Howard Schultz could make himself an anti-Trump Trump. But where's the demand?
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is seen during his book promotion tour Monday in Manhattan. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens
When it comes to wealthy hotshots looking to parlay money into power, Howard Schultz 2020 offers a few surface similarities to Donald Trump 2016.
There is the business association with famous brands, which in Schultz's case is Starbucks.
There is the posture of independence from the national party duopoly.
There is the lack of prior electoral experience.
There is the past venture into professional sports, with Schultz the former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, which created tabloid feuds along the way.
There is the outerborough image and even a question or two about a wiseguy or two he socialized with long ago.
And yet the personal histories of Trump and Schultz differ remarkably.
Schultz, 66, the Jewish son of a Brooklyn truck driver, grew up in public housing and attended public schools.
He is self-made, an undisputed billionaire who started out as a salesman for the Xerox Corp.
He speaks in complete sentences and says he cannot run as a Democrat because he so opposes left-of-center prescriptions that would add to the national debt.
It is hard to guess which voters he might attract. Committed anti-Trump conservatives are likely to focus on an insurgent GOP primary and might dislike Schultz's liberal social-issue leanings.
Many Democrats instantly saw a Schultz presence on the ballot as a threat to siphon votes from their eventual nominee.
But their fears about the coffee magnate might be a bit overcaffeinated.
In 1992, a wealthy and quirky independent, Ross Perot, offered an alternative to incumbent Republican President George H.W. Bush and first-time Democratic nominee Bill Clinton.
Perot's impact, netting 19 percent of the popular tally but no electoral votes, has been debated now for a quarter-century. Studies have indicated an equal siphoning from both major-party candidates, but the Bush camp insisted Perot derailed the incumbent Republican White House.
Democrats have complained about the alleged spoiler effect of third-party candidates Ralph Nader in 2000 and Jill Stein in 2016. But the question is always whether in their absence, their voters would have instead come out for the Democratic nominee.
Undoubtedly there will be other third-party candidacies regardless of whether Schultz jumps in.
Trump reportedly told supporters in private that a Schultz candidacy would help him. Maybe.
Or maybe that was just the president's usual preening.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
