View Static Version
Loading

Meet the Candidates A look into 2020

The presidential primaries and caucuses are less than a year away. Numerous candidates have already made their bids to run for president or have formed exploratory committees for their presidential campaigns. In this multimedia, we give a brief summary of each candidates' policies and beliefs.

NOTE: This multimedia is only meant to give basic background information of each candidates' policies and beliefs.

The Primaries and Caucuses

The 2020 candidates

Michael Bennet

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Speed up drug approval.
  2. Eliminate income cap for payroll taxes.
  3. Believes a resilient agricultural sector is vital to a strong economy.
  4. Believes in increasing access to markets abroad.

Photo credits: Michael Bennet Official Photo / US Senate / US Senate / public domain

Joe Biden

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Wants more action to combat climate change.
  2. Supports Paris climate accord.
  3. Promote the middle class by closing loopholes that benefit shareholders over laborers.
  4. Wants free public college.
  5. Raise the minimum wage.
  6. Ban assault weapons.
  7. Supports a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
  8. Advocate for Violence Against Women Act and preventing sexual assault.

Photo Credits: Official portrait of Vice President Joe Biden / David Lienemann / Flickr / public domain

Bill de Blasio

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Free phone calls for people in custody.
  2. Eliminate cash bail.
  3. Wants future without mass incarceration.
  4. Sue Big Pharma for opioid addiction
  5. Open overdose centers.
  6. 40% reduction in emissions by 2030.
  7. Invest in renewable energy.
  8. Enforce paid sick leave for temp workers.

Photo credits: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio / William Alatriste / Flickr / CC By-SA 2.0

Cory Booker

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Lower prescription drug costs.
  2. Strongly supports charter schools.
  3. Believes in Medicare-for-All.
  4. Endorses the Green New Deal.
  5. Legalize marijuana.
  6. Strong supporter of same-sex marriage.

Photo credits: 75002794 / Ninian Reid / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Steve Bullock

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Cut business equipment tax.
  2. Increase funding for higher education.
  3. Invest in publicly funded early childhood education.
  4. Medicaid expansion is good for business and jobs.
  5. Wants more high-speed internet access in rural areas.
  6. Supports LGBTQ and abortion rights.

Photo credits: Montana Governor Steve Bullock / Yellowstone National Park / Flickr / public domain

Pete Buttigieg

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Abortion is a woman's choice.
  2. Supports Paris climate accord and Green New Deal.
  3. Get rid of the Electoral College.
  4. Medicare-for-All who want it.
  5. Lower drug prices.
  6. Debt-free college for lower income families.
  7. Supports higher teacher pay.
  8. Create incentives for states to reverse mass incarceration and abolish policies perpetuating racial inequality and disparities in the criminal legal system.

Photo credits: Pete Buttigieg - 33249197628 / Marc Nozell / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Julian Castro

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Allow abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
  2. Protections for LGBTQ population.
  3. Two free years of higher education.
  4. Medicare-for-All, paid for by tax on wealthy.
  5. Ban assault weapons.
  6. Rejoin the Paris Climate Treaty.
  7. Transgender Americans should be able to serve in the military.
  8. Allow a path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants.

Photo credits: Julian Castro / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

John Delaney

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Increase federal investment in renewable energy.
  2. Reengage in the international community by re-joining the Paris Agreement.
  3. Implement a federal carbon tax.
  4. Create a new public health care plan for all Americans under the age of 65 while preserving traditional Medicare.
  5. Keep private insurance options for health care.
  6. Direct investment in communities that have been left behind by globalization and technological change.
  7. Protect voting rights and ensure people have the ability to vote.

Photo credits: John Delaney on stage at the Heartland Forum in Storm Lake, Iowa / Lorie Shaull / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Tulsi Gabbard

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Abortion should remain legal and accessible.
  2. Tuition-free community college for all.
  3. No more fossil fuels for electricity by 2050.
  4. Ban assault weapons.
  5. Supports Medicare-for-All; tax wealthiest 5% to pay for it.
  6. Allow transgender Americans in the military.
  7. Ban anti-abortion limitations on abortion services.

Photo credits: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard speaking at the People's Rally, Washington DC / Lorie Shaull / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Kirsten Gillibrand

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Fewer limits on abortion.
  2. Make public higher education debt-free.
  3. Make childcare more affordable and accessible.
  4. Expand Medicare and add not-for-profit public option.
  5. Get rid of ICE.
  6. End outsourcing of jobs and see "Made in America" again.
  7. Wants universal health care.
  8. Protect voting rights and the integrity of elections.

Photo credits: SenatorGillibrandpic / Gillibrand2010 / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Mike Gravel

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Supports the Green New Deal.
  2. Cut military spending.
  3. Break up big businesses.
  4. Wants universal health care.
  5. Remove marijuana from the list of drugs on the Controlled Substance Act.
  6. Abolish the Electoral College.
  7. Get rid of the death penalty.
  8. Eliminate all tax expenditures designed to benefit oil, gas, and coal companies.

Photo credits: Mike Gravel / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Kamala Harris

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Legalize marijuana.
  2. Free tuition at four-year public colleges.
  3. Create national prekindergarten program.
  4. Ban assault weapons.
  5. Wants universal, government-run health care, or Medicare-for-All.
  6. Abortion and same-sex marriage should be legal.
  7. Create new direct tax breaks for middle and lower classes.
  8. Believes more action is needed to combat climate change.

Photo credits: Kamala Harris / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

John Hickenlooper

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Supports gay marriage and LGBTQ rights.
  2. Wants a 5-year initiative to support startup businesses.
  3. Supports universal health care.
  4. Wants a 26% reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2025.
  5. Supports Paris climate accord.
  6. Believes in free trade.
  7. Wants universal background checks for gun purchases.

