Here’s What You Need to Know About Dem
Getty Images, Associated Press, and Reuters
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidates speak to the public about their policies.
On Monday, the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses began. This crucial stop coupled with the equally crucial upcoming New Hampshire Democratic primary has people wondering where the big five Democratic candidates up for the 2020 presidential election stand.
Most states hold primaries where voters go to an assigned place to cast their ballots, but a few states do hold caucuses where a local area gathers together and openly decides which candidate to support.
The Iowa caucuses are hugely influential because they are the first major contest of the United States presidential primary season. If candidates do well, they gain lots of momentum and are hard to stop. Likewise, if candidates do poorly, they tend to drop out of the race a few days later. The New Hampshire primary on February 11 is also very influential, as it will be the first primary election in the U.S. presidential primary season.
Joe Biden
The 77-year-old former Vice President is wanting a new role at the White House. After health care experience with his family and helping to pass the Affordable Care Act, health care remains a top priority for him. Biden is also passionate about defending America’s role as a leader on the global stage. In addition, he firmly believes in the value of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans and wants to consistently extend overtures to Republicans.
Bernie Sanders
Sanders was the runner-up to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, and he does not want to spend this presidential election on the sidelines again. He has spent over five decades in public office and has garnered loyal supporters with his anti-establishment style and self-proclamation as a democratic socialist. Some large agenda items he is pushing for are for minimum wage to be raised to $15 an hour and tuition at public universities and colleges to be eliminated.
Elizabeth Warren
Senator Warren promises to bring “big, structural change” to the U.S. by tilting power away from the rich and large corporations and toward working class people. She is a proponent of “Medicare for all” and has planned to create a wealth tax that would cancel student loan debt for most and break up big technology companies at the same time.
Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York City and a billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is a prolific giver to gun-control and environmental causes and has directed possible supporters’ attention to his accomplishments as mayor: decreased crime rates, economic growth in the city and a focus on public health. He is on the very conservative end of the Democratic field on taxes, as he argued that a tax on the non-income wealth of rich Americans would be unconstitutional.
Pete Buttigieg
The Midwestern 38-year-old believes that if given the chance, he will be the bridge to a new era of American politics. Buttigieg is a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and was an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve. A unique idea he has is to increase the number of seats on the Supreme Court with ten permanent justices and five rotating ones. He also supports a public health insurance option, universal background checks for gun purchases and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
As we do not yet know who will fare well in the Iowa Democratic caucuses and New Hampshire Democratic primary, all candidates are making final pushes to secure votes.
Sources:
Alyssa Buchheit is a senior here at St. Dominic. She is involved in soccer, book club, National Honor Society, ambassadors and many other clubs. Outside...
