TOP 5 WOMEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
The 2020 U.S Presidential election has garnered immense enthusiasm and interest among the Democrats and the world. Having won the House in the Mid-term elections, no doubt Democrats’ confidence has soared high with as many as 14 confirmed candidacy and few more are expected to jump in for the 2020 elections. It is indeed interesting to note that 6 out of the 14 candidates are women.
Success Story’s editorial staff has been keenly following the daily progress of 2020 Presidential candidates. Democratic women candidates are high on octane to take on the Republicans’ President, whose Presidency has seen deterioration of American values for his Russian connections. Needless to say, Democrats have a solid chance to overthrow the President in 2020.
It would be really interesting to see how these women candidates will fare not only with the voters, but also with the big American Corporations. It is not a secret that Presidential election is not won with just votes but also with money power and the strong backing of the nations’ Incorporations of the Rich, who decide well in advance as to who will be the next President. Voting is a political gimmick and a vicious tool to divert the nation’s attention from the reality of an election.
With a strong belief, the year of 2020 belongs to women power in the United States of America. In all probability, a women candidate is more likely to conquer the Presidential Electoral College in the 2020 election in the month of November 2020. There is still 20 more months to go and the heat is on. Johnny D deciphers the ‘Top 5 Women Presidential Candidates’ for their strong characters and background to take on the President:
No. 5: Amy Klobuchar
On the 10th of February 2019, senior Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar declared her candidacy in nature’s open arena under snowfall. The issues of ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Income Inequality’ are her top priorities, if she is elected as the next President of the United States of America. The former corporate lawyer turned U.S Senator from Minnesota is believed to be a tough boss, based on her actions with her own staff. However, Klobuchar is mentally tough to take on the Republicans’ President.
Amy Klobuchar’s past as a lawyer may come to haunt her chances at the Primary. Amy was born on the 25th of May 1960 in Plymouth, Minnesota. She graduated from Yale University. Soon after her graduation, Amy joined University of Chicago Law School. She worked as an Associate Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. In the year 1985, Klobuchar received her Juris Doctor Degree.
In the year 1998, Klobuchar was elected as the County Attorney for Hennepin County. She had been previously a partner at two Minneapolis Law firms. In the year 2006, Amy Klobuchar became Minnesota’s first elected female U.S Senator to be elected to the Senate. She was one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party in the year 2009 and 2010. She was reelected to the Senate in 2012 and 2018.
The Democratic crowded field needs a tough contender, who should not only win the Primary with great conviction, but also take on the Republicans’ President by his horns. Klobuchar has been able to generate immense support from voters in the Midwestern region to take on the President. She is a sensible moderate with a hard work ethic and a nice attitude. However, she lacks for being a charismatic leader to please the American voters to vote for her, in spite of her strong beliefs in ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Income Inequality’.
Klobuchar’s weakness is reflected in her strong belief that ‘Medicare for All’ and ‘Green New Deal’ policies are ambitious in nature. Somehow, Klobuchar is still not fully equipped to take on her own Democratic candidates. So it will be interesting to see, how Amy Klobuchar will fare in coming months.
No. 4: Kirsten Gillibrand’s
“Brave doesn't pit people against each other. Brave doesn't put money over lives. Brave doesn't spread hate. Cloud truth – Build a wall. That's what fear does!” New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s video message is loud and clear for the Republicans, when she announced her candidacy on the 17th of March 2019. She believes in ‘Healthcare for All’ and ‘Green New Deal’ policies, which the Democrats are strongly endorsing as legislations for every American to benefit.
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand was born on the 9th of December 1966 in New York. Her mother and father are both attorneys. Kirsten graduated from Dartmouth College. She graduated with a Law degree from UCLA School of Law. She has worked as an attorney in government and private practice. In the year 2000, she worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 U.S Senate campaign. In 2006, Kirsten Gillibrand got elected to the House of Representatives. Two years later, she was reelected from the New York’s 20th Congressional district.
In the year 2009, Governor David Paterson selected Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the Senate seat, following Hillary Clinton’s appointment as Secretary of State. In 2010, she won the ‘Special Election’ to keep her seat in the Senate. In 2012 and 2018, she was reelected to full terms. She is believed to have moved to the left as a Senator. Gillibrand has been vocal about sexual assault in the military and sexual harassment. She has openly criticized President Bill Clinton and Senator Al Franken for sexual misconduct.
Gillibrand’s bold approach-attitude can work wonders for her in the primary. She supports strongly ‘Paid Family Leave’, ‘Federal Jobs Guarantee’ and the ‘Abolition and Replacement of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’. She does have a chance to be Democratic Presidential candidate for the 2020 elections. Kirsten Gillibrand is a bit different from other candidates in the fray, because she voted against the Wall Street bailout, took on the Pentagon to end to sexual assault in the military, turned a red district blue against all odds and challenged the Congress by making her meetings, finances and taxes public.
Gillibrand is yet to receive a home-State endorsement. So far, none of her party members have come forward to endorse her. It will be interesting to see, how she would fare at the crowded Primary field.
No. 3: Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard announced her candidacy on the 11th of January 2019. The meritorious service medallist House Representative from Hawii’s 2nd Congressional district had served as Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard unit. She has served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in Iraq war from 2004 to 2005. In the year 2008 – 2009, she was deployed to Kuwait. With a ‘Soldier’s Heart’, Gabbard is a tough contender among the Democrats.
Tulsi, as she is popularly known, had served the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004. At the age of 21, she became the youngest woman to be elected to a U.S State Legislature. In the year 2012, Tulsi Gabbard became the first Samoan-American and Hindu member of the United States Congress. On the 28th of February 2016, she was appointed Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Gabbard resigned to endorse the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Bernie Sanders.
