>

I don’t see how Biden could beat Desantis at this point. But we’ll see if the Republicans are dumb enough to roll with Trump again.
Is there a reason Mark Kelly isn't being talked about as a good D presidential candidate? >

Dems probably don't want to lose his seat >

He just won reelection in 2022 so he's not up for reelection until 2028 >

A reasonable moderate would be good from either party for the country but I don’t see that happening. My bets for the outcome are Desantis vs Newsome. >

That’s an interesting matchup, the quintessential Republican Governor vs the quintessential Democratic Governor >

And quite frankly, some of the worst nominees either party could put forward. Americans are fed up with the culture wars. >

Newsom isn't nearly as liberal as you may think and DeSantis seems to be very good at targeting moderates. Sure you'd get political theater but it would be a very solid matchup that could re-center politicsl discourse. >


re-center politicsl discourse.

Political discourse is teetering on ruin. It doesn't need to be "re-centered." It needs to be absolutely blown away.
The moderate is dead. There are only two paths forward for the US: A steady descent into corporate christo-fascism, or a national scale socialist revolution. Neoliberal centrism has failed. People are on the brink of financial and social implosion. Tensions are higher than ever and for good reason.
I'll let you take a guess at which of the two paths the ruling class is rooting for. The midterm has at least indicated people are waking up to Republican plans to dismantle the nation - but the Democrats are no saviors, and I suspect putting a band-aid on the gaping wound the nation is suffering from will only placate people for so long before the inevitable fork in the road. >

Well since there will never be a socialist revolution in the country where most people’s ancestors came to either for religious freedom or to get rich, your choices aren’t very good. I’ll stay moderate. >

Then you enable fascism. >

Whatever….I’m immune to name calling. America does its rugged individualism
thing. You’d probably be happier in Europe like a couple of my progressive friends. >

I’d like to see something like Charlie Baker (R-MA) vs John Bel Edwards (D-LA). After years of people blindly voting for their team, they’d actually have to think a little. >

It’ll be interesting to see the electoral map >

DeSantis get coronated as the GOP nominee probably with Haley/Donald’s as VP front runners. 
Pence Cheney or someone have a real shot to steal it from him. 
Dems. Harris+Pete look like the ticket. Gov of IL,NY,CA raise to the top of list. Along with Senator Duckworth, Booker 
It becomes a young person race with a lot of baggage removed.  A true clean slate >

Desantis has an amazing PR team, but I am still not convinced that he can deal with debates or a real challenge. >

I assume that same team chose the white go-go boots when he was touring storm devastation, so they aren't flawless. >

There’s lots of smart democrats who I would love to see as President.  Tammy Duckworth. Katie Porter.  Adam Schiff (which Reddit refused to allow me to spell correctly for 4 tries). >

It’s very difficult, if not impossible to successfully jump from the House to the White House. Only 19 former members have become President, 5 of whom took over the office after a death or resignation, and all but 2 had already left the House for different offices before running for President. Only Garfield and Lincoln have made the jump with no stops in the Senate, as as a Governor or in another administration first. Garfield had a nail biter of an election, at least in terms of politely vote, and Lincoln had a very contentious election with 4 major candidates splitting the vote to give him a under 40% win and I think both demonstrate how hard even then it was for House members to run for president. I think it’d be much harder today than it was in either of their days, especially with how much more it costs to run a campaign today. Now Senator Porter or Senator Schiff are both real possibilities in the near future so maybe one day, but I doubt either would be a real 24 contender. Especially not when they’re both much more likely to win Feinstein’s seat. 
Duckworth is decent potential. The other Senator Tammy is one I’ve heard zero rumblings about but I’d like to see Baldwin consider running. She’s progressive, 60 years old, shores up Wisconsin a lot, shores up other states in the area a fair amount, had the foresight to vote against a vocally oppose invading Iraq, had the spine to fight back against Bush administration overreach and misconduct, and I think she could really excite some people in a big way. >

Well said. And I don’t disagree with history.  But I answered the OP on who I thought would be good candidates. Based on someone I could get energized around. And while history has shown how hard it is for a congressperson to become president. I think the 21st century has had a rule of breaking through any historical preconceptions.  The last midterm is just the 79th example of how we thought we understood what would happen through the lens of history and it didn’t quite go to plan.  
So I stand by my answer as my own personal choice and with an understanding that history can inform but cannot be used as a Crystal Ball. >

Buttigieg would probably be a very strong contender for Democrats. With Republicans, I don't see how anyone has as much clout right now as DeSantis, so we'd probably be looking at a Buttigieg vs. DeStantis matchup in 2024. >

Yeah - I don’t think someone whose resume reads Mayor and Transportation Secretary is going to give much confidence to independent voters.
Who do the Democrats have that actually appeals to Independents? >

Why wouldn't Buttigieg appeal to independents? He's more moderate than many candidates who ran in 2020 and he's a frequent presence on national TV arguing on behalf of the Biden administration which raises his credibility. >

Either you have to have political experience or charisma… he has neither >

Charisma is subjective, lots of people think Trump has charisma for example but I certainly don't, so that's not particularly relevant.
He's the current Transportation secretary, which is a top federal position. If that doesn't give him political experience in your eyes, I honestly don't know what will. If you want to name another valid Democratic candidate, feel free. >

That’s my point - Trump’s “charisma” appealed to a lot of voters… and Biden won solely because he isn’t Trump. So maybe that’ll be the plan again in 2024 >

Ideally Biden will run again in 2024 and defeat whoever emerges from the DeSantis/Trump mudslinging contest.