2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination

First place by national pledged delegates

  Joe Biden

  Pete Buttigieg

  Bernie Sanders

  Michael Bloomberg (in case you're squinting and wondering where any of the purple regions are, it's in American Samoa in the bottom center of the map.

“”They're friends. They're good people. What we've got to show the world is that we can run a serious, primary process without trying to destroy each other, without character attacks.

—Bernie Sanders, right before the exact opposite happened.

God, guns, and freedom U.S. Politics

Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner

Fairness Doctrine Project for the New American Century Liberty Lobby Prohibition Party Elizabeth Warren Mexican-American War Clarence Thomas

Persons of interest

Greg Abbott Newt Gingrich Phil Gramm Mike Pence Kristi Noem John Quincy Adams v - t - e

The 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination was a highly competitive political event, given the sheer number of candidates. The United States Democratic Party decided on Joe Biden, who they hoped would defeat the sitting Republican candidate (Donald Trump) by a comfortable margin- and to make a long story short, he did, albeit not with the landslide they had hoped for. The nomination was intially planned to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but it instead took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to polling, the most important factor for Democratic primary voters was who was popular and likeable enough to defeat Donald Trump. Other major political issues for the Democratic candidates in this election were universal healthcare, gun control, climate change, education, income inequality, criminal justice reform, and immigration reform.

In short, the race was basically a decision about whether the Dems should align with moderates who can attract swing voters in swing states (like Biden), or with progressives (like Sanders) who can energize leftist/liberal turnout with big new policy proposals. However, the ability to get any new legislative policy passed is entirely dependent on Democrats winning the Senate, which was far from certain (though not impossible) due to the heavy over-representation of conservative rural states (though frankly, given current party infighting, the USA could have more gridlock even with Democratic control of the White House and Senate).

Biden ultimately won, and progressive fears of a 2016 repeat were proved to be unfounded, as Trump was so bad at handling COVID that his rival could get away with running a mostly-substanceless campaign but still win decisively (306:232). Said lack of coherent vision also meant the Democrats had a remarkably pathetic performance down the ballot despite initial predictions of a Roosevelt-scale landslide across the board. The Democrats took the senate by the smallest majority possible, forcing them to use obtuse tricks like budget reconcilliation to pass legislation in order to get around the dreaded filibuster. Thus, any grander ambitons the pary had (voting rights, adding states, healthcare overhaul) are essentially tabled. All of the intense arguments over policy in this primary were retroactively meaningless. God bless America!

The nominee

Joe Biden Age: 82 Former Vice President of the United States, former Senator from Delaware, and former member of the New Castle County Council.

See the main article on this topic: Joe Biden Joe Biden announced his bid for President on April 25, 2019. and won the nomination in August 28th, 2020. Advantages: Authored the Violence Against Women Act and helped pass it; actively involved in a campaign against sexual assault in college campuses. Supports tuition-free public college and universal pre-kindergarten. Supports progressive taxation and closing tax loopholes. Wants to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, and to implement universal background checks. Considers climate change to be an "existential" threat, having orchestrated U.S. involvement in the Paris Climate Accord. Championed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), wants to give undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors a path towards citizenship and to increase border security. Favors international cooperation and multinational alliances such as NATO. Has made the "I can beat Trump" argument most effectively, essentially solidifying his place as the nominee at Super Tuesday. Opposes the death penalty

Disadvantages: Apart from being Joe Biden? The man is a 77 year-old party dinosaur that won't disappear. That being said, Biden is a flip-flopping professional gaffe machine riding off the popularity of his former boss Obama, and in 2019 (before Bloomberg) quickly became the prime target of most other Democrats in the debates. Unlike the prior debates he was in while VP, Biden spent the early debates getting his ass kicked by everyone (Kamala on race issues, Booker on crime/marijuana, Castro on immigration) and his past views and votes are now coming back to haunt him, with him losing his frontrunner position to second place in a neck-and-neck with Bernie Sanders, only to regain it in March and sweep most of the primaries after the centrists consolidated their support behind him to stop Bernie from becoming the nominee. Ridiculous number of gaffes past and present now nearing Trump levels; "Poor kids are just as bright as white kids", "Go to Joe 30330", "The bills that the president. Excuse me, future president [Cory Booker]", etc. Originally voted for Don't ask don't tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, but supported the DADT repeal and the legalization of same-sex marriage later in life. Although he personally opposes abortion, his Senate voting record on the topic is more mixed. Biden voted for the Hyde Amendment preventing federal funding for abortion and continued to support it until a few months ago when he got shit from everyone over it. Now admits the error of his ways. Opposes the legalization of marijuana. Wants to give everyone the option to buy into Medicare, and believes that "Health care is a right, not a privilege" but he would still veto a Medicare For All bill if it passed Congress due to its "costs". Supports reinstating the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. Voted for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. A supporter of free trade, he voted for the disastrous NAFTA agreement and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, and endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. Proudly supported bills such as CALEA and voted for the USA PATRIOT Act making mass surveillance of American citizens as well as arresting innocent people suspected of being terrorists perfectly "legal" in the name of ending terrorism, and its 2005 reauthorization, but changed his mind as Dubya's ratings dropped. Voted and loudly campaigned for the Second Iraq War, but later opposed George W. Bush's troop surge and authored a strategy for withdrawal. Author of the infamous Crime Bill of 1994 from which he cherry-picks the assault weapons ban and Violence Against Women Act, and doesn't mention some of the other more controversial provisions included. His reputation as a connected old white guy might contribute to further disaffection from people that just went through 4 years of it.

