I waited about two years for this battle, because I knew that this would be an unforgettable fight. It's not that I'm a Republican and I want to see this, it's more that I am a "political junkie" who loves the race for the White House. There's a lot of talk in the past week that the race is just about over, but don't believe it.
First of all, most of the time when there are a number of candidates in a primary, one person does not dominate it and lead all the way. Usually, the person who wins goes through some difficult primaries and they are just about counted out before they turn everything around. I've been reading several political books the past six months that were written by the people who ran the last several campaigns and it is common for many of these campaigns to be on the edge of failure.
Here's my rundown on the remaining candidates:
Bernie Sanders: You have to admire a guy of his age running another good campaign after falling short against Hillary Clinton. He's sticking to who his is and what he's been his whole life and he's proud of it. The primaries are not winner take all(of the delegates) which works to his favor and also being on the very far left of the party, he has a dedicated group of supporters. This helps with a lot of competition because it splits the vote up. (as it did for President Trump in the Republican race four years ago) He is not going to win, because the majority of the party are much more moderate than he is. I cannot imagine these voters rallying around a Socialist. If he announced that Hillary Clinton was going to be his running mate, maybe that would change things, but that will not happen either.
Joe Biden: He's been my pick for close to two years, but he has been disappointing. Rumors have it that President Obama was very concerned that he might embarrass himself by running and it has been borderline. I think he should announce Senator Kamala Harris his running mate this week before South Carolina votes and that will help him win the primary which he desperately needs. Don't count him out yet. They say it's "not over until the fat lady sings," and although she's not singing, she may be warming up in her dressing room. I would not be surprised if President Obama is the only one that could talk him into dropping out.
Mayor Pete: I like him, but I don't agree with everything he says. He is very young, very bright and I would not be afraid if he was elected. It's tough for him to win against so many much more experienced candidates, but he has done very well so far.
Elizabeth Warren: Although she has struggled over the past few weeks, she has run a good campaign. She's not as far left as Bernie Sanders, but she's younger, looks much younger and is a much better talker. Her attacks on Michael Bloomberg were as good as it gets. Maybe Joe Biden talks her into being his Vice-President. I'd say it the other way, but I don't think Joe Biden would settle for Vice-President. She's far from done in this race.
Amy Klobuchar: I like her too and she's got experience and she's not scary. I would not be extremely upset if she somehow won this race, but she still has a long hill to climb up. She would be a credible running mate for someone.
Tom Steyer: His radio ads are very good and he comes across as being very sincere. He has spent an obscene amount of money and has no chance being really involved at the end of this race.
Micheal Bloomberg: Just the amount of money he's spent should upset most Democrats. He is a moderate, but does have a progressive record he can run on. He could easily be a moderate Republican which he was. If Bernie Sanders wins the nomination, I would expect Bloomberg to run as a third party which should clinch the second term for President Trump. Bloomberg has said he wouldn't do that, but he also said he wasn't going to run. President Eisenhower once said, (paraphrasing) that when he got flak from both sides he knew he was doing the right thing. If Bloomberg was President he would get flak from both sides, much more than President Trump has. He gave a scathing speech of Donald Trump at the Democratic Convention four years ago while showing little support for Hillary. Maybe, Hillary as his running mate would make him more satisfactory to Democrats? However, 6-13% of Bernie Sanders supporters in the primary four years ago, wound up voting for Donald Trump, would they really support Hillary now?
This primary will go down in history as the most interesting because it pitted young vs old, liberal vs moderate, white vs non-white, male vs female, and the establishment vs a socialist. Don't miss watching this.
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