October 2020 – Page 3

In 'Surprise Move', Russia Sets Greenpeace Ship 'Arctic Sunrise' Free

October 15, 2020 | News | No Comments

Russia, in a “surprise move,” is releasing Greenpeace’s Dutch-flagged Arctic Sunrise ship, seized last year after a protest against Arctic oil drilling, the environmental group said Friday afternoon.

“Russia’s investigative committee this morning informed Greenpeace International that it has annulled the arrest of the Arctic Sunrise, which has remained in custody in Murmansk,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

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Greenpeace reaffirmed its belief that the arrest of the ship was illegal under international law.

Reacting to the news, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said:

“Millions of people spoke out against the illegal imprisonment of the Arctic 30, and today the final member of the group is free to come home. Our ship was arrested during an entirely peaceful protest against Arctic drilling in international waters. There was absolutely no justification either for boarding the ship or keeping her for eight months.

“This whole affair was a brazen attempt to intimidate those who believe that drilling for oil in the melting Arctic is reckless and unsafe. After months without proper maintenance our ship will need careful repairs, but like our campaign to protect the Arctic she will emerge better, fitter and stronger from this.”

Russian authorities told Greenpeace’s lawyers that investigations continued “in order to examine equipment found on board the ship”.

Russian military commandos seized the Arctic Sunrise last September and detained 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists after a protest at an offshore oil rig owned by Russian state oil giant Gazprom.

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Originally facing a charge of piracy, they were later targeted with less severe ‘hooliganism’ accusations.

The 30, including four Russians, were detained for two months before being bailed and then receiving amnesty.

The Arctic Sunrise was towed to the northern Russian port of Murmansk.

“Our main priority now is to get the ship checked by independent surveyors to assess the level of damage since it was seized by Russian agents on September 19th. We will also be asking the Russian authorities to continue guarding the vessel until our crew arrives to take custody of it”, said Daniel Simons, Greenpeace International Legal Counsel.

In the eight months since the action took place Greenpeace has continued to campaign against Arctic oil drilling across the world, most recently in Norway last week where activists occupied a Statoil contracted oil rig in the Barents sea for over 48 hours. Meanwhile Dutch activists blocked a second Gazprom rig, the GSP Saturn, as it left the Dutch port of IJmuiden to drill in the Russian Arctic.

Kumi Naidoo, who himself protested at the Prirazlomnaya rig in 2012 continued:

“We will continue to oppose any oil company that attempts to drill in the Arctic ocean. As the world warms and the ice melts this is fast becoming an era defining battle, and we are determined to win it.”

But said Naidoo: “Today the final member of the group is free to come home.”

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Detroit Citizens Vow Direct Action to Protect Their Right to Water

October 15, 2020 | News | No Comments

Rallying on the steps of the Michigan governor’s office in Detroit, activists and religious leaders on Monday called for an immediate moratorium on the city’s plan to shut off water to tens of thousands of households.

“This is everybody’s fight, water is a human right!” the protesters chanted. In recent weeks, activists in Detroit have mobilized against the city’s efforts to cut off the water supply to 120,000 delinquent accounts, or over 300,000 city residents.

News of the shut-offs has spread following a statement issued last week by the United Nations that the city’s plan “constitutes a violation of the human right to water.” Now, with Detroit under the media microscope, activists are hoping that the state government halts its plan to deprive residents of this essential human right and instead adopt an affordable payment plan based on an individual’s income.

The threat has catalyzed many individuals and groups in the community to act. The Detroit Water Brigade, which has begun distributing water and information to Detroiters facing shut off, vowed: “We are prepared to take direct action to prevent shut-offs if the city does not immediately cease and desist.”

“The whole world is watching what is happening here and how Detroiters and their allies are responding to this human rights violation,” the DWB continued.

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From June until September, the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) will be cutting off citizens’ water supply at a rate of 3,000 per week. According to the department, 4,500 households have already been turned off.

Though many are framing the issue as an inability by city residents to pay their bills, advocates note that the residents are victims of “regressive” pricing scheme that, according to a 2013 report on local government spending on public water (PDF), “places a tremendous financial burden on the lower median income households in a community.”

