The Many Who Want Trump’s Job

It would appear that more than half of the members of the Democratic Party want to be president. In fact, however, up until now there are only 24 who have looked at themselves in the mirror and convinced themselves that they have everything needed to throw Donald Trump out of the White House in 2020. Even so, that is too many. Some of them are total unknowns, without the slightest chance of reaching the presidency. A dangerous game, that could end up leaving Trump in the Oval Office for four more years.

We still haven’t recovered from the 2016 elections, and now we’re starting in all over again on the campaign that this country will live through over the next 17 months. During this time, no doubt, more will announce their candidacy, while others will abandon the race in which victory was only in their dreams, inspired in some cases by the unexpected success that propelled Trump into power.

In the diverse group, including six women, of those who have met the requirements and have launched their campaigns, are the following:

Joe Biden, former senator and former vice president; Cory Booker, senator from New Jersey; Steve Bullock, governor of Montana; Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana; Michael Bennet, senator from Colorado; Julian Castro, former mayor of San Antonio; Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York; John Delaney, former U.S. representative from Maryland; Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. representative from Hawaii; Kirsten Gillibrand, senator from New York; Kamala Harris, senator from California; John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado; Jay Inslee, governor of Washington; Amy Klobuchar, senator from Minnesota; Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar, Florida; Seth Moulton, U.S. representative from Massachusetts; Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. representative from Texas; Tim Ryan, U.S. representative from Ohio; Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont; Eric Swalwell, U.S. representative from California; Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts; as well as Marianne Williamson, author and Oprah Winfrey’s spiritual advisor; entrepreneur Andrew Yang; and 88-year-old former senator Mike Gravel.

The best known of them all, and the one considered by many to have the best chance of beating Trump, is Joe Biden, 76, who was vice-president in the Obama administration. However, for some analysts he is “too old and too white,” with ideas that differ from the ideas of those who today make up the base of his party.

Polls at the moment show Biden leading Trump by eight points. Biden succeeded in collecting $6.3 million in donations in the first 24 hours following the announcement of his candidacy. His supporters say that he inspires confidence and is a decent man, with more than 35 years of experience in Washington politics. For others, Biden has made too many mistakes and is known for being too outspoken and for having a loose tongue.

According to the polls, another candidate who has a chance of winning the nomination is the 77-year-old senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Sanders has leftist ideas and is very attractive to younger voters; he almost stole the nomination away from Hillary Clinton in 2016. Moderate Democrats are losing sleep over this; they take it for granted that if he were the candidate, that would guarantee a second term for Trump.

There are certainly a lot who think it is time for a woman to be president. But these women first have to get into the debates organized by their party for June: two consecutive nights in Miami and two more in Detroit. Each debate will only have room for 10 presidential hopefuls, with priority given to those who are most popular and those who have raised the most money by that time. Up to now, none of them has raised the $100 million that Trump already has.

The current crop is without a doubt the biggest contingent of Democratic hopefuls in this country’s history. This raises the question: why are they entering the race if they know in advance that they are not going to win? But although the primary elections will produce only one candidate, there will be many winners. Because for the rest, opportunities will open up — for cabinet posts, offers to write books, television contracts and very well-paid speaking engagements.

It’s like a self-promotion industry, and what better way to sell yourself than to say you ran for president. The gain outweighs the humiliation. No wonder that, according to the Federal Election Commission, up to May 27, 738 U.S. citizens had registered as candidates.