Dropped out

Michael Bennet

Michael Bennet

Michael Bennet announced his bid for President on May 2, 2019. He dropped out on February 11th, 2020, on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

Age: 59

Background: Senator of Colorado

Advantages:

• Had generally polled the best against Donald Trump in head-to-head matchups at both the national and state level, though this has currently changed as of January 2020. Biden is beating him in Texas of all places, where the others are polling the same as Hillary Clinton did.
• Supports same-sex marriage, has co-sponsored the Equality Act, and opposes the ban on transgender people serving in the military.
• Supports access to abortion and birth control.
• Supports universal background checks and bans on magazines exceeding 10 rounds.
• Voted for the Affordable Care Act, but does not support Medicare for All, instead supporting a public option.
• Supports expanding the Child Tax Credit.
• Supports a path to citizenship and expanding the visa program, while expanding border security measures.
• Supported ending United States involvement in the War in Yemen.

Disadvantages:

• The first in a line of moderates on the list, has no chance of winning.
• Endorses the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio announced his bid for the Presidency on May 16, 2019. He announced his dropping out on September 20, 2019, citing a belief that he has "contributed all I can to this Democratic primary," and promising to continue ensuring that New York City is "the vanguard of progressivism."

Age: 63

Background: Mayor of New York City.

Policy Positions:

• Legalization of Marijuana Supports marijuana legalization.
• Supports single-payer healthcare, having introduced the public option for residents of New York City. Wants to guarantee the right to healthcare, including for illegal immigrants. Wants to eliminate private health insurance.
• Wants to abolish ICE.
• Opposes Citizens United.
• Opposes the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg announced his bid for President on November 24, 2019. He used an unconventional strategy, which was to ignore the early caucuses and primaries of Iowa and New Hampshire, and instead focused on a big win on Super Tuesday, where 1,512 delegates are up for grabs. When he failed to accomplish this, to an almost miserable degree, he dropped out of the race on March 4th, 2020, after spending a record $500mil.

He has not appeared on any of the debate stages, due to failing to meet the donor requirement, due to a refusal to accept any donations, from anyone. Following a rule change by the DNC, Bloomberg was able to qualify for debates, and appeared in the 18 February, 2020 debate, ahead of the Nevada Caucus.

Age: 82

Background: Former Mayor of New York City, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P..

Advantages: In contrast to the other billionaire in the race, Bloomberg does have experience with public office.

• Self funding his campaign for president, undercutting concerns of influence through lobbyists and their money.
• Would expand the Affordable Healthcare Act and Medicare.
• Proposes stronger gun laws, such as a federal 'red flag law', banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines and changes to the background check system.
• Supports reducing carbon emissions, and took steps as mayor to make New York City more environmentally friendly.
• Is well known for touting progressive causes, like gun control.
• Has enough money to sustain even a failing campaign, and so far his "buy every ad space on planet Earth" strategy has proven far from failing, allowing him to leapfrog more established contenders like Buttigieg or Warren in just a few months.
• Has used his past donations and connections to essentially buy the endorsements of a number of celebrities and politicians of various local and federal offices.

Disadvantages: Nobody was asking for this...

• Against Medicare-for-all.
• Against the Green New Deal.
• Some wondered if his refusal to take donations was to avoid the debate stage and thus direct attacks from his rivals he'd have to respond to. Notably, he did meet polling requirements. Given his performance in his first debate with the candidates, this seems to have been the reason.
• While he does have experience holding public office, as mayor of New York City, people may feel unease at the idea of another billionaire in the White House, given how it has gone with the last one.
• Is well known for touting progressive causes... This is a negative in that he's a well known boogieman to Fox News viewers, something he'd have to deal with in the general.
• Could likely do more good if he used his wealth to help deal with voter suppression or a number of other problems, than burning it on this run for president that's guaranteed to fail.
• While mayor of New York City, he ordered a midnight paramilitary raid and clearing of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Zuccotti park, of which press footage at the scene and from above shows numerous actions of police brutality.
• Has made some harmful comments about transgender people and their access to bathrooms... In 2016 and 2019.
• Tied with Bernie Sanders for oldest candidate in the race, at 78 years old, a year older than Biden.
• Has a more clearly articulated history of racism (particularly against African-Americans) than even Trump, which would make for an easy barrage of attack ads in majority-black cities across the midwest, which he would actually need to win in a general election.
• Loathed by pretty much all progressive voters (and not loved by either Sanders or Warren), many of whom have committed to sitting out a general election with him as the nominee
• Had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, appearing in his little black book.

Cory Booker

Cory Booker

Cory Booker announced his bid for President on February 1st, 2019. On January 14th, 2020, Booker announced that he was suspending his campaign. This is especially saddening, as there is now no one left in the race who is proficient in whipping Biden's ass.

Age: 55

Background: Former Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Senator from New Jersey.

Advantages:

• Already has the endorsement of Joe Biden.
• Laughingly puts down Biden for his 1994 crime bill.
• Supports allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada after initially voting against it.
• Supports Medicare for All, but does not want to end private insurance.
• Wants to overturn the ban on trans people in the military.
• Supports same-sex marriage, women's right to abortions, and the legalization of marijuana.
• Introduced legislation to outlaw "gay cure" therapy.
• Endorses the Green New Deal.
• Champions public schools, despite supporting charter schools as Mayor of Newark.
• Favors criminal justice reform, having helped draft the First Step Act.
• Wants to create a savings account for every American child, funded by hikes in capital gains and estate taxes.
• Wants to renegotiate the Iran Deal before rejoining.

Disadvantages:

• Booker is a notable Big Pharma Democrat, having been one of 13 Democrats to vote with Republicans against importing prescription drugs from Canada and voted to lower drug safety standards in a massive handout to the drug companies through the 21st Century Cures Act (alongside Castro's brother Joaquin, O'Rourke, Ryan, Moulton, and, of course, John Delaney). "Coincidentally", back in 2014 Booker was the top Democrat, and number two Congressperson just under GODDAMNED Mitch McConnell, to receive generous gifts from the pharmaceutical industries.
• Very unlikely to get momentum on the national scene in spite of having met minimal requirements to appear on national debates.

