Jack McComb
The Democratic Presidential candidates started with a pool of 28 candidates, now it is down to three: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Tulsi Gabbard, although Gabbard is very low in the polls. Bernie Sanders is a self-identified Democratic Socialist running on Medicare for All and a mission to represent the working class. Joe Biden is a Liberal Moderate with hopes of unifying his party and his country. Both, however, are determined to defeat President Donald J. Trump in the coming election.
At the start of the election, Bernie Sanders took a lead in Iowa, neck and neck with former candidate Pete Buttigieg. Sanders subsequently took the lead in New Hampshire, a state in which Joe Biden did not perform well in, coming in at fifth place. Sanders then won a sweeping victory in Nevada. Biden managed to stay in the running, however, by taking South Carolina yet was considered by many to be second to Bernie Sanders at best.
This all changed during Super Tuesday, when 15 states voted in the primaries in one day. Joe Biden secured 9 of those 15 states, turning this Democratic race into a two-man battle. Biden’s results were partly propelled by endorsements from Pete Buttigieg, who had abruptly dropped out of the running, and Amy Klobuchar, who also dropped out.
There were a few candidates who once held a significant chance at winning the nomination but have since left the race. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive senator from Massachusetts, was hailed as a front runner in the beginning of the race but slowly found her campaign losing momentum. Pete Buttigieg didn’t perform amazingly during the beginning primaries, but surprised many by dropping out.
There was of course the case of Michael Bloomberg, billionaire and former mayor of New York City. Bloomberg joined the race later than a lot of his fellow candidates, but with great effort, and great money (more than a total of 500 million dollars in campaign ads alone) he got himself on the debate stage. Regardless, Bloomberg still failed to get any states during the primaries, only winning American Samoa, a US territory.
This election will be the first election for many of the seniors at the Brooklyn Latin School, and its results will have an effect on everybody within it. When asked about her thoughts on the Democratic race, Class I discipula Eden Moore voiced support for Bernie Sanders: “My personal opinion is Bernie, it’s basically between him and Biden.” A class III discipulus voiced support for former candidate Andrew Yang for his plan to implement Universal Basic Income, but said that he no longer cared about the Democratic primaries. Kazi Hoque of Class I said “I am personally going for Sanders because I feel like he’ll fulfill the needs of my family.”
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