“Hillary For 2016.” That has been the rallying cry for years now. We’ve seen “I’m Ready for Hillary” bumper stickers plastered on cars and signs on our neighbors’ front lawns. We saw Hillary Clinton constantly tease us with her possible presidential campaign announcement, and we’ve seen the media tracking her every move since she finally made the announcement. Even now, almost every republican presidential candidate has made negative statements about Hillary, showing that they see her as their main competition — and right now she is.
It’s been pretty much set in stone that she would run for president. Many democrats are overwhelmed by Hillary’s constant news coverage and think she might be their only option. However, this is not the case.
Below are the current candidates (other than Hillary Clinton) running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
1. BERNIE SANDERS
Sanders is a registered independent, Senator of Vermont and self-described socialist. Therefore, it’s no surprise that he takes a strong stance against big money in politics.
As part of his campaign, Sanders challenges the stereotypical republican view of what “family values” mean. To Sanders, family values include paid maternal leave and sick leave for hard-working families. Sanders’ campaign is also centered around income and wealth inequality and action on climate change.
Sanders also spoke out about the hate crime in Charleston and did not shy away from the fact that it was an act of racism. Bonus points for him. Maybe he will stand up for the Black community.
2. MARTIN O’MALLEY
Former Governor of Maryland, O’Malley stands for most liberal issues.
However, he has never been the wisest with words. Last year, a conversation with O’Malley was leaked in which he pleaded that migrant children not be sent to Western Maryland. Many took this as racist. O’Malley later claimed that he said this because the area that these migrant children were going to be sent to was very conservative, and would not be the best environment for them to grow up in.
Also, O’Malley had pretty terrible response to the Emanuel AME Church shooting this past week. He said that race played a big role in the shooting, but he didn’t know how to address racism in America. He doesn’t seem to be a very promising contender for Black voters after that remark.
3. LINCOLN CHAFEE
Even though Chafee is running for the democratic presidential nomination, he originally served as a member of the Republican Party during his time as a mayor and senator. In 2007 he left the GOP and became an independent. He later served as the governor of Rhode Island in 2010. The idea of a republican turned democrat might alarm you, but Chafee was always pretty leftist. While serving as a republican senator, Chafee was a very liberal-leaning member, and he routinely voted against what the rest of the party typically supported. For example, Chafee is proud to say that he was the only republican senator to vote against the war with Iraq. He also voted for “same-sex marriage, abortion rights, a higher minimum wage and higher taxes on the wealthy.”
Chafee’s priorities are to strengthen the middle class, avoid war, establish policies that promote environmental responsibility and to protect citizen’s amendment rights.
So, do you think these candidates have anything on Hillary? Check out their campaigns at the links below and you decide.
Want more political content like this? Sign up for our weekly newsletter below.
[mc4wp_form]
