Those hoping for another chance to "Feel the Bern" in 2020 could have good reason to be optimistic about Bernie Sanders's odds of running for the presidency.
While speculation has been rampant — and the Vermont senator has never ruled out the possibility of another go at the country's top office when asked — there's yet been no official word on what a campaign would actually look like. Until Saturday, that is, when a meeting between Sanders and his top political advisers explicitly discussed the possibility.
Of course, this doesn't mean Sanders is definitely running — just that he talked to some top advisers about what would happen if he did.
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But half a dozen Democrats who spoke to Politico all acknowledged that while 2020 has been brought up with aides and associates before, this is the first time the campaign has officially been on the agenda or discussed in a group of this size and influence.
Part of the conversation included a discussion of other possible candidates and strategies for how to beat them. The Democratic race was effectively only between Sanders and Hillary Clinton in 2016, after all, making 2020's expected free-for-all a different game entirely.
Sanders's staff declined to comment when we reached out, but implications of a (possible) candidacy are far-reaching. As Matthew Yglesias explained, Sanders could be considered the most popular politician in America. He's also "Democrats' most in-demand public speaker, and the most prolific grassroots fundraiser in American history."
Sanders is currently beating Donald Trump in the polls. According to multiple Democrats, the senator hasn't yet made a decision about 2020 but thinks beating Trump is the most important thing for this country.