There are 20+ Democratic presidential candidates right now, and one of them will be our nominee. That means that even some of the more prominent candidates will be saying or doing great things that are slipping through the cracks of traditional media and social media. It means that almost everything the lesser-known candidates are doing will fall through cracks that are more like chasms.
Good stuff from Democrats deserves attention. Add to that the fact that we don’t all like every single one of the candidates, but that when the time comes, we’ll have to set that aside and get behind the nominee as our way to beat Donald Trump and start the long, hard task of fixing our country. And that’s where this roundup comes in. I’ll be looking for a strong moment from as many candidates as possible each week, be it a policy, a quote, a tweet, an action.
So without further ado …
Elizabeth Warren has a plan to put the brakes on the abuses of private equity firms, one that, Mark Sumner writes, “would stop the vultures from picking over the bones of a company in temporary trouble and promote investment by those who want to save the company rather than destroy it.”
Jay Inslee talked about racial disparities and environmental justice in an interview with Daily Kos.
Julián Castro addressed police accountability in an interview with Daily Kos.
Kirsten Gillibrand released a plan for helping America’s seniors age with dignity.
Kamala Harris rolled out two important policies on the same day, a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and a plan to lower drug prices.
Cory Booker proposed criminal justice reform to allow older inmates and inmates who had already served at least 10 years to petition for early release.
Amy Klobuchar pledged to prioritize nominating and confirming federal judges.
Pete Buttigieg spoke to the Young Democrats of America, saying, among other things, that “We have to reject the kind of racism and demagoguery that tells a U.S. citizen to go back where she came from. Everybody knows damn well where she came from is Minnesota.”
Bernie Sanders kept making the case for Medicare for All.
Beto O'Rourke offered a plan to strengthen Social Security for people who leave the paid workforce to care for a family member.
Joe Biden called out how Donald Trump “continues to spew hateful rhetoric, sow division, and stoke racial tensions for his own political gain.”
Andrew Yang answered 20 questions for NowThis, covering his signature universal basic income plan but touching on opioid policy and other issues as well.