2020: A Look at the Possible Presidential Candidates
THE DEMOCRATS
JOE BIDEN
Who he is: Former Vice President of the United States under the Obama Administration, Former Senator from Delaware
Pros: He will possibly reach the same rust belt crowd that has rallied around Trump due to his “working class” background and spirited behavior (“This is malarkey!”). He has also publicly opposed President Trump since Trump announced his candidacy, which isn’t unusual for a Democrat. He has, however, had the benefit of being on national talk shows.
Cons: He will be harangued for the horrible way he treated Anita Hill in the ‘90s, especially by people enraged by the recent Kavanaugh hearings. He is also possibly too old for this job at 75 but Trump is not much younger.
ELIZABETH WARREN
Who she is: Junior Senator from Massachusetts, Declared 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate
Pros: Her fiery and leftist rhetoric will definitely inspire the electorate, similar to Bernie’s support last election. She will run primarily on her expertise on financial issues, as before she became a politician she was one of the nation’s foremost commercial law and bankruptcy lawyers.
Cons: Her preoccupation with her possible Native American ancestry will be a source of ridicule on the campaign trail and may possibly turn some minority voters away. She is also quite old and may suffer from the same sexism and ageism that Hillary Clinton faced in 2016.
BETO O’ROURKE
Who he is: Former Representative for Texas’ 36th Congressional District, 2018 Democratic Senate candidate for Texas
Pros: He’s young, white and liberal, which helps swing moderates and inspires working class voter turnout, as well as left leaning voters. He’s also from a southern state, which could help get votes from the traditionally conservative region. He has a lot of hype behind him right now since his Senate campaign raised more money than any other in history and was even endorsed by Beyonce.
Cons: He currently doesn’t hold any office and even though he’s popular right now, that’s not a guarantee for 2020. If he’d won the Texas election, that would be another story but right now he’s just a possibility.
CORY BOOKER
Who he is: Senator from New Jersey, Former Mayor of Newark
Pros: Booker is energetic and generally well liked by those in his party. He’s currently doing a lot of campaigning to support Democratic candidates in states like Iowa and Mississippi.
Cons: The right may see him as too leftist. He is also susceptible to the same racial attacks used against Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum this year.
SHERROD BROWN
Who he is: Senator from Ohio
Pros: He’s a relatively moderate white man from Ohio, a key swing state. Although he isn’t the most vocal Democratic party member, he’s still a social liberal who has spoken out about civil rights regarding transgender people, the gay marriage ban and the Violence Against Women Act.
Cons: He’s not very well known and hasn’t done too much press outside of his home state. Brown has made headlines recently after calling out voter suppression in states like Georgia, which may anger some Republicans.
Kamala Harris
Who she is: Senator from California, former Attorney General of California
Pros: She has a good reputation nationwide and is already campaigning in various states. She’s also very progressive and has described her home state as “the future”.
Cons: She’s from California, which is already a blue state and seen as elitist by many other regions of the country. Harris is also a woman of color so she has to worry about racial attacks and rampant sexism on the campaign trail. Fun.
KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND
Who she is: Senator from New York, Former Representative for New York’s 20th Congressional District
Pros: She’s already campaigned for other Democrats in Iowa so she has been on people’s radar for a while.
Cons: A blonde junior senator from New York? Gillibrand may be a repeat of Hillary, with accusations about elitism and general misogynistic rhetoric. She may not have Hillary’s baggage but they are very similar.
AMY KLOBUCHAR
Who she is: Senator from Minnesota
Pros: She’s from the Midwest and is generally popular with working class Americans, which are two key demographics. She also gained some media attention for her thorough questioning during the Kavanaugh hearings.
Cons: She’s technically a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the National Democratic Party but still may narrow her support.
BERNIE SANDERS
Who he is: Senator from Vermont, 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate
Pros: He had a ton of support in 2016, especially from younger voters, due to his radical policies.
