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Simon Ateba
@simonateba

Just before the Democrats were to choose their nominee for the 2020 presidential election, I sat down at a coffee shop near the White House. Two female Democratic strategists sat near me and began to discuss whom they would push for President. They did not pay attention to me, so I was forced to listen in.

They said the person should not be a Black man, as the country would not accept another Black man immediately after Obama. The person should come from somewhere other than California or New York. With Trump in power, they said the person should be a White man, preferably from the East Coast. Listening to them and how they eliminated everybody I had heard of was fascinating. Not long after, the Democratic primaries began, and they eventually picked Joe Biden.

Months ago, I sat down again at a coffee shop after my morning run in the Woodley Park Zoo/Adams Morgan area in Washington, D.C. Two male Democratic strategists, one a former Secretary of the government, began to discuss the 2024 presidential election. It was a private coffee shop, and only the three of us were there early in the morning.

They said Biden would be the nominee for the Democrats and Trump for the Republicans. On election night, it would come down to one state, Pennsylvania, specifically the eastern side of Pennsylvania. As a result, the Biden team has already deployed someone who had resigned to that side of the country, and they will be there for months until election day. It was so fascinating that I could not help but press record, not for public consumption but to be sure I had heard them correctly.

Now, they may be wrong, and the election might be decided in several battleground states as many things could change between now and then, but I was so surprised that they could be so specific as if they were seeing into the future...only time will tell.

I often wonder who chooses the leaders: the people, the strategists, the special interest groups, or even the deep state?

7:25 PM · Mar 21, 2024