And then there were ten (Democrats debating for President)
Bottom Line: Barring a minor miracle for a candidate that’s already an extreme long shot – there will officially be ten candidates debating in the third debate hosting by ABC on September 12th. That’ll also mean they’ll be just one debate night as well (ABC indicated they’d go to two nights if more than ten candidates qualified). And the ten that are in are these candidates...
- Joe Biden
- Cory Booker
- Pete Buttigieg
- Julián Castro
- Kamala Harris
- Amy Klobuchar
- Beto O'Rourke
- Bernie Sanders
- Elizabeth Warren
- Andrew Yang
What’s interesting is what’s already been accomplished up to this point. Yes, Biden and the Bern were always expected to be here. So were Booker and even Beto. Elisabeth Warren’s resurgence has surprised many but it’s the emergence of Buttigieg and Yang that to me are the most interesting. Politics as usual was a large part of the success of an outsider like Donald Trump. While Democrats are generally still aggregating around people who’ve held traditional political posts, Buttigieg a mayor of a college town and Yang an entrepreneur have already knocked off more than ten of the more traditional sort of politician. While the debate field is diverse, most people stop with the age, race and sexuality of the candidates they miss the point. There’s a growing undercurrent of Democrats who want something different too. Many were laughing at Herman Cain for his attempt to jump from business to president until Donald Trump did it. Democrats might not be ready this time around but just like Herman’s 9-9-9 plan was perhaps a precursor to MAGA four years later, could we be a cycle away from the end of Democrats as usual? We can only hope (and change- pun intended).