Cons: He’s old and a lot of people accuse his policies of being out of touch. His supporters argue that he should be given more credit but in a world of information overload, no one will actually sit down and think about how he’d break the big banks. He’s also endorsed homophobic candidates who had similar economic philosophies...
JOHN DELANEY
Who he is: Declared 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate, former Representative for Maryland’s 6th Congressional district
Pros: He’s the first candidate to be declared for 2020 so he’s got some early momentum. He’s fairly moderate so he is unlikely to energize any particular base.
Cons: He’s not currently holding an office and has no national platform.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
Who he is: 8th richest person in the United States, founder of Bloomberg News and Mayor of New York City
Pros: Bloomberg is a former independent who can hopefully leach off of Trump’s support. He’s also fairly popular and nationally well known.
Cons: He may be too moderate to really be a Democrat and does have his fair share of detractors.
ANDREW YANG
Who he is: Declared 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate, Founder of Venture for America
Pros: Yang is an entrepreneur who may be able to attract minority votes.
Cons: He’s not very well known and currently holds no public office.
RICHARD OJEDA
Who he is: West Virginia State Senator from the 7th district, Declared 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate
Pros: He declared his candidacy early so he’s already ahead of the game. He’s also well respected as a former veteran.
Cons: He lost his bid for Congress already and isn’t well-known nationally at all.
THE REPUBLICANS
DONALD TRUMP
Who he is: current President of the United States
Pros: He already won so he can campaign on whatever his administration is pushing. His base is solidly behind him and no one else in the GOP has the same platform or strong message.
Cons: The nation is angry about his policies and behavior. Higher turnout in the next election can make him a one term president.
BOB CORKER
Who he is: Senator from Tennessee
Pros: He’s experienced and relatively popular in the South. His role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will probably make him seem very reliable to voters, especially as tensions between the US and Russia, China and North Korea increase and foreign policy becomes an increasingly heated voter topic.
Cons: It’s pretty difficult to defeat a sitting President with a decently large base. Corker will have to appeal to a new voting block if he stands a chance of becoming a nominee.
JEFF FLAKE
Who he is: Former Senator from Arizona, Former Representative for Arizona’s (since redistricted) 1st District
Pros: He’s passed bipartisan policy and already declined to run for Senator again in 2018 in order to focus on a potential 2020 run. Flake did encourage a lot of national buzz after announcing he wouldn’t run.
Cons: He currently doesn’t hold a public office and hasn’t developed too much of a national platform. He’s been pretty flakey** on many issues.
LARRY HOGAN
Who he is: Governor of Maryland
Pros: He’s a relatively successful businessman and has helped some Republicans before.
Cons: Some of his projects like Change Maryland have been widely criticized. He’s also lost several national elections in his career already.
JOHN KASICH
Who he is: Governor of Ohio and 2016 Republican Presidential candidate
Pros: He is already popular, especially as a moderate, in the 2016 Presidential race so GOP party leaders who don’t like Trump may gravitate towards him.
Cons: He skipped the 2016 Republican National Convention because he strongly disliked Trump, which may anger some Republicans. He also used to work for Fox News.
THE WILDCARDS:
Now time for a lightning round where we’ll name some third party or celebrity candidates who have expressed interest but are unlikely to make much of a splash in 2020.
KANYE WEST
Who he is: Grammy winning rapper and ardent Trump supporter
OPRAH
Who she is: talk show host, Academy Award nominated actress, Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree
JESSE VENTURA
Who he is: Retired wrestler and Governor of Minnesota
JILL STEIN
Who she is: 2016 Green Party Presidential nominee
AKON
Who he is: Grammy nominated rapper
LEBRON JAMES
Who he is: NBA player and philanthropist
ROSEANNE BARR
Who she is: Controversial Emmy winning actress
by RIA BHANDARKAR
**: the pun was made by the editor-in-chief. you’re welcome.