By: Rachel Soo
It’s like the hunger games, but smaller and with adults.
17. That’s the number this year, so far. 17 declared presidential candidates for the 2020 elections. 17 not-so-young hopefuls, each aiming to win the metaphorical crown of the United States of America.
Of the notable contenders, all but one are Democratic. We’ll save our odd one out for last.
Let’s start with the minority, females. This year, there’s only 4 running.
We have Elizabeth Warren, senator of Massachusetts and star of the spectacle that went down in October, when President Trump called her out on Twitter for claiming that she was Native American on her application to law school.
Kirsten Gillibrand is also in the running for candidacy. She’s been a senator for New York since 2009, but with her radical change in stance regarding the subject of illegal immigrants, it’ll be very interesting to see how she runs this race.
Kamala Harris, one of California’s very own senators, is running for the top seat as well, and is currently wrapped up in claims regarding her past as a progressive prosecutor. Her past actions raise question regarding her ethics when it comes to criminal justice.
Our last female contender is Hawaiian representative Tulsi Gabbard. Like two of the other women running alongside her, she too has a her own share of controversial opinions and has recently publicly apologized for her previous anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
Moving on to the men that are in the running for this next year’s election we have Joe Biden, former Vice President and Senator.
Biden served for 8 years as our country’s Vice President under President Barack Obama, and some fear that his growing popularity is only a result of nostalgia for the party that occupied the White House last.
We have John Delany and Richard Ojeda running, representative from Maryland and senator for West Virginia respectively.
Delaney was the first of the democrats to announce his candidacy, and even though he’s shown his boldness and taken initiative, many feel as if he fits the stereotypical ‘rich and white’ mold too well.
Ojeda has taken to a different showing of gut. He’s known currently as the ‘Trump-voter’, for having voted for President Trump in the 2016 elections, and he’s approached the pro-life vs. pro-birth discussion with guns blazing.
The former US secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro is also fighting alongside them for the presidency, but concerns regarding his lack of foreign policy experience seem to be emerging from every which way.
Of our notable contenders, our only Republican representative is one whom we all know very well. He’s a successful businessman, and he has a following that’s probably just as large as the group that opposes him.
That’s right. Our current president, Donald Trump, is reapplying for the position he currently holds.
However, seeing how the last four years have gone, it’s impossible to tell if he, like the three presidents that came before him, will have a second term.
So, let’s recap:
Elizabeth Warren lied to get into law school, Kirsten Gillibrand hates loves immigrants, Kamala Harris is just looking for power, and Tulsi Gabbard is a reformed homophobic.
Joe Biden is out-of-date, John Delaney is too wealthy and too white, Richard Ojeda is the Trump-voter, and Julian Castro doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Also, Trump.
The future of America rests in your hands. Choose wisely.
