With there being 28 Democrats who announced they were running, and only 8 left now, these primary elections have been trying to say the least. The original Democratic presidential field was the largest it has been in 40 years, which goes to prove how hard Democrats are fighting to find someone to beat President Trump.
While all the Democrats have the same underlying goal, they still find themselves disagreeing on how to achieve it. Not only has there been mayhem among the candidates, but there also appears to be trouble among the election itself.
The Iowa caucus reported inconsistent voting counts along with technical difficulties. Mayor Pete Buttigieg was reported having won slightly over Senator Bernie Sanders, but both Sanders and Buttigieg are requesting a recount due to the results coming out within a thousandth of a percentage point.
As for the New Hampshire primary, Mayor Buttigieg is leading with 22 delegates, with Sanders trailing closely behind with 21 and Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden with eight, seven and six delegates respectively. While there have been many candidates who have come and gone, here are a few of the most notable who announced they were running for candidacy.
No longer Running:
Beto O’Rourke
O’Rourke, who was known for his passionate table standing policies, was a Congressman from Texas who formed his platform around immigration, foreign policy and public option healthcare. O’Rourke was met with great excitement when he announced his run for president after losing his Senate election to Ted Cruz. The motivation for his candidacy quickly died out after his followers felt that he couldn’t come up with real policy platforms with plans to incite them.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is a U.S. Senator and previous Attorney General from California who decided to run for President on Jan. 21 of 2019, and she dropped out less than 11 months later. Harris focused her platform on proposing a middle-class tax cut (LIFT act), Medicare for all and election security. Harris fell short with demographics she expected to do well in, such as the African-American community, which ultimately was one of the reasons she ended up dropping out. African American voters rejected the idea of voting for her simply because of her race when they felt as though her history of increased incarceration of black people spoke louder than her words.
Andrew Yang
Yang, one of the few candidates who ran with no political background, is an entrepreneur who focused his platform on not being a politician, but rather “a parent and a patriot,” similar to Trump. His platform consisted of human-centered capitalism, reducing the student loan burden and southern burden security. He was one of the most recent dropouts which could be due to him receiving no pledged delegates in the Iowa caucus. He is now a CNN political commentator, where he earned high praise from political observers.
Still Running:
Bernie Sanders
Sanders is a U.S. Senator from Vermont who remains a strong possible candidate for the nominee, especially due to his widespread popularity among young people. Sanders describes himself as a “Democratic-Socialist” which can be seen through his proposals such as tuition-free public college and Medicare for all. Sanders is no new face to the Democratic primaries, seeing as though he ran in the last election and fell short to Hilary Clinton. Some Democrats are reluctant to support Bernie due to his extreme progressiveness, which they believe is too far left to beat Trump.
Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg is a veteran who served a seven-month tour in Afghanistan and served as a Mayor in Indiana. Buttigieg, who has surprised the country with his comeback, went from being an unlikely candidate to winning the Iowa caucus. Buttigieg is also creating history as the first openly gay man to run for office. His platform consists of eliminating the electoral college, expanding the Supreme Court to 15 seats and increasing funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Even though Buttigieg is the youngest candidate on the ballot, some young people think he’s a “boomer in millennial’s clothing” due to his political attitudes not being as far left as some want.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren is a Harvard professor and Senator from Massachusetts. One of the issues Warren finds herself the most passionate about is income inequality due to big corporations’ corruption. She also often calls for a “big, structural change” which she plans to do by creating affordable housing, combating the opioid crisis and creating a public option for drugs. Warren also remains popular with young people, especially young women. Warren does, however, have backlash due to her past claims of Native American heritage, which many constituents find insulting.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden is the candidate with the closest thing to experience as President. After serving two terms as President Obama’s Vice President, Biden is now seeking the Democratic nomination. Biden has also run for President twice before, and he calls this election his “last chance to run for president.” His platform focuses on healthcare for all, fighting wealth inequality and sexual assault on college campuses. Biden seems to be more popular with the older demographic, based on his ability to connect with working-class Americans. He, however, faces controversy with some voters due to his friendliness with Republicans and unwanted touching to women.
Although there are more candidates still running, these appear to be the frontrunners for the election and they have gained the most publicity. Whether you’re voting Republican or Democrat this election, your vote matters, and make sure you’re registered to vote by clicking here.
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