Derek Nastasi
Before you turn away, understand that American politics do affect our very way of life, maybe not all at once, but certainly gradually. This article applies mostly to the students here at Laurel Highlands that are 18 or very close because voting is a right that should be exercised with the freedom given to us by this country. Like I say, get interested in politics before it gets interested in you. But without further adieu, let's cut to the facts.
In this election the two main parties are, of course, the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democratic party is set on more liberal mindset, and this year it is clear that they are veering further to the left and a good bit of candidates are adopting Socialist views on certain issues. They have many candidates running (about 30) but you also have to consider that the primaries have still not happened. On the other hand, the Republicans are sticking to a strong conservative ideology while becoming a bit more libertarian on some issues and slightly veering towards the middle more this year than others.
There are only two candidates in the Republican Party due to one of them being the current sitting president. Despite some talk, people that are NOT going to be running are Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Kanye West, and Dwayne Johnson. Let’s meet some:
Bernie Sanders, 77 (Democrat): Bernie is a senator from Vermont and has been since 2007. He ran in the last election and was right behind Hillary Clinton but was defeated. He is openly a Socialist and is most known for his free college plan, which switches the expenses of college (4 years or lower) from the student to the citizen’s taxes making citizens pay state and federal taxes for other children’s college. This can be backed up by a summary of his College For All Act https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/collegeforallsummary/?inline=file ;we don't do fake news here. Bernie is probably the most unusual of the Democratic candidates and doesn't get along with most Democrats in his party. It is said by many that he was cheated out of the Democratic nominee in 2016.
Kamala Harris, 54 (Democrat): Here is another confirmed candidate in the 2020 election. She is a senator from California ever since 2017, and she also had experience being attorney general of California and the San Francisco district attorney. She is the embodiment of a modern liberal that you see all over, but the only difference is, she holds power. She is strong on the legalization of marijuana and has admitted to smoking it in college while listening to Tupac; meanwhile, Tupac never made music when she was in college. Anyway, she hates Trump a lot and is the complete opposite of him policy-wise except for marijuana. She has very similar views to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Earlier in 2018, she tried vigorously to deny Kavanaugh of acceptance into the Supreme Court in vigorous ways which caused some heat and made her known.
Cory Booker, 49 (Democrat): He has been a senator from New Jersey from 2013 and was a former mayor of Newark,NJ. His mindset is strikingly similar to that of Barack Obama which many in the Democratic party idolize. His ads are seen as very vague but he claims he wants to appeal to all. He believes in having very laid-back law enforcement and believes that “Police don’t solve the problem;they just attend to symptoms.” -United by Cory Booker pg.141 in 2016. It is a mystery how that will play out if he legislates on that. He gets much of his funding from PACs and companies.
Andrew Yang, 44 (Democrat): He is a former tech executive who founded an economic development non-profit. He is probably the most socialist (almost Communist) candidate and his big proposal is to change the whole U.S. economy and monetary system by making a universal income, making Americans live off of a federally regulated $1,000 a month. He also pushes to stop the innovations of technology such as AI and robots.
Beto O'Rourke, 46 (Democrat): He was a former Texas Congressman and he uses many tactics of crowd pleasing and attention-grabbing, such as riding a skateboard onto stage. His progress is not looking the best lately noting that Beto has lost two campaign advisers according to www.houstonchronicle.com. He ran for senator of Texas in 2018 but lost to Ted Cruz. He despises Donald Trump’s immigration policy and Beto tries hard to appeal to the youth and usually puts on a youthful persona on stage.
Elizabeth Warren, 69 (Democrat): She was a former Harvard professor and is a Senator from Massachusetts ever since 2013. The main thing to know about her is that she is the candidate that is the closest to Hillary Clinton in this election. She is most known for her controversy she caused with her claim that she was of Native American heritage but got a DNA test and the results were debtable. Many think she has done this to appeal to more groups and be more diverse. She has done much appealing tactics such as posting live video of herself in the kitchen with her husband drinking beer to try to appeal to audiences.
Kirsten Gillibrand, 52 (Democrat): She is a senator from New York since 2009 and is a former House Representative. She is a very liberal voice in the Senate and gets heated at times when discussing what she wants. She is strong on the third wave feminist movement in America and puts it at the front of her agenda. She claims that she can relate to families in America and especially to mothers because she has kids of her own. She has had conflict within her own party after pushing for Al Gore’s resignation and lost campaign donors from that.
William F. Weld, 73 (Republican): He is the only other known candidate so far running against Donald Trump for the Republican Party ticket. He is a former governor of Massachusetts and former federal prosecutor. Like Trump, he isn’t an strict Republican and Weld has had time in the Libertarian third party. He likes to describe himself as a voice for moderates,and has been a critic of the president ever since 2016. He favors lower government spending, has made steps towards the legalization of marijuana, and free trade. He says he wants to make the Republican party back to the party of Lincoln. It will be very hard for him to win with his lack of charisma and low popularity. He has also claimed that he would rather favor the slightly more radical Mike Pence in office but Weld claims he himself favored a more moderate view however, interesting.
Donald J. Trump, 72 (Republican): We all know him. He is the most known candidate in this election; he is the current U.S. president, businessman, real estate developer, and former reality TV show host. He stirs a lot of controversy due to his lack of political correctness(bluntness) and bold legislations all seeming to do the opposite of the Obama and Bush administrations. At times he is seen to have been harsh and very direct. He is again not your average Republican and is at heart a Populist. Trump’s main agendas are stronger immigration, a stronger military, tax cuts, trade reform, and more that he hopes to continue if elected. Trump has also made steps to push for the legalization of marijuana but not any hard drugs. If he is re-elected, I can tell you the wall will be for sure completely in motion. He is easily the Democratic party’s most dangerous opponent and the left wing will stop at nothing to halt his progress.Trump has also made many enemies in his own party and most Democrats can't stand the sight of him. Of course as anyone would know, he has stirred up a lot of controversy for wanting to build a hotel in Russia and has been accused of colluding with Russia, but ever since the Muller report has come back negative for about the fourth time, his critics have gone silent. The Russians have however been proven to influence American politics in the past but that could be unrelated. He is big on a welfare reform as well and claims to fight against the abuse of such programs. Many conservatives, almost all, identify with his views and many liberals oppose his views. He is without much doubt going to win the Republican Party nomination but the election is unclear.
Joe Biden, 76 (Democrat): He is claiming to officially run but seems to have not have fully made up his mind yet. He is a former senator of Delaware and Former vice president under Obama. He hopes to carry the legacy of Obama, but recently has gotten shame and has been labeled a pedophile for touching and kissing young girls on camera while they clearly refused. He wants a more liberal foreign policy and the opposite of everything Trump is doing. He also wants more “economic protection” for fast food and lower class workers.