Further, in the past ten years Detroit residents have seen water rates rise by 119 percent with the city council just last month approving an 8.7 percent rate increase. Many believe the rate hikes and imminent shut-offs are an attempt by Detroit Emergency Manager Kevin Orr to make the DWSD more appealing to potential investors in a bid to privatize the city’s utilities.

“With all eyes on Detroit, it’s important to realize what we’re seeing,” writes Anna Lappe, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute, in an op-ed published Monday. “A city water department cutting off residents appears—and is—extreme, but it’s a taste of what private water companies do.”

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Poll: Majority of Americans who didn't vote in election don't regret it

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

A majority of people who didn’t cast ballots in this year’s presidential election don’t regret it, according to a Pew Research Center study poll.

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Among those interviewed who did not vote in the presidential race, 55 percent said they do not wish they had voted.

The poll found 26 percent of those who did not vote said they made their decision because they did not like the candidates on the ballot. About a quarter said they felt their vote wouldn’t matter, and 22 percent said they weren’t registered or eligible to vote.

Among those who did vote in this year’s election, a significant majority said they would not change the way they voted, if given the chance. The poll found that 99 percent of those who supported Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE would vote for Trump again. Ninety-six percent of those who voted for Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE said the same.

Republicans are also feeling more optimistic and the future of their party after Trump’s win, while Democrats are feeling less optimistic, according to the poll.

The survey found that after the election, 79 percent of Republicans said they are very or somewhat optimistic about the future of the Republican Party. Only 61 percent of Democrats said the same.

Before the election in early November, just 61 percent of Republicans said they were optimistic about their party’s future and 77 percent of Democrats said the same about their party.

The survey was conducted from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12 among 4,183 adults. The margin of error is 2.7 percent.

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Ukraine and Russia Presidents Talk 'Cease Fire'

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday has offered an outline of a 14-step peace plan process designed to end the months long violence and political upheaval in Ukraine following a late night telephone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders spoke Tuesday night and Poroshenko says the first step will be a complete “cease fire” in the eastern regions of the country that could begin within days.

“The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral cease-fire,” Poroshenko was quoted as saying by various news outlets. “Immediately after this, we need very quickly to get support for the peace plan … from all participants.”

The conversation and announced plan comes less than two days after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Monday. Amid months of recent violence and regional tensions, Moscow and Kiev have been in a battle over outstanding payment for Russian gas owed by the Ukrainian government. Energy resources, especially over natural gas pipelines, are seen as a key sticking point in the long-term prospects for better relations between the two countries that share a long and complicated history.

As Agence France-Presse reports:

On the proposed peace agreement now on the offer, Reuters reports the deal would include “amnesty for separatist fighters who lay down arms, and tighter controls over Ukraine’s border with Russia.”

Meanwhile, in the city of Donetsk on Wednesday, thousands of Ukrainians marched against the military aggression of the Kiev-controlled Ukraine Army in recent weeks and once again declared their autonomy and independence.

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New Day, Street Profits swap WWE Raw & SmackDown Tag Team titles

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

The men’s WWE Tag Team title situation regarding both sets of champions was made clear in a segment tonight on Raw.

During tonight’s show, WWE official Adam Pearce met with Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, the SmackDown Tag Team champions who were drafted to Raw, and The Street Profits, Raw Tag Team champions who were drafted to SmackDown. Pearce said he cleared it with WWE and the solution to the problem was to exchange titles — The Street Profits would be recognized as the SmackDown Tag Team champions and vice versa. The two teams agreed, and the switch was made.

The New Day were drafted during the first night of the draft on SmackDown this past Friday. Both Kingston and Woods returned that night, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro to win the SmackDown Tag team titles. However, it was announced immediately after that title match that Kingston and Woods were being drafted to Raw, while Big E would stay SmackDown, splitting the trio apart for the first time since 2014.

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Study: 'Shocking' Water Loss in Western U.S.

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

The drought-stricken Colorado River Basin has experienced rapid and significant groundwater depletion since late 2004, posing a greater threat to the water supply of the western United States than previously thought, according to a new study by NASA and University of California, Irvine.

