The 2020 Democratic Primary will shape democratic party

Michael McShane
Staff Writer

With the inclusion of Beto O’Rourke in the 2020 Democratic Party Primary, that means there are currently 13 confirmed candidates.

The 2020 Democratic Primary is drawing similarities to the 2016 Republican Primary which had over 15 candidates for president at one point. 

While many would believe more is good, it is sorely not the case in this scenario for the Democratic Party which is in dire need of being united now more than ever.

Not only is the Democratic Party veering closer and closer to the left in terms of policy, whether that is a good or bad thing depends on who you ask, but it also is facing the possibility of having a full-on civil war. 

With the 2018 election ancient history now, the Democratic party has to now come to terms with the aftermath of the Blue Wave that has swept the party into uncharted waters. The 2020 Democratic party primaries are looking to be one of the most left-wing and liberal in political history and many Democrats who lean more center are fearing it will alienate the more moderate members of the party and independents who they direly need in the election.

With how far to the right Donald Trump went during his time in the 2016 primaries, I won’t be surprised if some of the Democrats in this upcoming primary try to use the same kind of playbook. 

With Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren already going at it head first with her wish to bring down big tech companies such as Facebook and Apple to Bernie Sanders being..Bernie Sanders, it’s looking like the 2020 primary is going to be about who can out-liberal one another.

But what about the more center-ish candidates? Well Sherrod Brown has already taken his name off the list. Amy Klobuchar is a possibility, but other big-name candidates such as the aforementioned politicians are taking the media away from her.

Many are now speculating Joe Biden to be entering the race and while his age will come into question, his popularity is without question and he has been a front runner even before Trump’s inauguration.

With all these candidates such as Hawaii Representative, Tulsi Gabbard, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, liberal policies have engulfed the primary. If Joe Biden were to join as a candidate, he would need to show why his more moderate background is a better answer.

In the coming months and the first debate occurring in June, we are already seeing what is looking to be a very contentious and opinionated primary battle for nomination. All the while Donald Trump has all but secured his party support for the nomination, I’m afraid that whoever wins the Democratic nomination will have no energy coming out of the primary to face him.

Header photo courtesy of Flickr.