A Really Informal Ranking of the Democratic Presidential Candidates

You’ve probably heard a lot of people say that we have to be careful in this presidential campaign, because there’s a definite risk that if it gets too heated or dirty, it could cause a rift in the party or, even worse, could reduce voter turnout and easily hand the election over to 45 for another term. That is definitely a legitimate concern, and the risk is already there even without considering the election, thanks to Nancy Pelosi and her old guard’s insistence on attempting to quash the progressive movement, which threatens to, heaven forbid, actually revitalize the democratic party.

Watching the NBC debates on June 26 and 27 made the risk more palpable for me and got me thinking that I needed to do something. Like in other states, Massachusetts has recently seen some lobbying by activist groups to establish ranked-choice voting for elections. I started to think that maybe that concept could help us out in this situation. If it would be possible to bring democratic voters around from thinking “this person or no one” to “I’d prefer this person, but I’d be willing to consider the others in this order,” we would be much more likely to maintain party unity and also present a unified face to the rest of the population. Such a stance would not only increase the likelihood of good democratic voter turnout, it would create a more attractive option for independents, the undecided, and even people who voted for 45 before but are having second thoughts this time around.

To help encourage this way of thinking, I’d like to set an example by providing my own ranking. Although I’m electing to do so, I should issue the caveat that I’m not super knowledgeable about all of the candidates, so, for example, at this point I can’t judge them about a policy decision they made 10 years ago or a vote they made in 2000. My ranking is based just on what I happen to know about the candidates already from news reports and knowledgeable friends, and more so on how the candidates comported themselves and what they expressed in the two debates in June.

I urge others to follow my example and make up your own lists to help try to minimize the divisiveness and perhaps hone your own thinking a little. And feel free to tell me why you think I should change my ranking. I could definitely use more information.

Hopefully we’ll all get a little more information from the upcoming CNN debates on July 30th and 31st.* Maybe after that my rankings will see some revision.

*Note: I’m only going to rank the candidates who qualified for the July debates, although I’m leaving out that Bullock guy, whoever he is.

My Ranking:

1. Bernie Sanders
2. Julian Castro
3. Corey Booker
4. Kirsten Gillibrand
5. Andrew Yang
6. Elizabeth Warren
7. Kamala Harris
8. Beto O’Rourke
9. Pete Buttigieg
10. Marianne Williamson
11. Bill De Blasio
12. Michael Bennett
13. Jay Inslee
14. Tulsi Gabbard
15. Joe Biden
16. Tim Ryan
17. John Delaney
18. Amy Klobuchar
19. John Hickenlooper

For More Information:

July 26 Debate
Participants: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Former Housing Secretary Julian Castro. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio. Former Maryland Congressman John Delaney. Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke. Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan. And Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/full-video-democratic-presidential-debate-night-1-62758981769
Full Transcript: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/full-transcript-first-democratic-primary-debate-2019-n1022816

July 27 Debate
Participants: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet. Former Vice President Joe Biden. South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. California Senator Kamala Harris. Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. California Congressman Eric Swalwell. Author Marianne Williamson. And former tech executive Andrew Yang.
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/full-video-democratic-presidential-debate-night-2-62848069759
Full Transcript: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/full-transcript-2019-democratic-debate-night-two-sortable-topic-n1023601?icid=canonical_related