Bernie Sanders allies reportedly push Bay Area congressman Ro Khanna to challenge Kamala Harris for president

[tennisluvrredux]

   

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., speaks during a press conference following a vote in the House on ending U.S. military involvement in the war in Yemen, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Politico reported Thursday that former staffers on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign have privately urged Rep. Ro Khanna, a South Bay congressman who co-chaired Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, to run for president in the event President Joe Biden does not seek re-election.

Khanna told Politico he will not run in 2024, stating, “I fully expect the president to run and intend to support him strongly. If for some reason he didn’t, that would be very disappointing, but there are a number of other candidates who I think I could get behind who would make sure that the Democrats beat Donald Trump.”

However, as for 2028, he said, "after the '24 cycle will be a time where America will start to look to the future.”

The report has implications for a number of politicians not named Ro Khanna. For one, it means that if Khanna does run for president in a Biden-less field, he will almost certainly square off against Vice President Kamala Harris, who also hails from the Bay Area. Harris, a former prosecutor with a history of changing political positions, is not a favorite of the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party (remember those "Kamala is a cop" memes?).

Harris' other reported 2024 challenger if Biden does not run is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is also reviled by the progressive left, perhaps even more so than Harris. Khanna, who supports many of Sanders' policy proposals, including Medicare For All and free college, ensures the left doesn't have to deal with a potential nightmare Harris vs. Buttigieg primary.

"Khanna’s supporters believe that he would begin a presidential race with a significant portion of Sanders’ political infrastructure and likely become a top contender for progressive voters," Politico said.

The fact that one segment of Sanders world is pushing Khanna also has implications for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who, at one, point, was widely seen as Sanders' heir apparent. However, she's come under fire from the left over perceptions of growing too cozy with the Democratic establishment, an apparent betrayal of the mandate of her insurgent candidacy.

Additionally, Ocasio-Cortez and "the Squad" of progressives in Congress have also come under scrutiny over their messaging and positions on cultural issues. Democrats' recent internal polling has found that Republican attacks on "defund the police" and similar issues are "alarmingly potent," and there are also those on the progressive left who believe that an emphasis on identity-based issues at the expense of class issues is harming progressive candidates with working class voters.

It's what makes Khanna interesting as a candidate. He has typically shied away from culture war fights, and, in his pursuit of stronger regulatory measures against big tech companies, he's made an ally of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and in his pursuit of non-interventionism abroad, he's made an ally of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. 

The Politico article also notes that in addition to being able to build bridges with those on the right, Khanna is also seen as "a progressive who does not turn off more establishment and moderate elements of the [Democratic] party" because his "style has been less combative and more aimed at building relationships with other parts of the Democratic Party."

You can read the full report from Politico.

[tennisluvrredux]

Entha khanda kavaram, minorities paalita devatha moorthi ayina maa Kamalamma meede sawaal aah antunna @Spartan

[Spartan]

i prefer Kamalamma over this $hithole Ba$tard.