Who are the 2020 Democratic candidates?

Alice Webster, Student Editor

As 2019 nears its final quarter, the 2020 Presidential Primaries loom in the distance. While the Republicans seem to be sticking to the long-standing tradition of simply nominating the current President for a second term, many Democrats have stepped up to the plate thus far. It is paramount for United States citizens to educate themselves on the policies and qualifications of at least some of the most popular.

There are a few important frontrunners at the moment, and one of them has already spent eight years in the oval office. Joe Biden, the subject of a surge of memes about his friendship with Obama at the end of their last term, announced his bid fairly early. As Vice President, he turned few heads but cultivated a wholesome image. Much of his current appeal is his experience and dedication to Obama-era policies like the Affordable Care Act, known slangily as Obamacare. This marks a significant difference from many of the other candidates who support Medicare For All (more on that later). His views on climate change are more typical of his contemporaries. Biden supports the basic framework of the Green New Deal and recommitting the United States to the Paris Accord, which Trump withdrew from in 2017. Overall, Biden is a centrist, especially in terms of foreign policy, denouncing Trump’s polar desire to either get cozy with or recklessly intimidate dictators and autocrats while simultaneously supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Biden has many other policies, most of which cater to certain populations such as rural America and baby boomers, these are some of the most integral to his campaign. 

Making his second bid for President is Bernie Sanders, the last election’s Democratic runner-up. Many young Democrats were disappointed in his failure to secure the 2016 nomination. His socialist ideologies appeal to those tired of the far-right Trump administration and especially its value of wealth above all else. Sanders has long advocated a high tax on the wealthy and eschewed from taking funds from large-scale businesses, which many Republicans have disputed as being extreme and unprecedented despite similar rates having been imposed in the late 1900s. He also pushes for extreme action against climate change, a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free college, and Medicare-For-All. However, Sanders’s advanced age and unwavering views put him at a disadvantage against both the other Democrats and, if he were to secure the nomination, Trump.

Like Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s politics lean solidly to the left. She, too, has rejected funds from big contributors. Unlike Sanders, however, Warren believes that the capitalist system can be made to work for the people. This difference may be the key point in winning support from centrists who are afraid of Sanders’s radical policies. She also wants to impose a wealth tax on “ultra-millionaires.” Funds raised from this tax would be used to fund benefits for the underprivileged. Warren’s plan has garnered 60% support so far. She also supports free college tuition. Some voters, however, may be unwilling to forgive Warren for mistakenly believing due to family lore that she had some substantial amount of Native American ancestry, which was later proved to be false. Another sad factor that could prove her downfall is her gender. While most Democrats are in favor of a female president, far-right individuals, as evidenced by their complete dismissal of Hillary Clinton for her gender, may not be receptive to any female in the race, notwithstanding her politics.

Another major female candidate, Kamala Harris shares many views with Sanders and Warren. She is a supporter of Medicare-For-All, weed legalization, and the Green New Deal. She has fought for women’s rights in healthcare on multiple occasions in Congress. Her views on the wealthy and climate change are more lax than those of Warren and Sanders, but she does promise to clean the earth, extend benefits to the underprivileged, and “hold corporations accountable.” Two of Harris’s main campaign points are gun and prison reform. She holds that the current justice system is failing to rehabilitate its inmates and believes this must be quickly remedied. As the child of immigrants, Harris not only wants to reform the current system, but also to prosecute President Trump for his inhumane policies, especially in regards to children at the border.

Of course, there are many other hopeful candidates at this point, each with his or her own platform and focal points. These four are, at the moment, generating the most public discussion and debate. It is incredibly likely that one of these individuals will be the 2020 Democratic Nominee.