RE:RE:Hubris Disclaimer: If you're not interested in reading a mostly off-topic, entirely speculative post about American politics, read no further.
Agreed that with the current climate of the global economy this election will likely have a ripple effect, at the least, on the current lagging growth trajectories and investor skepticism in the market. Since before Mayor Pete announced he was running, I've seen him as the most electable candidate except for maybe Amy Klobuchar. I've been surprised that she's been picking up steam lately and I actually think that she is pulling a good number of votes away from a similar voter base as Pete.
Besides that, Mayor Pete is still far from a favorite in the polls, but after the last election there is no doubt that the way these polls are conducted does not present an accurate representation of how people will cast their vote. Pete is still polling in New Hampshire about the same distance behind Sanders as he did for Iowa, so my thought is that we may see him pick up a bit more steam in the near-term as people realize he's more electable and has a better chance than they thought. There's also going to be a boon from fact that he's still likely one of the more underrepresented candidates and the media plus word-of-mouth will help him make up some of that gap as he gets more recognition.
The test, however, will be to see if he can make-up the gap on a national level, where he hasn't been able to focus his time and spending on as much. On the topic of spending, I already thought it was too late when Bloomberg started campaigning. His advertising budget is astronomical, I see multiple ads supporting him & attacking Trump every single evening. He's gaining some traction in the polls, but I don't think anything will come of it. He pledged to keep this spending rate up to support whomever ends up being the democratic candidate, but I actually think the juvenile approach that these ads take are turning off and pushing away voters in the long-run.
I don't expect any more major candidates at this point, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if there are still others arrogant enough to jump into this clusterF out of a sense of duty to, "protect the country." (from Trump) Any respectable candidate, if it were me, should want to stay far and clear away from the election at this point in time.
I genuinely can't believe the support that Sanders has been garnering again, though. If there's any weight to the idea that a Dem president will have a chilling effect on the markets, we will see it in full-force with Sanders. I've already positioned myself to try and hold minimal risk if the market has a down-turn, so I'm largely indifferent and look forward to seeing how things shake out. That said, I personally think Sanders is the most likely candidate to lose against Trump in general election. Seems like a waste of a vote, to me.
Nothing here is anything more than JMHO,
-Dubby