Favor bank: Potential presidential candidates are collecting IOUs for 2020

[DonViejo]

Democrats with an eye on the White House are campaigning for midterm candidates — but their cash, endorsements and appearances could pay off later.

by Alex Seitz-Wald / Apr.22.2018 / 7:59 AM ET

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama didn't pull off one of the greatest political upsets of the century alone. He beat Hillary Clinton in 2008 with a little help from friends he made on the campaign trail two years earlier when he was a senator stumping for Democrats around the country in the midterms.

Today, with a potential midterm wave building, the 2020 presidential race is off to a rolling start as a host of potential Democratic candidates look to help themselves by helping others, quietly stepping up their political work to curry favor with key party members ahead of what could be a presidential primary contest with a double digit number of hopefuls competing.

"Then-Senator Obama was one of the least-established nominees of a major party in a very long time," said Bill Burton, who worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and later joined Obama's campaign. "Part of what made it work was the fact that he went to dozens upon dozens of congressional districts and states all around the country in 2006."

"It was invaluable to the Democratic cause that cycle," Burton said, "and was the beginning of a pretty strong case that he could run a presidential campaign across the country and win."

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/favor-bank-potential-presidential-candidates-are-collecting-ious-2020-n868066