OPINION: The previously diverse Democratic primary race has become another contest between white men
More stories from Sasha Syrevych
April 24, 2020
January 17, 2020
The current Democratic candidates are not representative of their voters.
After the Super Tuesday results rolled in, both Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race as Democratic candidates. Their decisions left Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, two white cisgender males, to fight for the spot in the general election. Although Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race, her chances of being nominated for the Democratic Party are slim as she has not been winning any states in the primary election.
When the Democratic primary contest began in 2019, it featured one of the most diverse fields in history by race, gender and sexuality. The runners included six women of various races, two black senators, an Asian-American businessman, a gay mayor, and many more candidates of diverse backgrounds. However, now the race has become a fight between two not-so-diverse candidates.
The race and gender of presidential candidates are not determinants of their policies and character. Women and people of color want to be represented in the government. The final two candidates for the Democratic Party in the previous elections were Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, respectively. They had vast amounts of support – albeit with different results – but they both presented a vision for a diverse future of America that is not seen in this year’s debate.
Race, gender and sexuality do not necessarily dictate how good, bad or effective a candidate will be as a president. A black lesbian woman could have the same vision and policies as a straight white guy, but the issue stands among the voters since people want to be represented in the media and government.
According to Business Insider, Warren stated after the announcement of her drop-out that “One of the hardest parts of this is all those…little girls who are gonna have to wait four more years.” The United States has never had a female president, and Warren dropping out follows the path of Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election.
Both of the current remaining candidates claim they want to focus on issues that affect all races, genders and sexualities to ensure a safe America, but they haven’t been in the shoes of these diverse people, so they cannot testify to those issues first-hand. Any hope that people of color and women had of seeing themselves in the Oval Office is now gone.
The race is still on and the candidates have different visions for citizens of different backgrounds. It is discouraging to see that only non-diverse candidates are left in the fight.
Arthur • Mar 7, 2020 at 10:45 am
Hey,
I see your point here, but when talking about politics, you need to think of the bigger picture. First of all, the Democratic Party has never been diverse, it’s still overwhelmingly white. To run for president, one needs to amass voters and funds, so the candidates on the stage were only there because they did that. Just because the candidates on the stage were diverse doesn’t mean the party is as a whole. Second of all, I know you address the fact that race does not determine how good one will be as president, but what you should have said was candidates are chosen based on policy, not race.
(Enter my opinion) There is a reason why Biden and Sanders are the only ones left. Biden, having already been established as Obama’s VP (also endorsed by him) has relatively neutral policies. Because of his experience in politics and proven record, voters gravitated for him. Other candidates such as Steyer, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg who had similar policies as Biden have less experience. Also, these “diverse” candidates specifically dropped out in support of Biden against Sanders! They all play the same game of politics. Sanders on the other hand, gained a lot of traction in the last race and lost against Hillary Clinton. Now he has a huge amount of support due to his policies. He specifically appealed over Warren because of his proven record, sticking with the same policies for practically his whole political career. There are tons of factors supporting why Biden and Sanders are the only ones left.
Obama didn’t appeal in 2008 just because he was black. He was a young senator with extremely fine debate skills and a lot of experience with community service and helping people in need. In a political race, background matters, not race. I get how you can think that they represent a certain group of people, but they’re all politicians. They’re all millionaires who are part of a system who are specifically trained to appeal to people. At this point background matters, and to me, Sanders and Biden have the most experience out of the lot.
Also, these are just the candidates running for president. Biden has already said that he’d appoint a black woman for his Vice President, and Sanders might even appoint Warren as his VP due to their similar voter appeal. Granted, the only reason they would do that is to appeal to voters, but what do you expect? They’re politicians. Any other candidate would do the same.
To summarize, Biden and Sanders were chosen because of their policies. Plus, lots of the minority vote went towards Sanders. If they had cared about “misrepresentation” then that wouldn’t be the case.
Please, I don’t mean to say this in a condescending way but I suggest focusing on real, relevant, and interesting issues, preferably free of political bias, as it would attract so many more readers. If you are going to make a political article, back it up with statistics and make the topic somewhat more interesting and less of a rant. I think one time there was an article titled “I don’t want Donald Trump texting me” about the presidential emergency system that was so (no offense) pointless in that it contained no hard facts or evidence anywhere in the article, misunderstood the point of the presidential emergency system, and was paramount to a TMZ news report. Articles like those about clearly irrelevant issues are just a waste of time.
Journalism to me is about engaging your readers while providing a new perspective on enlightening topics or pressing issues in our community. There is a great difference between gossip columns and the New York Times
That being said, thank you for offering me the ability to comment and I hope you take into account my personal perspective on this. I hope you have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
-A
Melanie Cooper • Mar 7, 2020 at 9:55 am
Oh please, who honestly cares whether a black or white or Asian candidate is on the ballot. Who cares if everyone is represented by their own color and creed. I thought the beauty of this nation was that we looked past the color of our skin, past the sexuality or gender of our people, and instead judged by the content of character. This sentiment was echoed by Martin Luther King Jr. many, many years ago, but his dream has still not been achieved. And this time, it isn’t because we deny people of color opportunities, but because we still judge people on their skin color, just in different proportions as before. You say that “It is discouraging to see that only non-diverse candidates are left in the fight.” Why is this an issue AT ALL? People liked certain candidates more than others, and no one was discriminated against in the process. Next time, run a better campaign with a greater standing in the American political sphere. In fact, the only reason Joe Biden is the frontrunner is BECAUSE black people feel represented by him, as he was Obama’s VP. This article is typical, nonsensical racist rhetoric that does no good for American political discourse. I know your intention may be purehearted, but the ideology is no less evil and prejudiced.