Make-or-break time nears for some Democratic presidential candidates, Bloomberg weighs bid

Global Business

The 2020 U.S. Presidential election is now less than a year away. But first Democrats have to decide who to nominate as their candidate to go up against President Donald Trump.

A late addition to the race could change everything.

CGTN’s Dan Williams reports.

 

A crowded field of candidates could get more crowded as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg considers joining the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

For months, the hopefuls have been campaigning intensely in the U.S. state of Iowa, with the state’s caucuses in February providing the first vote in the nomination process.

Former Vice President Joe Biden had been the front runner of this race. But the latest local polls suggest he has now dropped down to fourth place.

Meanwhile, some of the outsiders have not given up. Business entrepreneur Andrew Yang recently organized ‘Yangapalooza’ which included a performance from members of the group Weezer. The high profile event underlines his hopes to stay in the race.

Although those polling outside of the top four face a battle to stay relevant, another outsider, Julian Castro is among those who believe there is still plenty of time to win over voters.

“Things change more quickly than ever before. So I believe there is an opportunity there for people who want an alternative to the top two or three candidates to who they are considering right now,” Castro said.

That is a plausible argument, according to David Peterson of Iowa State University.

“I would not be comfortable saying the four top-tier candidates right now are going to be the first four, the top four in the caucuses. I think there is a lot of space for growth for a lot of the other candidates as well,” said the political science professor.

Iowa is a vital race. Only once in the history of the modern Iowa caucuses has someone finished lower than third and gone on to win the party’s nomination.

“It’s not necessary to win Iowa. It is important to do better than expected. It is important to do well enough to keep going, to have volunteers, to get money to keep getting media attention,” said Peterson.

The bigger question for Democratic voters is not just who can win the nomination, but who can then go on and win the presidential race.

Sindy Benavides is the Chief Executive Officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens. The organization hosted a town hall that included some of the candidates.

“When we look ago the state of America currently, I think there are many Americans who voted for Trump who are ready for change. I think the average American sees the writing on the wall and will seek other alternatives as we go into 2020,” says Benavides.

For now, for the Democratic hopefuls, it’s one race at a time.


Hamza Khan on the latest on the US presidential race

CGTN’s Toni Waterman spoke with Hamza Khan, Democratic Strategist, about the latest developments in the U.S. presidential campaign.