COUNT ONE IN – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:  It's not too early to think about the 2020 presidential election.  The Republicans may have just gotten the first primary challenger to Donald Trump.  From Daily Mail:

Billionaire Mark Cuban has said that if he were to run for president in 2020, then he would run as a Republican and would therefore challenge the incumbent, Donald Trump, in the party's primary.

'I think there’s a place for somebody who is socially a centrist but I’m very fiscally conservative,' Cuban said in a Sunday night interview at his Dallas, Texas home with Fox News show 'OBJECTified'.

Cuban discussed with the show's host, Harvey Levin, how he fashions himself as 'fiercely independent' but would decide to run as a Republican under the United States two-party system.

'We’re going into an era where people want someone who comes up with solutions. I think we’re going into a time where you need somebody who can connect to people and relate to people at a base level and appreciate what they’re going through.

'And I think I qualify on each of those,' Cuban said.

The Dallas Mavericks owner also said that he is asked '100 times a day' whether or not he would run. He said that on a 1-10 scale of the likelihood of him running, he is currently at a '4'.

Sounds more like a six to me.

Cuban also discussed how he initially supported Donald Trump. He eventually endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Speaking of Trump, he said: 'I liked the fact that he was honest, outspoken, that he wasn't like I told him a Stepford candidate.'

In late September, Cuban said that Trump needs to be able to 'take the blowback' after criticizing the NFL and revoking a White House invitation to Golden State Warriors' star Stephen Curry.

'If the president's going to say something condemning a person, an industry, a sport, then he's got to be able to take the blowback that's going to come back,' Cuban told NBC News.

COMMENT:  I wonder if we'll see a trend toward businessmen and businesswomen running for the presidency.  I would not be surprised.

Of course, at this stage everything is speculation.  Donald Trump may not run again.  He may not be able to for some medical reason.  He might be an impeached president.  We might have another serious terror attack.  Who knows.

I don't see a particularly strong bench in either party. 

October 23,  2017