By Charlotte Schwebel
Super Tuesday is approaching and those registered to vote in Colorado can participate in this immensely important day for voting in the United States. This is the first year Colorado is a Super Tuesday state for the presidential primary. That means up until Tuesday, March 2 Colorado voters can cast a physical ballot to vote for their nominee for President on a partisan ballot. Conversely, Colorado will still vote for the senate nominees on March 7, so make sure to participate in that vote as well.
You can find your ballot in your Worner box. It is too late to mail in your ballot but you can still drop it off or vote in person. CCVotes will be collecting ballots in Worner Monday from 12-2p.m. and Tuesday from 12-5p.m. The closest 24-hour drop-off location is 30 S. Nevada Ave. If you didn’t receive a ballot or want to vote in person, you can go to the County Clerk’s Office, located at 200 S. Cascade Ave. In-person voting hours are:
Friday Feb. 28: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday Feb. 29: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Monday March 2: 8a.m. – 5p.m.
Tue, March 3: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
For a quick refresher before you cast your vote, The Catalyst is releasing its Student Voter Guide to sum up the upcoming election. The Democrats on the ballot will be:
Amy Klobuchar
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar built a record over 13 years in the U.S. Senate as a pragmatic and effective legislator. She is the only candidate to have won in multiple Trump districts and has never lost an election. She prides herself on being a moderate who gets things done and was recently named the “Most Effective Democratic Senator,” having passed over 100 bills into law. Critics point to her record as a prosecutor in the tough-on-crime era and warn that her agenda does not go far enough. She is 59 years old.
#LeadingFromTheHeartland
Bernie Sanders
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders spent much of the last 29 years in the U.S. House and Senate sneaking progressive amendments into liberal bills while building a Democratic Socialist movement on the grassroots level. That movement exploded in the aftermath of the 2016 election, bringing ideas he made popular, like Medicare For All and a Green New Deal, into the Democratic Party establishment. Prior to his time in the Senate, he was the Mayor of Burlington, Vt. Critics find his calls for a political revolution too extreme and believe his policies would devastate the economy. Some moderate voters are also concerned that nominating a socialist will cost their election and House majority. He is 78 years old. #NotMeUs
Elizabeth Warren
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is a relative newcomer to elected office, having spent only one full term in the Senate (seven years). She started her career as a special education teacher before becoming a law professor and consumer advocate who entered politics to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She has released 75 detailed plans as part of a campaign to create systemic change that acknowledges intersectionality, with the most often noted being a 2% Wealth Tax, Universal Child Care, and Medicare for All without raising taxes on the middle class. Critics are wary of her policy changes during the race and her past DNA test controversy. She is 70 years old.
#IHaveaPlanForThat
Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden has run his campaign on electability since he entered the race, riding a wave of support from the Obama era. He is the establishment candidate, and has been in politics the longest with 36 years in the Senate before he was elected vice president. He believes in finishing the job the Obama administration started through policies like an expansion of the Affordable Care Act and hopes to bring back the soul of America: tough, resilient, and full of hope. Critics worry about his tendency to make offhand racist comments rooted in harmful stereotypes and his struggle to stand out from the field. He is 77 years old. #LetsGoJoe
Mike Bloomberg
Ex-New York City Mayor and multi billionaire Michael Bloomberg entered the race late in the game with $505.8 million dollars of broadcast, cable, radio, and digital ads. This has made him virtually impossible to avoid, and almost immediately a frontrunner in the race, polling at around 20%. He has made attack ads on Trump a major feature of his campaign, running on the promise that he will spend millions to defeat him — self-made billionaire against phony billionaire. Critics point out that he was a Republican as mayor of NYC, was the largest donor to GOP campaigns in New York as a Democratic mayor in his third term, terrorized people of color in NYC with stop-and-frisk until it was deemed unconstitutional by the courts, and find that his belief that he can buy the election should be disqualifying in and of itself. He is 78 years old. #GetItDone
