour, a new cohort of Democrats are taking their seats in Congress.