The 2020 Presidential Election is coming up, and Democrats at the moment have a large group of candidates looking to secure their party’s nomination. Many of them are changing their political stances as the party becomes more and more progressive. Many of them are resorting to those infamous, stiff-politician popularity stunts like having a beer on a live video or claiming to have smoked pot in college while listening to rap music (a sure-fire way to spot a true politician). Without further ado, here are my top candidates for this upcoming election.

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Bernie Sanders

He was my top choice in 2016, and he still is today. Sadly, a good amount of this is driven off of the fact this is probably his last chance to run for office, due to age. However, if elected, I do not believe age will be an issue. He is still pretty spry, and he has a passion and energy that puts many of the younger candidates to shame. He is ever-present on C-SPAN, debating for issues that matter while other candidates make polished statements later in the day. 

An Independent, Senator Sanders is the reason the Democratic Party has taken a strong progressive turn. Even though many will argue this will lead to a negotiation troubles with Republicans, Bernie has been known to sponsor bills and reach agreements with well known Republicans and Libertarians.

Bernie is not a polished politician. He is quite the opposite. You can see the annoyance begin to set in after the crowd has been chanting for a while. He has important values to spread, and he has believed in those values for a long time; he has a voting record to prove this fact. 

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard was one of the first to support progressive policies such as universal healthcare and tuition free college educations. She also takes progressive policies a step further. Congresswoman Gabbard believes in decriminalizing sex work. This, in turn, would allow many persons to come forward to receive medical treatment and other services without fear or discrimination against their occupation.

If nominated, Gabbard would be the first Hindu Candidate for any major political party. If she were to be elected president, she would be the first woman, Hindu, Pacific Islander and the youngest person ever to hold the office. This definitely would be a milestone for our country in some capacity, though it is definitely not the best thing about Gabbard’s campaign, as she is a genuine candidate who has done great things for our country in many capacities.  

A former Army Major, Gabbard is also a supporter of a non-interventionist foreign policy and proposed the Stop Funding Terrorism Act in 2017, which has the stated goal of stopping U.S. funds providing assistance to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, among other terrorist organizations. This act also demonstrates Gabbard’s ability to work with the GOP, as Senator Rand Paul was the other legislator who sponsored the act.

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Beto O’ Rourke

A relatively new candidate, and perhaps this is a good thing. Obama seemed to come out of nowhere and was truly a man who genuinely wanted to help the people. Beto seems like the same kind of man. He is young, charismatic and believes in a better America for all people. 

The best thing about Beto is his ability to sway individuals who are normally Republican to progressive politics. He almost defeated Ted Cruz for a senate seat in the deep red heart of Texas. On this campaign, he was preaching the word of universal healthcare, being pro-choice and pro-cannabis legalization, the kind of stuff that is seen as blasphemy in the Bible Belt. 

Beto’s talk also seems to take action. After the election, Texas is now on track to decriminalization and possible legalization of recreational marijuana. This is a large step for a state that still does not have medical marijuana. Beto is also an advocate of demilitarizing our border with Mexico, an issue that needs to be addressed in these times.

These are certainly not the only good candidates running this election. Candidates such as Jay Inslee, Julian Castro and Republican Bill Weld also are showing strong promise this election season. It is still rather early; the election is more than a year away, though it is never too early to learn about the many possibilities for our country.

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