Former President Obama and his advisers are reportedly urging former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to run for president in 2020, according to Politico Magazine.
Obama, a personal friend of Patrick, has privately encouraged him to consider a 2020 bid, the magazine said. Meanwhile, Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser to the former president, said that Patrick being president is what “my heart desires.”
David Axelrod, former chief strategist for Obama, has reportedly spoken with Patrick about a potential run, pointing out electoral advantages that Patrick might have such as high turnout in his native New England and in Southern black communities.
{mosads}”If you were to poll 100 notable Obama alumni, the only two people who would win that 2020 straw poll right now are [Joe] Biden and Patrick,” a former senior White House aide said. Another former top Obama official told Politico Magazine that “the center of gravity would really shift in his direction in Obamaworld if he were to decide to run.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden in May polled as the most favored potential Democratic candidate to run against Trump in 2020.
Patrick and Obama have both endorsed and offered advice to each other in their respective runs for office, and Patrick remains the only politician on the board of the Obama Foundation.
“I’m trying to think about how to be helpful, because I care about the country, and I’m a patriot first. It’s way, way to soon to be making plans for 2020,” Patrick said in an interview on Politico’s Off Message podcast. “So I’ll just leave it at that.”
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