The Democrat Party primaries continue to add aspiring Presidential candidates for 2020. A few weeks ago, we analyzed Julián Castro’s candidacy, his trajectory, and what he represents as the only Latino in the bid to oust Donald Trump from the White House. Then, in another article, we highlighted the profiles of the four figures that elevate the female Democratic leadership in the presidential race: Senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Kamala Harris (California), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota).
This week, three male senators joined the competition (or declared an intent to run). They are: Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Cory Booker (New Jersey), and Sharren Brown (Ohio). With numerous merits and qualities, they all appeal to either the most progressive or the labor union electoral base. In short, the electoral space that Bernie Sanders enjoyed in 2016 without other contenders, against Hillary Clinton, which allowed him to galvanize a solid support around his message, now has three strong and prestigious figures that cater to the natural favor of that electorate. Similarly, the leadership of Warren and Kamala Harris also aims to that sector. Out of this progressive group, Booker is African American, and competes for the African American female vote with candidate Kamala Harris. All of these senators are rooted in and have more projection on the East Coast of the US, except for Sanders who is a consolidated national figure. This group of gentlemen finds a strong contestant in that coastal geographic space in Elizabeth Warren, and a powerful contention in California from Kamala Harris.
Now, focusing on the new candidates, who are they and where are they from?
I’m running for president. I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least 1 million people from across the country. Say you’re in: https://t.co/KOTx0WZqRf pic.twitter.com/T1TLH0rm26
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 19, 2019
We know plenty about Sanders. He is independent, but is part of the Democratic caucus. He ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and excited not only the far-left and labor union electorates, but also, very specially, the young voters, who saw in him a sort of wise and authentic grandfather. He has earned strong sympathizers with his decisive trajectory in his long political career against the undue influence of corporate interests and the richest in politics, through the financing of campaigns, and his vertical insistence on the need for a universal health system and free of charge higher education. On top of that, he is committed to bring the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, as well as assume and reverse the consequences of climate change through a policy that substitutes oil-based energy for green and renewable alternatives.
Until his presidential defeat in 2016, Sanders remained invictus from popular mayor of the capital of Vermont, until his long journey as a congressman and senator. He is, in fact, the longest-serving independent member of US Congress in its history. Sanders calls himself a social democrat or democratic socialist, characterization that appeals as a reference to the thought developed in social market economy models in the Nordic countries, Germany, or France. Sanders assumes it with authenticity: he says the USA is the most powerful country in the world, but that does not make it the best in inclusion and social justice. Hence, his persistent denunciation of both the accumulation of wealth in few hands and the weakening of the American middle classes in the last decades.
I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. https://t.co/fEDqOVIfwh pic.twitter.com/h1FTPUYRzo
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 1, 2019
Cory Booker has a discourse that intercepts with that of Sanders in many respects, but Booker adds the racial justice component. Booker is an electrifying speaker. He reminds us of Obama, but with a personal touch of great passion, instead of the serenity that dominated Obama’s rhetoric.
The New Jersey Senator is the embodiment of the American Dream. His grandparents came from humble origins; his parents had a good education and, as professionals, were among the first African Americans to reach executive positions in IBM. Booker is a lawyer, trained in the reputable Stanford and Yale universities. His academic excellence earned him the prestigious recognition of Rhodes Scholar for his postgraduate studies in Oxford, England. One of the few African Americans to achieve it, this distinction put Booker in a select group of world leaders, including former President Bill Clinton. In addition to his impeccable academic record, Cory Booker was a distinguished athlete during his university career and stood out nationally in football, which adds to his popularity.
Before being elected senator, he was a successful and beloved mayor of the populous Newark, capital of New Jersey and across the Hudson from New York, with a vital interconnection between the two cities that involves major challenges of security, infrastructure, and public transport. In his struggle for justice and public safety, his tenacity is highlighted in the defense of the control of the possession of weapons, human rights, and community policing, as well as the promotion of reforms to the judicial and penitentiary system to address the vestiges of systemic racism that persist in the criminal justice system. His voting record in the Senate places him in third place of the most progressive liberal in the US Congress.
President Trump talked a lot about how well the economy is doing. I don’t measure the economy by the stock market. I measure it by people’s paychecks, the cost of healthcare, housing, & education. And for far too many people, hard work isn’t paying off like it should. -SB #SOTU pic.twitter.com/99SBqQxhuR
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) February 6, 2019
Senator Sherrod Brown is immensely popular in Ohio, with ample trajectory starting from Ohio’s Congress and Secretary of State, all the way to the US Congress, where he’s represented his state since 1993, first in the House of Representatives, and finally in the Senate. Having majored in education and with a master of public administration, Brown has a notable influence over the working middle class and labor unions, because of his commitment with the causes that affect this fundamental segment and his fight for consumers’ rights.
A fundamental aspect of Brown’s candidacy is that, in his pragmatic struggle for the middle and working classes, he has stayed away from ideological positions. Therefore, in his defense of health reform he has always proposed formulas that call for greater consensus than those of Senator Sanders. In fact, Brown and Sanders have a close political relationship. They were partners in the struggle to establish a system that guarantees the right to health. However, Brown did not support the legislative proposals of Sanders at the time, and instead sought intermediate and viable formulas through political and legislative negotiation. In 2016, despite his closeness with Sanders, he supported Hillary Clinton.
Ohio, one of the industrial belt states of the country, is pendular. There, Republicans tend to be more moderate that in the rest of the country. It is the case of governor Kasich, who could still be Trump’s contender in a Republican primary. Let us not forget how he remained firm until the end when he confronted Trump in the 2016 primaries. For Trump to win the next presidential elections, he must win in Florida and Ohio, given his political profile in the Electoral College map. Instead, Democrats can win the Presidency without Florida in various ways; one of which includes a victory in Ohio. In addition to swaying Ohio, Brown can influence the industrial belt states in the Midwest, which includes Michigan and Pennsylvania. Brown is undoubtedly a key player in the construction of a winning presidential formula, beyond his possibility of winning the nomination.
Earlier this week in Florida, while speaking about Venezuela, Trump insisted on manipulating the subject to talk about socialism, just like he did in this year’s State of the Union. His goal is to establish a parallel between the ideas of Sanders, Brown, and Booker—as well as Senators Warren and Harris, who are other leaders with great significance in this struggle—with the devastating socialism in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. This manipulation is not uncommon: the Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum was attacked as a “socialist” in the 2018 Southeast Florida’s governor election. It is a strategy Trump uses to secure his win in Florida and impacts other states, such as Ohio. However, Trump does little honor to the truth in that electoral calculation, because Venezuela is governed by a kleptocratic militarism, instead of socialism. The models of Cuba, Venezuela, or Nicaragua, have nothing to do with the aspiration of social justice and economic inclusion that—within the framework of a capitalist or market system—these Democratic vanguard leaderships, located to the left of the American spectrum, propose.
They are attacks, responses, and topics that will be present along the way in the fight for the White House. Nonetheless, it is evident that Trump’s manipulation is totally removed from reality. Contrary to his remarks, the Senators’ profiles postulate something powerful to the US political debate: that the prosperity and benefits of the capitalist process could be better shared with the middle and working classes, while guaranteeing greater justice and racial inclusion, empowering minorities to overcome poverty. These are leaders who promote social justice and equal opportunities in both the democratic and capitalist American systems. What can be better than is? That is the point. The benefits of the system can, and should, reach everyone.