Thirsty, Forgettable Congressman Willing to Hop On Pretty Much Any 2020 Ticket
California Rep. Eric Swalwell is extremely thirsty to become (or at least run for) president. His leaked not-announcement that he was mulling a 2020 run almost immediately after the midterms was a pretty blatant headline-grab (only Politico really took the bait, but nice try), and now he’s decided to hitch his wagon to the very-real possibility of Joe Biden dusting off his campaigning shoes in 2020.
Per the Hill (emphasis mine):
In an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Swalwell was questioned about a tweet in which he appeared to speak favorably about the prospect of a ticket in which Swalwell would serve as Biden’s vice president.
“Are you prepared to run in 2020 as either a presidential or a vice presidential candidate?” Blitzer asked the California Democrat after a tweet surfaced showing that music star Cher had pitched the ticket.
“Yeah, or Swalwell-Biden. I’m open to entertaining both variations,” Swalwell answered.
The audacity of this dude thinking Joe Biden is going to agree to be his VP is funny, but let’s go back to the Cher part here. Did Cher pitch the ticket?
According to a different story in the Hill, she did, but uh… oh no (emphasis mine):
Pressed on the more youthful potential Biden running mate, Cher — who fundraised for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign — mentioned a pair of high-profile California Democrats.
“[Sen.] Kamala Harris or — I can’t remember what Swalwell’s first name is,” Cher said of Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Nobody can remember this guy’s name!! I mean, I can, now, after writing two blogs about how nobody knows who he is, which is maybe a brilliant media strategy if you think about it. If Eric Swalwell becomes president, will it be because of this blog? Or will it be Cher’s ringing endorsement?
Swalwell responded to the Hill, saying he “loved Cher’s music” and was “honored she’d consider me for that role.” He’s also at least self-aware that nobody knows who he is, saying, “I also give her a lot of credit for remembering the harder part of my name.”
Swalwell also responded to… a Quora post about Cher’s comments?
OK. Sure. This entire news cycle was spawned directly by the Hill’s “In the Know” column, which asked Cher for some spicy 2020 takes and got “I would love to see [Biden] with someone young,” which turned into the Swalwell mention, which turned into a Wolf Blitzer booking, which turned into this, a Splinter blog. A great job by the Hill, a great job by Eric Swalwell, a great job by me. 2020 is going to be a blast.