March 3rd was Super Tuesday, where sixteen States voted in U.S presidential primary elections. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders shared the majority Democratic vote while incumbent President Trump won all of the Republican primaries. As of March 5th there are five candidates still running for President. For the democratic vote there is Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and, Tulsi Gabbard. For the Republican vote there is Donald Trump and William F. Weld.
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont resident describes himself as a democratic socialist. This is not the first time Mr. Sanders has sought the Democratic nomination, finishing runner up in the 2016 election. Mr. Sanders proposes ‘Medicare for all’, raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, and European styled ‘free’ college education. His platform has gained popularity among the Millennial generation.
Joe Biden, a Delaware resident is also a six term Delaware senator and was Barack Obama’s Vice president for two terms. This is not the first time former Vice President Biden has sought for the Democratic nomination he also ran in 1988 and 2008. Health care, bipartisanship, and assertion/ defending America’s role as a global power are all key things former Vice President Biden will bring to the White House.
Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii resident is a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed in Iraq. Ms. Gabbard is involved with foreign policy, making it her main concern, to focus more on peace building. Ms. Gabbard visited Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, in January 2017 which American officials had not done since reports of Mr. Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians. She defended the meeting as a way to help promote peace.
On March 18th at a town hall meeting in Detroit, Ms. Gabbard said that during the Coronavirus pandemic she would “better serve the country as a major in the National Guard.” (nytimes.com) So she is no longer running for the Democratic candidacy.
Donald Trump is the current President of the United States and the presumptive republican nominee. Impeachment charges in 2020 were dropped it failed to pass the senate. While in office President Trump has nominated and elected two Supreme Court Justices, 44 Circuit Court Justices, and, 112 District Court Judges.
William F. Weld, is a former Massachusetts governor. Mr. Weld earned a degree in Classics from Harvard before getting an economics degree from Oxford and returning to Harvard for Law school. Mr. Weld was a libertarian vice presidential candidate in 2016. Mr. Weld gained popularity in Massachusetts for his bipartisan work.
The next step in the presidential election process is the national conventions. The Republican National Convention will happen from August 24th to August 27th. The Democratic National Convention will happen from July 13th to July 16th.
