VT Insights: Bernie Sanders back in the 2020 presidential buzz

Aki Soga | Burlington Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Bernie Sanders invites top CEOs to town hall event with employees Bernie Sanders potentially gearing up for another White House run, taking aim at 4 major CEO’s. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story.

Vermont's Bernie Sanders is right at the center of another round of speculation about who might gearing up for a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

In a New York Times story published Sunday, Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin write about "a small advance guard of Democrats who appear to be moving deliberately toward challenging President Trump."

The list includes Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Sen.Kamala Harris of California.

The two writers conclude their list with, "And Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the runner-up in the 2016 primaries, has been acting like a candidate as he considers another race."

CNN on Saturday published a story that led with, "Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will have a busy next 72 hours as he dives into the Supreme Court fight while stumping for four 2018 candidates in three states," Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The triple byline story by Eric Bradner, Gregory Krieg and Caroline Kenny notes, "These are all states that could be important in the 2020 Democratic primary and general election."

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that "Sanders a 2016 presidential candidate, was among the speakers Sunday addressing several thousand American Federation of Teachers members assembled on the third day of their biennial national convention."

And on July 9, Vox wrote that for potential Democratic 2020 contenders, including Sanders, "opposing President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh isn’t just about this fight — it’s also a chance to make as big a mark as possible ahead of the upcoming presidential race."

Finally, on July 6, The Washington Post published another version of Aaron Blake's "The top 15 Democratic presidential candidates for 2020, ranked."

Sanders was rated No. 1, again, and here's what Blake had to say about it: "Sanders for some reason keeps insisting he won’t become a Democrat. He announced recently that he’ll seek the Democratic nomination in his 2018 reelection campaign, but also that if (and when) he wins the nomination, he’ll turn it down. Given his clear interest in seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, it seems an unnecessary bit of partisan hairsplitting."

Sanders had held the top spot the Washington Post's three previous rankings going back to September 2017.

Warren was second on the latest list, as she was in the previous on published on March 24, a spot he worked up to from fourth in the initial ranking, followed by Harris, Biden and Booker.

Aki Soga is engagement editor for The Burlington Free Press. Email him at asoga@freepressmedia.com or chat with him on Twitter: @asoga