What is Happening with Politics?
The Beginning of the 2020 Election
As the first term of President Donald Trump comes to an end, the election for the next president begins. Currently there are 26 candidates for president and 24 of them are democrats. During President Trump’s term there was no doubt that he did a great deal of damage towards Democratic issues and policies. As a result, many democratic politicians have risen to the cause in order to run in the upcoming election. They democratic cause has simply one ideal outcome in this election: Get Trump out the Oval Office.
Now, due to the large influx of democratic candidates it would be difficult to talk about each and every one of them. Instead, this article will take the time to talk about the front runners and highlight their signature issues during the election. I will also speak about the two republican candidates currently in the running.
Democratic Candidates Joseph R Biden, Jr. (76)
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is best known for his role as Vice-President to Barack Obama during his eight-year term. Biden has run for president twice before and is considered the most well-liked candidate among the Democratic Party. He is well known for a charismatic personality, down-to-earth persona, and his innate ability to connect with the working-class.
He plans on focusing his candidacy on restoring America’s reputation, both nationally and globally. He intends to work on strengthening economic protections and benefits for low-income workers in all industries from fast food to manufacturing.
Elizabeth Warren (70)
Elizabeth Warren is a Senator from Massachusetts and a former professor at Harvard University. She is a well-known advocate for female rights and believes that this is a time for women to take a stand and go to Washington to “fix our broken government, and that includes a woman at the top”. She has resided in the presidential and political radar much longer than the other candidates, gathering both attention and controversy. Her response to recent controversy about her Native American heritage caused disapproval towards her abilities to accept the national bid.
She claims her signatures issues to be income inequality. Warren believes that the middle class is under attack by big money corporations as well as political corruption. Her policies will create income equality over all social classes.
Kamala Harris (54)
Kamala Harris is a Senator from California, formerly California’s Attorney General, and the former District Attorney of San Francisco. Harris has the ability to bring a charismatic image and star-power to the election that will make this race both historical and memorable. Should Harris win the Democratic primaries, the democrats believe that more voters will participate in the election. She was first noticed for her participation in the questioning of Trump’s cabinet nominees and his Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.
She plans to focus on the unveiled middle-class tax cut legislation last fall. She is well known as a champion for a liberal civil rights agenda within the senate.
Bernie Sanders (77)
Bernie Sanders considers himself a self-described democratic Socialist. He was a runner-up in the 2016 Democratic primary — coming in second to presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. Out of all the other candidates, Sanders holds the most extensive and organized cabinet and team standing behind him compared to the other candidates. He also retains the highest level of support; however, many fear that he will not be able to retain those numbers come the polls.
During the election, Sanders intends to focus on his trademark issues such as “Medicare for all”, free college tuition, and curtailing the influence of “the billionaires”.
Pete Buttigieg (37)
The youngest of the democratic front runners, Pete Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and a military veteran. Buttigieg began to gather national notice after delivering an essay to Democrats on ways to recover after the 2016 election. His age and inexperience in the national political atmosphere are a test to see the true appeal of a more youthful candidate versus the traditional qualifications for a candidate.
Buttigieg intends to focus on his generational identity during his candidacy. He will focus on issues such as economic opportunity and climate change.
Republican Candidates William F. Weld (73)
William F. Weld is a former governor of Massachusetts and a former federal prosecutor. He ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016. This time around, Weld is running as a republican and exploring the possibilities of challenging President Trump as an alienated voice within the party for moderates and mainstream conservatives. He is a vocal critic of Trump and compared the call for deportation of immigrants similar ‘Kristallnacht’ (also known as the night of broken glass when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property).
Weld intends to focus on fiscal restraint, free trade and moderate immigration reform as well as the legalization of marijuana.
Donald J. Trump (73)
President Donald Trump is the acting president of the United States and would be running for his second electoral term. His main legislative accomplishment as president is a sweeping tax cut created to benefit corporations and wealthy investors. He has spent his presidency reversing the changes done by the Obama administration in the previous term, such as their work within health care, environmental regulation, and immigration. While he has faced multiple serious legal investigations, Trump has remained in office and intends to stay for a second term.
President Donald Trump intends to focus on creating tighter restrictions against immigration as well as building a physical wall along the Mexican border. He is also renegotiating and canceling international deals on trade, arms control, and climate change. He is also in the process of withdrawing Americans troops from overseas.
Millennial Voter Participation
Throughout the years, tolerance for the current administration and political atmosphere has rapidly decreased. Millennials are often divided into two parties where politics are considered. One party refuse to participate because they do not believe that their vote will make a difference during major elections. It’s a common practice to place your political opinions on social media sites by changing a profile picture, or writing an essay on Twitter without backing up their words with true action and participation. This is considered the passive political participant.
The other party is the active political participant. These are millennials who are no longer tolerant to the current government and have taken radical action in order to fight for their beliefs. They participate in the marches, rallies, and put forth the effort towards voting and gathering voters. This era of political turmoil has created radical political participants between a simple difference: those who vote and those who don’t.
What it Boils Down To
It is important to have a full understanding of each candidate before you walk into the polls on election day. Information is provided everywhere, but every source should be scrutinized to the extreme. In an era in which information is skewed by social media, zealous new sources, and the inevitable bias, it is important to create an opinion based on information from multiple sources. Participation in the new election comes from watching the debates, understanding the candidates, and understanding who you believe best serves the interest of this country and your ideal image for the future of the United States of America.
Every vote counts – especially yours.
