I think it was unlikely he'd have gone Republican, and Democrats would have been wary about going with a billionaire in 45's wake. He was probably a non-starter already.

Why should Zuckerberg unnecessarily antagonize one half of the voters by becoming a party's candidate? No, Zuckerberg's best bet would be to run as an independent. Both parties are in shambles anyway and would be more a liability than a help for someone like him.

Zuckerberg is too smart to think a third party candidate has any chance of winning. The parties being in shambles does nothing to change that, and if anything it's going to heighten tribal affiliation with those two labels.

I definitely think that both mainstream parties being in shambles absolute does have an impact on the chance of a third party candidate winning.

If there was any election that a third party had a chance, it would be next.

> Democrats would have been wary about going with a billionaire in 45's wake

The draft Oprah people would disagree with that statement.

You mean the daft Oprah people right?

We need a constitutional amendment banning anyone with a TV show from being president.

What about YouTube channels?

Let draft Oprah people have their moment, okay?

> Democrats would have been wary about going with a billionaire in 45's wake

Given that the dems seem to do anything they can to avoid actually winning elections, I'd have to agree

Sheryl Sandberg would help Zuck get the feminist vote because of the "Lean In" movement

> To be honest, he’s probably too white to win a Democratic primary too.

Yeah, because Hillary Clinton is black, right?

...despite being jewish.

I suspect that among people who are not antisemetic, being Jewish doesn't preclude someone from being considered white. I know some consider being Jewish to be an ethnic or racial identity rather than just a religious identification, but I don't think most people do.

Most people consider it a racial identity I think, it depends on the person. I have some jewish friends that might identify themselves as jewish, and some that might identify as both jewish and white. Seems that in practice its a ratial identity first and a religion second. One friend doesn't follow the religion whatsoever, but has jewish blood so is technically jewish, but still overall identifies as white.

Ask Black and Hispanic voters if they care about that.

Being Jewish didn’t seem to do Dianne Feinstein any good. California Democrats dropped her in favor of a Hispanic candidate, Kevin de León.

Correction: California Democrats dropped her in favor of a liberal candidate, Kevin de León.

I suspect the party endorsement is strategic; Feinstein has been polling way above de Léon and has stronger endorsements and leads in every demographic group. If the party can shift some of the support to de Léon in the primary (last poll I saw had them at something like 46-17, with de Léon’s 17 still above any Republican) they maximize the chance that even if the Republicans can solidify behind one candidate, Feinstein and de Léon can get the top two spots in the jungle primary and be the two candidates that advance to the general; if that happens, the party can essentially shift general election spending to other races.

OTOH, endorsing Feinstein would reinforce her position, undercut de Léon, and make it more likely that a Republican takes second in the primary, advancing to the general.

You’re right, I’m sure demographics have absolutely nothing to do with it. And this isn’t a trend that’s going to continue. And it’s not one that many progressives, including white progressives, are actively advocating for.

I didn't say it had nothing to do with it, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see Feinstein face a more progressive white dude either. She's far too far to the right to be a reasonable senator for California in the current political environment.

Russians hacked his bid for POTUS 2020 already.

So he sold it to them?

Did it ever have a real chance?

They were planning to use Cambridge Analytica to make it happen /s

In all reality, the common public is probably indifferent to his running, at this point, and I believe this current series of events hasn't changed much.

With Trump's win it feels wrong to rule anyone out this early.

It was easy enough to see Trump coming ahead of time though. He’s been talking on and off about running for a long time, and that speech more recently where he called the Chinese “motherfuckers” in particular should have made it clear that what he might do could be effective. Once you accept that he’s running and what his style would be like, it’s easy to see him getting the nomination.

It’s not easy to see Zuckerberg getting the nomination under pretty much any circumstances.

The major sports books had him as a 4:1 underdog on the afternoon of election day.

It's easy to say in hindsight but nobody gave the guy much of a chance until it was too late.

As a lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills, 4:1 underdog chances sounds pretty good.

Fair enough. I suppose people mostly felt the same way about Trump winning a GOP primary as I do about Zuck winning a Democratic primary, too.

Most people didn't think Trump had a chance either.

He is forced to testify to the EU and Congress about how he looked the other way about his massive data collection system.

He's not forced to testify to the EU (or the UK), though to not do so may be undesirable.

That's a distinction without a difference, if there ever was one.

I don’t think he was ever running for President. I think he was realizing that Facebook CEO is a position of more political influence than perhaps even the US President.

It's not

Zuckerberg can’t launch nukes but he can manipulate the emotions and attitudes of entire countries and societies. In many way his power is more terrifying because he can exercise it in secret and with no repercussions. I mean, if this Cambridge Analytica story is to be believed, he had a large influence in selecting Trump as president, and continues to have this power even if Cambridge Analytica does not.

His power is not more terrifying in any way