The race for the presidency and the Democratic nomination are quickly heating up. According to Politico, as of right now, there are currently 10 Democratic candidates who have launched exploratory
First up is the junior senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Booker is his botched “Spartacus” moment during the Kavanaugh hearings. Booker is one of the most liberal people in the entire Senate based on the bills he has proposed and sponsored, as well as many of the ideas he campaigns on, like single-payer healthcare. To my understanding, he has become more of an anti-Trump politician rather than an advocate for the people of New Jersey and Democrats in general.
Next is Pete Buttigieg. This is the first time I’ve ever even heard of
Buttigieg, which certainly doesn’t help his chances. He currently serves as the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, but before that, he served in the United States Navy and toured in Afghanistan during his service. If elected, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay president, and he would become the youngest president to serve. Honestly, the little information I could find about his two terms as mayor seems great, but I can’t really form much of an opinion on him because there is no information on his exploratory committee website.
Julian Castro’s most notable claim to fame was his position as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Although not a very flashy position, it is still critical to the president’s cabinet. Castro didn’t do much during his tenure, but he did manage to keep the organization running and advance some of HUD’s goals. He is most famous for violating the Hatch Act with his endorsement of then-candidate Hillary Clinton. Once again, there’s not much information about Castro’s stances on the issues, but from what little I can find, he falls in line with the typical progressive candidates we see today.
John Delaney is a representative from Maryland’s 6th Congressional District. Once again, he is a fairly unnoticeable candidate because he has never held a high-ranking position or made a splash in the media. However, Delaney has done some important work in Congress relating to the establishment of the AI caucus. He appears to be more moderate than his Democratic opponents in the sense that he doesn’t support Medicare-for-all, but he still supports universal healthcare.
Next up, Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard, unlike many of the other candidates, has a well-distinguished career in both the military and Congress. As a member of Congress from Hawaii, she has managed to capture headlines over the years for her outspoken foreign policy comments that set her apart from many of her Democratic colleagues. However, when it comes to domestic policy, she basically falls in line with the rest of the declared candidates.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has been a bit of a flip-flopper over the years. In the past, she was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which consists of more centrist, fiscally-responsible Democrats. Over time, Gillibrand has worked to distance herself from the coalition and appear as a more left-leaning candidate. This is likely because she wouldn’t last long in the Democratic primary otherwise. She has become extremely liberal as of late and even endorsed socialist Senator Bernie Sanders back in 2016.
Speaking of Bernie Sanders, in just the first 24 hours of his campaign, he was able to raise almost $6 million from his grassroots base. At the moment, this strong financial start is one no other Democrat can come close to matching. As far as Sanders goes, he’s my least favorite due to the fact that he is openly socialist and clearly has no understanding of economics. I could literally go on for days about what a bad choice this man is for president. I think the best thing to say is that even if he were elected, nothing would get done because many of his proposals are so radical.
During her short time as a senator, Kamala Harris has managed to make a name for herself in the public eye. While she may make some major statements that catch the eye of the media, I find her past more interesting than her present. As Attorney General of California, she failed to make positive changes and deepened the corruption of the Attorney General’s Office. This alone should have disqualified her for a Senate seat, let alone the presidency. And once again, she is way too far left for me to ever imagine supporting her for president.
Amy Klobuchar is a senator from the state of Minnesota. Although she is not a highly-recognized politician, she helped to pass more legislation by the end of the 114th Congress than any other senator. At the same time, she also has been noted as one of the worst people to work for in Congress with one of the highest staff turnover rates. She is a fairly liberal candidate, but according to FiveThirtyEight, she has voted in line with Trump policies 31.1% of the time. She’s actually a decent candidate for the Democrats to run if she can increase her name recognition.
Finally, we end with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren is an extremely high-profile candidate with policies that mostly line up with Sanders’ socialist positions. Warren has a lot of baggage though, mainly due to her history of lying about her heritage and claiming she was a Native American for most of her life. I would put her at the bottom of my list with Bernie Sanders.
There is no telling which candidates will manage to break through and emerge as the front runners. But if I had to bet right now, the Democrats will be choosing between Sanders, Gabbard, and Harris, but only time will tell. Only one of these candidates can face Trump in the general election, meaning that Democrats have a lot of work to do in finding a good potential challenger.
Be First to Comment