A new Hill-HarrisX poll shows that one quarter of Democrat voters view Michelle Obama, the former first lady, as the top choice to represent their party in the race for the White House in 2020.
That 25 percent puts her in a tie for the lead with former Vice President Joe Biden — over twice the percentage taken in by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), at 12 percent, and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), at 11 percent.
Rounding out the field are former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — at 6, 5, and 5 percent, respectively.
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Sadly, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) (“Spartacus”) was nowhere to be found.
Neither Biden nor Obama have announced a run in 2020, though Biden is expected to jump in and has led the way in several polls over the last few months.
NEW POLL: Michelle Obama would be tied with Biden as Dem frontrunner if she ran in 2020 https://t.co/RIqdSxWZzy pic.twitter.com/7oh3oFxh9h
— The Hill (@thehill) February 19, 2019
Michelle Obama, to the contrary, has expressly stated she would not be running against Trump in 2020.
Why won’t she run? Whether or not supporters of the president want to hear it, Mrs. Obama would be a formidable opponent.
She has high popularity numbers, would represent what Democrats view as a course correction after the heir apparent to her husband was unceremoniously dumped in 2016, and she has the “glass ceiling” factor.
Related: Michelle Obama Has Conservative Readers Riled Up
Many liberal voters who voted for an unqualified community organizer in Barack Obama in 2008 would no doubt do so again in an effort to catapult the first woman into the White House.
A fairly recent poll of Iowa Democrats shows they have little appetite for another Hillary Clinton presidential run, preferring to see Michelle Obama instead.
Why is Michelle Obama not running? High approval ratings. Popular book, speaking tour. What is preventing her from doing so?
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 20, 2019
Michelle Obama has insisted she “will not run for president,” and is instead content with a life of simple public service and, in her own mind, remaining America’s “forever first lady.”
“Just because I gave a good speech, I’m smart and intelligent doesn’t mean I should be the next president,” she said last spring.
She’s the Dems’ top choice. Mrs. Obama has been viewed as the savior of the Democratic Party all the way back to the initial days of Clinton’s defeat setting in.
Even Clinton confidante and pollster Doug Schoen wrote a column for The Hill that said, “Obama outshines all Democratic prospects for 2020.”
Schoen believes Michelle Obama represents a popular figure who can actually unite people, something the other Democratic candidates cannot do.
“This alternative plan requires a new, united opposition, led by a political leader with widespread popularity,” he writes. “The only person I can see accomplishing this would be none other than the party’s most popular political figure: Michelle Obama.”
The only counter to that, according to the latest poll, is that Obama drops below Biden when one factors in the independent voters.
A recent appearance at the Grammys fueled speculation that the former first lady was trying to raise her public profile and possibly throw her name into the ring.
Do you think she’ll give it a go?
And check out this video:
This piece originally appeared in The Political Insider and is used by permission.
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