Steve Bullock

Steve Bullock

Steve Bullock announced his campaign for President on May 14, 2019. On December 2, 2019, Bullock announced that he would be dropping out of the 2020 race.

Age: 58

Background: Current Governor of Montana and Chair of the National Governor's Association, and former Attorney General of Montana.

Advantages:

• Supports same-sex marriage and civil protections for LGBT+ people.
• Supports access to abortion.
• Supports universal background checks, red flag laws, and a ban on semi-automatic rifles.
• Supports DACA.
• Expanded Medicaid as Governor, but does not give a clear answer on whether he supports Medicare for All.
• Prefers free college apprenticeship programs over tuition-free college.
• Wants to re-enter the Paris Agreement and supports the Clean Power Plant, but supports the coal mining industry in Montana.
• Supports net neutrality.
• Opposes the tariffs against China implemented by the Trump administration.
• Wants to end the trade embargo with Cuba.
• Wants to overturn Citizens United and ban super-PACs.

Pete Buttigieg

See the main article on this topic: Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg announced his campaign for President on January 23rd, 2019. He dropped out on March 1st, 2020, two days before Super Tuesday.

Age: 42
Mayor of South Bend, Indiana

Advantages:

• Supports same-sex marriage, being in such a marriage himself. Wants to extend civil-rights legislation to protect the LGBTQ community.
• Favors transitioning towards a single-payer healthcare system by first providing a public option but does not support eliminating private health insurance.
• Considers climate change to be a national security threat. Supports the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Wants to subsidize solar panels.
• Endorses the Green New Deal.
• Believes the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has caused significant job losses in the Midwest but supports labor unions.
• Wants to ban guns in schools and the nullification of "stand-your-ground" laws. Supports universal background checks before gun purchases.
• Favors the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, wants to provide undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children with a path to citizenship.
• Is in favor of abolishing the Electoral College.
• Supports marijuana legalization.

Disadvantages: The two things Pete's got going for him are that he's gay and he's a veteran. Otherwise, he may be the biggest pro-Israel candidate of the lineup, and also has an unpleasant resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman.

• Supports withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan but opposes Trump's plan to pull out of Syria. Considers Iran to be a serious threat to Israel. Only supports military deployment if diplomacy fails.
• Wants the Supreme Court to consist of fifteen justices; five affiliated with Democrats, five affiliated with Republicans, and five apolitical justices chosen by the other ten.
• Opposes the leaking of government documents by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, also opposing former President Obama's clemency of Manning's prison sentence.
• Would not reverse Donald Trump's decision to move the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
• Supports a mandatory national service program.
• With the field condensing and Buttigieg being left standing with other hyped candidates destroyed, a few of the remaining just-holding-on candidates have devoted their whole presence to attacking him on his many flaws, often successfully. He's never won an election with more than 8,000 votes, and the one time he ran statewide he ate absolute shit, something even other candidates are beginning to point out. And then there's...
• McKinsey. The simple fact is that one of his first jobs out of college was at one of the shadiest and generally most evil companies on the planet. Initially he tried to weasel out of any accountability by claiming he was bound by an NDA from releasing any details of what he did there, already making him look worse. However, he managed to eventually get out of the NDA and provide some details of what he was doing during three of the seven years of his adult life he spent in the private sector. While his campaign and his supporters tried to pass this off as innocuous and not worth further discussion, less than ten minutes of research prove otherwise. One of his clients was the Canadian supermarket chain Loblaw Inc, which was in 2015 was caught and punished by the Canadian government for a bread price-fixing scheme that took place from 2001-2015. That period includes 2008, when Buttigieg was involved in "analyzing how price cuts could bring in new customers", a phrase certainly does not sound sketchy at all when combined with what the company was doing at the time otherwise. Then he was part of the McKinsey team that tried to privatize the USPS, something that may play better in the other primary. Finally, he consulted for insurance giant Blue Cross, Blue Shield, shortly before they announced a mass layoff of workers and increased premiums for their members, something that would play well in no primary at this point. All in all, it's not hard to see this become the next Bain Capital and tanking a prospective Buttigieg general election candidacy.
• Has tried to prop himself up as the anti-Medicare For All candidate, describing it as an "infringement on freedom". This is despite the fact that at the start of the campaign he supported it, and just a year before, was offended by the idea that anyone would suggest that he didn't.
• Leads the 2020 Democratic field in donations from Wall Street.
• And this

Julián Castro

Julián Castro

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro filed his FEC form on December 21st, 2018, and later officially announced his campaign on January 12th, 2019. On January 2nd, 2020, Castro announced that he would be suspending his campaign.

Age: 50

Background: Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, Former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and Former City Councilman for San Antonio.

Advantages:

• Supports Medicare for All, universal pre-kindergarten, and some form or another of the Green New Deal.
• Supports making the first two years of higher education free.
• Wants to raise corporate taxes and income taxes on the rich in order to fund Medicare for All.
• But now wants to rejoin the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and to reduce carbon emissions by incentivizing businesses to switch to renewable energy on a voluntary basis.
• Wants to ban assault rifles, to restrict high-capacity magazines, and to require background checks at gun shows.
• Opposes Trump's border wall, wants to provide undocumented immigrants with a pathway to citizenship, and proposed securing the U.S.-Mexican border using high technology. Also wants comprehensive immigration reform to make the legal immigration process more efficient, including a repeal of Section 1325. Does not support abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but wants to reconstitute it.
• Supports making abortions legal after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
• Believes that Americans of all gender identities should be able to serve in the military.
• Wants a scheduled withdrawal from Syria.
• Wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in order to strengthen protections for workers and the environment.

