2020 US Presidential Election Political Compass Update
On January 24, 2020, the Political Compass website updated their 2020 US Presidential Election chart and page.
All the Democrats who dropped out so far have been removed from the chart. Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer have been added.
The chart has 11 Democrats (every Democrat running minus Deval Patrick), 6 Republicans (Bob Corker, Larry Hogan, and John Kasich aren’t running, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are incumbents, while the only challenger on the chart is Bill Weld while Joe Walsh and Rocky De La Fuente aren’t on the chart), 1 Libertarian (Arvin Vohra as the dozen others aren’t listed), and 1 Green (Howie Hawkins as the only other Green recognized canadiate Dario Hunter isn’t listed as well as Jesse Ventura being removed).
We have analysed speeches, manifestos and, crucially, voting records in the compilation of this chart. As the campaign proceeds, the chart will be amended to reflect policy changes and other relevant developments.
While the volume of correspondence prohibits us from engaging in communications concerning particular placements, all emails are nevertheless carefully read.
Updated 24 January 2020
The Political Compass is a universal tool, applicable to all western democracies. It shows the whole potential political landscape, not simply one within the confines of any particular country. For example, Bernie Sanders is popularly perceived in his own country as an off-the-wall left figure; in other western democracies he would sit squarely within the mainstream social democratic parties that regularly form governments or comprise the largest opposition. Conversely, a US candidate who believes in unfettered market forces or capital punishment may be seen at home as mainstream, but ‘extreme’ in other developed countries. Similarly, ‘Obamacare’ is seen as a liberal/left initiative in the US, while in other developed countries it is viewed as a tepid version of the long-established universal public health care systems that are broadly supported by conservatives as well as social democrats.
From the initially crowded field of candidates in the US 2020 primaries, there are some interesting clusters of attitudes. For example very few candidates are opposed to increases to the military budget, including some who are nevertheless also against foreign intervention. Some with a strong commitment to countering climate change nevertheless uphold an equally strong commitment to unlimited economic growth, and sometimes even to the further deregulation of corporate polluters.
The Democratic camp offers a more interesting diversity of ideologies than usual, with Sanders generally more at home with Green Party policies. By contrast Joe Biden portrays few solid convictions, beyond a sense of entitlement to the nomination. Steyer and late-emerger, multi-billionaire Bloomberg, are candidates closer to the ideological heart of today’s neoliberal Democratic Party. It’s a matter of bewilderment to us that Bloomberg has been described as a socialist in some quarters. Whether you see this description as complimentary or contemptuous, it’s certainly ludicrous. Notwithstanding his vast wealth and close Wall Street ties, Bloomberg’s unswerving commitment to balanced budgets and market forces place him on the hard economic right. While he holds some undoubtedly socially liberal positions, as New York mayor he also took certain authoritarian positions, especially regarding law and order. The more socially liberal Steyer, on the other hand, professes a late conversion from the economic values of his hedge fund past.
With the exception of Weld, there are few significant differences between Republican candidates. Weld, like the Libertarian Party’s Vohra, has an especially strongly-held libertarian outlook on the economic scale.
While the Democratic outcome remains in doubt, the successful Republican is a foregone conclusion. The big surprise is that a majority of Christian fundamentalists favour the candidate that Jesus would almost certainly be least likely to choose.
Wikipedia is keeping track of all the political positions of the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates. You can compare and contrast all of them, especially, Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and Andrew Yang.
Lead with Truth / Lincoln for Liberty
Advance Liberty
Don’t Vote McAfee
List of campaign slogans
America Deserves Better / Leadership America Deserves
The only Independent in Congress, Justin Amash
If elected, Arvin Vohra pledges to sign and support any legislation to:
- Shut down foreign military bases, end US involvement in foreign wars, and bring our troops home
- Eliminate the Department of Education
- Eliminate the Food and Drug Association
- Massively downsize our 17 redundant spy agencies, defund the NSA mass surveillance program, and abolish the Patriot Act
- End all crop subsidies
- Cut all spending to 1992 levels, and abolish the federal income tax
- (Foreign Wars/Make Trade Not War) End US involvement in foreign wars, Bring our troops home, and Cuts taxes accordingly
- (Education/A Smarter America) Defund the Department of Education, End federally backed student loans, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Immigration/Welcome the World’s Best/Open Borders, End Welfare) Remove all restrictions on immigration, Eliminate all social welfare programs, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Social Security/Reliable Retirement/Give You Back Your Money) Return to all American the money he or she paid into Social Security, Shut down the entire Social Security program, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (War on Drugs/Defund Violence) End the War on Drugs and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Privacy/Protect Your Privacy/Defund Mass Surveillance) Massively downsive our redundant spy agencies, Abolish the Patriot Act, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Minimum Wage/More Jobs) Eliminate the minimum wage entirely and Cut taxes accordingly
- (FDA/Let Doctors Save Lives/Get Government out of Medicine) Eliminate the FDA and Medicaid part D, Remove all restrictions on the abilities of foreign doctors to practice in this country, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Environment/Protect Your Environment/Ensure Private Ownership) Sell all government-owned land, Remove all laws limiting the liability of private property owners, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Currency Freedom/Sound, Safe Money/Remove Currency Restrictions) Remove all legal tender laws, Abolish the Federal Reserve, and Cut taxes accordingly
- (Guns/Protect Communities/Remove all Gun Restrictions) Eliminate all gun free school zones, Remove all restrictions on gun ownership, and Cut taxes accordingly
I recommend everyone looks at the chart of the 2020 US Presidential Election and measure how close to/ far from the 10,-10 point of the Political Compass each and every candidate is. Then, donate to, follow, support, like, share, favorite, retweet, volunteer for, etc. the candidate/candidates closest to the lower right corner. Even if it’s a Democrat or a Republican, I recommend against also support the two major parties directly via their national, state, and local organizations as they aren’t as lower right as the individual candidates on the chart. I do recommend supporting the Libertarian Party on all levels, national/state/local, because it is worthy of support regardless of the candidate you support.
