Candidates for the 2020 Democratic Nomination for President
Cory Booker is from New Jersey and has always had a passion for politics as he was previously Newark’s Mayor for quite some time and then moved on to be New Jersey’s Senator. Andrew Yang is from Manhattan, New York and has been passionate about entrepreneurship and created his own company but recently has stepped up to the plate and is seeking to become America’s next president. It seems unusual as he has not had political experience like Booker but has worked closely with the White House when Obama was president. Looking closely as both websites, they do have some background information on where they come from. Booker definitely emphasizes his background more than Yang. Booker tells his story of being a lawyer for his people who are being taking advantage by slumlords. That clearly shows the injustice he sees in the community and how he used his college degree and overall education to help others. He uses his community, his passion and the injustice in the world to be able to motivate him to be even more of a role model for all Americans.
One thing that he doesn’t have on his website are his policies and what he strives to work for as a president. Booker creates an environment where his community can come to his aid and he will work with his resources to find a solution. Based on Fenno, he uses a person to person approach with his public. He wants people to know where he came from and who got him to where he is now. Booker wants to represent the unrepresented. I wouldn’t say he is issue-oriented due to his lack of policy representation on his website. He wants people to know he is willing to hear their stories and what their solutions could be. His slogan, “We Rise”, shows his commitment to engage with his community and Americans together in order to create a better America.
Yang, on the other hand, has included all of his policies. His main policy is UBI, Universal Basic Income, which advocates for all Americans 18 and older to receive about $12,000 a year as a replacement for welfare, food stamps, and homelessness. He also talks about his background like Booker but doesn’t go in depth on how it helped him get to where he is now. He is more involved in making Americans know that he is an entrepreneur and willing to find solutions on creating more jobs now that technology is getting more advanced. Based on Fenno, he is more issue-oriented, he works better with technology and showing his policies than engaging with people on a personal level. This could be because he doesn’t have that much experience with politics like Booker, which could not give him much credibility. Through his policies, he is able to communicate what he wants to do with the presidency and gain voters that way. He shows how passionate he is in creating more jobs for Americans. Unlike Booker, Yang has more experience in the business world, so he definitely knows about the burden of being responsible for people’s livelihood. His slogan, “Humanity First”, shows the difference in agenda between both candidates, Yang is more concerned with improving lives of humanity in the way he sees fit while Booker wants to improve the lives of American people with them coming along. There is definitely a different perspective of campaigning by the two candidates showing each distinct traits, accomplishments, and motivations.