Forget the Horse Race.
Think about the individual candidates. What do you make of them?
The New York Times organized them by age. You could look at race or gender or sexual orientation. Or religion. Or whether they come from a city or the country. Look at those who come from intact families versus those who grew up with divorced parents.
Another way to organize them.
Democrats are accused of a kind of elitism. Meritocratic elites. Members of a meritocratic elite who, perhaps, don’t quite deserve their place. Did they get a head start in the race?
Did they get a head start because they were rich? Were their families members of a financial elite. Multi-millionaires. Billionaires. People who really give you a head start.
Brought up with a head start as a member of the meritocratic elite and trained to be part of that elite
I didn’t find any Democrat to include as a member of America’s most elite. No Roosevelts or Bushes. No one like the Kennedys even. Several were raised in families that gave them a head start. But there was ambiguity. The last candidate removed from this category was Michael Bennet. The next to last was John Hickenlooper. See what you think. It made me want to categorize the Republicans.
Brought up and trained in a way that was on the border of being among the elite. Not quite of the elite. Someone could claim they were part of the elite.
Michael Bennet, US Senator, Colorado. His father was a state department official who became president of Wesleyan. He had also been editor of the New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly His grandfather (on one side) also served in a Democratic administration. His grandmother (on the other side) was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto as a baby. Michael went to St. Albans in Washington DC for high school. He went to Wesleyan and to Yale Law School. Forebears who are Jewish refugees don’t make you a member of the elite. The other side of his family might.
Steve Bullock, Governor, Montana. Can you be trained to be part of the elite if you grew up in Helena Montana, went to public schools, and your dad was a public school teacher and administrator? Steve went to McKenna, one of the Claremont colleges, and then to Columbia Law School. McKenna is more conservative than the other Claremont colleges. Columbia University Law School is preparation for being part of the elite.
Pete Buttigieg, Mayor, South Bend, Indiana. His parents both taught at Notre Dame. His dad, who had immigrated to the United States from Malta, had been trained to be a Jesuit, but chose a secular life. Pete went to Harvard and won a Rhodes Scholarship. A degree from Pembroke College, Oxford, but no further degrees. Parents who were solid academics after overcoming hardships. Certainly not members of the financial elite.
Bill de Blasio, Mayor, New York City, New York. His history is complicated. His parents were divorced when he was seven. His father was a wounded veteran. He was a magazine editor, a federal and a corporate budget analyst. He was a drinker and eventually, a suicide. His mother, who raised him, had been at the Office of War Information. She was a writer, had a book published, and moved to Cambridge, MA where she had some support while raising her child. Eventually, she worked as an assistant to Edward Land of the Polaroid Corporation. Both parents were scrutinized for sympathy with the Communist Party. Bill went to the public high school in Cambridge, NYU (not nearly as competitive as it is now), and then got a Master’s Degree at Columbia. His Mom knew someone in the financial elite, worked for him.
Cory Booker, US Senator, New Jersey. His parents were executives at IBM. They lived in the suburbs. He went to Northern Valley Regional High School. Cory turned the idea of a scholar athlete into the real thing. He went to Stanford, played football, got a Master’s Degree as well as a BA, earned a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to Yale Law School. Can an African American be born into the meritocratic elite? Maybe. Part of the financial elite? Not Cory.
Kirsten Gillibrand, US Senator, New York. She grew up in upstate New York. Outside of Albany where her parents were lawyers, where her grandmother was a leading political figure. Kirsten went to a Parochial High School with a finishing year at the Emma Willard Prep School. She went to Dartmouth University, then to the UCLA School of Law. Prosperous. Multimillionaires? Probably not.
Kamala Harris, US Senator, California. Immigrant parents. Dad from Jamaica. Mom a Tamil from India. The marriage broke up when she was five. Parents were both prominent academics. Dad taught economics at Stanford. Mom left for Montreal when Kamala was twelve to do research at Jewish General Hospital and teach at McGill University. Kamala went to Howard University, then to the Hasting College of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Can an African American/ Indian American be born into the meritocratic elite? Maybe so. If the elite is academcia. Part of the financial elite? She was not.
John Hickenlooper, Former Governor, Colorado. He grew up on the Main Line to Philadelphia. His Dad died young. His grandfather was a federal judge. His great grandfather a Union general. John went to Wesleyan, where he got a BA and an MA. But multimillionaires? Does not seem to be the case.
Amy Klobuchar, US Senator, Minnesota. She grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Both sets of grandparents were immigrants. One set from Switzerland. The other from Slovenia. Her parents were divorced when she was twelve. Her Dad was a sportswriter and columnist, a figure in the community, and a drinker who finally stopped. Years later. Her mom taught second grade. Amy went to Yale University and The University of Chicago Law School. Second grade teachers are rarely part of the financial elite.
Seth Moulton, Congressman, Massachusetts. He lived in a Boston suburb. His dad was a real estate attorney. Seth went to Phillips Andover, then to Harvard University. And then into the military.
Beto O’Rourke, Former Congressman, Texas. His Mom owned a furniture store. Her stepfather had been Secretary of the Navy. His Dad was a local politician and judge in El Paso. After some time in local high schools, he went to a Virginia Prep School, Woodberry Forrest. From there, he went to Columbia University
Andrew Yang, Founder, Venture for America. Parents lived in Schenectady. Immigrants from Taiwan. His dad was a scientist for IBM and GE. Andrew went to Phillips Exeter, Brown University and Columbia Law School.
