Washington, May 16, 2019 (AFP)
How many is too many?
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday became the 23rd person to jump into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, setting up a longshot campaign that faces stiff competition from within the party.
His entry came two days after Montana Governor Steve Bullock, a Democrat with strong party crossover appeal in a traditionally Republican-leaning state, launched his bid for the nomination and the right to challenge President Donald Trump.
In late April former vice president Joe Biden went all in, becoming the best-known star in a constellation of 2020 Democrats, the largest and most diverse presidential pool in modern history.
It includes six women, seven sitting US senators, three current or former governors, three African Americans and a young gay mayor.
Here are the party's main presidential contenders.
- Bill de Blasio -
The mayor of the largest US city frames himself as a perpetual underdog who has managed a string of accomplishments in New York: he has introduced free universal pre-kindergarten and paid sick leave, and rolled out a plan this year to guarantee health care for all residents.
He kicked off his campaign with a frontal attack on Trump, dubbing him "Con Don" for claiming he is on the side of blue-collar workers.
The lanky 58-year-old has denounced the Republican president's hardening of immigration policy and his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.
But there appears to be little appetite in the Big Apple for a de Blasio campaign. An eye-popping 76 percent of New York City voters said he should not enter the 2020 race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll last month.
- Joe Biden -
Biden, who served eight years as Barack Obama's vice president, has cemented his frontrunner status. The RealClearPolitics poll aggregate shows him with 39.8 percent support, doubling up on second place Senator Bernie Sanders at 16.3 percent.
With a combination of experience, widespread popularity and recognition, and a knack for connecting with voters, Biden, 76, is expected to draw substantial support in blue-collar Midwestern states that propelled Trump to the presidency in 2016.
- Beto O'Rourke -
During a frenetic, if failed, campaign for US Senate last year in Texas, the 46-year-old O'Rourke used his youth, energy and camera-friendly charisma to become a media darling while setting fundraising records and drawing support from celebrities.
Despite a reputation forged in his three terms in Congress as a pragmatic centrist, O'Rourke launched his campaign in Iowa on a decidedly left-leaning platform, calling for health and immigration reform, a higher minimum wage and an all-out battle to curb climate change.
- Bernie Sanders -
The 77-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was an outsider when the 2016 Democratic primaries began.
But he gave favorite Hillary Clinton a run for her money with his calls for a "political revolution."
Sanders is now a 2020 heavyweight. He has won passionate support among young liberals with his calls for universal health care, a $15 minimum wage and free public university education.
- Kirsten Gillibrand -
The New York senator and fierce Trump critic had made a name campaigning against sexual abuse, especially in the military, even before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence.
Gillibrand, 52, is making gender and women's issues a hallmark of her campaign. On Thursday she stood "shoulder to shoulder" with women in Georgia after laws severely restricting abortion were signed into law in multiple US states.
- Elizabeth Warren -
At 69, the US Senate's consumer protection champion from Massachusetts is on the party's left flank. She built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps.
Warren is considered to have one of the best campaign organizations of any Democrat, and she consistently lays out more policy platform specifics than her rivals.
- Cory Booker -
The US senator from New Jersey, 50, began his career as a community activist and rose to prominence as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
Often compared to Obama, Booker has promised to work to unite a divided America.
A talented orator, Booker is unmarried and would be the first bachelor president in 160 years.
- Kamala Harris -
The barrier-breaking senator from California, who aspires to be the nation's first black female president, was a district attorney in San Francisco before serving as California's attorney general.
Harris, 54, has a reputation for tough, pointed questioning of Senate hearing witnesses, such as Attorney General Bill Barr last month.
- Pete Buttigieg -
The 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor joined the race with a resolutely future-looking and optimistic message to counter Trump's darker vision.
A Rhodes Scholar and military veteran, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay prominent presidential nominee of either major party.
- Other candidates -
Also in the race are Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado; Montana Governor Steve Bullock; former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro; Maryland ex-congressman John Delaney; Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard; Colorado ex-governor John Hickenlooper; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam; Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton; Ohio congressman Tim Ryan; California congressman Eric Swalwell; self-help author Marianne Williamson; and technology executive Andrew Yang.

Sumber : AFP