Bill Clinton wants to talk to 2020 hopefuls. They don't want to listen.

(Image credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images)

published 4 March 2019

Former President Bill Clinton is still around if anyone wants to chat about the 2020 presidential election. But most Democratic primary hopefuls don't seem too interested in what he has to say, The Associated Press reports.

Clinton has sat down with a few male, long-shot candidates, such as Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Housing secretary Julián Castro, and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney. More prominent candidates, like Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (whom Clinton blames for hurting Hillary Clinton's chances in the 2016 general election), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have not sought his guidance.

Clinton's advice is reportedly often centered around finding ways to appeal to the economic anxiety of white, working-class voters in states like Michigan and Wisconsin. He apparently offered the same counsel during his wife's 2016 campaign, but aides privately mocked his insistence on spending more money and time in those presumably Democratic areas, which ultimately swung toward President Trump.

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While Clinton's assessment proved correct in 2016, it is now his centrist approach toward winning those votes back that is unappealing to some Democratic strategists. "Times have changed," Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told AP. "The center of gravity within the Democratic Party and the electorate overall has moved massively in a more populist direction. Read more at The Associated Press.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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