But a growing list of Democratic governors, senators and House members are turning their attention to the possibility of a primary in two years that doesn’t include Biden, given the president’s advanced age and dismal approval ratings. Roughly half of Americans don’t expect Biden, now 79, will run for a second term, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll.
The talks between Khanna and current and former Sanders advisers offer a window into the hushed, behind-the-scenes conversations that Democrats are having in the event that Biden doesn’t seek reelection. They also demonstrate that a key part of Sanders’ brain trust is looking to Khanna, a close ally to the Vermont senator, as his heir apparent.
“I think Ro would be a very effective candidate,” said Longabaugh, who stressed that he was only referring to a scenario in which Biden did not run again in 2024. “This guy has a message that’s very powerful. … Ro is basically saying, ‘Is there a way in which we can reconstruct the economy so that all of the wealth is not just being generated on the East Coast, West Coast, or out of my congressional district?’”
In an interview, Khanna made clear that he had no intention of challenging Biden and expressed strong support for his reelection. But he did not close the door to 2028.
“I’m not running in 2024,” Khanna said. “I fully expect the president to run and intend to support him strongly. If for some reason he didn’t, that would be very disappointing, but there are a number of other candidates who I think I could get behind who would make sure that the Democrats beat Donald Trump.”
As for a race beyond that, he said that “after the ’24 cycle will be a time where America will start to look to the future.”
Khanna has long operated like someone interested in running for president. He’s spent considerable time in the early-voting states campaigning with Sanders as a co-chair of his 2020 presidential bid.
Khanna has also leveraged his connections in Silicon Valley to bring technology jobs to the early presidential states. In 2018, Khanna toured historically Black colleges and universities in South Carolina with Rep. Jim Clyburn and later helped establish a partnership between Zoom and Claflin University. During the 2020 presidential cycle, Khanna used his campaign funding to place more than $100,000 worth of print ads in Iowa, which boosted his efforts to create tech jobs in the state, including in rural areas. Khanna also helped deliver a $1 million grant for Iowa State University, as well as scholarships, digital apprenticeships and other investments to the state.
More recently, Khanna has appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “Real Time with Bill Maher” to publicize his book, “Dignity in the Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us,” as well as at in-person and virtual events in Pennsylvania, New York and California.
“People aren’t going to early states at this point because they’re not interested,” said Democratic consultant Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of campaigns in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire. “It’s crystal-clear that Ro Khanna is a part of the next generation of progressive leadership in America.”
The three-term congressman cuts a unique profile: The 45-year-old is a die-hard liberal who happens to also represent the startup paradise of Silicon Valley. He calls himself a “progressive capitalist” and envisions a future in which America’s eroding democracy is strengthened by spreading well-paying technology jobs across the heartland.
Khanna’s supporters…
Read More: Sanders camp quietly pushes Khanna presidential bid