Photo credits: 2017 Solar Decathlon / Department of Energy Solar Decathlon / Flickr / public domain

Jay Inslee

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. End the death penalty.
  2. Supports carbon tax.
  3. Lower greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2035.
  4. increase minimum wage.
  5. Protect a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion or not.
  6. Wants to move towards universal health care.

Photo credits: Governor Jay Inslee / Governor Jay Inslee / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0

Amy Klobuchar

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Cut greenhouse gas emissions.
  2. Rejoin Paris climate deal.
  3. Expand Medicare to at least age 55.
  4. Provide more temporary work visas.
  5. Provide path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants.
  6. Make abortions safe and rare.
  7. Supports LGBTQ rights.

Photo credits: Amy Klobuchar speaking at the Heartland Forum in Storm Lake, Iowa / Lorie Shaull / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Wayne Messam

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Cancel student loan debt for many Americans.
  2. Require immigration officials to have a warrant to enter city-owned buildings and schools.
  3. reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world.
  4. Reenter the U.S. into the Paris climate agreement.
  5. Lower health care costs.
  6. Create stricter gun laws.
  7. Trust women to make their own decisions when it comes to their health.

Photo credits: Mayor Messam / unspecified / pbs twimg/ public domain

Seth Moulton

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Boost support of military veterans.
  2. Cut massive weapons program and replace with smart cyber technology and investment in research.
  3. Sponsor of the Green New Deal.
  4. Everyone should have access to affordable health care.
  5. increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 per hour by 2020.
  6. Supports immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for DACA recipients.

Photo credits: Seth Moulton / United States Government / Wikimedia Commons / public domain

Beto O'Rourke

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Rejoin Paris climate agreement.
  2. First two years of higher education should be debt free.
  3. Ban assault weapons.
  4. Create a government-run health insurance plan for all Americans.
  5. Give legal status to most undocumented residents and a path to citizenship for all Dreamers.
  6. Abortion should be legal with fewer restrictions.
  7. Legalize marijuana.

Photo credits: Beto O'Rourke / Beto O'Rourke / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0

Tim Ryan

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Abortion should be left up to women.
  2. Move toward renewable energy sources, away from foreign oil.
  3. Wants debt-free college.
  4. Believes in Medicare-for-All.
  5. Legalize marijuana.
  6. Supports LGBTQ rights.
  7. Supports stricter gun control laws.

Photo credits: Rep Tim Ryan 02 - Akron Ohio - 2016-10-03 / Tim Evanson / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Bernie Sanders

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Few or no government limits on abortion.
  2. Break up largest financial institutions.
  3. End fracking in the U.S.
  4. Reinforce voting rights to end voter suppression.
  5. Make public colleges, universities, and trade schools tuition-free.
  6. Guarantee health care to all people through a Medicare-for-All, single-payer program.
  7. Expand background checks for gun purchases.
  8. Help disadvantaged farmers get fair access to land and resources.

Photo credits: Bernie Sanders / Nick Solari / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Eric Swalwell

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Access safe, legal abortion without restrictions.
  2. Full access to contraception and reproductive health services.
  3. Enforce against anti-gay discrimination in public schools.
  4. Reform bankruptcy to protect jobs and retirement.
  5. Ban assault weapons.
  6. Supports Medicare-for-All.
  7. No interest on federal student loans.
  8. Pass Green New Deal legislation.

Photo credits: Eric Swalwell 114th official photo / United States Congress / Wikimedia Commons / public domain

Donald Trump

Republican

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Use military power to promote peace throughout the world.
  2. Eliminate the visa lottery.
  3. Move the country to a merit-based entry system.
  4. Open vast public land for coal, oil and gas exploitation.
  5. Reverse the trend of climbing government spending.
  6. Provide funding to rebuild national defense and strengthen America’s borders.
  7. Reform job training programs.

Photo credits: Donald Trump / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Elizabeth Warren

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Wants to make public college free.
  2. Supports reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  3. Supports Medicare-for-All.
  4. Cut federal defense budget.
  5. A strong military should act as a deterrent so the government does not have to use it as much.
  6. Provide abortion care for all women who need it.
  7. Foreign policy today serves the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.
  8. Invest $100 billion over the next ten years in states and communities that are at the center of the opioid epidemic.

Photo credits: Elizabeth Warren / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

William Weld

Republican

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Supports cutting taxes and reducing government spending.
  2. Supports gay marriage.
  3. Supports abortion.
  4. Supports LGBTQ rights.
  5. Blow up unnecessary state agencies.
  6. Supports increased Medicaid access.
  7. Wants closer ties with Canada and Mexico.
  8. Supports some form of legal status for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

Photo credits: William Weld / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Marianne Williamson

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Resist any effort to restrict or limit reproductive rights.
  2. Expand LGBTQ rights to end discrimination.
  3. $200 billion for reparations for slavery.
  4. universal pre-school; more teacher retention programs.
  5. Provide student loan amnesty.
  6. Green energy instead of coal, fracking, and nuclear.
  7. Provide proper prenatal care, regardless of ability to pay.

Photo credits: Marianne Williamson / Marc Nozell / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Andrew Yang

Democrat

Policies and beliefs:

  1. Support a woman's right to choose, including contraception.
  2. Supports LGBTQ rights.
  3. Lower cost of prescription drugs.
  4. Improving teacher salaries improves student success.
  5. Provide equal pay regardless of race or gender.
  6. Supports Medicare-for-All.
  7. Provide paid family leave.
  8. Legalize marijuana.

Photo credits: SM1_2314 / Collision Conf / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

NextPrevious

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a copyright violation, please follow the DMCA section in the Terms of Use.