The current Democratic presidential race is a rekindling of the party that existed for 50 years before the Barack Obama era, reported the Huffington Post. Op-ed writer Howard Fineman indicated the three classes of Democrats that each of the top-two candidates, and potential candidate Joe Biden, respectively belong to.
The top-two Democratic candidates are Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Vice President Joe Biden is heavily rumored to be considering a presidential race. Fineman noted that each represent “three sub-brands” of the Democratic party that have reigned the left-wing since the 1960’s.
Possible-candidate Biden represents the “Kennedy Guy,” who comes from a prominent, well-connected family that’s “fallen on hard times.” Fineman further describes Biden as a “prep-school kid and college athlete” with a blue-collar appeal. His platform is rumored to focus on the growing problem of income inequality.
The second group is the “New Left Intellectual,” which encapsulates candidate Sanders. Sanders is a hard-left democratic socialist with “non-negotiable demands” for taxing the rich, regulating corporations, blocking free-trade, and limiting immigration to save domestic, working-class jobs.
Lastly, there’s the “Commencement Speaker” Hillary Clinton. Clinton is the groomed, establishment Democrat. She lies in the center and is careful not to step on too many toes. Fineman said that Clinton is a “critic of the ‘System’ whom the faculty nevertheless trusted because she got all A’s and didn’t lead a sit-down strike in the Administration Building.”
While Sanders is currently the premier candidate for the progressive movement, the Democratic party at large is in serious need of an update. Obama provided the appearance of freshness, but the country doesn’t feel fresh.
