Two billionaires had already entered the 2020 presidential race.
And both of them – California hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, and New York media mogul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg – have flamed out.
Now, however, another billionaire might be ready to toss his own wallet into the ring.
Mark Cuban – the investor, “Shark Tank” star, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks – is hinting he could enter the race.
“Everything’s a reset right now. If this would’ve been a month ago, I would have said absolutely not,” Cuban told Axios. “But obviously things are crazy, things are changing. So I’ll keep an open mind. But I seriously doubt it.”
He insisted it’s not too late to joint the fray even as former Vice President Joe Biden seals the Democratic nomination now that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. is officially out of the race.
“Oh, it’s plausible,” Cuban told Axios. “It’s definitely doable. It’s just a question: Should you do it? That’s what I don’t know.”
Cuban didn’t get into the details of how he could make a late entry “doable.”
He didn’t say if he was looking for a way to wrest the Democratic nomination from Biden, or simply waiting in the wings in case an unusual turn of events forced Biden out of the race.
He also could potentially run as a third-party candidate –– a Ross Perot for the 2020s.
But whatever route he takes… if he takes it… he appears to be aiming for not only Democratic voters, but in particular the progressives who don’t trust the former vice president.
In a series of interviews, Cuban is speaking their language, to some extent. He’s hammered away at the populist themes that Sanders and his supporters tend to share, saying the coronavirus pandemic and its eventual aftermath would be a chance to reevaluate the economy for those at the lower end of the wage scale.
“This is a time as a reset where we really have to reevaluate how we treat workers, how people are paid,” he told WMUR, noting his own employees will continue to be paid throughout the shutdowns.
He added that he supports a $15 minimum wage.
Cuban argued that a higher minimum wage shouldn’t be a left-wing talking point, but rather one supported by true capitalists.
Any less than that, he said, could lead to some workers seeking public assistance to make ends meet.
“That’s not capitalism,” he said. “That’s the ultimate socialism. I’m taking from other taxpayers to subsidize my company, my employees. And so, yes, I’m a firm believer that at least $15 has got to be the minimum national minimum wage.”
Cuban has even come up with a bumper-sticker-ready name for his various policy proposals: America 2.0.
Despite his public comments, the odds of a “Cuban revolution” in 2020 seem low.
First, there’s the fact that the Democratic Party has never simply tossed its nominee out and given it to a complete outsider, and it’s unlikely to happen this time especially to a longtime establishment figure like Biden.
Even if Biden left the race, Sanders supporters would throw an absolute fit if the candidate who finished in second place wasn’t next in line for the nod.
Second, if Cuban runs as an independent, he certainly knows he would divide the opposition and give Trump an easy path to reelection.
And third, the very progressives he’s courting are unlikely to play along. The Sanders wing of the party, for example, is notoriously hostile toward successful businesspeople and investors… and especially so toward the billionaire class.
A $15 minimum wage won’t change that.
Dan Riffle, a policy advisor to Sanders follower Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), even came up with a phrase for the Mark Cubans of the world that’s taken off among the far left: “Every billionaire is a policy failure.”
Certainly, the same wing of the party wouldn’t want to turn a “policy failure” into its leader.
So while Cuban is playing coy… there’s a good chance he’s simply hoping to influence the process, and keep his hat in the ring for 2024, when the race could be wide open on both sides of the aisle.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.