Not much has changed in the Democratic candidates’ resolve since October.
Warren pushes her wealth tax, Buttigieg is targeted because of his age, and Yang is nowhere to be seen.
The Democratic candidates continue to push for a united front as Bernie Sanders states that they “cannot simply be consumed by Donald Trump.” No matter the result in November, they all wish for at least one thing to happen: Trump will not win again, allowing him a second term. Though they chime “us” in matters of the Republican party, they don’t seem to get along very well on any other issue.
Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Representative from Hawaii, called Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, out on his inexperience as he stands as the youngest candidate on the stage at the age of 37, quoting him saying that he would be willing to send troops to Mexico to fight cartels. Though Buttigieg does clear up exactly what he meant by that statement (which is more cooperation between police and military forces in Mexico), his comment on judgment led to Gabbard questioning his ability to work with tyrannical leaders in order to move towards world peace.
Gabbard spent time not only attacking but defending as well in Atlanta. Kamala Harris from California brought up Gabbard’s past four years on Fox News continuously bashing the Obama administration and ultimately bashing the Democratic party. Gabbard’s “I’m not going to put party interests first” ended that discussion.
Warren pitches her 2 cent wealth tax on the top one-tenth percent that aims to provide universal forms of childcare and pre-K, raise wages of childcare workers and pre-school teachers, put 800 billion and 50 billion into public schools and historically black colleges, respectively, make college tuition-free, and cancel 95 percent of student loan debt. Though other Democrats like Cory Booker from New Jersey and Buttigieg push against the plan on the basis that the wealth tax was a failure in other European nations, Warren continues to use it as one of her main campaign strategies. We are yet to see all the numbers broken down.
One of Joe Biden’s memorable appearances was when he called Illinois Sen. Carol Mosely Braun the only female African American senator when Kamala Harris (who is half black by the way) stood mere feet away from him. This did not do him much harm nor good, though his polling points decreased by 2.8 points.
The rest of the candidates make less notable appearances, even top players like Sanders and Biden. Even then, the polls still show continued support for the top three: Biden at 27 points, Sanders at 18.3, and Warren at 15.8. Buttigieg has recently entered the top four and now stands at 11 points. Not only did he shoot himself up 3 points in the national polls since the November debate, but he has also increased greatly since October 11 in Iowa, going from 11 to 24 points. Now number one in the first primary caucus in the nation, Buttigieg has a clear advantage over the other candidates, regardless of the point gap in the national polls. Harris comes in fifth at 3.8 points nationally, 7.2 points below Buttigieg.
With the primaries coming up in February, the race to become the Democratic nominee is coming to a close. Three more debates until the voting begins.
Image by Srikanta H. U via Unsplash.com: https://unsplash.com/photos/upMISxb0WD0