Poll: Michelle Obama and Joe Biden tied for top Dem 2020 choice
February 27, 2019
Gage Skidmore / CCL
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is selling out arenas as she discusses Becoming, her best-selling memoir, in front of live audiences across the country. According to sales data from the online vendor Ticket Club, Mrs. Obama’s book tour was the best-selling event on Monday, beating out the NCAA Final Four college basketball championship and the PGA Masters Golf Tournament.
However, Obama isn’t packing concert halls because of her literary genius; the former first lady’s political staying-power and popularity among the progressive left is unmatched, explaining why recent polls suggest that Obama — who says she has no plans to run for President — is nonetheless tied with former Vice President Joe Biden as Democratic voters’ top choice for presidential candidate in 2020.
Rock star status
Before Obama’s memoir ever hit bookstores, she was selling out stadiums to talk about it. Tickets from the first 10-city tour ranged from $30 for nosebleeds seats to $3,000 to get up close and personal with the former first lady. A single VIP seat in Dallas sold for $10,000, prompting some fans to complain about attendance being inaccessible to the poor.
Obama’s “Beyoncé-level sales” are expected to gross millions, and tickets to her appearance at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. on May 11 sold out faster than artists like Lady Gaga, Pink and Adam Lambert. “You don’t see it every day, but she’s not a typical author,” said Deborah Speer, an editor for the concert-industry trade magazine Pollstar. “Michelle Obama is kind of a rock star herself.”
Becoming was the most successful hardcover book in 2018, selling more than 2 million copies in its first 15 days alone. The first lady’s memoir is even a No. 1 bestseller in countries like Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, and Spain, a testament to Obama’s worldwide celebrity.
The early favorite
What explains Obama’s unrivaled success? The same qualities that make her so appealing as a potential Democratic presidential candidate; the former first lady has positioned herself above the political fray.
While Obama insists that she won’t take on President Donald Trump in 2020, a substantial number of Democrat and independent voters are still listing her as the person they think “should become the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020.”
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A Hill-HarrisX poll released on Tuesday found that 25 percent of Democratic respondents said they would vote for Obama in a Democratic Party primary, choosing the undeclared Chicago native over nine other nationally prominent candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).
Only former Vice President Joe Biden performed as well in Tuesday’s poll as Obama. Although he has yet to declare his candidacy, Biden is widely expected to run, and he promised to announce his decision this month. However, he previously told supporters he would decide before the end of 2018, a sign that Biden may be second-guessing his election chances.
Icing on the cake
By not engaging in partisan shouting matches and steering clear of serious political topics, Obama has avoided controversy — preserving her reputation and public image in the process. Obama resonates with so many Democratic voters precisely because she has refused to run for political office.
“Because she’s never been a candidate, she’s never been on the ballot, she’s avoided a certain degree of scrutiny that candidates face. And so she’s all icing for people, it’s all good,” suggested Molly Murphy, a partner with the Democratic consulting firm ALG Research.
While Democrats may look to social icons like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama as their best hope for winning the presidency, the race for the White House is not just a popularity contest. The moment a potential candidate throws their hat in the ring, a cottage industry of reporters, pundits, and lobbyists springs up to take them down.
But that’s not to say that Obama’s star quality isn’t impressive. The former first lady is the most popular public figure among millennials, and she would give any Democrat contender a run for their money.
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