Choosing a Democratic Candidate

I opened my mail-in ballot, otherwise known as an absentee ballot, and realized that I wasn’t ready to choose a presidential candidate. Many whose names appear on the ballot have dropped out, the most popular among them were Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Deval Patrick and Michael Bennet. Thankfully, they have narrowed the field for me, but I’m still in serious deliberation.

First on my mind is electability over the brutal Trump lying and cheating machine as well as the ability to win in battleground states. Second on my mind is where each candidate stands on the issues. And third are personal traits such as health, intelligence and character. There are two candidates whom I am confident can beat Trump. They are Amy Klobuchar and Michel Bloomberg. Although I would enthusiastically support whomever wins the democratic nomination, if it is not one of these two, I would likely have butterflies in my stomach for months because the other front runners have vulnerabilities that frighten me.

First among the scary candidates to me is Bernie Sanders. I think he is too far left and the label democratic “socialist” will scare away too many voters, especially in battleground states. While I agree with him that income inequality has gotten out of hand, I’m not certain that his solutions are the answer. I agree that the wealthy and corporations should pay more in taxes. I agree that access to healthcare is a human right, however I am skeptical of his Medicare for all solution. I don’t agree that college should be free, but I do believe that those who can pay should pay and that government grants should be far more robust for needy students to the point where they do not have to take out student loans. I agree with eliminating student debt. As for his personal traits, he is smart but he also comes off as short-tempered and impatient with people. He had a heart attack and I’m afraid he might not last. I put Warren in the same category as Bernie except I like her temperament a lot more and I don’t worry about her health as much.

If I believed Americans were ready to accept a gay man married to another man, I would readily vote for Pete Buttigieg. While he is an impressive human being, he would be a lightening rod for religious conservatives and would further divide our country over the issue of sexual orientation. I like where he stands on the issues and I greatly admire his intelligence, health, positive energy and character. I enjoy hearing him articulate his ideas. He would make a great vice president and I hope that whomever the nominee is will select him.

And finally, I have given up on Joe Biden for two reasons. The first is that the Republicans successfully tainted his reputation among too many voters because of his son’s business dealings in Ukraine. Although his dealings were not illegal, they look ugly enough to do real damage to him. Innuendos about Hunter’s business deal won’t disappear if Biden is the nominee. And secondly, Biden isn’t performing well enough on the debate stage or in some of the town halls and he isn’t raising enough money. I’m fine with him on the issues and I’m okay with his character, but he isn’t articulating anything particularly well. I like Joe Biden as a person and I was pushing for him early on, but he really looks old and worn out to me. I see him and feel like he has had the stuffing knocked out of him. He looks like the tenacious fighter who just won’t give up. And I just want him to throw in the towel already.

So, I’ve narrowed my choices to Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg. I do think Mike would beat Trump by a wider margin than Amy though. His adds are impressive and he has the money to fight hard and smart. I heard that he is hiring two experts: one on how to get under the skin of a narcissist and a comic to weaponize that knowledge. I like both Michael and Amy the issues. However, Mike has character baggage with his push for stop and frisk that was a racial profiling nightmare for black and brown men in New York and across the nation. I have to balance that stop and frisk policy with the acknowledgement that the murder rate dropped by 68% during his administration and many of those lives saved were also black and brown. His age is also an issue for me, although he seems healthy, mentally strong, and energetic.

But Amy hits all the boxes for me. I think she can pull off a win against Trump because she is truthful, likeable, and smart. I like her moderate pragmatic policies. And her character, health, energy and presence are refreshing. I wonder if Mike would be willing to throw some of his 68 billion dollars her way if she wins the nomination and lend out those experts? I also believe that a Bloomberg-Klobuchar would be unstoppable and would place Amy in the position of an eventual presidency.

It sounds like I’ve made my choice on paper. But I’m going to wait until the very last minute to fill out my ballot.