Would it have killed them to announce they weren’t running well before I placed them into my first Power Rankings?? So selfish. Michael Bloomberg was ranked ninth earlier this week, while Sherrod Brown clocked in at eighth today. I was extremely bullish on a potential Brown candidacy, but in his ranking, like in Bloomberg, I was already uncertain that they would even run.
Fortunately, my top four, which will be explained tomorrow, is still intact (for the moment, anyway). Bloomberg and Brown announcing they weren’t running in such a narrow time frame leads me to believe they’ve heard that Joe Biden has made up his mind and is about to jump in. Both would have pursued the types of voters that are interested in Biden, and neither was in a better position to go after those voters. Biden must certainly be happy with these two developments.
I also think Amy Klobuchar benefits, as she’ll be able to expand her Midwest appeal into Ohio, Kentucky, and Western Pennsylvania, and she will have an easier time at Wisconsin and Michigan as well. Bernie Sanders will also pick up some union support and more white male voters. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker are probably bummed, as they likely hoped Brown and Bloomberg would help depress Biden’s and Sanders’s early support. Aside from Booker, who probably stands to benefit in the tri-state area without Bloomberg in the race, these three candidates were generally not splitting support with these two candidates-that-never-were.
See you tomorrow for the top tier of presidential candidates! (Make sure to catch up with the first four parts in the meantime.)
Presidential Politics for America 
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