The research team used data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission to track changes in the mass of the Colorado River Basin, which is the water source for more than 30 million people and 4 million acres of farmland. The satellites showed the basin lost nearly 53 million acre feet (about 17 trillion gallons) of freshwater between 2004-2013 — almost double the volume of the nation’s largest reservoir, Nevada’s Lake Mead, which itself recently fell to its lowest level since the 1930s. More than three-quarters of the total water loss in the Colorado River Basin was from groundwater. The basin has been experiencing the driest 14-year period in the last 100 years.

“We don’t know exactly how much groundwater we have left, so we don’t know when we’re going to run out,” said Stephanie Castle, a water resources specialist at the UC-Irvine and lead author of the study. “This is a lot of water to lose. We thought that the picture could be pretty bad, but this was shocking.”

Because pumping from underground aquifers is regulated by individual states and is often not well documented, it is difficult to quantify how groundwater reserves are affected by drought. But the NASA/Irvine study, which measured gravitational attraction as a way to assess rising and falling water levels, reveals that a crucial water source for seven basin states and Mexico has been compromised. The study also indicates that declines in the snowpack that feeds the river and population growth could further compound the problem.

“We thought that the picture could be pretty bad, but this was shocking.”
—Stephanie Castle, UC-Irvine”The Colorado River Basin is the water lifeline of the western United States,” said senior author Jay Famiglietti. “With Lake Mead at its lowest level ever, we wanted to explore whether the basin, like most other regions around the world, was relying on groundwater to make up for the limited surface-water supply. We found a surprisingly high and long-term reliance on groundwater to bridge the gap between supply and demand.”

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Last year, the Pacific Institute found that about 70 percent of the Colorado River Basin water supply goes toward irrigated agriculture.

In a blog for Science, Eric Hand writes:

To that end, several Western states are implementing or considering groundwater management plans. And earlier this month, the Boulder-based Western Resource Advocates joined with American Rivers in releasing a new report that identified municipal conservation, grey water treatment and reuse, and irrigation efficiency as ways to mitigate “Western water shortages stemming from the over-taxed and stressed Colorado River.”

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From 'Front-Lines of Climate Crisis,' Gathering Calls for New Economy

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

“Power without pollution. Communities united for a just transition.”

That is the theme of an international gathering that kicked off Wednesday in Richmond, California, bringing together hundreds of people on the front-lines in the fight against environmental destruction and social inequality to tackle the ambitious question: how do we build an economy that works for people and the planet?

“Our growth-driven, global economy is about to crash the planet… Now we are in a moment of transition, but what is not clear is whether justice will be part of that transition.”
–Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, Climate Justice Alliance

Under the banner of a campaign called “Our Power,” participants hail from dozens of organizations representing indigenous peoples, people of color, and working-class white communities that collaborate through the Climate Justice Alliance. Three days of conversations and strategizing will conclude Saturday with a day of action to highlight local alternatives to fossil fuel dependence.

This is the first national gathering of Our Power and, according to organizers, builds from an intense season of mobilization, including a gathering of youth and young adults that took place in Detroit in June, as well as ongoing preparation for the the Peoples Climate March and Summit, to take place in September in New York. Those convened in Richmond are ultimately shooting for a big goal: connecting local, national, and international struggles of the marginalized and dispossessed to chart a “just transition” to a new economy.

“Our growth-driven, global economy is about to crash the planet. Communities on the front-lines of this crisis have been feeling that for a long time,” Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, co-director of Climate Justice Alliance, told Common Dreams. “Now we are in a moment of transition, but what is not clear is whether justice will be part of that transition. It is critical for communities on the front-lines to be leading the transition so solutions don’t throw anyone under the bus. No community, place, or home is a sacrifice zone.”

The gathering takes place in a Bay Area city that is under threat of becoming such a zone, facing long-term pollution and poverty that devastate public health, including a fire in 2012 at a 112-year-old ever-expanding refinery owned by oil giant Chevron that sent 15,000 nearby residents to the hospital. But Richmond is also the site of long-term environmental justice organizing by grassroots groups including the Richmond Environmental Justice Coalition, which is co-hosting the gathering.

“Why us? We live every day on the front-lines of the climate crisis, with illnesses and the danger of explosions—and on the front-line of the economic crisis, when we can’t keep money and jobs in our city,” said Mey Saechao, an Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) member who lives on the border of Richmond and San Pablo.

