Meet the Democratic Candidates

This election cycle, twenty-eight democrats threw their hats into the ring. As of February third, only twelve remain. The variety of choices has created a dilemma for voters, leaving many undecided. The wide range of policies and backgrounds further complicates things, and it is difficult to keep track of them all. What started as one of the most diverse selection of candidates has slowly grown whiter and whiter, to the disappointment of many voters who had been hoping for this year’s race to set a new precedent for future diversity in politics. Joe Biden: former Delaware Senator and Barack Obama’s Vice PresidentA more moderate, safer alternative to many of his more radical opponents, Joe Biden promises to unite the country. He uses his down-to-earth personality, “No Malarkey” bus tour, and humble, middle class childhood in order to connect with the working class members of the electorate. He is hugely supportive of unity and bipartisanship within the government. A major draw to Biden’s campaign is his connection to the Obama administration, which he was the Vice President of. His campaign bears many similarities to Obama-era policies, most notably his healthcare plan. Sometimes called the “Affordable Care Act 2.0,” it promises to build off of the old version. However, the Biden campaign is not without its own controversies and blunders. One of the most notable was when he said, in a speech to the Asian and Latino Coalition in Iowa, “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented, as white kids.” He also told a factually misleading war story, shared a confusing anecdote about when he met a gang leader named “Corn Pop,” and called game developers “creeps.” All of these missteps have led to concerns about Joe Biden being too old-fashioned or out of touch to be president. Despite that, he is still the highest polling of the candidates and is being heralded by some as the best choice to defeat Trump.  Michael Bloomberg: billionaire media executive and former mayor of New York CityMichael Bloomberg, is a relative latecomer to the presidential race, only having announced his candidacy in October. He is a supporter of gun control and protecting the government. However, his views on taxes are more akin to those of a conservative. In fact, Bloomberg was registered Republican when he ran for mayor of New York City. Another interesting fact about him is that his campaign is funded entirely with his own money, which was the reason why he has not qualified for some of the debates. One source of concern among potential voters is the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy which he had implemented during his time as mayor of New York. Many criticized the policy due to concerns of racism, as it disproportionately targeted Black and Latinx people. He has since reversed his stance, however some suspect that the apology was a way to win over the constituency of Black voters and earn back their trust.  Pete Buttigieg: veteran and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana“Mayor Pete,” as he is often called, presents a moderate alternative to progressive candidates such as Warren and Sanders. At the age of 37, he has already proven himself to be a political wunderkind and would be the youngest president in history. Alongside that distinction, he would also gain the title of the U.S.’s first ever openly gay president. Policy-wise, he wants to bring about a big generational change in the government, create “Medicare for all who want it,” and to increase the number of supreme court seats. Already, he has a fervent group of supporters and has shown formidable fundraising ability. One thing to take note of about his medicare plan is that it would still charge premiums and would not be universal coverage, like the plans suggested by other candidates. The reason for his position on medicare is that if medicare for all is created, he believes that it would be harmful for the insurance industry. Buttigieg is highly educated (he went to Harvard and is a Rhodes scholar) and speaks eight languages (Norweigan, French, Spanish, Arabic, Dari, Maltese, Italian, and, of course, English). However, he too, isn’t without his detractors. He has had trouble winning over some people, especially Black voters. In an attempt to fix this issue, he created his “Douglass Plan” (named after Frederick Douglass); however, that has not been able to fully solve the problem. Another source of controversy is his past, when he worked for McKinsey and Company. McKinsey, in the past, has been involved in numerous corrupt practices, from trying to increase opioid sales to consulting for authoritarian governments in China and Saudi Arabia to being involved with a corruption scandal in South Africa. Initially bound by an NDA, Buttigieg was finally able to reveal who his clients were at McKinsey. Among them were insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield, Best Buy, and Canadian supermarket chain, Loblaws. This led some to speculate that he may have been involved with Blue Cross Blue Shield’s decision to lay of one thousand employees, which happened a little bit after Buttigieg worked with them, and with Loblaw’s bread price fixing scandal, which occurred around the same time frame as his consulting work. Regardless, there is little evidence to support these claims.  