Disadvantages:

• Unremarkable career as both Mayor and HUD Secretary. His crowning achievement while mayor? A river walk.
• Quite hypocritically goes after Biden for ICE and immigration, while Castro himself did nothing to improve or discuss of it while in the same administration, and claims to have learned the mistakes of the past.
• Was pro-fracking as mayor of San Antonio.

John Delaney

John Delaney

John Delaney revealed he was running for President in a July 28, 2017 editorial for The Washington Post, and filed his FEC form the next month. On January 31, 2020, Delaney announced he was ending his presidential run.

Advantages:

• Supports raising the corporate tax to 23% and is supportive of trade unions (having been in one himself).

• Favors a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Disadvantages: No name, no game. Another moderate running for the fame.

• Supported the Affordable Care Act, but prefers a Medicare expansion over single-payer healthcare.
• Is supportive of Congressional term limits.
• Wants to re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
• Supports a mandatory national service program (wtf?).

Tulsi Gabbard

See the main article on this topic: Tulsi Gabbard

On January 11th, 2019, Tulsi Gabbard filed her FEC form and revealed her Presidential campaign. She dropped out late in the primary season on March 19, 2020 and endorsed Joe Biden.

Age: 43

Background: Representative from HI-02

Advantages

• Was initially homophobic and anti-abortion, but now supports the LGBT community and claims to support access to abortion.
• Voted for the Equality Act and opposes the transgender military ban.
• Supports eliminating subsidies and tax benefits for fossil fuels.
• Supports a ban on fossil fuel use by 2050.
• Supports a ban on fracking.
• Supports tuition-free college.
• Supports universal background checks for all gun purchases.
• S̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶s̶ ̶M̶e̶d̶i̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶A̶l̶l̶. Supports Medicare "choice", aka a public option.
• Opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
• Supports the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Syria, and ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
• Supports reinstating the Iran Deal.
• Also supports financial regulations in the form of reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act.
• Disapproves of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
• Supports the decriminalization of sex work.
• Wants to pardon Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, and wants to drop charges the U.S. has against Julian Assange.
• While a generally soft-spoken person, she has landed devastating attacks on both Kamala Harris, and Tim Ryan.
• Won the oft-coveted endorsement of... Dennis Kucinich.

Disadvantages

• Though popular among the anti-war crowd. Tulsi is a self-admitted hawk when it comes to terrorists, while a dove on regime changes.
• Appearances on Tucker Carlson's Faux News show definitely aren't helping her campaign.
• Favors the regime of Narendra Modi, and has been skeptical that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons.
• Says the US has to stand up for Israel, whom she considers to be America's strongest ally.
• LOATHED by much of the party faithful, as well as the Beltway press, to a greater extent than even Bernie, all the way up to treason accusations from the 2016 nominee
• Backed off Medicare for All, possibly the final nail in the coffin of much of her left base.
• Seemingly more popular among independents or even Republicans than the democratic base.
• Failed to push back on Dave Rubin allegation that Democrats are trying to 'out do each other on open borders'.

Kirsten Gillibrand

Kirsten Gillibrand

On January 15th, 2019, Kirsten Gillibrand filed her FEC form, formed an exploratory committee, and officially announced her Presidential campaign during her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Dropped out on August 28, 2019.

Age: 57

Background: Senator from New York and former Representative from NY-20.

Policy Positions:

• Supports Medicare for All.
• Abolishing ICE, and a federal jobs guarantee.
• Opposes the Citizens United ruling.
• Denounces the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
• Once a bonafide conservative DINO up until she became a Senator, where she carved out a position as one of the most progressive voices in the Senate, her credentials remain questionable to say the least.
• Family issues such as daddy working as a lawyer for the NXIVM sex cult are spilling into her campaign.
• Supports a "Democracy Dollars" program, in which $600 is given to every voter to be used to donate to people running for federal public office.

Mike Gravel

See the main article on this topic: Mike Gravel

Mike Gravel

Mike Gravel formed an exploratory committee on March 19, 2019, and made his FEC filing the next month. Originally, Gravel's campaign stated he was not running to actually win the nomination, but to bring left-wing ideas to the Democratic primary debate stage. Eventually, Gravel decided to seek the nomination. Gravel dropped out of the presidential race on August 2nd after not making it to the 2nd debate over polling, endorsing Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard.

Age: 94

Background: Former Senator from Alaska and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 8^th district.

Policy positions: Having been formed by members of his campaign, Gravel's official platform countains the following positions:

• Enacting a full socialized, National Health Service-esque single-payer universal healthcare system, covering every single conceivable service.
• Enacting the Green New Deal.
• Free public tax preparation and filing program, with an option for automatic tax filing.
• Federal jobs guarantee and $15 minimum wage.
• Abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, while instituting a policy of open borders.
• Abolishing the Electoral College, establishing a ranked choice voting system, overturning Citizens United and establishing automatic voter registration.
• Banning the death penalty, cash bail, solitary confinement, mandatory minimum sentences and private prisons.
• Abolishing the NSA, repealing the USA PATRIOT Act, and pardoning whistleblowers.
• Closing all offshore military bases, ending all military aid to Saudi Arabia and Israel, banning weapons manufacturers from selling arms abroad, sending all abroad soldiers back to the United States, ending the use of drones, and renaming the Department of Defense to the "Department of War" while creating a "Department of Peace".
• Abolishing unilateral sanctions.
• Investing $1.5 trillion in infrastructure over the course of a decade.

Kamala Harris

See the main article on this topic: Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris made her FEC filing on January 21st, 2019, announcing her campaign the following week.