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Participants represent groups spanning the globe, including the Black Mesa Water Coalition in Arizona, which is comprised of indigenous communities, and according to an organizational statement, “dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures” and organizing for safe, clean water and alternatives to coal-fired power plants. Topics range from organizing for food security on the local level to building a movement of mass transit riders and creating effective strategies for defeating climate change on a global scale.

“These are communities that are traditionally viewed as less politically powerful. So we are talking about a shift in power, not just saving our own communities.”
–Will Copeland, East Michigan Environmental Action Council

Organizers say that key groups—Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Cooperation Jackson of Jackson, Mississippi, and Southwest Workers Union of San Antonio, Texas—will play a role in helping focus the alliance’s work on the U.S. south, particularly Gulf Coast communities.

“What we are talking about is the leadership of communities of color, of poor communities,” Will Copeland, youth director for the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, told Common Dreams. “These are communities that are traditionally viewed as less politically powerful. So we are talking about a shift in power, not just saving our own communities.”

Copeland said that the gathering bolsters his community’s organizing in Detroit to demand “the human right to water” in the face of mass water shut-offs and organize on the state level against a trash incinerator that is damaging public and environmental health. “By coming together, we can not just take on issues one by one individually, but really call for a new economy and new way of making our livelihood, which is why the ‘just transition’ really resonates in Detroit,” said Copeland. “We are looking for a new way where people won’t get polluted at work and in their neighborhoods, where we won’t have to stay in unhealthy jobs.”

Scientists have confirmed that people already facing socioeconomic inequalities are more severely impacted by climate change, with countries in the global south hardest hit. The gathering builds on decades of organizing among communities of color in the United States to bridge the gap between environmental and social justice movements by highlighting the links between environmental destruction, displacement, racism, and poverty.

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“We are here to connect our struggles for food sovereignty, zero waste, clean community power, and finding ways for people to stay rooted in neighborhood,” said Mascarenhas-Swan. “It takes roots to weather a storm, and the storm is here.”

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'Unbalanced Recovery': Wages Falling, Low-Paid Jobs Rising Across US

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

While wages have declined across all sectors in the years following the financial crash of 2008, low-paid workers have been hit the hardest, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) reported this week.

NELP analyzed five groups of median wages in its report, titled (pdf). Since 2009, while higher-income sectors saw a drop between 2.1 and 2.5 percent, workers in the three lowest-paid groups were hit much harder, with wage declines between 3.6 and 4.6 percent. Some of the hardest-hit professions within the three lowest-paid groups were maids, housekeepers, home health and personal care aides, and restaurant workers, whose wage decline ranged from 5.8 to 8.3 percent.

The study also found that low-paid jobs are on the rise. Despite the stagnant or diminished level of wages more people found work in lower-paid occupations than in any other industry in the past year. Low-wage and mid-wage jobs constituted a combined 67 percent of job growth from July 2013 to July 2014.

As Think Progress points out, the simultaneous rise of employment rates and decline of wages in the same industries is “troubling”:

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“These real wage declines mean that workers in mid – and low – wage jobs are falling further and further behind,” said NELP’s executive director Christine Owens. “These losses are part of an alarming trend toward greater inequality and a shrinking share of the economic pie going to workers’ wages, especially low – and mid – wage workers . Policymakers in Washington and in our state capitals need to adopt solutions that begin to straighten out our economic priorities and reduce these economic disparities. Raising the minimum wage, which will reverse the declining real value of that critical wage floor, and supporting the right of workers to stick together and negotiate for better pay and working conditions, are good places to start.”

Robert Kuttner, writing for the American Prospect, notes that “[o]ne manifestation of job insecurity is extremes of inequality as corporations, banks, and hedge funds capture more than their share of the economy’s productive output at the expense of workers.”

“The shift in labor markets, from an economy where regular payroll employment is the norm, to one where more of us are performing odd jobs, or have regular jobs with indeterminate schedules, ought to be the top domestic political issue,” Kuttner writes.

