With Beto O’Rourke’s recent announcement of his bid for president, a staggering 14 Democrats have thrown their hat into the ring for the 2020 race for president. Including President Trump, there are a total of 15 candidates currently running for president in 2020, but there could still be more. Former Vice President Joe Biden, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams are among those still rumored to be considering their options, which will just fill the candidate pool to the brim. With all these people declaring bids for president, is the 2020 race becoming oversaturated?
As we saw in 2016, passionate and dedicated voters can make a big difference. Whether it be the insane loyalty Republicans were showing for Donald Trump, or the almost cult-like following Bernie Sanders amassed, a fanbase-like voter pool can really make or break a campaign. Even after Sanders lost the primary nomination, his supporters continued to remain loyal almost to a fault, refusing to vote for Hillary Clinton in November or even going out and voting for Trump just to spite her. With so many candidates this time around, each with a large and passionate voter-base, the risk for that kind of voting rears its head once again.
When Beto O’Rourke announced his bid, he broke both Bernie Sanders’s and Kamala Harris’s record for the amount raised in the first 24 hours, raising a whopping $6.1 million to beat out Sanders’s $6 million and Harris’s $1.5 million. This puts him on par with Sanders, Harris, and even Cory Booker in terms of followings, and splits the Democratic voters even further. Sanders, Harris, Booker, and O’Rourke are without a doubt the big four for 2020 so far, as Biden hasn’t announced, and they each have very dedicated bases. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are among other candidates with dedicated followings, although not on par with the top four, yet each of their bases has the potential to split the 2020 vote.
Passionate voters can put a candidate on top, but they also have the potential to put the wrong candidate on top. Democratic voters have to be prepared for the highly likely possibility that their favorite candidate will not secure the primary nomination next year, and have to be prepared for the idea of voting for different candidate. There is no room to repeat the mistakes of 2016 – if your candidate doesn’t take the primary, do not write their name in, do not stay home in November, do not vote for Donald Trump. The Democrats need 2020, and it might mean voting for a Democratic candidate that may not be your favorite. So, are we oversaturated for 2020? Without a doubt, but that shouldn’t affect how we vote in November.
Anissa Weisel
