How The Times Is Keeping Track of the Democratic Candidates for 2020

Thank you for presenting all of the potential candidates in an even light. Too often we suffer in this country from a media primary before the real ones. Potential awesome candidate are relegated to second tier or not even mentioned. A great President is not defined by his or her ability to raise money, it is defined by their vision, values, and ability. Fair reporting will allow candidates to define themselves and the money will come. This country needs a candidate who see the United States as one nation and not a group of interest groups.

I'm writing to highlight a few negative biases in the "Nine Democrats Have Entered the 2020 Presidential Race Here's Who Is Running So Far" Live Tracker. Whether they're intentional or not, I think they should be remedied. First, the head shots of Buttigieg, Delaney, and, arguably, Yang are unflattering based on facial expression, lighting, and hairstyling respectively. This unfairly emphasizes their underdog status, compared to the professional head shots of more popular candidates. For the Tulsi Gabbard and Elizabeth Warren profiles, out of three bullet points two ostensibly cast negativity on the candidate. Most of the candidate profiles have positive points, with a clause or two of reservation. Kamala Harris, however, gets three ostensibly positive bullet points, despite clearly having some pitfalls: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html. I think the candidate profiles should be rewritten, perhaps with two positive and one critical point.

Yang’s candidacy is ironic. American could never get a job as street sweeper in China, much less premier or chairman. “There have been millions and millions of Chinese-Americans but zero American-Chinese” says Chinese author and Harvard graduate Eric Liu. Not 1. Chinese can become American citizens but Americans are not allowed to become Chinese. What will Yang do about these Chinese Exclusion Acts?

Please add a category for those that withdraw from the race — for example Ojeda is the first candidate to start running and then withdraw. Eventually this will be a big and interesting category, much like the dozen not so Republicans that fell 1-by-1 to Trump in 2016.

I like Harris. But the political establishment/ DC insiders seem to really play favorites with her.

I hope Amy Klobuchar does run. The entire middle of the country wants and needs to be part of this nation. We need everyone to stand up and be counted.

I greatly appreciate this effort and think it will be invaluable to keeping everyone straight. I would make one small recommendation that all of the photos be standardized to candids or head shots to help decrease unconscious bias imposed by viewing a less favorable headshot of a person with a more professional photo. For example: Buttigieg is already going up a very steep road where he will mostly be dismissed as a naive youth. This picture is not doing him any favors. I look forward to seeing how this changes and evolves!!

The interactive tracker is a cool idea, but the UI could be improved. Option 1: rather than scrolling down to each profile, have it open in a pop-up style window, Option 2: if not, add a "back to top" button by each profile. Also consider adding the ability to do a side-by-side comparison of a few of the candidate's profiles, like some shopping sites do. Thank you.

All I ask for beyond fairness is that we get a lot less horse race and a lot more policy. Turn your research staff lose on policy proposals and see if they pan out. Release the Editorial Board interviews with the candidates in full so we can listen in. Keep track of each candidate and where their money comes from.

Thanks to the NY Times and other media for giving WE THE PEOPLE background information about candidates - not just press releases from their campaigns. I supported Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton because she was the most qualified candidate with the most national/international political capital and savvy and because I watched her work for 99.9% of us throughout her life and career. I will vote only for the person who shares my core values, is honest, is morally/ethically solid, is Socially Conscious, is courageous and is experienced enough to keep the promises they make to the best of their ability, as President Obama did. It might be a woman. It might be a man. Gender makes no difference because I want a brilliant leader who gets things done managing OUR United States of America. Meantime, I will get as much information as I can to make the right choice to preserve/restore true democracy in America - social and financial equity for ALL citizens.