Age: 60

Background: Senator and former Attorney General from California

Advantages:

• Utterly destroyed Biden in the second debate regarding his opposition to busing and working with segregationist Senators.
• Supports Medicare for All.
• Supports legalizing marijuana.
• Supports sanctuary cities.
• Wants to repeal the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and to give middle-income families an annual cash payment of up to $6,000 per family.
• Supports the Green New Deal.
• Wants to cancel student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients who start businesses that maintain operation in disadvantaged communities for three years.

Disadvantages:

See the main article on this topic: Kamala Harris § Criminal justice

• Likewise destroyed by Tulsi over her prosecuting career.
• Prides herself as a so called "progressive prosecutor".
• Sponsored some incredibly reckless truancy laws, including making it a misdemeanor for parents whose children are truant too many times without a valid excuse, which carried up to a year of jail time and/or a $2,000 fine, something which she is only now regretting.
• Mixed on the death penalty.

John Hickenlooper

John Hickenlooper

On March 4th, 2019, John Hickenlooper announced his campaign to run for President. To no one's surprise and the relief of many, Hickenlooper announced the end of his bid on August 15, 2019, instead opting to join a crowded field for a Colorado Senate seat which he would ultimately win.

Age: 72

Background: 42nd Governor of Colorado and former Mayor of Denver.

Policy positions:

• Reluctantly supports marijuana legalization.
• Opposes mandatory minimum sentences.
• Supports standardized testing.
• Supports universal background checks and high-capacity magazine bans.
• Supports oil and gas development, to the point that he drank a glass of Haliburton's fracking fluid.

Jay Inslee

Jay Inslee

Jay Inslee announced his Presidential campaign on March 1st, 2019, with the main focus of his bid drawing attention to combating climate change. On the 21 August, 2019 episode of the The Rachel Maddow Show, he announced his withdrawal from the 2020 presidential election.

Age: 73

Background: 23rd and current Governor of Washington State, former member of the House of Representatives and former member of the Washington House of Representatives.

Policy positions:

• Taking after the Green New Deal, Inslee advocates for a climate mobilization plan known as America's Climate Mission, a plan focusing on 100% clean energy, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, investments into clean energy-related jobs, recovery for people and regions affected by climate change and pollution, and an end to subsidies to fossil fuel companies.
• Supports a state-based public option, which he considers to be a "step toward universal health care."
• Supports access to abortion.
• Supports the ERA.
• Supports same-sex marriage, adoption and protection from discrimination.
• Opposes the death penalty.
• Supports gun control.
• Supports automatic voter registration.

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar announced her Presidential campaign on February 10th, 2019, and dropped out on March 2nd, 2020, the day before Super Tuesday.

Age: 64

Background: Three-term Senator from Minnesota.

Advantages:

• Supports the Green Power Plan.
• Supports rejoining the Paris Climate Change Agreement, cap and trade, and creating national guidelines to boost the use of renewable energy.
• Supports net neutrality.
• Considers discrimination against the LGBT community to be "bad for business."
• Supports automatic voter registration.
• Opposes Citizens United.
• Supports expanding Medicare to cover people aged 55 and up, possibly more.
• Introduced a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate prices directly and co-authored a bill (with Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa) to speed up the availability of generic alternatives to expensive drugs.
• Believes that abortion is a decision between a woman and her doctor.
• Opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
• Wants to give most illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and to reform, rather than abolish, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Introduced, with Senators John McCain (Arizona) and Mark Warner (Virginia), the Honest Ads Act.
• Wants to restore United States membership in the Iran Deal.
• Won every Congressional district in her state regardless of partisan leaning.

Disadvantages:

• Opposed President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
• An abusive asshole to the people who work under her, for no discernible reason other than she feels like being one.

Seth Moulton

Seth Moulton

Seth Moulton announced his campaign for President on April 22, 2019. Moulton dropped out of the race on August 23, 2019, while predictably warning the Democrats against running a progressive candidate if the party wants to "defeat President Trump", because running a bland corporate centrist worked so well last time.

Age: 46

Background:Representative from Massachusetts' 6^th district since 2014.

Policy positions:

• Supports same-sex marriage and access to abortion.
• Supports marijuana legalization, having smoked it himself.
• Supports automatic voter registration.
• Is a proponent of public transportation, being a frequent rider himself.
• Wants to abolish the Electoral College and the Senate filibuster.
• Wants to cut spending on "massive" defense programs, but more on cybersecurity to protect elections.
• Supports single-payer healthcare, but wants to retain private health insurance.
• Originally a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, he later wrote an editorial expressing that he wanted to reform it mostly into a job creation and civilian service program.
• Endorses nuclear power, which he considers the "best" source of clean energy.
• Wants all 33 million young Americans to serve in the military, promising healthcare and education benefits (Diet Delaney?).

Beto O'Rourke

Beto O'Rourke

See the main article on this topic: Beto O'Rourke

Beto O'Rourke announced that he was running for President on March 14th, 2019. The previous day, he explained, "I want to be in it. Man, I’m just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment" in an interview with Vanity Fair. On November 1^st, 2019, Beto announced the end to his bid to be come the Democratic Party nominee.

Age: 52

Background:Former member of the House of Representatives from TX-16 and former member of the El Paso City Council from the 8th district.

