2020 President Voting Guide
At the beginning of this year, I had attempted to make a voting guide, but failed for two reasons: 1) This year began with so many candidates (especially in the Democratic primary) that researching and writing about them took up so much time and 2) Once they began to drop, they dropped fast, so I had to deal with my guide potentially becoming out of date just hours after publishing it. I gave up, but now with every party past (or effectively) past their nominating conventions I can do a quick write up for the few candidates remaining.
Joe Biden (Democratic Party)
Biden is Barack Obama’s Vice-President (2009–2017) and a former United States Senator from Delaware (1973–2009). Biden is an absolutely abysmal candidate for the presidency. This is his third time running (he first ran in 1988 and resigned for plagiarizing numerous speeches, and he ran again in 2008 when he dropped out after struggling to obtain funds or support of any kind). The only reason Biden is the nominee now is because the establishment had nobody left. As for Biden’s “accomplishments,” he was largely credited with the passage of two vicious crime bills: the “Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984” which helped militarize the police and the “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994” which among other disgusting things added more than 60 offenses that can result in the death penalty. In 1993 he voted in favor of banning LGBT people from serving in the military. In 1996 he voted against the legalization of same sex marriage. On foreign policy there have been few wars Biden did not love: he voted for the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and aggressively supported Barack Obama’s drone strikes on seven countries (all without congressional approval). Many will argue that a vote for Biden is a vote for the lesser of two evils, and that the most marginalized of our society do not have the luxury of purity tests. But look at this record and really ask yourself: Is this a lesser evil or just an evil you’re comfortable with?
Kamala Harris (Joe Biden’s VP pick)
As I write this Biden has officially announced that Kamala Harris is his running mate. Harris is the junior senator for California, and a former Attorney General. As Attorney General, Harris “urged criminal penalties for parents of truant children” basically saying that parents should be arrested for not getting their child to school on schedule. As a Senator, Harris has few accomplishments. In fact, during her presidential campaign, discussion of her Senate career was mostly limited to short clips of her asking Trump appointees aggressive questions. This has been a hallmark of Harris’s career, she either does harm or nothing at all, which is probably why she’s risen through the ranks so quickly.
Further reading:
https://www.businessinsider.com/plagiarism-scandal-joe-biden-first-presidential-run-1988-2019-3
Donald Trump (Current President, Republican Party)
Donald Trump is a “businessman” and celebrity. Prior to being President he had never served in elected office, and ran as an outsider. Despite some admittedly amusing moments during the campaign, it was pretty clear he lacked any serious political beliefs and was happy to just use racist dog whistles and controversy to become president (which of course worked). Upon taking office it was clear Trump was no different from his predecessors. As a citizen, he complained about the national debt but since taking office the debt has only increased. On the campaign trail he rallied against Democrats taking away gun rights, but while in office he has passed more gun control legislation than Obama. As a candidate, Trump almost promised to cease America’s involvement in endless regime change wars, but after three years failed to pull a substantial amount of American troops out of Afghanistan and appointed John Bolton, one of the few men in politics who don’t believe the Iraq war was a mistake as his National Security Advisor. [also mention iran and iraq]. The only reason to vote for Donald Trump is to “own the libs” and if your political beliefs boil down to just hurting a person’s feelings, that’s pathetic.
Mike Pence (Trump’s Current Vice President, Republican Party)
He is offensively lame, afraid to eat alone with women out of fear of sexual impropriety (i.e. chauvinist degenerate), and an allegedly sentient cardboard cutout of every fundie Republican over the past three or four decades.
Further reading:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/trump-us-national-debt/index.html
Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen (Libertarian Party)
Jo Jorgensen (often called “JoJo”) is the Libertarian nominee for President. She has been in the party for the majority of her adult life and was the 1996 Libertarian Party nominee for Vice-President. She has never held elected office, but holds a doctorate in psychology and teaches at Clemson University. She is also a businesswoman who worked with IBM in the 1980s and is president of Digitech. Jorgensen holds right wing economic views (abolishing social security, decentralizing public education, etc.). She has been vocal about criminal justice reform arguing for abolishing civil asset forfeiture and qualified immunity. She opposed all regulations on drugs and firearms. On foreign policy Jorgensen opposes embargos, economic sanctions, and foreign aid. She has also advocated for a removal of all American troops from foreign lands. For those that oppose Libertarianism I would still recommend considering voting for her, as she is likely to be the only candidate on the ballot in every state that can actually institute criminal justice reform, and the only candidate truly critical of the military industrial complex.
Spike Cohen is the bottom part of the Libertarian ticket for 2020. He is not a well known guy and like Jorgensen has never held elected office. Cohen has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and has credited his issues with healthcare as one of his reasons for becoming a Libertarian. He hosts a podcast on Muddled Waters Media. He was chosen by Vermin Supreme to be his running mate but after Supreme failed to secure the nomination, Cohen was selected by the delegates to be Jorgensen’s running mate. Cohen, like Supreme, has often used satire as a way of getting attention and then presenting principled libertarian views. I was nervous of him at first, but after hearing him speak and answer questions he has won over my support.
Further reading:
https://jo20.com/issues/
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker (Green Party)
Hawkins is the Green party nominee for President, and is an anti-war and environmental activist. His platform is largely based on his Green New Deal (which predates the bills introduced by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey bearing similar names). Despite never holding elected office, Hawkins has been a candidate in more than 20 elections. Hawkins advocates for a single payer healthcare plan similar to Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All. Like Jorgensen he also favors police reform, drug legalization, and ending regime change wars. Hawkins is not likely to be on the ballot in all 50 states but is likely to be in more than half. If you are a progressive, or a Bernie Sanders supporter, he is worth looking into further.
Angela Walker is Hawkins’s running mate. She previously ran for Vice-President in 2016 under the Socialist Party USA banner. Walker first came to prominence when she ran against David A. Clarke in a bid to become Milwaukee Sheriff (she lost). Walker is a member of the US Army Reserve and currently works as a dump truck driver.
Further reading:
https://howiehawkins.us/platform/
https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/07/12/howie-hawkins-goes-national-1299846
Don Blankenship (Constitution Party)
Don Blankenship is the Constitution Party candidate for President. If you happen to be in one of the few states where Blankenship is on the ballot don’t vote for him.
I don’t care who Blankenship’s running mate is, and neither should you.
Further reading (if you really care):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Blankenship
Gloria La Riva and Leonard Peltier/Sunil Freeman (Party for Socialism and Liberation)
La Riva has been running for 10 years and 2020 is no different. Unlike many of the other Presidential candidates that will be called a Marxist as an insult, La Riva is legitimately a Marxist. The goal of La Riva’s candidacy is not to win but to spread awareness and encourage a revolution that creates a “new government of working people”. There are good ideas from this party, such as an end to the American empire, making all politicians recallable, etc. There are also some really bad ones like an abolition of freedom of speech. Overall the PSL may be interesting but I would not recommend voting for them, at least if you believe in liberty. La Riva holds a degree from Brandeis University, and in 2016 appeared on the ballot in eight states.
La Riva’s running mate was originally an indigenous rights advocate named Leonard Peltier (who has been in prison for over 45 years) but due to health and ballot access concerns, Peltier was dropped in favor of Sunil Freeman, whom I struggled to find much reliable information about.
Further reading:
https://www.pslweb.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier
Kanye West (Kanye West)
Fuck it, if Ye is on your ballot vote for him.
Yeezus rests.
Further reading:
https://genius.com/artists/Kanye-west
https://twitter.com/kanyewest
