With Election Day coming in a few months, many have started encouraging people to register to vote. Therefore, it only seemed right to write an article informing people more about the 2020 presidential election that will heavily impact our futures.
As of now, we have five candidates running for President. The Republican party is being represented by Donald Trump who is hoping to win a second term in office. President Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States and former reality show host and New York City real estate developer. Before the coronavirus pandemic has taken our nation by storm, Mr. Trump has widely spread his idea to build a wall around the southern border of the United States to halt the entry of undocumented immigrants. He has still maintained that idea to this day, even though the idea is being evaluated very slowly. Mr. Trump has used this idea to redirect many questions thrown at him about his lack of handling of the coronavirus situation. Mr. Trump has also focused on eliminating federal regulations such as the environmental regulations made during President Obama’s presidency. So far, he has failed to achieve his top legislative priority which is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is meant to make affordable health insurance available to more people, expand the Medicaid program, and support innovative medical care delivery methods based on HealthCare.gov. However, he has pleased Republicans by appointing more conservative judges, judges who are averse to change and hold to traditions and values, to the federal bench. Mr. Trump has also agreed to a trade deal with China and a trade deal with Canada and Mexico and has withdrawn the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr. Trump has reasoned that his actions related to foreign policies will help make America first. As of now, Mr. Trump is being heavily criticized for his response to the pandemic as he constantly played down the risk of COVID and took more time than most to absorb the extremity of the virus. He is also being called out for all of his false claims, his dark history of corruption, and his uncalled-for words. Mr. Trump is also being accused of making voting harder for citizens.
The Democratic party is being represented by Joe Biden, who sought the nomination to be a candidate in 1988 and 2008. Mr. Biden is emphasizing his government experience to show that he already has experience with having political roles. During the coronavirus pandemic, the presidential candidate has formulated recommendations based on advice given by healthcare and economics experts such as making coronavirus tests more accessible and free and making the possible vaccine free too once it comes out. He has also accused President Trump of taking too much time to register the severity of coronavirus. Mr. Biden has served as a vice president in the Obama Administration during the passage of the Affordable Care Act and has made healthcare a top priority for him. He supports adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act but opposes “Medicare for all,” the measure advocated by some progressives in the Democratic party, including Senator Bernie Sanders, a former candidate who dropped out of running. He also supports bipartisanship, the cooperation between two opposing parties.
The Liberation party is being represented by Jo Jorgensen. Dr. Jo Jorgensen is a party activist and Senior Lecturer in psychology at Clemson University. She hopes to expand educational freedom by eliminating the Department of Education, get the government out of medicine, make perpetrators of child sex trafficking be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, eliminate federal barriers to charity, free all non-violent prisoners serving time for drug offenses, bring troops home, reduce the cost of healthcare, and abolish the ATF. The third-party candidate has also shown criticism towards President Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, Democratic candidate for Vice President.
The Green Party is being represented by Howie Hawkin, an American trade unionist and environmental activist. Based on HowieHawkins.US, he hopes to enforce more COVID-19 emergency measures for the duration of the crisis by having Medicare pay for COVID-19 testing and treatment and all emergency healthcare, defend the Production Act to rapidly plan the production and distribution of medical supplies and a universal test, have a contact trace, and quarantine program to safely reopen the economy, declare an OSHA temporary standard to provide enforceable PPE protection for workers, provide $2,000 a month to all adults over age 16 and $500 per child, give loans to all businesses and hospitals for payroll and fixed overhead to be forgiven if all workers are kept on payroll, have a moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shutoffs, have the federal government pay rent, mortgage, and utility movements by having people pay taxes for this relief, suspend student loan payments with 0% interest accumulation, have Federal Universal Rent Control, give sufficient aid to state and local governments to keep essential services running, sign a 10-year, $42 trillion ecosocialist green new deal for economic recovery through a just transition to 100% clean energy by 2030, and have universal mail-in ballots for the 2020 general election. He also hopes to enforce more peace policies such as pledging no first use of nuclear weapons. Moreover, he hopes to establish an Economic Bill of Rights and form a socialist economy and political democracy. Mr. Hawkins also feels strongly about social justice, criminal and civil justice, media democracy, and tax justice.
Kanye West is the final candidate to be running for president under a new banner – the Birthday party. The former Trump supporter has claimed that he no longer supports Trump and aims to be our future president. He is on the ballots for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Vermont. West Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, Utah, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Virginia. Right now, little is known about what Mr. West is hoping to do if he were to win the election.
As for vice presidents. President Trump has announced that Mike Pence is his running mate. Mr. Biden has announced that Mrs. Harris is his running mate. Ms. Jorgenson has announced that Spike Cohen is her running mate. Mr. Hawkins has announced Angela Walker as his running mate. Lastly, Mr. West has announced that Michelle Tidball is his running mate. Vice President Mike Pence has made many major mistakes in the office such as signing one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, signing a bill that made it okay for Indiana businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers, blocking the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana, and illegally trying to cut off federal aid to existing refugees. On the other hand, Mr. Pence has the experience, as he had served 12 years in Congress. As for Mrs. Harris, she is the first Asian-American and third female vice presidential running mate on a major party ticket. She has great experience, but at times she looks as if she has an unclear campaign persona as she completely changes her views on certain things such as Medicare for All. Mrs. Harris has used her social media platforms to show her support for Mr. Biden and hopes to make a change in this country. Based on jo20.com, Ms. Jorgenson’s running mate, Mr. Cohen, hopes to work with her to end wars, free the innocent, and end the infringements that impede voluntary problem-solving. Mr. Cohen has over 20 years of experience in leadership positions making him a suitable candidate for vice president in terms of experience. Mr. Hawkins’ running mate, Ms. Walker, is an independent socialist and a fierce advocate for the rights of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and the LGBTQ+ community. Finally, Ms. Tidball is a biblical life coach who has various degrees in mental health and criminal justice. Not much is known about her, as of now, but we are hoping to learn more before Election Day.
It is important that those of age vote this year. I hope that you take the time to be educated on the candidates before voting because this can determine the future of our country. We are lucky to be able to vote for who we would like to be our President, and we must take advantage of it. I wish that this article has helped you learn more about our presidential candidates. Thank you for reading!