Matthew Putney/AP
- By a wide margin, Americans believe self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders is the most liberal 2020 candidate in the Democratic field, according to a recent INSIDER poll.
- Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are perceived as the next most liberal candidates.
- Former Vice President Joe Biden is perceived as middle of the pack on ideologically, with Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts perceived as the least liberal.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden recently claimed to have "the most progressive record [of] anybody running" in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont democratic socialist, begged to differ.
"I don’t think there’s much question about who’s more progressive," Sanders said of himself and Biden.
But what voters think can differ from the candidates’ opinions of their own ideology and legislative record.
In that spirit, INSIDER asked Americans to rank the 2020 presidential candidates based on ideology.
Once the poll respondents indicated which of the candidates they had heard of, we followed-up by asking them to "Please rank the following candidates based on how politically left you perceive their politics to be, with the contender in the first (1) position being the most liberal and the contender in the highest-numbered position being the least liberal."
Americans believe Sanders is the most liberal candidate in the Democratic field — by a wide margin.
Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are perceived as the next most liberal candidates.
Biden was ranked right in the middle of the pack, while Reps. Seth Moulton, Eric Swalwell, John Delaney, and Tim Ryan, and Sen. Michael Bennet are seen as the least liberal candidates in the field.
Since not every respondent knew all the candidates, or necessarily knew a lot of information about the candidates they had heard of, we used a technique called maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to generate scores for individual contenders.
Conceptually, MLE is similar to how statisticians are able to use strength of schedule to compare two sports teams that haven’t played against one another.
Here’s the ranking of presidential candidates, from least to most progressive, according to Americans:
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Moulton is perhaps best known for challenging the Democratic establishment in his failed 2018 attempt to prevent Rep. Nancy Pelosi from once again becoming Speaker of the House.
He’s maintained a relatively centrist voting record — voting with Trump about 20% of the time — and is socially progressive but somewhat fiscally conservative.
A combat US Marine veteran, Moulton has the support of a number of military leaders, including Gens. David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Bennet is a purple state centrist and was part of the Gang of Eight, a group of four Republican and four Democratic lawmakers that wrote a comprehensive immigration reform bill which passed the Senate with bipartisan support in 2013.
He’s opposed to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-all legislation, and has proposed offering a public option for health insurance and allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices.
California Rep. Eric Swalwell
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo
Swalwell, a 38-year-old former prosecutor, is focusing heavily on his calls for stricter gun regulations.
He’s also become nationally known through his work on the House Intelligence Committee’s investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, making frequent TV news appearances to discuss the special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and Congress’ oversight.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Kamala Harris flip-flops on private health insurance and says she wants undocumented immigrants to get Medicare
- Julián Castro is running for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition.
- POWER RANKING: Here’s who has the best chance of becoming the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Eliza Relman)