We had a great time last night at New Haven’s Institute Library. My guest Bill Scher was a fount of knowledge and wit about the Democratic nomination process and why the Democrats do the (often peculiar) things they do. The audience was small but engaged. One of the questioners’ questions is the subject of today’s Quick Take.

Are the Democrats really hoping someone new will jump in the race?

That was the gist of it. It appeared inspired by a piece in yesterday’s Post: “Anxiety rises among Democrats worried about party’s prospects in 2020.” The piece was mostly a platform for speculating whether Hillary Clinton will run again (she won’t). It seems to have evoked anxiety in readers, though, as if no Democrat can beat Donald Trump.

Bill said anyone entering the race at this stage is going to be crushed by media attention, so much so that the first day of campaigning might end up being the last. My answer is a bit more homespun. The Democrats are anxious. They should be anxious. Ten months into the nomination process, they are getting even more anxious. That anxiety is starting to spill over publicly, where it gets picked up by the press.

Will someone new jump in? Yeah, it’s possible, but not likely. This is the time of the season where people start talking crazy. Journalists love it when people talk crazy. Fact is, any of these Democrats would enjoy the same electorate going into the general election. Bottom line: anxiety is natural and healthy but don’t make much of it.

—John Stoehr

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• Lizzie Skurnick argues that the press is freezing out Kamala Harris.

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