Hints of what is to come

I am not ready.

I understand why Dems who want to be president have begun coming out of the woodwork. They do have to test out their shows on the road right now. They have to establish who they are and why they want to be the Big Dog. For what it is worth (nothing), I am completely neutral among candidates at this stage -- excluding only Tulsi Gabbard who seems a putrid opportunist.

But I see hints of good developments. The Trump shit show seems to be driving Dem politicians away from their worst habit: trying to be all things to all people by obscuring the issues that divide us.

Two tidbits that flew by today:

• The Washington Post's David Weigel concluded from South Carolina where Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders made themselves visible for MLK Day:

  A party that used to triangulate around the demands of black leaders in the South now sees a strong, activated black vote as the most obvious part of a winning coalition.

  If you want to keep up on the 2020 campaign, read Weigel; he's the most interesting, diligent, wide ranging political reporter out there.

• Meanwhile that wise, warmed-over Clintonite, Simon Rosenberg used an extended interview with Leon Krauze on Trumpcast to urge aspiring Democratic presidents to "lean in" on immigration. By this he seemed to mean to explain to the U.S. population that immigration is good for the country, essential to all of our well-being including that of the immigrants, and that a policy both humane and widely beneficial is possible. These may seem obvious pronouncements until you consider the source: Rosenberg and his ilk of Washington policy purveyors have spent decades urging Dems to muddy their stances on immigration, to try to be all things to all people -- while grassroots groups raged at their timidity. No more. Thanks Donald.

It will be vital in 2020 for us all to unite around whoever ends up securing the Democratic nomination -- but there are already strong hints that our necessary Big Tent may feel far more healthy, less odiferous, to progressives than has been true for awhile.