The United States will soon vote in the 56th presidential election in American history. Incumbent President Donald Trump will be seeking re-election under the Republican Party ticket and is up for a second, consecutive term as the nation’s Commander and Chief. Donald Trump is not unopposed in this election in any case. The Democratic Party, the rival of the Republican Party, has exactly twenty candidates (at the time of this article’s publication) all contending to win the nomination in a bid to become the 46th President of the United States of America.

Top Democrats in the race to the nomination include front-man Joe Biden, the former Vice President of the United States under Barack Obama’s presidency. According to various national poll averages, Biden has the greatest lead currently but other Democrats are rising up the ranks. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has seen recent gains in the national polls. According to the Washington Post, the most accurate poll during the 2016 presidential election was McClatchy/Marist Polls. Based on their current polling as of September 12, Warren holds the highest favorability of the listed candidates, polling in at 75%. Biden is typically favored among national polls, usually polling higher than all Democrats and considered the presumptive nominee based on his high status as Vice President. Biden comes in second place behind Warren at 71%.

Also in the race, Bernie Sanders, who has declared his run for the presidency for a second time, has polled third at 66%. Among the candidates, Bernie and Warren are the most aligned in views, especially when it comes to single universal health care, granting all Americans with basic and equal health care, despite their backgrounds. The stance is very egalitarian, but who is not equal among the ranks of the Democrats is Andrew Yang, a unique and extraordinary candidate. Yang is proposing his most unique policy of universal basic income, giving all Americans $1,000 each month. Yang has  been polling below top Democrats, roughly at 36% according to the Marist polls. Other national polls have however polled him much higher, (at the time of the article’s published date.) However, Yang is by far a grassroots favorite among the Internet which has played a great role in recent elections. Many Yang supporters have granted the candidate with “meme status” on multiple social media outlets and online forums. The candidate who has polled in the highest among those who are unheard of is Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg. Mayor Pete is the youngest of all Democrats running, at the ripe age of 37. Despite polling relatively high, at 52%, Buttigieg is a dark horse among the Democrats. He is of humble origins and is the first, openly gay presidential nominee in American history.

Election season is just around the bend, and a whole new generation of voters will be stepping up to the plate to cast their vote in the future of the United States. There are a slew of candidates, not just Republican or Democrat, but independent and third party. Americans will be given multiple options in this year’s election and will be voicing their opinion in our representative democracy for the 56th time.

For more information check out this site on polls. 

Here’s another site on polls. 

Check out this site on Pete Buttigieg.