The Democratic Primaries Head into The Last Months
On November 19th, 2019, the stage was set for another round of head to head battle between democratic hopefuls. This Colossal debate weighed on the shoulders of the candidates.
The three leading candidates stayed the same with Joe Biden still being the front runner, Elizabeth Warren in Second, and Bernie Sanders sitting in third. Though it looked as if Senator Warren was closing in on the Former Vice President, Biden’s lead now sits at 6%. Though it is a large surprise as to who is leading in Iowa; Mayor Pete Buttigieg. His lead sits currently at 22% over Joe Biden’s 19%. This is crucial in keeping the mayor’s campaign alive as Iowa is the first state to vote on the primaries.
A huge issue was brought up by Andrew Yang, who has gained popularity, but far from front running. When analyzing the time spoken by each candidate, there was clear bias in who was speaking. MSNBC, who ran the debate, has had multiple issues in giving equal speaking time to candidates in the past. When asked about his speaking time, Yang States, “This isn’t the first time people have had this issue with this particular network.” Tulsi Gabbard also expressed her concerns with the time she tweeted “So much for the promise of equal time for all candidates, @AndrewYang got half the time as the usual media favorites. Typical. -V #LetYangSpeak #LetTulsiSpeak” Statistically wise, Yang received 6:43 minutes of speaking time, while Gabbard received 9:18 minutes, in comparison to Senator Warren’s 13:23 minutes.
A new competitor entered the race- Michael Bloomberg. The former Mayor of New York entered the race with a huge 37$ Million advertising campaign. His strong gun control policies are frightening to a Conservative base. Mr. Bloomberg is taking a strategy that many other delegates have yet to try; take back Florida. A crucial component of Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 was his upset victory in Florida. Mr. Bloomberg also has a great chance of taking Florida in the Democratic primaries as the other candidates are busy in states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
Senator Kamala Harris also dropped out of the race on December 3rd, effectively ending what was a longshot of a campaign and ultimately ended disappointingly. The field is still crowded with Fifteen Democrats fighting for the nominee, with March approaching quicker and quicker, the candidates need to make bolder moves.
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