Advantages:

• Launched a Senate campaign in 2018 to unseat Ted Cruz, losing by only a small margin.
• Wants to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. Views climate change and renewable energy from an economic perspective.
• Wants to make pre-Kindergarten universal and the first two years of higher education debt-free.
• Favors anti-trust legislation.
• Voted against the restriction of abortions to 20 weeks and co-sponsored a bill that places no restriction on abortion if the mother's life or health is at risk.
• Wants to end the War on Drugs.
• Wants to make sexual discrimination illegal and give same-sex couples the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.
• Opposes the ban on transgender people in the military.
• Supports universal background checks and the banning of "assault weapons" and high-capacity magazines.
• Supports the legalization of marijuana.
• Wants to give legal status to all illegal immigrants and a path to citizenship for "Dreamers," or individuals brought illegally to the United States as children.
• Is "open" to the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as long as their responsibilities are transferred elsewhere.

Richard Ojeda

Richard Ojeda

On Novemeber 11^th, 2018, Richard Ojeda filed his FEC form and announced his official presidential campaign. He dropped out of the race on January 27^th, 2019. Nobody really noticed that he had been running and only barely paid attention that he dropped out, as he was the first candidate to drop out of the nomination.

Age: 54

Background:Former State Senator from West Virginia. United States Army Major, 2-time Bronze Star recipient and veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

Policy positions:

• Favors raising corporate taxes.
• Supports the rights of unions and opposes right-to-work laws.
• Endorses the Green New Deal.
• Favors legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing opiates.
• Supports a woman's right to abortion and opposes all anti-abortion legislation. Also wants to increase access to birth control and quadruple Planned Parenthood funding.

Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick announced his bid for President on November 14, 2019. On February 12, 2020, one day after garnering an astonishing 1258 votes in New Hampshire, he announced that he was suspending his campaign.

Age: 68

Background: Former Governor of Massachusetts, former United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Advantages:

• Actually has prior political experience as governor of the state of Massachusetts.
• Supports a public option for health care.
• Supports free community college.
• Supports universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons, and strengthened laws in the state of Massachusetts during his time as governor.
• Supports LGBTQIA rights and helped expand Medicaid coverage for transgender individuals during his time as governor.

Disadvantages: He stands no chance of winning. We didn't even have him in this article until almost two months after he announced his candidacy.

• Does not support "Medicare for All".
• Against the Green New Deal.
• Won't refuse contributions from people and entities tied to fossil fuel companies.
• Been involved with oil company, subprime lending company, and Bain Capital in recent years.
• To emphases how little of a chance he has, he had ended up canceling an event at Morehouse College, 6 days after he announced his candidacy, when only 2 people showed up... and they were just passing and decided to be nice and attend when asked by the organizers...

Tim Ryan

Tim Ryan

Tim Ryan announced his bid on April 4, 2019. On 24 October, 2019, he announced he would end his bid for the Democratic party nomination, to instead focus on being re-elected to his seat in Ohio's 13^th district.

Age: 51

Background: Member of the House of Representatives from Ohio's 13^th district, previously representing the 17^th district. Former Ohio State Senator from the 32^nd district.

Policy positions:

• Supports legislation to combat climate change, but does not support the Green New Deal.
• Supports tuition and debt-free college.
• Supports universal background checks and a ban on semi-automatic rifles.
• Supports the DREAM Act of 2019.
• Supports same-sex marriage, access to abortion, nationwide legalization of marijuana, and the right of transgender people to join the military.

Bernie Sanders

See the main article on this topic: Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders announced his campaign for President on February 19th, 2019. Suspended his campaign April 8th, 2020.

Age: 83

Background: Former House Representative of Vermont. Current Senator from Vermont. Ran for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Advantages:

• Author of the Medicare for All proposal. Wants to expand and strengthen the social safety net.
• Clown stomps the moderates opposing his Medicare for All plans.
• Supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and making public colleges and universities tuition-free.
• Wants to cancel all $1.6 trillion of student loan debt.
• Wants to raise taxes on wealthy people and corporations, such as a federal estate tax of up to 77% on the richest 0.2% of Americans, in order to fund his welfare programs and to reduce income inequality.
• Supports breaking up the big banks and other financial reforms.
• Advocates transitioning towards renewable energy.
• Opposes unfettered free trade.
• Wants to make it easier for people to join labor unions.
• Advocates for workers having ownership stake in the businesses they work for.
• Supports equal pay for equal work.
• Opposed the FCC's overturning of net neutrality. and voted on a bill to retain net neutrality.
• Supports a ban on for-profit charter schools, a salary floor of $60,000 for teachers and universal free school meals.
• Supports abolition of the Electoral College.
• Opposes the Supreme Court Citizens United decision.
• Believes that even incarcerated citizens should have the right to vote.
• Supports abolishing the death penalty.
• Opposes Donald Trump's decision to press charges against Julian Assange under the Espionage Act.
• Favors instant background checks for gun purchases, removal of the gun-show loophole, and a ban on assault rifles and on high-capacity magazines.
• Believes that states rather than the federal government should handle waiting periods for handgun purchases.
• Is open to decriminalizing sex work.
• Supports a diplomacy-first approach to foreign affairs. Opposes the Second Iraq War.
• He has a good reputation for intellectual rigidity.
• While the amount of legislation he passed is very low, he's known to add roll call amendments to legislation as well winning a reputation of a bipartisan deal maker as Veterans Affairs Committe Chairman.
• Could possibly unify the Left against Trump, and Sanders has a history of winning elections.

Disadvantages:

• Mixed support from the Democratic Party. Democrats such as Peter Welch, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna support Sanders as a champion for real change. However some like Rahm Emanuel fear that Sanders would alienate swing votes. It's easy to forget that the Democratic party is not a monolith.
• Like Biden, who is only a year younger, Sanders has an age disadvantage (at 78) compared to Trump who is 73.
• He has a bad reputation for intellectual rigidity.
• He has not been able to pass even an average amount of legislation outside of amendments in his time in office. Note the first words of the above column. It wouldn't be unprecedented that he became more effective once taking office, but it's a risky bet.
• His reputation as an ideologue might contribute to further disaffection from people that just went through 4 years of it.
• There are doubts that not enough young voters will show up to beat Trump.
• While his percentages in the primaries remained fairly consistent, as other candidates dropped out their supporters moved to Biden and not to Sanders. As such his early pluralities did not translate into majorities.