Tulsi Gabbard: Hawaiian Congresswoman and Army National Guard VeteranGabbard’s signature issues are regarding foreign policy. She opposes U.S. military intervention overseas and believes that we should make peace with North Korea. She has also expressed concern about a future nuclear arms race. She has been criticized for her 2017 meeting with Bashar al-Assad, who she then said was not an enemy of the United States. She has also faced criticism for her past homophobic statements, although she has said that her stance has since changed.  Amy Klobuchar: Minnesota Senator and attorneyFrom the midst of a Minneapolis snowstorm, Amy Klobuchar announced her campaign. Now, over a year later, her polling numbers are slowly but steadily climbing and she shows no sign of dropping out. With her pragmatic, grounded approach to politics and her midwestern charm, Amy Klobuchar is turning out to be an unlikely star in the election. In her list of the one hundred actions she would take in her first one hundred days in office are ideas such as helping seniors, addressing voting rights, improving infrastructure, fighting the opioid crisis, and antitrust law enforcement. She is a supporter of bipartisanship, and believes that that would be the best approach for the democrats to win the election.  Bernie Sanders: Vermont senator, former mayor of Burlington, and former House of Representatives memberSanders may be older than many of his opponents, but that does not mean that he is any less radical. In fact, out of all of the candidates, he is seen as the most far left. A self proclaimed democratic socialist (meaning that he wants to achieve socialism democratically), Bernie Sanders has proposed medicare for all and free tuition for public college. He also aims to limit the influence of billionaires in the country and to improve economic equality. One thing to note, is that his criticism of millionaires and billionaires has garnered him criticism, as technically, he was a millionaire in 2016 and 2017. He has also endorsed the Green New Deal and said that he wants to get rid of the electoral college. Sanders is an experienced politician, first stepping into the government as the mayor of Burlington in 1981. In 1990, he was elected to the House of Representatives and became a senator in 2007. In the years since, his positions have hardly changed. He polls especially well among younger voters and has amassed groups of loyal followers. However, there are concerns about toxicity among his supporters, specifically from so-called “Bernie Bros” (a negative term that generally refers to young, white, male Bernie supporters). This small group of Sanders supporters have been accused of sexist remarks and trolling. However, this problem isn’t limited to his campaign. This issue has been a part of far left discourse for a long time and has not occurred as a result of the Sanders campaign.  Tom Steyer: Billionaire, former hedge fund executive and climate change activistDespite having no prior elected office, Tom Steyer is eighth in the polls and even qualified for the February ninth debate. His main goals are to fight climate change, promote renewable energy, create term limits in congress, decriminalize illegal border crossing, and to get money out of politics. He wants to bring big changes to Washington D.C., and has criticized the “corporate stranglehold on democracy.” In addition, he is particularly vocal in demanding Trump’s removal from office. He aired television ads demanding impeachment and has openly criticized Donald Trump. His investment company, Farallon Capital, has raised concerns due to its past investments in private prisons and coal.  Elizabeth Warren: Massachussetts Senator and former Harvard law professorWhatever the problem is, Elizabeth Warren likely has a plan for it. Her main ideas are to create a wealth tax, cancel student loan debt for many students, break up big tech companies, and create universal childcare. She would fund these changes with the money from her wealth tax, which would create a revenue of 2.75 trillion dollars over a decade. Her focus is to bring big structural change to the government and to shift power away from the rich and towards the working class. She is an expert in bankruptcy law and helped to set up the consumer financial protection bureau during the Obama administration. Her name may be familiar due to the relatively recent controversy over her claims of Native American ancestry which provoked the ire of both sides. This also subjected her to ridicule at the hands of Donald Trump, who took to calling her “Pochahontas.” Drop-outsNot everyone has made it this far. Whether due to dwindling support or a lack of funds, many former candidates have already ended their candidacy. However, they aren’t fully out of the picture yet. Potentially, some could even go on to become running mates of one of the remaining candidates. Some of the notable former candidates include Beto O’Rourke, Kamala Harris, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, and Cory Booker.