Some were middle class
Joe Biden, Former Vice President, United States of America. He grew up, first in Scranton, PA, then in Delaware. His Dad had been wealthy, but was in reduced circumstances. He was a used car salesman. Joe went to Archmere Academy, a Catholic Prep School. He went on to the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School.
Jay Inslee, Governor, Washington. He grew up in Seattle, went to Seattle public schools. His Dad was a high school counselor and football coach. His Mom was a sales clerk. Jay went to the University of Washington and Willamette University.
Eric Swalwell, Congressman, California. He grew up in rural Iowa and slightly less rural California. His Dad had been the police chief of a small Iowa town. Eric went to the local California high school – Dublin High. A soccer player, he won a scholarship which he lost after an injury. He went on to the University of Maryland where he got both a BA and his law degree.
Marianne Williamson, Author, Texas. She grew up in Houston. Her Dad was an immigration lawyer. She went to the local public high school in a once predominantly Jewish area that was becoming bifurcated between construction of McMansions and apartment buildings serving a recent immigrant population. Marianne went to competitive Pamona College but dropped out after two years and left for New York. She returned to Houston to open a coffee shop and to write a best selling book on spiritual transformation.
Two were trained to be part of the elite, but after a start that was far from elite.
Julian Castro, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, United States of America. His parents were Mexican immigrants. They were ambitious for their twin sons. They were ambitious for their community. His Mom was an activist. His dad was an activist and a teacher. Julian went to Stanford. Then to Harvard Law School. Post secondary school as training to be part of the elite.
John Delaney, Former Congressman, Maryland. His Dad was an electrician. He went to a Catholic Prep School, then to Columbia University and Georgetown University Law School. Prep school and post-secondary school elite experiences.
Some have experience that provides, or could provide, blue collar cred.
Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman, Hawaii. Born in American Samoa to a father who is Roman Catholic and part-Samoan and a mother from Indiana who became a Hindu. Her father is now a state Senator in Hawaii well known for his opposition to homosexuality. After religious experimentation, she is a Hindu like her mother. Tulsi was home schooled except for two high school years in a mission school in the Phillipines. She served in the military and went to Hawaii Pacific University.
Mike Gravel, Former US Senator, Alaska. Born in Springfield, MA and raised in Western Massachusetts by French Canadian immigrant parents. French was his first language. His Dad was a housepainter. He went to Assumption, a Catholic Prep School associated with Assumption College. He went to Assumption for a year, AIC for a year, and then to war. He returned to New York City, earned a BA from the Columbia University School of General Studies, then headed for Alaska.
Wayne Messem, Mayor, Miramar, Florida. His parents were Jamaican immigrants to rural, South Bay, Florida. His Dad cut sugar cane. Wayne played football. At Glades Central High School. At Florida State University where his team won the national championship in 1993. Being an elite football player does not make you a member of the elite.
Tim Ryan, Congressman, Ohio. Born in Niles, Ohio. His parents divorced when he was seven. Raised by his Mom. He went to the John F. Kennedy High School, a Catholic School in Warren, Ohio where he was quarterback. He was recruited by Youngstown State, but an injury ended his football career. He went, instead, to Bowling Green State College and then to the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Vermont.
Bernie Sanders, US Senator, Vermont. His parents were Jewish. His Dad immigrated from Galicia. His Mom’s parents immigrated from elsewhere in Eastern Europe. His Dad was a paint salesman. Bernie went to James Madison High School in Brooklyn (a few years before Chuck Schumer graduated from the same HS), to Brooklyn College (for a year), then to The University of Chicago from which he graduated with, some would say, a minor in protesting. Four years later, he was settling in Vermont.
Elizabeth Warren, US Senator, Massachusetts. Her Dad was a salesman for Montgomery Ward in Oklahoma City. His heart attack left the family on the verge of economic ruin. Her mother went to work for Sears. Her father was eventually able to work as a janitor. Elizabeth herself found a job waiting tables. Elizabeth went to the local high school, won a state debate championship and a debate scholarship to George Washington University. She left GW for the University of Houston with her high school boy friend who she married. He had been hired to work for IBM in Houston. She graduated with a degree as a speech pathologist and audiologist and taught children with disabilities. Her husband was transferred by IBM to New Jersey. She stayed home with a new baby, later enrolling in Rutgers Law School. She graduated in 1976; had a second child the same year. She and her husband were divorced in 1978. She remarried in 1980 – to a law professor.
Look at the Republicans President Donald Trump and his primary opponent, Bill Weld.
Donald Trump President of the United States. New York Military Academy, then the Wharton School, part of the University of Pennsylvania. His grandfather immigrated from Germany, settled near Seattle, and made his fortune in the Klondike region of Canada operating boarding houses and restaurants catering to those following a gold rush boom. He met his wife on a trip to New York and settled there. (Is there more to that story?) Donald Trump’s father enhanced the family fortune by creating a New York Real estate empire. Did celebrity real estate figure Donald Trump enhance his father’s fortunes or squander them? No matter for this note. He had the opportunity either way. He would have been in the most elite category from which all Democrats were eliminated. A background more like a Kennedy than a Roosevelt or a Bush, though. Prepared to be part of the elite.
William Weld. Former Governor of Massachusetts. One of his mother’s ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence. Eighteen Welds attended Harvard. As did he. After he completed the Middlesex School. After graduating magna, he went on to University College, Oxford and returned to Harvard to get his law degree. Prepared to be a member of the elite. He was elite financially, too. He may be goofy sometimes, but his background is as elite as a Roosevelt or a Bush.