WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Which Democratic presidential candidate out of the twelve on stage is people’s favorite? What do people want the candidates to discuss in the debate? Will Ohio go blue for next year’s election? Here is what people said on the streets two hours before the debate.
Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker were frequently mentioned as people’s top choices. Instead of having a single favorite candidate, many said they are undecided at the moment and have a pool of candidates they would vote for. “I’m not yet too worried about which of the candidates – I feel like I have time to maybe think about that – because we’re just really focused on making sure that whoever it is is going to get the votes to defeat Trump in 2020,” said an activist from Ohio Progressive Action Leaders.
In terms of policies, health care, education affordability, environment and women’s rights emerged as top concerns among the audience members. “We all like to get college for less money but I just want to see how the process to go about doing that is,” said a journalism student at Otterbein University.
Ohio voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, but many think the state will go blue for the 2020 election. “There will be a lot of people who either voted for him last time or who didn’t come out and vote at all who will recognize that change needs to be made,” said an audience member from Cincinnati, Ohio.