In the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the title characters played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford were criminals (loveable criminals, but criminals just the same) who had robbed the same train a couple of times. The owner of the railroad took great offense to that and sent a highly-trained unit of men to hunt the boys down. Nothing Butch and Sundance did to throw the pursuers off track seemed to work causing Butch to exclaim more than once, “Who arethose guys?”

With that notable question in mind, do any of these names ring a bell? Steve Bullock. John Delaney. Jay Inslee. Wayne Messam. Seth Mouton. Marianne Williamson. Andrew Yang. No? Hmmm. That’s interesting. Because they all want you to vote for them to be President of the United States. Every one of them has officially announced plans to live in the White House, and I believe they’re all actively campaigning for the office. Perhaps the friendly folks in Iowa could help the rest of us figure out just who they are. With that state’s fabled caucuses set to take place a few short months from now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see pictures of every candidate sitting on tractor jump seats helping Hawkeye corn farmers plant seed.

The who-are-those-guyslist continues to grow. At last count, on the Democratic side of the aisle alone, 24 people want your donations and your “X” by his or her name in 2020. So far, only one Republican (former Massachusetts Governor William Weld) has definitely said he’ll take on The Donald, but a couple of other ex-Governors are weighing their options. And, in all probability, there will be more. Add in a few more Independents and we’re talking about a lot of glad-handing on the campaign trail.

It really doesn’t take much to officially declare one’s intentions. All you have to do is fill out a couple of Federal Election Commission forms and you’re good to go. Just ask Andrew Lessig. Back in 2015, the then 13-year-old signed up to run in 2048. The FEC took him seriously and started sending him information on matters such as how often he was going to have to file reports with them (quarterly, as it turns out). The Commissioner eventually let him off the hook for that, but his candidacy remains viable until the 2048 election is over.

It’s probably fair to say that, if they were being totally truthful (yeah, like that’s gonna happen with a politician), some candidates are in the race purely for ego’s sake or, more likely, name recognition. A few of the younger ones may be thinking they’d like to go after Harold Stassen’s record. Those of a certain age will remember that the former Minnesota Governor ran for the presidency something like 10 times between 1944 and 1992.

In all probability, the Republicans will again anoint Mr. Trump as their standard-bearer. It’s proven to be a herculean task to try to unseat a sitting president in the primary season – at least an elected one. Only Franklin Pierce (you remember him, of course) in 1856 was primaried out by James Buchanan. To be historically accurate, four non-elected presidents didn’t get re-nominated by their parties either – John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson and Chester Arthur were sent packing. (As an aside, the nominees who took their places all lost their elections.)

As each Democrat tries mightily to gain traction and emerge from the crowded pack, has it occurred to you that there’s a name missing from the fray? Think hard now. Female. Already known by everyone. Based in New York. Can immediately tap into a vast supporter base. Used to get her mail at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Got it? Of course you do. Who else would I be talking about except . . .

Chelsea Clinton.

Hey, at age 39, she’s Constitutionally eligible. She probably wouldn’t have any problem raising money. She has built-in campaign directors and knows her way around a whistle-stop bus. Her computer servers are surely spotlessly clean. She’d probably run under her maiden name. Mezvinsky doesn’t trip lightly off the tongue.

Given the fact she’s probably rather intelligent (Stanford and Oxford are two of her alma maters), perhaps she’s being kept as a secret weapon by the Democrats. With a couple dozen candidates beating each other up for the next year or so, she can sit in the owner’s box and watch the action. At a brokered national convention in 2020, who knows? The DNC might be printing up yard signs right now.

 

©MMXIX. William J. Lewis, III – Freelance Writer