Very hard to make the jump from the house to the white house, but Swalwell is a smart guy and is likely (while tagged as a “SF liberal”) escape some of the baggage that comes with Bernie/Warren, etc have.
But like Jay Inslee, I just don’t see him getting the traction that someone like new Kamala Harris will get, or Bloomberg given his money.
Swalwell is sharp as a whip, charismatic, and has excellent communication skills – and even technical savvy.
His state is the workhorse of our country’s economy, innovation, and foreign relations.
He’s a squeaky clean DA, and a player on the Intel committee.
He knows where Trump, Putin, and the NRA buried all the bodies.
What’s not to like?
The clowns at Fox won’t be able to pronounce or spell his name properly…
And a fair number of them might think he’s related to Jerry Falwell, and accidentally vote for him. Might be a nice counter to their dirty tricks regarding the voter rolls.
All of the above, if you’re a conservative.
He is smart but has zero charisma. Listening to him is like listening to the faucet drip.
There isn’t a member of Congress who isn’t considering a run for President. What makes this guy so special?
I acknowledge these aren’t “good” reasons but… he rubs me the wrong way, he’s stiff and feels like a politician (overly cautious with his wording). He seems like a solid decent person but I just don’t see him inspiring anyone to vote for him not already on board.
I think he’s one of many decent hardworking Democratic lawmakers and it makes me a little uneasy that he’s obviously tried to put himself in the spotlight by getting as much air time as possible since 2016. I appreciate his work but I really hope he doesn’t run, he’d be easy to pull attention away from because he lacks magnetism or anything especially compelling in his presentation.
ETA: another not “good” reason, he’s from CA. I think a CA Dem should be avoided unless overwhelming reasons not to.
Yea, he’s gotten better but I used to find him almost painful to listen to.
What’s wrong with that?
We complain that there are no Democrats on TV yet when there is one there are still complaints?
It’s like we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
ETA: another not “good” reason, he’s from CA. I think a CA Dem should be avoided unless overwhelming reasons not to.
Why do you think this? CA is a large State, has a decent amount of agricultural areas as well as urban areas and represents a diverse population.
The fact I never heard of him…
You need to add that he’s not over 65.
This will really play out when the Democrats regain the House. Plenty of air time during the upcoming investigations. Of course, the Democratic Senators will find it harder to control the spotlight if they don’t retake the Senate.
The question will become whether the crimes uncovered by these (and Mueller’s) investigations will be enough to shock the casual repugs and independents, or will it come across as petty and vindictive. I’m guessing we’re all in for the shock of our lives. Even those of us who always expected the absolute worst from trump and his goons may be in for a surprise.
As I said, I don’t think these are “good” reasons but they are reasons. Basically, if he weren’t the equivalent of a piece of talking cardboard his pursuit of air time wouldn’t be an issue for me at all. I acknowledge he’s also gotten a lot of air time because he’s on the House Intel Committee. But I think people like him because he provides updates not because of any trait unique to him. I’ve never seen him express a vision or a compelling characteristic. Unlike many other Dems, there’s no real sense of what he’s about other than “probably a swell guy”. I have more of a sense/feeling of/for countless other Dems I’ve seen less of than him.
I’m sure there’s more to him but his presentation is what my Dad calls “an empty suit”. Very early on I thought to myself, “I don’t trust this guy”. I have zero to back it up and I was surprised at the time. I’ve watched him closely ever since trying to pinpoint why and haven’t come up with anything. The best I can say is he strikes me as a bit of a tool who’ll say whatever he thinks he should rather than what he means. It was a gut reaction and if I, a diehard Dem voter, felt it others will too.
These are GOOD reasons. Yes, a very good legislator, one of the better ones. But like Adam Shiff, he does not have the ability (as far as I can see) to relate to Joe Six-pack and his wife Margie. Unfortunately as we found out with Hillary, absent a really good simply set of slogans or a winning personality, the other person wins.
A lot of people never heard of Barrack Obama before he announced his candidacy for presidency either.
(Note: I’m not making comparisons between Swalwell and Pres Obama; just making a note that just because one has never heard of him does not mean it’s a bad thing. He has an opportunity to introduce himself to people during a campaign.)
Unfortunately as we found out with Hillary, absent a really good simply set of slogans or a winning personality, the other person wins.
Well, considering that the HRC DID manage to get 3M more votes even “absent a really good simply set of slogans or a winning personality” I’d say that was a pretty impressive performance.
Except he’s not even from one of those agricultural areas. He represents one of the most affluent districts in the nation. A district that voted 70% HRC. Again, not a problem if the candidate is otherwise awesome but why go with someone from CA when there are so many better ones from elsewhere, especially swing/red states?