Election year is finally here, and 2020 is already shaping up to be just as exciting and intense as 2016. Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could potentially cost him a second term in office, and critics of Trump from both the Republican Party and the Democrat Party are hoping to put an end to the Trump era. Here is a look at what is known so far about who is running for president.
Democrat Candidates
Opinion polls suggest former vice-president Joe Biden is presently the front-runner Democrat. Although he has lost his bid to become president twice before, the 77-year-old hopes he will be third time lucky. Biden announced his candidacy back in April 2019, when he stated he wants to bring back a common purpose to the country. Biden has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, and as such, he is rallying a lot of support from Democrats.
Two other popular Democrat candidates are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Like Biden, they have both been critical of Trump. But they also want to correct what they see as decades of economic injustice. Both Sanders and Warren have said they want to provide free public college education, a greener way of living, and Medicare for all.
Although the polls put Biden, Sanders, and Warren in the lead for the Democrat candidacy, November is still a long time away, and things change quickly in politics. So, another Democrat who is running could yet win the nomination. 37-year-old Pete Buttigieg has risen out of obscurity to become one of the hottest new stars of the Democrat Party. It is also possible that other Democrats may yet announce they are running, so the competition is far from over. Although Hillary Clinton lost the presidency in 2016, she has hinted she may run again.
Republican Candidates
President Trump is running for a second term in office, but with the impeachment trial hanging over him, it is yet possible he will not stand for a second time. Although vice-president Mike Pence has not yet announced that he would run in Trump’s place, he appears to be the favorite to do so.
Few Republicans have announced they are running, as many still support Donald Trump. But there are Trump critics amongst the Republican Party, and two of them are hoping they can win the nomination. Both Joe Walsh and Bill Weld have widespread support, and they seem to be neck-and-neck in opinion polls. Walsh left the political arena back in 2012 and became a popular talk show host, but Trump’s administration has made him want to reenter the political fray. Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld has been just as fierce a critic of Trump’s as Walsh has been. He claims the country’s people are being ignored, and the nation is suffering, and he hopes to be the one to put it right.
Can Trump win a second term in office?
Whether another Republican can become more popular than Trump over the next few months remains uncertain. Even though Trump’s ratings have been low for a long time now, it is still likely that he will win a second election. According to surveys conducted by The New York Times Upshot and Siena College, Trump could be the winner in the states that will determine whether he becomes reelected. Out of the six closest states that turned Republican in 2016, Donald Trump trails Joe Biden by an average of two points, but he still stays within the margin of error. It will be interesting to see how things change or do not change over the next few months. Although President Trump could hang on to a second victory, nothing is ever guaranteed.