Tulsi Gabbard was born on the 12th of April 1981 in Leloaloa, Maoputasi County, on the American Samoa's main island of Tutuila. Her father Mike Gabbard happens to be a member of the Hawaii Senate. Little Tulsi was raised in a multicultural and multi-religious household. As a teenager, she chose Hinduism as her religion. She was home-schooled through High School. She studied for two years at a missionary academy for girls in the Philippines. In 2009, Tulsi graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor’s degree in Science and Business Administration.
Tulsi Gabbard’s main concerns are ‘Wall Street reforms’, ‘Native Hawaiian issues’, ‘Affordable Housing’ and ‘Criminal Justice Reforms’. One of the main concerns for Tulsi Gabbard will be her past history of divisive rhetoric. She has apologized and moved ahead in life. It will be interesting to see if her supporters will overlook her past and see what Tulsi is offering for the betterment of their future. Every Democratic candidate has had past history, so Gabbard is no exception.
Tulsi Gabbard is very popular among her base, because she strongly supports ‘Reproductive Rights’, ‘Abortion Rights’, ‘Medicare for All’ and ‘Same-Sex Marriage’. Having been a soldier, Gabbard is very critical about America’s intervention in Iraq, Libya and Syria. She speaks from her heart about these issues. Gabbard had denounced U.S involvement in the Yemeni Civil War. She was outspoken about America’s intervention in Venezuelan crisis.
No. 2: Elizabeth Warren
The Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren entered the 2020 race on the 9th of February 2019. She happens to be one of the first Democrats to announce that she would be running for the President way back in 2018. Among the women candidates, she has gained immense grounds with her political career hallmark of ‘Economic Injustice’.
Elizabeth Warren had stated early in her campaign, “I am determined that we build an America, where not only the children of rich people get a chance to build something, but also where all of our children get a chance to build a real future. That's what I am in this fight for.”
Elizabeth Ann Warren née Herring was born on the 22nd of June 1949. She has had the experience of a tough childhood, because of family’s issues. At the age of 13, Elizabeth worked at her aunt’s restaurant waiting tables. Her initial struggle has made her a tough individual and a true fighter. Elizabeth Ann later graduated from the University of Houston and Rutgers Law School. She taught Law at the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University among others. Warren’s teaching experience has taught a great deal about leadership and her progressive approach makes her to standout in the crowded field.
Way back in 1995, Elizabeth Warren worked to oppose government’s policy and 10 years later in 2005, it became an Act restricting bankruptcy access for individuals. She has been forceful in her approach and stance in favour of more stringent banking regulations, following the 2007 – 2008’s financial crisis. Warren’s popularity increased among her base. She has served as the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program from 25th of November 2008 to 15th of November 2010. She was instrumental in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She served as the first Special Advisor of the said Bureau.
Elizabeth Warren is a charismatic leader and her focus on ‘Consumer Protection’, ‘Economic Opportunity’ and the ‘Social Safety Net’ has made her very popular among the Democrats caucus and her supporters. Currently, Elizabeth Warren is the Vice-Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus. She has assumed the office on the 3rd of January 2017. She is a tough contender among the crowd and has an outside chance to be the Democrats’ Presidential candidate for the 2020 Presidential elections.
No. 1: Kamala Harris
Leading the pack among the six women Democratic candidates, Kamala Harris is hands down the hot favourite to win the Primary to become the Presidential candidate for her party. She has an infectious smile, stern stance to take on the opposition and an amazing powerful aura around her. Kamala Harris stands out among the crowded field for being the only black woman. In all likelihood, I have a strong intuition that she will be the next U.S President in 2020. Mark my words for this prediction is made at the end of March 2019, almost 20 months ahead of the 2020 Presidential election.
On the 27th of January 2019, Kamala Harris vowed to fight for the ‘largest middle class tax cut in a generation’. She officially launched her Presidential campaign on the 21st of January 2019, which happened to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She is a charismatic leader. She is the only Senator, who serves in the Committee on the Judiciary and Select Committee on Intelligence. She surely stands tall among all the Democratic candidates and nothing intimidates her. She is the frontrunner and the top contender.
Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California on the 20th of October 1964. She graduated from Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She comes from an academic family. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian Tamilian worked as a Breast Cancer Scientist. Her Jamaican father Donald Harris works as Economics Professor at Stanford University.
During the early 1990s, Kamala worked in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the City Attorney of San Francisco's office. She was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in the year 2004. She held the office till 2011, when she was elected to become the 32nd Attorney General of California. She held the office for 6 long years till 2017. On the 8th of November 2016, Kamala Harris won the 2016 Senate election to become the third female U.S Senator from California. Simultaneously, she also became the first Jamaican-American Senator with Indian ancestry. Currently, she serves as the junior United States Senator from California.
What separates Kamala Harris from the rest of the field is her steely demeanour and point blank admission that she is not perfect. She stands firm on her beliefs that she is in the race to win. Unlike other candidates, one can see how Kamala enjoys her initial Presidential journey. There is still a long way to go. However, knowing Kamala Harris progressive approach to take on the Republicans, we assume that she would be the next President of the United States of America.
Being a woman of colour, Kamala Harris displays pragmatic approach with a no-nonsense persona to take on the crowded field. She strongly supports ‘Medicare for All’, ‘Legalization of Recreational Marijuana’, ‘Sanctuary Cities’, ‘Passing a DREAM Act’ and ‘Lowering Taxes for the Working and Middle Classes’, while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest top 1% of Americans.