Tom Steyer

Tom Steyer

Tom Steyer announced his bid for President on July 9, 2019. He made his first appearance on the debate stage in the October 2019 debates. On 29 February, 2020, he announced the end of his campagain, following coming in third in the South Carolina primaries, having come in third with approximately 50,000 votes or 11.4% of the vote.

Age: 67

Background: Founder of Farallon Capital, co-founder of Beneficial State Bank, partner and executive committee member of Hellman & Friedman.

Advantages:

• Was an early proponent of impeaching Donald Trump, calling for it in October 2017.
• Supports a 'living wage'.
• Favors public option for healthcare, separate from Medicare & Medicaid.
• A 12 year lifetime term limit on congress members.
• Pro-choice.
• Supports gun control.

Disadvantages:

• Like pointed out above with Bloomberg, people may feel unease at the idea of another billionaire in the White House, given how it has gone with the last one.
• Hits really hard on the impeaching Donald Trump during the campaign, which is strange given if he wins, impeaching Trump would be a moot point.
• Could likely do more good if he used his wealth to help deal with voter suppression or that impeachment thing that made his name known to the American people.

Eric Swalwell

Eric Swalwell

Eric Swalwell announced his candidacy on April 8, 2019 while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. His dropped his bid exactly three months later, on July 8, 2019, after failing to gain any traction in the field.

Age: 44

Background: Member of the House of Representatives from California's 15^th district, and former city council member of the Dublin, California.

Policy positions:

• Supports same-sex marriage and access to abortion and contraception.
• Supports a ban and Federal buyback of semi-automatic weapons, and supports universal background checks.
• Endorses Medicare for All.
• Endorses the Green New Deal.
• Supports automatic voter registration.

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren

See the main article on this topic: Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren filed her FEC form and formed an exploratory committee on December 31st, 2018. She officially announced her Presidential campaign on February 9th, 2019. She dropped out after a poor Super Tuesday performance on March 5th, 2020.

Age: 75

Background: Senator from Massachusetts. Former interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Advantages: Almost everything Bernie has going for him, they both get along very well and avoid attacking eachother on the debates. Warren is essentially the female Bernie Sanders, but even more reform-oriented (she wants to create a more fair capitalist system).

• Has a multitude of criminal justice reform ideas which include ending cash bail, decriminalizing offenses related to homelessness and addiction, requiring more police body cameras, and repealing the infamous 1994 crime bill.
• Supports public works and financial regulation, having helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Wants to break up tech giants.
• Has an agriculture reform plan to woo rural voters. She wants to bust up the harmful agribusiness monopolies and prevent anti-competition mergers such as the recent Bayer-Monsanto deal.
• Has proposed a 2% wealth tax on households whose net worth are over $50,000,000 each, and a 3% wealth tax on those worth over $1 billion each, which would raise an estimated $2.75 trillion over ten years.
• Supports Medicare for All, and wants to eliminate private health insurance.
• Supports "net metering."
• Supports universal child care.
• Opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
• Has a low-income housing plan: her "American Housing and Economic Mobility Act" would invest in affordable housing, expand protections under the Fair Housing Act to ban housing discrimination based on identity and income, and would create new incentives for local governments to reduce barriers that drive up the cost of housing.
• Proposes a "Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act", which would ban DoD officials from owning stock in stock in defense contractors, ban contractors from hiring retired DoD officials for four years after they leave office, and make defense contractors subject to federal open records law and have to report who they’re lobbying at the Pentagon and why.
• Wants to expand the State Department by creating diplomatic training programs for US universities, doubling the size of the Peace Corps, opening new diplomatic posts in under-served areas, and creating more scholarships for language and data-science programs.
• Wants to abolish the Electoral College, to remove Confederate statues, and to create a national commission to study reparations for African-Americans.
• Wants to hold corporate executives criminally accountable when their companies act negligently or recklessly.
• Supports the Right to Repair movement, which would allow consumers to fix things that they own without fear of legal reprisals from manufacturers.
• Wants to ban private prisons.
• Is open to decriminalizing sex work.
• Has a number of ideas to alleviate the horrible conditions Native Americans face. Her proposals include establishing a permanent, statutory White House Council on Native American Affairs and invest in programs to help Native American communities rectify their general lack of transportation, electricity, and clean water.
• Destroyed any and all prospect Michael Bloomberg had in the primary in under 60 seconds.

Disadvantages:

• Most of her potential left base prefer Bernie by a fair margin, and many of them have begun to see her as a phony and a threat to real progressive change. Even Bernie has begun to go in a bit.
• The Native American debacle. It would be one thing if she just said it once, but there's decades of it, and many Indigenous people, who have already trended Republican in recent years, still distrust her over it.
• Was a Republican for much of her adult life, and not a moderate or quiet one at that.
• Has waffled on Corporate PAC money, potentially eliminating many of the ostensible benefits to her.
• More hawkish than many Democrats, or war-weary Americans in general, would prefer.

Marianne Williamson

See the main article on this topic: Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson

New Age spiritualist and guru Marianne Williamson began her bid for President on January 29, 2019. On January 10, 2020, Williamson officially ended her campaign for the nomination, after having laid off all of her campaign staff 8 days before.

Age: 72

Background: New Age Spirtualist and guru

Advantages:

• Endorses Medicare for All.
• Endorses the Green New Deal.
• Supports universal preschool and tuition-free college.
• Supports paying $100 billion dollars in reparations for African-Americans, with $10 billion distributed every year over a period of ten years.

