Bill Clinton wants to talk to 2020 hopefuls. They don't want to listen.
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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Why is the Pentagon taking over the military’s independent newspaper?Today’s Big Question Stars and Stripes is published by the Defense Department but is editorially independent
-
How Mars influences Earth’s climateThe explainer A pull in the right direction
-
‘The science is clear’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