NELP, an nonpartisan organization that has been fighting for a higher national minimum wage, has analyzed job growth data twice since 2009 and found that the trend has been consistent every year: real median hourly wages had declined by 2.8 percent last year, on average, across all occupations, with the greatest losses hitting the exact same groups — mid- and low-wage workers, particularly maids, housekeepers, care aides, and restaurant cooks.

Over the next decade, one in four American workers is expected to work a low-wage job.

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Canadian Beekeepers Launch Class Action Suit Against Pesticide Makers

October 14, 2020 | News | No Comments

Beekeepers in the Canadian province of Ontario have launched a class action lawsuit against makers of a class of pesticides linked to the decline of bees.

The claim (pdf) filed Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice seeks $450 million in damages going back to 2006 for the “chronic effects of the use of the Neonicotinoids […] felt by Canada’s Beekeepers annually.”

The effort targets agribusiness giants Bayer and Syngenta, whom the claims states were “negligent in permitting or failing to prevent the damages caused by the Neonicotinoids to the Beekeepers.”

The claim, led by two Ontario-based honey producers and filed by Siskinds LLP, charges that agribusiness giants Bayer and Syngenta’s “continued production, marketing and sale of the Neonicotinoids” poses “ongoing” damage. “Beekeepers have suffered, and will continue to suffer, devastating economic hardships as a result of the continued use of Neonicotinoids,” it states.

The damages they say are caused by these pesticides, also known as neonics, include: bee deaths; impaired reproduction; immune suppression; behavioral abnormalities resulting in hive loss ; reduced honey production; impacts on the quality of honey; contamination of hive equipment; loss of Queen Bees; breeding stock; and difficulties fulfilling honey product or pollination contracts.

John Bennett, National Program Director of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, called the launch of the lawsuit “historic news,” and explained the lead-up to the suit:

The Ontario Beekeepers’ Association (OBA), which is not directly involved in the suit, welcomed to effort. “This Action puts the blame where it belongs — on the pesticide manufacturers,” the organization’s Vice President, Tibor Szabo, said in statement.

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The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA) reported that Ontario’s average level of wintering loss of honey bee colonies over the past winter was 58 percent, far higher than the 15 percent winter loss beekeepers in the country consider an acceptable level.

CAPA’s latest annual colony loss report (pdf) adds: “There are concerns amongst some beekeepers, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, that exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides during the spring and summer may lead to increased stress to colonies contributing to winter loss.”

The U.S.-based environmental group Beyond Pesticides stated Thursday that the class action suit “demonstrates the desperation of beekeepers everywhere.” The group writes:

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Top 15 Democratic presidential candidates in 2020

October 13, 2020 | News | No Comments

Democrats grappling with the shock of Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE’s loss to Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE are also beginning to turn their attention to 2020, and pondering who could defeat Trump as he vies for reelection.

Here are The Hill’s initial rankings of where the potential candidates stand.

1. Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (Mass.)

How would the 2016 election have panned out had Warren challenged Clinton in the primary? That’s one of the great unknowables of Democratic politics. But now, there is little doubt that the Massachusetts senator is the leading contender for the 2020 nomination.

Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, has been beloved by the left throughout her late-blooming political career, largely because of her no-punches-pulled attacks on banks and the financial industry. She got under Trump’s skin via Twitter during the 2016 campaign too.

The recent news that Warren will join the Senate Armed Services Committee in January has stoked speculation that she is looking to bolster her foreign policy and national security credentials in advance of a presidential run. Warren would be 71 by the time of the next election, but she is three years younger than Trump.

2. Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.)

Sanders came from semi-obscurity in the Senate to give Clinton a serious run for her money in the battle for the Democratic nomination this year.

He won 23 contests and amassed more than 13 million votes. He also fired the enthusiasm of young voters and progressives, two pillars of the Democratic base that Clinton struggled to charm.

The Vermonter’s focus on income inequality and his broader point that the system is rigged against working Americans resonated. Sanders’s main problem when it comes to a 2020 run could be his age. He will be 79 next Election Day. Still, Sanders might well be tempted to try one more time — especially if Warren stood aside.

3. Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.)

Booker raised eyebrows earlier this month when it emerged that he would join the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the new Congress convenes. As with Warren and the Armed Services panel, his decision was interpreted as an effort to burnish his resume for a potential presidential run.