Pete Buttigieg
Former Mayor of South Bend, Ind. Pete Buttigieg was a relative unknown before bounding onto the national stage this year. He is by far the youngest and least experienced candidate in the democratic race – which he sees as a plus. An openly gay millennial who came back to his midwestern factory town with an Ivy education and big three consulting credentials, Buttigieg brings youthful energy and a vision for a new kind of politics. His campaign priority is “Medicare for All Who Want It” and an economic agenda for American families. Critics feel he is not ready for the job, and point to his handling of police brutality as mayor as proof of this. He has also been criticized for the lack of support from African American voters. He is 38 years old. #WinTheEra
Tom Steyer
Billionaire philanthropist and hedge fund retiree Tom Steyer spent the past year pushing for the impeachment of Donald Trump over the objections from the Democratic Party Establishment. He is the founder of the liberal PAC NextGen, which registered 257,000 young voters in the 2018 election and supported campaigns that made the environment their central issue. Critics question whether this is the best use of his time and wealth, as he has a near zero chance of winning the nomination at this point. He is 62 years old. #OutsiderTakingOnTrump
Tulsi Gabbard
Hawaii Senator and veteran Tulsi Gabbard wants the U.S. to stay out of foreign wars. She wants America to leave the rest of the world alone, which has resulted in controversial stances on intervention in Syria, as well as in U.S. relations with North Korea and Russia. Critics are wary of her absence on the impeachment vote, meetings with Syrian Dictator Bashar al–Assad, and work fighting against LGBTQ+ rights up until very recently. #LeadWithLove
The Republican Candidates on the ballot are:
Bill Weld
Former Massachusetts Governor Bill F. Weld is putting up a last ditch effort against President Trump in a bid for courage, integrity, and experience in the Republican Party. He ran for Governor as a former prosecutor, and made fighting crime central to his campaign and his term. He also cut taxes 21 times and increased work requirements for food assistance. Weld is an old-fashioned Republican who believes in a well-run economy, pragmatic foreign policy, and moderation on social issues. He has spent the last few years at the Center for Foreign Relations. He bills himself as the one man standing up for a better America. Critics feel he should step down and accept that Trump is the new face of the Republican party, and are wary of his party loyalty as he endorsed Obama in 2008 and Johnson in 2016. He is 74 years old.
#AmericaDeservesBetter
Donald Trump
Incumbent President Donald Trump had some big wins in his first term and he plans to keep on winning. He passed a major tax reform bill that lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, doubled the child tax credit, and lowered taxes for 82% of middle-class families. He also repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate through the courts, dismantling Obama-era healthcare reform. He has been successful in appointing conservative justices to the federal court system, in loosening or eliminating environmental regulations, and in his attacks on social programs like social-security. Criticisms include broken promises like his promise that the largest beneficiaries of the tax cut would be low and middle income Americans, his embrace of Russia, the ballooning of the deficit, impeachment on counts of abuse of power and obstruction of justice, separation of children from their parents on the border, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, his documented record of lying (on average 15 times per day), and the 23 accusations of sexual assault or harassment against him. He is 73 years old. #KeepAmericaGreat
Matt Matern
Lawyer Matt Matern wants to make America income-tax free for people making under 100k per year. He also has a plan to give $10,000 to any family or individual that takes in a homeless person off the streets. He supports conservation efforts and immigration for people who come into the country legally. Critics point out that he has no political experience and has not gained any traction since he announced his campaign.
#ChampioningAmericaatHerBest
It is important to be aware that a vote for a candidate on the ballot who has dropped out of the race will not be counted towards delegates in Colorado. Here’s a list of such candidates:
Michael Bennet, Rita Krichevsky, Andrew Yang, Robby Wells, Marianne Williamson, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Roque «Rocky» De La Fuente III, Deval Patrick, John K. Delaney, Joe Walsh, Zoltan G. Istvan, and Robert Rodini
Stay tuned for the Senate Caucus Student Voting guide next week.