Disadvantages:

See the main article on this topic: Marianne Williamson § New Age blather

• Master of all things relating to New Age woo.
• Republicans are now actually donating to her campaign just to keep her discussing woo beliefs in the debates.
• She has repeatedly expressed vaccine "skepticism".

Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang

See the main article on this topic: Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang filed his FEC form on November 6th, 2017. He dropped out on February 11th, 2020, on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

Age: 49

Background: Founder and former CEO of Venture for America, Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under President Barack Obama.

Advantages:

• Supports a universal basic income program called "The Freedom Dividend," which would provide every American citizen aged 18 or above a monthly $1,000 check. He plans to pay for this by consolidating welfare programs and imposing a 10% value-added tax on goods and services which he estimated would generate upto $800 billion in revenue.
• Believes that the Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction but is not enough; wants to shift to a Medicare-for-All system instead.
• Supports salaried doctors.
• Wants to use artificial intelligence to improve mental health services and create a "White House Psychologist Corps" to screen administration staff.
• Wants to keep abortion legal.
• Supports legislation that protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender, and wants to appoint LGBTQ individuals to serve in his administration.
• Advocates for "Human Capitalism," a form of capitalism that he claims focuses on people rather than money and uses measurements other than the gross domestic product (GDP) and the stock market to determine success. The alternatives he had in mind include standards of living, and life expectancy.
• Wants to develop a new currency called the "Digital Social Credit" that could be exchanged for real dollars.
• Vows to invest in solutions to global warming, including technologies to reverse environmental damages, and improve access to nuclear power.
• Support eliminating tax benefits to fossil fuel companies and institute a carbon tax.
• Wants to strengthen environmental protection along the Rio Grande.
• Wants to enable illegal immigrants to become citizens in 18 years, provided they maintain a clean criminal record and pay their taxes.
• Supports the DREAM Act and improving security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
• Believes in NATO and other international alliances and wants hand the power to declare war back to Congress.
• Plans to regularly audit Pentagon spending and create a new position called the Secretary of Cybersecurity.
• Wants to redirect 10% of military spending to an infrastructure program titled "The Legion of Builders and Destroyers".
• Accuses the ultra-lucrative college sports industry of "exploiting young people," and calls on the NCAA to start paying its athletes.

Disadvantages:

• The problematic issues surrounding the likely negative effects of both his "The Freedom Dividend" and its accompanying VAT scheme.
• Promotes holistic/alternative medicines, such as acupuncture, stating they don't need FDA approval as they're "just innate." He has even announced an appearance on pseudoscience-peddling TV host Dr. Oz's show, praising him for "mak[ing] a lot of people smarter about their health. 👍💪😀"
• The alt-right support him on social media, calling themselves the "Yang Gang", largely due to "The Freedom Dividend" promising free money if elected and Yang's appearances on non traditional outlets for Democratic candidates, such as Joe Rogan's podcast.
• Is prone to superficial “consultancy speak” and associated flimflammery, such as the need for downsizing the entire federal workforce or the idea that all laws should have sunset clauses, and simplistic notions about how “smart entrepreneurs” like himself is really all that is needed to fix things, an approach to politics not unlike Trump’s “drain the swamp” rhetoric.

See also

• 2020 Republican Party presidential nomination
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• High speed rail
• Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
• Renewable energy
• Universal healthcare

External links

Abortion

• Abortion Laws Around the World. Pew Research Center. Religion and Public Life. September 30, 2009.
• Induced Abortion Worldwide. Guttmacher Institute. March 2018.
• In Europe, it is both easier and harder to get an abortion than in US. Christian Science Monitor. May 24, 2018.

Infrastructure

• Donald Trump's infrastructure priorities. Global Construction Review. January 30, 2017.
• Buildings Reinvented. The B1M. February 17, 2019.
• Why is Norway the land of electric cars?. BBC News. May 19, 2019.

Green New Deal

• Resolution on the Green New Deal by House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. February 7, 2019. (Resolutions are legally non-binding.)
• On the circumstances, history, and key details of the Green New Deal. National Public Radio. February 7, 2019.

Other topics

• Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2017. Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. March 2018.
• Top Issues for Voters: Healthcare, Economy, Immigration. Gallup News. November 2, 2018.
• Which countries are best at attracting high-skilled workers?. World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Visual Capitalist. March 20, 2019.
• Medicare for All: Can Bernie Sanders overhaul US healthcare?. BBC News. April 10, 2019.
• 7 Ways Rich People Avoid Paying Taxes. America Uncovered. April 15, 2019.

Further reading

• Britnell, Mark. In Search of the Perfect Health System. Palgrave, 2015. ISBN 978-1-137-49661-4.
• Ferguson, Charles D. Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19975-945-3.
• Reid, T. R. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. Penguin Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-594-20234-6.
• Spieler, Christof. Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit. Island Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1-61091-903-6.

References

United States 2020 presidential election articles on RationalWiki

Topics: Abortion - Climate change - Coronavirus - Education - Illegal immigration - Gun control - LGBT rights - Marijuana - Supreme Court - Taxes - United States Electoral College - Universal healthcare
Parties: Democratic Party (primaries) - Green Party of the United States - Libertarian Party - Republican Party
Candidates: Biden (D) - Bloomberg (D) - Buttigieg (D) - Gabbard (D) - Gravel (D) - Harris (D) - O'Rourke (D) - Sanders (D) - Sanford (R) - Trump (R) - Walsh (R) - Warren (D) - West (Independent) - Williamson (D) - Yang (D) • Running mates: Harris (D) - Pence (R)
Winner: Joe Biden
Fallout from sore losers: 2021 U.S. Capitol riot