Some have high hopes for women and nonwhite candidates; others see white men as having the best chance to defeat the president.
By Sean Sullivan and Sean Sullivan Reporter covering national politics Email Bio Follow David Weigel David Weigel National reporter covering politics Email Bio Follow April 5 at 7:59 PM NEW YORK — More than a third of the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president are women. There are two black men, a Mexican American man, a Taiwanese American man and a gay man.
That has led the current white male candidates in particular to seek out black voters with some urgency. They are opening the door to reparations, speaking openly about the legacy of slavery and offering blunt talk on racial injustice — a stark departure from past presidential campaigns in which candidates trod lightly around those topics.
Other Democrats said they view Biden, O’Rourke and Sanders as credible and compelling contenders best equipped to defeat Trump. The conflicting opinions revealed Democratic divisions touching on race, gender and identity that could shape the nomination fight. Sanders twice mentioned Barack Obama, with whom he shares little ideology. He also said that a “racial wealth gap exists because slavery, segregation, Jim Crow and predatory lending stole that wealth from African Americans.”
O’Rourke has voiced remorse for comments that were seen by some as failing to acknowledge his white male privilege. Speaking at the NAN conference Wednesday morning, he focused on racial injustice. Biden has been a consistent leader in early state and national polls. Many Democrats attribute his early success — and that of O’Rourke and Sanders — to establishing a national following in previous campaigns, but they said that’s no guarantee of victory this time.
Presidential candidate Julián Castro said in an interview that it is “important for all of the voices to be heard during this primary.” He expressed confidence that the party would embrace the eventual nominee, under one condition: “If they feel like everybody’s been heard.”
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