Still stinging from the wholly unlikeable candidate they put forth in 2016, Democrats are weighing the likeability quotient and what role it should play as they cull for a candidate to put up against President Donald Trump in 2020, The Hill reports.
Some strategists think it's important:
"Likability always matters in every election," Patti Solis Doyle told the Hill.
Others, not so much:
"It's always nice to be liked, but people are going to be more interested in a fighter, I think," Jim Manley told the Hill.
Regardless, the acute unlikeability of Hillary Clinton and the role it played in her epic failure as a candidate is still top of mind for Democrats. No one knows that better than Solis Doyle, who was Clinton's campaign manager in 2008.
"In the most recent election you had two very unlikeable candidates, and one could argue that one voted for the lesser of two evils," Solis Doyle told the Hill. "I do think the person that prevails will have to be resilient and that they'll be able to give back as much as they give."
Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden remain hugely popular with the base, but both are septuagenarians who will be pushing 80 by the time the 2020 presidential election rolls around.
The flip side for Dems is national recognition; many Americans probably couldn't pick other potential candidates out of a lineup. Start with the only declared Democratic candidate so far: Rep. John Delaney.
"I'm not sure that anyone has yet risen to the top and captured the hearts of the rank-and-file Democrats across the country," Solis Doyle told the Hill. "We're getting closer to finding that person but I don't know who that is yet, though."
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