Politics

White Men Dominate Democratic Presidential Field

(LEFT: Ethan Miller/Getty Images MIDDLE: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images RIGHT: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Vice President Joe Biden dominate the Democratic 2020 presidential field in either fundraising or polling in the early days of the contest.

The dominance of the white, male trio has caused consternation among the Democratic faithful, who were initially emboldened by the diverse nature of the field including persons of color, women and LGBTQIA+ representation.

New York Times reporter Astead Herndon noted the trend on Twitter Monday, saying:

Herndon’s observation was quickly picked up by progressives. Rebecca Traister, NYMag writer and author of “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power Of Women’s Anger,” noted on Twitter that “being a white man” is “an extremely powerful polling [and] fundraising boon, as it has always, always been.

Prominent media critic Jeff Jarvis declared Sunday that “we have an amazing field of women, people of color, and LGBTQ candidates. Speaking as an old white man, we don’t need more white men.”

O’Rourke, Biden and Sanders’ dominance has even spawned accusations of media bias with Democratic political consultant Anne Marsh, who told Politico, “I feel like the media is always captivated by the person they seem to think is a phenom: Bernie. Trump. Beto. But they always seem to be white men who are phenoms. In a year where we have more choices than ever, more women and more persons of color than ever, none of them seem to be deemed a phenom.”

O’Rourke announced Monday morning that his campaign brought in a record $6.1 million in online fundraising dollars within the first 24 hours of launching last week, more than any other announced Democrat. Sanders was the only candidate to come close to matching O’Rourke’s support, with $5.925 million raised within the first 24 hours after his announcement. (RELATED: Joe Biden Calls Mike Pence ‘A Decent Guy’ Then Backtracks)

O’Rourke and Sander’s initial 24-hour fundraising combined put them above the entirety of the rest of the Democratic field, including leaders like Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The trio of Sanders, O’Rourke and Biden have either topped or dominated several Democratic national polls despite the wide field of candidates. Morning Consult’s latest analysis shows overwhelming support for Biden and Sanders amongst national Democrats with 58 percent of Democratic primary voters supporting them. Harris and O’Rourke trailed the pair with 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Biden also leads the entirety of the announced Democratic field in the most recent Des Moine Register poll in Iowa, with 27 percent support from likely caucus-goers, the site of the first presidential contest. Biden was trailed by only 2 percent of the vote by Sanders. The two Democrats held the plurality of support amongst likely caucus-goers with Warren, Harris, O’Rourke and others trailing behind.