Booker is just 47, and he is one of only two African-Americans in the Senate for now. (That number will rise to three in January when California’s Kamala Harris will be sworn in.)

He is also one of the most media-savvy members in the upper chamber — a trait that has been apparent since the start of his career, when his first, failed bid to become mayor of Newark was captured in a sympathetic documentary, “Street Fight.”

Booker is far from the most liberal member of the caucus. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he criticized an Obama campaign ad that hit Mitt Romney’s business record, insisting on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, “I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity.”

An optimistic view is that he could bridge the gap between the progressive and center-left strands of the party. Skeptics will question whether he is a little too corporate-friendly for the tastes of Democratic primary voters.

4. Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy KlobucharHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Democrats demand Republican leaders examine election challenges after Georgia voting chaos Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (Minn.)

Klobuchar has already appeared on several shortlists of likely contenders for the nomination, and it’s not hard to see why.

The New Yorker called her, “popular, practical, appealing [and] progressive.” She is from a state where the currents of labor and progressivism run strong. But the no-nonsense, affable Klobuchar could also plausibly appeal to Rust Belt voters whom her party needs to win over.

One issue for Klobuchar right now is that she does not have a high profile outside of her native state and the Beltway. There is plenty of time to change that if she wants to run and win in 2020. But she could be eclipsed by higher-wattage candidates.

5. Sen. Kirsten GillibrandKirsten GillibrandWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Warren, Pressley introduce bill to make it a crime for police officers to deny medical care to people in custody Senate Dems press DOJ over coronavirus safety precautions in juvenile detention centers MORE (N.Y)

Gillibrand followed in Clinton’s footsteps when she replaced her as a New York senator in 2009. Could she do the same at the presidential level — but actually win the White House?

It’s certainly possible. Gillibrand’s profile has risen in tandem with her making the prevention of sexual assaults in the military a signature issue. Representing New York, she has easy access to the national media and to powerful Democratic fundraising networks.

But Gillibrand’s similarities with Clinton, superficial though they may be, could go against her. It’s just not clear Democrats would roll the dice again, as soon as 2020, on another prominent female nominee from New York.

Critics also charge that Gillibrand emphasized more centrist positions as a congresswoman from a somewhat conservative district than she does as a senator from a liberal state.

6. First lady Michelle ObamaMichelle LeVaughn Robinson ObamaThe Hill’s Morning Report – Treasury, Fed urge more spending, lending to ease COVID-19 wreckage Budowsky: Michelle Obama or Tammy Duckworth for VP Michelle Obama urges class of 2020 to couple protesting with mobilizing, voting MORE

If the first lady exhibited even a slight inclination to run, she would be ranked near the top of this list.

There is no figure in public life, with the possible exception of her husband, who has so strong a hold on liberal hearts and minds.

Obama has become more comfortable with her public role over the years. Her two major speeches during the 2016 campaign — one at the Democratic convention, another excoriating Trump for “hurtful, hateful language about women” — were among the most powerful delivered during the cycle.

The first lady insists that she won’t run, citing the effect such an effort would have on her two daughters among other factors. But Malia and Sasha Obama will be 22 and 19, respectively, by the time of the next election. When it comes to the first lady’s future plans, many Democrats still cling to the audacity of hope.

7. Gov. John Hickenlooper (Colo.)

Hickenlooper presides over a state that is considered a key battleground, even though it has become more solidly Democratic in recent years. Colorado has gone for the Democratic nominee in the past three presidential elections and Clinton won the state by five points.

Hickenlooper, who has a politically effective down-to-earth persona, could potentially boost the party’s appeal in the heartlands. He has enjoyed solid approval ratings during his time in office.

One problem? While his chances are talked up among Beltway pundits, he is almost unknown in the nation at large.

8. Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott MurphyState, city education officials press Congress for more COVID-19 funds The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Trump takes victory lap in morning news conference Pelosi demands Trump clarify deployment of unidentified law enforcement in DC MORE (Conn.)

Murphy has come to the fore on the issue of gun control. He can speak with moral authority on the issue: In his state, a gunman killed 20 young children, as well as six adults, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. President Obama has called that moment the worst day of his presidency.

