The current candidates still in the race shown above on Jan. 14th, 2020 at Des Moines, Iowa. Former Vice President Joe Biden (left) and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Right)

As the election gets closer and closer, many candidates have dropped out of the race. It’s down to two major candidates: Former Vice President Joe Biden (Dem.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Dem.) 

The big question currently is will anyone be able to beat Donald Trump? Since his entrance into office, many people have been questioning his validity of being the President of the United States. 

Mr. de Picciotto, a current iSchool teacher who teaches a campaigning class, said, “I’m surprised that it’s come down to this bunch. And frankly, I don’t know that any of the moderates here are compelling enough or charismatic enough to go against Donald Trump and win. I think the Democrats are too polarized and they’re not going to pull it off this time. I think Donald Trump is in for the reelection.” He also said, “Sanders could possibly pull it off. He’s gaining momentum and he is charismatic and he is sincere. He’s got the sterling record of 50 years of fighting for the people of the United States.”

All the attention right now is on the two Democratic candidates. After grueling debates, Sanders pulled ahead drastically. But as many Democratic candidates dropped out of the race, they endorsed Joe Biden. Things are getting a bit heated currently between the two candidates.

According to How to watch Mini-Tuesday like a pro, Biden is currently leading in the polls in Idaho by 4%, Michigan by 15%, Mississippi by 55%, Missouri by 30% and Washington by 3%. 

OnPolitics: Super Tuesday was a total thing. Get caught up states that Biden has already clinched 453 delegates and won polls from Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

On the other hand, Sanders has clinched only 382 delegates and winning polls from California, Vermont, Colorado, and Utah. 

But what makes them both different? And just why is Biden leading at this point in the race? Let’s go and explore the different points these candidates have made based on The Issues:

Criminal Justice

When the subject of Criminal Justice is brought up, both Bernie and Biden have corresponding views. The first principal problem under criminal justice is the death penalty. Both Bernie and Biden acknowledge abolishing it. They also agree on ending the Cash Bail Reform, eliminating minimum sentence reforms and eliminating private prisons.

Economy

On the economic side of things, seven main subtopics show differences between the two candidates: affordable housing, big Banks, budgets & debt, income inequality, minimum wage, paid leave and reparations. For affordable housing, Biden does not have a candid answer. On the other hand, Bernie wants construction funding, rent control and taxes to curb speculation. Biden does not support big banks, but Bernie said in a CNN interview that he wants to bring back Glass-Steagall legislation separating commercial and investment banking.

 Both Biden and Bernie have many ideas for budgets and debt,  but they don’t have one set view.

 For income inequality, both Biden and Bernie want to raise taxes on the wealthy and generate new social programs to contend this problem. Both candidates support a federal $15 minimum wage nationwide. Both Biden and Bernie have somewhat similar ideas on paid leave. Biden supports full paid family and sick leave while Bernie only supports a few months of broad paid leave. Lastly, both candidates support study reparations.

Adding on to our economy section a major topic when it comes to taxes is wealth taxes/inequality. As mentioned before in the economy topic, both candidates wish to lower taxes on middle and low-class families. Biden also wants to increase existing taxes on upper-income Americans while Bernie wants to create special taxes based on families wealth/income.

Education

There are many subtopics when it comes to Education. We will be going over charter Schools, cost of college, student debt and teacher pay. When it comes to charter schools Bernie and Biden have two unique ideas. Biden supports the germination of charter schools and only non-profit charter schools. Bernie on the other hand wants to restrict all charter school growth. 

Also,they both have completely different views on what college costs tuition. Biden says only the first two years of college should be free, while Bernie believes college should be entirely free. This has proved to be a major talking point in past Democratic caucuses. Staying on the same topic of colleges, they have different views on student debt as well. Bernie wants all student debt to be canceled if he wins office. If Biden wins, he doesn’t want to cancel all student debt, but make more debt relief programs for students. 

Furthermore, both candidates want to increase teacher pay drastically as teachers educate millions of students nationwide

Climate Change

Now moving onto the topic of Climate Change. There has been much contention over what the candidates would do. As global warming is increasing at a rapid pace, many voters wanted to hear what the candidates would do. As of a couple weeks ago, many people supported Michael Bloomberg’s climate change plan. His plan was to shut down all coal plants by 2030. As he caught much attention over it, he was unable to clinch enough states on Super Tuesday and dropped out. Now, what are the views of Biden and Bernie? A big topic these candidates have gone over is what they would do regarding nuclear power. Biden supported nuclear power and wants to support developing nuclear technology as part of an effort to fight climate change. On the other hand, Bernie wants to start closing down the nuclear power reactors as soon as possible as it contributes to drastic climate change. 

Another point that hit these two candidates hard was how would they combat oil and gas drilling. Biden doesn’t want to stop it completely as soon as possible, but rather end new oil and gas drilling leases on federal land and offshore drilling sites. Bernie wants all drilling sites to be shut down and he wants to ban fracking everywhere.

 The laat important point about climate change these candidates were faced with was how they would reduce carbon emissions. Biden wants to tax carbon emissions while Bernie wants to impose government regulations for placed contributing the most to carbon emissions. Out of all the other topics, Climate change is the biggest one that separates both Bernie and Biden.

Gun Control

Bernie and Biden both agree with the major topics of gun control. They both want a voluntary buyback program for assault weapons. They are in favor of universal background checks so governments know wheres guns are from and stop guns getting into the hands of the wrong people. Lastly, they both are incomplete in favor of a national firearm registry to have all the information on the guns people are purchasing.

Health Care

Bernie Sanders has gained much attention from his views on Healthcare. The first thing that comes to mind when his name is brought up is Medicare for all. He is very passionate about making sure everyone gets Medicare and shouldn’t worry about their health coverage. 

According to Joe Biden is leading the 2020 polls. Here’s what he thinks about policy, Biden supports the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which was signed in 2010. It has gained interest especially that Obamacare was the U.S. healthcare system’s most significant expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Talking about abortions Bernie believes that there should be few limits if any when it comes to abortions. On the other hand, Biden wants some limits depending on geographic location. What gets the most attention is the view of Medicare for All. Biden wishes to expand the already great Obamacare while Bernie said “Medicare for All or a bust!” 

As the race is continuing, we begin to see both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden parting ways in terms of their beliefs and political views. All in all, the 2020 election is going to be interesting to watch!