If Starbucks Corp.’s visionary and former longtime chief executive Howard Schultz runs for president — a declaration he’s still mulling after testing the waters this week — experts say it’s likely the coffee chain’s business will be exposed to the candidate’s popularity, or lack thereof.

A “socially liberal” Schultz has floated a potential run for president in 2020 as an independent, which has prompted groans, and outright anger, from Democrats fearful that the move could dilute their side of the ticket and hand a re-election to President Trump.

At a New York City event to launch his book “From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America,” one attendee had choice words for Schultz.

Read:Customers at Starbucks in Trump Tower are lukewarm on Howard Schultz’s presidential ambitions

Mark Kalinowski, chief executive of Kalinowski Equity Research, says the move would hurt Starbucks SBUX, -2.07% despite the fact that its customers come from across the political spectrum.

“Starbucks’ fairly broad U.S. customer base — it is, after all, the #2 restaurant brand in the U.S. as measured by domestic system-wide sales — nevertheless skews somewhat toward the Democratic side of the political spectrum,” Kalinowski wrote. “[I]f Mr. Schultz is widely seen as doing something meaningful that could help tip the U.S. presidential election toward the current Republican incumbent, the relevant question for Starbucks’ shareholders might not be if Starbucks’ business would be harmed by Mr. Schultz‘s actions — only by how much.”

According to Axios, Starbucks’ current CEO Kevin Johnson sent an email to the company’s 350,000 global employees saying, “As a company, we don’t get involved in national political campaigns. And nothing changes for Starbucks.”

But the company could be thrust into politics whether it wants to be or not.

“We’re guessing (but we’ll be clear, this is only our guess) that Starbucks will steer clear of selling Schultz’s latest book at its stores this upcoming week because it knows that having him make a serious run as an independent for U.S. president is unlikely to be in Starbucks’ best interest,” Kalinowski wrote. “Even having him test the waters for a possible run in this way should be making some of the folks at the Starbucks Support Center (headquarters) in Seattle a little jittery.”

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Overall, the company could be in relatively good standing with shareholders after its recently issued outlook. Worries, if they are emerging, for now hinge more on China’s slowdown than the U.S. election.

A sentiment survey conducted by Stifel analysts prior to Schultz’s announcement indicated stock underperformance in the near term, but Stifel reminded readers that the company was upbeat about fiscal 2019.

“It was our impression management struck a favorable tone during the presentation toward the U.S. same-restaurant sales momentum from the several early strategies, including enhancing the in-store experience, ramping the velocity of beverage innovation and improving digital connection, and we believe F1Q19 U.S. same-restaurant sales will show continued momentum,” the analysts wrote.

“On the other hand, however, increased competition and more modest economic growth in China — Starbucks’ other growth engine — could be a mitigating factor.”

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Stifel rates Starbucks shares hold.