Politically speaking, Murphy would need to display more policy breadth and heighten his national profile if he is to be a genuine contender. For the moment, he’s one to watch.

9. Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE

The vice president could have definitively ruled himself out of the running, but hasn’t. He joked with reporters about the possibility earlier this month, and then sought to clarify by saying he had “no intention” of running.

Biden would clearly have loved to run in 2016, were it not for the fact that he was still grieving the loss of his son, Beau. Biden’s age is a real issue, however. He would be 77 by next Election Day. If he won, he would turn 78 before being inaugurated.

For all his political skills, his two previous runs for the presidency, in 1988 and 2008, ended in failure.

10. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (N.Y.)

On paper, Cuomo looks like a strong candidate. He is the governor of a huge, liberal state and hails from a well-established political family. Cuomo’s late father, Mario, served as governor of the Empire State for three terms.

No one doubts the younger Cuomo’s ambition, but whether he is the right fit for the times is a tougher question. In a party where the left is ascendant, he has positioned himself as a centrist foil to New York City’s liberal mayor, Bill de Blasio. It’s not clear what Cuomo’s power base would be for a primary fight.

11. Sen.-elect Kamala Harris (Calif.)

Harris is one of the bright spots for Democrats who are dismayed by their failure to retake the Senate. She will succeed the retiring Sen. Barbara BoxerBarbara Levy BoxerPolls show big bounce to Biden ahead of Super Tuesday Sanders poised for big Super Tuesday Establishment Democrats rallying behind Biden MORE in January.

Harris has been seen as a rising star in the party for some time, her fans including President Obama, who once praised her in imprudent terms.

Harris, a leading lawyer before shifting into politics, is the daughter of an Indian-American mother and a Jamaican-American father. It’s not clear she has any presidential ambitions and, if she ran in 2020, she would face criticism about her relative lack of political experience. But she would be as experienced as then-Sen. Obama was when he began his 2008 White House run.

12. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Could she run again? It’s possible. Many people thought Clinton’s electoral ambitions had ended in 2008, with her devastating loss to Obama in the Democratic primary. That turned out not to be the case.

There is still a large, wealthy circle of Clinton loyalists, who would back any future run. But, even if she had the appetite for a 2020 bid, she would have enormous hurdles to overcome.

One of the biggest would be the question of how she lost the presidency to Donald Trump. Beyond the hardline Clintonistas, there aren’t many Democratic insiders who were wowed by her campaign. In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released earlier this month, 62 percent of Democrats and independents said Clinton should not run again.

13. Former Gov. Deval Patrick (Mass.)

Patrick has considerable political skills and was once talked up as a potential inheritor of President Obama’s mantle. David Axelrod, one of the aides closest to Obama, worked with Patrick as well, and both Patrick and Obama adopted “Yes We Can!” as a campaign slogan.

But Patrick left office in 2015, and it’s just not clear whether he could — or would want to — come off the sidelines for 2020. He also joined Bain Capital, which is hardly the ideal launching pad for a quest to win over liberal activists.

14. Sen. Tim KaineTimothy (Tim) Michael KaineWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Senate panel passes amendment to bar using troops against protesters Defense bill turns into proxy battle over Floyd protests MORE (Va.)

Kaine achieved a new national prominence when Clinton named him as her 2016 running mate. But his performance was a mixed bag.

The Virginia senator gave some energetic speeches on the campaign trail, defying his reputation for dullness. On the other hand, his showing in his sole debate with his counterpart, Indiana Gov. Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PencePence posts, deletes photo of Trump campaign staff without face masks, not social distancing Pence threatens to deploy military if Pennsylvania governor doesn’t quell looting Pence on Floyd: ‘No tolerance for racism’ in US MORE, was uneven at best.

15. Oprah Winfrey

Trump proved how powerful a currency celebrity can be — and there may be no more trusted celebrity in America than Oprah. Having steered largely clear of partisan politics for most of her career, Winfrey became an enthusiastic backer of Obama when he looked a long shot to beat Hillary Clinton to the 2008 nomination.

Winfrey has said she “couldn’t breathe” after Trump won in November. She softened her stance later, but could she be tempted into a race to defeat the president-elect?

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Month: October 2020