In the wake of the upcoming presidential election, a multitude of Democrats have entered the field, motivated to beat the likely Republican on the ticket: President Donald Trump.
There have already been 15 Democrats who have announced they are entering the campaign trail as of Monday. Notable names include Sen. Corey Booker from New Jersey, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota.
Furthermore, there are an upwards of 15 more Democrats who have discussed the possibility to challenge Trump, including Joe Biden, former vice president; Beto O’Rourke, whose Senate run came short following a tight loss to Ted Cruz in Texas; and Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor. But could the overabundance of candidates wind up hurting the Democrats bid to dethrone Trump?
With the numerous Democrats running, there seems to be no clear frontrunner. Furthermore, the number of debates will be through the roof, giving each of the candidates the liberty to expose fellow candidates’ flaws, which could in turn hurt the candidate who finds his or her name next to the presidents on next year’s ballot.
In the previous election in 2016, Democrat voters were split between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the primaries, and the split was evident on Nov. 8 when Trump claimed the presidency from President Barack Obama and made the executive branch red for the first time in eight years. The race was close, with Clinton claiming nearly three million more votes in the popular vote, but the loss in the electoral college evidently lead to Clinton’s downfall.
Clinton’s loss can be attributed to the shift of Bernie Sanders’ supporters who evidently voted for Trump. In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, a large percentage of Bernie supporters casted their votes for Trump. Each state was painted red, and if just one was not, Clinton would currently be president of the United States. History may repeat itself with the abundance of Democrats vying for the nomination.
One of the reasons so many are running is the opportunity to defeat one of the most controversial presidents of all time. Trump’s approval rating is an all-time low for presidents, and even a few Republicans are hoping to have their names on the ballot, in concern that Trump’s multiple controversies lead to a major shift in the government.
Former Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts has already announced that he will be opposing the president in the Republican primary, with former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio likely to follow suit.
Unfortunately for the anti-Trump Republicans, it has been a standard for a sitting president to be nominated for re-election. The last time a sitting president was not nominated was in 1856 when Franklin Pierce (Dem.) lost the candidacy to the James Buchanan.
If the past year’s midterm elections foreshadowed the 2020 race, the Republican party is in trouble. The Democrats took over control of the House with a horde of up-in-coming politicians being put into the national spotlight for the first time. The Democrats came together to begin a fight against a common enemy, and in the next election, they will have to unite under one candidate in order to take down one of the more questionable commander in chiefs in the history of our nation.
By Matthew Villanueva, Contributing Writer
villanjm18@bonaventure.edu
