Would Sec of State Blinken be a good presidential candidate ?

Yes, but I see no path for him. He's efficient, thoughtful, principled. Like a lot of Biden's cabinet. MAGA world likes performative actors; Biden's folk are mostly flatter, more serious. Not something America likes to elect, unfortunately.

Antony Blinken would make a fantastic POTUS, but a terrible candidate not because he'd be terrible but because of the environment we find ourselves today. Firstly, facing facts (and don't blame the messenger), he's Jewish and this country will simply not elect a Jew to the presidency for too many reasons to list here. Second, he's a brilliant, thoughtful and skilled negotiator, and since we don't do negotiation, thought or brilliance in America, it would be held against him. Third, his communication skills and fluency in multiple languages would turn off half the electorate before he even announced his candidacy.

We used to value intelligence, education, experience and know-how in America. Now we value lies, obsfucation, doing nothing to solve our problems and frankly, sheer idiocy,

Blinken seems too wonky and intellectual to excite anybody. Kind of a calm, centrist Elizabeth Warren. I think it needs to be someone in the Biden style... plain spoken, everyman... former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, maybe Mitch Landrieu. Some nice, safe white guy who stands calmly in contrast to Trump. Newsome is too problematic given all the problems in California. You don't need an easy target. He needs to get out of California, do something else for a few years and distance himself from a mess that's not solely his making. He's a viable candidate, just not now.

R1 Never thought of it that way. But then again, no one in MAGA world would vote for any Dem candidate. I think Blinken would have to attract Independents and Never-Trump republicans, no ?

He seems ok OP. I don't care who it is as long as Dump doesn't get elected.

To add: he would be an excellent president. The experience is top drawer.

R6 = Gloria Upson

R2 Very informative post. I didn't realize he was Jewish, which (of course) creates a whole new set of hurdles today.

No More Wite Men!

No. He's like a pithed frog.

An empty husk.

Yes, I would vote for him.

Sure…

Blues-lawyer boomer hack, that’s what we need more of, sure….

He has hormonal issues.

No OP. He is a bureaucrat, not a politician.

He would, but a lot of people won’t vote for a Jew.

I'd vote for him, but I'm not American so that's no bloody good to any of you's. I like the "calm centrist" vibe he's got like R3 said

He's also kinda cute for an older guy

R2 is right though, being Jewish is unfortunately a bit of an issue along with all the other factors

I went to law school with Blinken and I would definitely vote for him.

However, he is Jewish and his father, a co-founder of the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, is immensely wealthy. Blinken had a privileged Manhattan upbringing. He attended the Dalton School (whose alumni include people like Anderson Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow) and later attended high school in Paris (where he had moved with his mother after her divorce from his father) and is a graduate of Harvard and Columbia Law School.

I think all of these are great qualifications, but he is not a man of the people and I'm afraid that would hurt his electability. The MAGA Neanderthals would be all over him.

I wouldn’t say the country will “never’ elect a Jewish president, but it would cost some votes.

He tries to give the opposite impression…..

I agree that Blinken’s background in finance would hurt him as a Jew due to prejudices. It hurt Mitt Romney, too, and he didn’t have a conspiracy theory of “international financiers” to contend with. A Jew would have to run as a critic of Wall St like Bernie Sanders or at least not come from Wall St (perhaps Josh Shapiro).

If he ran unopposed he'd still lose

Can he eat solids and make it up a flight of stairs?

I’d give him the Nod! (Winkin’)

No

Rhymes with Lincoln.

[quote] I wouldn’t say the country will “never’ elect a Jewish president

It won’t. Not as long as Israel and AIPAC is around. Americans will always be suspicious of which country the candidate is working for.

Does he have any known domestic policy views? Standard issue establishmentarian, or anything more interesting?

I get that foreign policy is important, and he's very qualified for that, but there is actually another whole side to being president.

In 1960, “Americans will never elect a Catholic as President because he’ll take his orders from the Pope”.

Right, r29, and if the trashy Kennedy family’s mob ties hadn’t fudged the votes in Chicago, Kennedy would have never ended up in the White House.

Hello?

There are still too many conservative Christians in the US for a Jewish person to be elected POTUS.