CNN's Monthly Power Rankings: September, 2018

CNN is out today with what they're calling their third "monthly power rankings" among potential 2020 Democratic candidates for president. I haven't seen or posted about the first two lists but I'll try to keep up going forward. Here's how the list looks today:

1. Elizabeth Warren
2. Kamala Harris
3. Joe Biden
4. Kirsten Gillibrand
5. Bernie Sanders
6. Cory Booker
7. Amy Klobuchar
8. Eric Garcetti
9. Steve Bullock
10. Beto O'Rourke

To do a little demographic sorting, four out of the 10 are women (Yay!,) two are African American, two are over 70 years old (Saunders, 77 and Biden, 75) and one turns 70 next June (Warren.) The youngest is Beto O'Rourke, who will turn 46 on September 26. Who's he? He's the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, running against incumbent Ted Cruz, with at least the possibility of pulling an upset. To me, putting him on a top 10 list feels like a bit of a stretch, but here's how CNN explains it:

Yes, we know that O'Rouke is currently just a House member in the minority party. And that he is still less than a 50-50 bet in his challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this fall. BUT -- and yes, it is a big "but" -- if O'Rourke does beat Cruz, he will immediately be touted as one of the hottest things in Democratic politics. And buzz like that you simply can't buy. Plus, O'Rourke has already proven he is a remarkably strong fundraiser; he has brought in $23 million in less than two years even while refusing all donations from political action committees. (Read the article here.)

I've added Beto to my master list of potential candidates. 

1. Joe Biden (Former VP)
2. Michael Bloomberg (Former mayor of New York City)
3. Peter Buttigieg (Mayor of South Bend, Indiana) added Sept. 8
4. Cory Booker (New Jersey senator)
5. Sherrod Brown (Ohio senator)
6. Jerry Brown (Governor of California)
7. Steve Bullock (Governor of Montana)
8. Julian Castro (Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development) 
9. Mark Cuban (Businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
10. Bill de Blasio (Mayor of New York City)
11. Tulsi Gabbard (Congresswoman from Hawaii) added Sept. 8
12. Eric Garcetti (Mayor of Los Angeles) 
13. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York senator)
14. Luis Gutierrez (Congressman from Illinois)
15. Kamala Harris (California senator)
16. John Hickenlooper (Governor of Colorado) 
17. Eric Holder (Former Attorney General)
18. Robert Iger (Businessman, Chairman/CEO of Disney)
19. Jay Inslee (Governor of Washington)
20. Tim Kaine (Virginia senator, 2016 VP nominee)
21. Jason Kander (Former Secretary of State of Missouri)
22. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota senator)
23. Mitch Landrieu (Mayor of New Orleans)
24. Terry McAuliffe (Former governor of Virginia)
25. Jeff Merkley (Oregon senator)
26. Seth Moulton (Congressman from Massachusetts) 
27. Chris Murphy (Connecticut senator)
28. Martin O'Malley (Former governor of Maryland, ran in 2016 primaries)
29. Beto O'Rourke (Texas Congressman, running for the U.S. Senate) added Sept. 13
30. Deval Patrick (Former governor of Massachusetts)
31. Tim Ryan (Congressman from Ohio) added Sept. 8
32. Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator, registered Independent, ran in 2016 primaries)
33. Howard Schultz (Businessman, former CEO of Starbucks)
34. Tom Steyer (Businessman) added Sept. 8
35. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator)
36. Mark Zuckerberg (Businessman, founder of Facebook)

Days until the mid-term election: 54 

Days until the presidential election: 782