Page 37 - Bloomberg Businessweek - November 19, 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek The Year Ahead 2019 Politics

presidential candidates,” says John Lawrence, all his divisive rhetoric on immigration, Trump
Pelosi’s former chief of staff. “Watching them, was to the left of other Republicans running for
God knows what they’ll be willing to say to edge president in 2016 on entitlement issues such as
each other out of the spotlight. These outside preserving Social Security and Medicare.
people have no accountability whatsoever.” Obama never faced that dilemma. But that’s
Yet ignoring the intense anti-Trump sen- largely because Democrats didn’t have to contend
timent Steyer and others are stoking in the with the provocations of a Trump. Now they do.
Democratic base isn’t a viable option for the To hold him to a single term, they’ll first have to
party’s congressional leadership, either. A address their own differences. <BW> �Joshua Green
Politico/Morning Consult poll released on
Nov. 12 found that while a narrow majority
of voters, 51 percent, opposes impeachment Solution
proceedings, 61 percent of Democrats want to
start impeachment next year; only 22 percent
are opposed. Representation
The divide between congressional Democrats
and those eying the White House will make
legislating with Trump and Republicans even
harder. As Goldman Sachs Group Inc. noted in
a Nov. 5 client brief: “Despite some common ▷ Erin Loos Cutraro is helping
ground between President Trump and congres- to correct a power imbalance
sional Democrats on the need for an infrastruc-
ture package, it will be hard for the two sides
to reach a deal at a time when many of the key “It is really different to run for office as a woman.
players on the Democratic side—including sev- You’re held to a higher standard and asked ques-
eral sitting senators—gear up to take on Trump tions men wouldn’t be asked—how are you going
60
in the 2020 presidential election.” to lead as a mother when you have four kids at
Legislative gridlock makes it even likelier that home. As we continue to see, women are less
Democratic politicians will turn their focus to the likely to be identified than men as future can-
president. That would only magnify the challenge didates. They’re less likely to see themselves as
Pelosi faces in trying to create a unified front for qualified to run.
the party. Veteran presidential strategists are all “The majority of support for women prior
too aware of the risk that an intraparty fight over to the existence of She Should Run—the group I ● Cutraro is
encouraged by the
the controversial president poses for Democratic run—was really focused on the women who made midterm results
chances two years from now. it onto the ballot. If you look ahead, you can see
David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s chief strat- pretty quickly that getting to parity for women’s
egist in 2008 and 2012, saw how trying to representation in our lifetime isn’t there unless
out-partisan a partisan field undermined his we also focus on building that bench.
Republican opponents in both of Obama’s “There’s a new playbook that emerged from
races. “John McCain and Mitt Romney were this election cycle, a level of authenticity for
both good general election candidates,” he says. women on the campaign trail that we’ve never
“But in order to get the GOP nomination, both seen before, that was accepted and celebrated
had to tack right.” in ballot boxes around the country. What’s been
The temptation to throw in with the wing clear since the 2016 election is that we’ve reached
of the party that wants to impeach Trump at a point of a critical mass of women saying ‘no
all costs will be even stronger as the field of more’ to the status quo and stepping up to be part
Democratic candidates grows and presidential of the solution.
hopefuls compete for attention. “There will be “I don’t know what the world would
candidates who undoubtedly think that if they look like had we elected the first woman
get to the left of everyone else and are the most president. People would have assumed Mission
vigorously anti-Trump, then that’s their ticket Accomplished, but we have a long way to go to
to nomination,” says Axelrod. “The question is, see parity in this country.” <BW> �As told to Carol
if you get it that way, are you then unelectable? Massar. Cutraro is founder and CEO of She Should
You still need that narrow band of independent Run, a nonprofit that supports women preparing GETTY IMAGES
voters who are available to both parties.” For to run for office.