Biden Jumps To Front Of Crowded Democratic Field
It’s still relatively early in the whole process but former vice president Joe Biden has soared to the front of the large crowd of Democratic candidates in search for the 2020 nomination.
Recent polls, both national and ones for some individual states, show Biden with a large advantage only weeks after officially announcing he was joining the race.
Part of that is due to name recognition of course. Biden served eight years as vice president and his name seems to be playing an important role in the race on the Democratic side.
A Monmouth poll for New Hampshire had Biden with 36 percent with Bernie Sanders the closest challenger with 18 percent. Pete Buttigieg polled nine percent while Elizabeth Warren was eight. Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke were all at two percent. No other candidate polled more than one percent.
In Indiana, a poll compiled by We Ask America had Biden leading in the Hoosier state with 33 percent followed by Sanders at 23 percent. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, was at 20 percent. There was a significant drop off after those three with the next candidate (Kamala Harris) at just three percent.
These numbers will likely change once more Americans are following the race. It’s still early in terms of most people paying close attention. Televised debates will also help move the numbers.
Speaking of the debates, the Democratic Party now says it will cap its debate at 20 candidates. Already 19 have qualified by one of the set standards (minimum polling level and amount of donors) but that number is likely go past 20 when all is said and done.
By my count there are 21 “upper tier” candidates in the race and more may still jump in. It has been something to watch in recent weeks and months.
On the Republican side of the 2020 presidential race, the state GOP of Massachusetts recently made an interesting move. Party leaders decided its 2020 primary would be a “winner takes all” in terms of delegates. This is a complete change from 2016 when delegates were awarded on a proportional basis.
Bill Weld, a popular two-term governor of the state, is challenging President Trump in the primary. State party leaders don’t want Weld picking up any delegates from the primary. While President Trump would be the favorite to win the Massachusetts primary it would not be shocking to see Weld get 35 percent (or more) of the vote in that state.
The change of the rules means Weld would not get any delegates under this scenario.
Georgia’s Heartbeat Bill: Governor Brian Kemp officially signed into law the Heartbeat Bill last week (I am not sure why there was such a delay in his action but it is now officially done.)
Let it be known this is not to debate whether the bill was justified or was needed or whether it was an overreach on a woman’s control of her body. This is one of the few items I will not debate in this space. No one’s mind is going to be changed. I know people on both sides of this issue and no argument would ever change their views. Their beliefs are very strong and I respect people for that.
What should be noted is that the new law is going to be challenged and as long as it remains a law it is going to have some consequences economically for our state. I am not a legal scholar but some have outright stated the law will be overturned immediately by a federal court. That may be true but often times so-called “easy outcome” cases are not as cut and dried as some hope.
There will be also some businesses which will now boycott Georgia over this law. Any business has a right to operate (or not operate) where it desires. Supporters of the new law say “good riddance” and “who cares” to these boycotts. Others view it as a potential big economic blow to the state.
Kemp is showing he is going to take a different approach than the previous Republican governor of Georgia. Nathan Deal was 100 percent pro-business and likely would have never supported the Heartbeat Bill (at least not as far-reaching as the one Kemp signed). It’s the same reason Deal wanted no part of the “religious freedom” bill.
The current governor has shown he is going very hard to the right with his policies. It may have an interesting consequence in the 2022 race. Most Georgians are not super extreme on issues one way or the other. With the governor’s race in 2018 razor close more new laws of this nature could swing Georgia back to the blue side of politics.
If nothing else it is going to be interesting to watch. We will get a preview of it in the 2020 race for U.S. Senate with the seat currently held by David Perdue.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist who has written for The Monticello News since 1988. He welcomes feedback at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.