Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election in the US partly by appealing to disenchanted white working-class voters across ‘Middle America’. This has raised the obvious question of who will be best placed to challenge Trump from the left in the next presidential election in 2020. And there now seems to be a contender that some believe fits the bill. But is he really the left’s answer to Trump?
The ‘outsider’ candidate for 2020
On 11 November, Richard Ojeda announced his intention to run in the Democratic Party primary for the 2020 presidential election. As a relatively obscure state senator from the rural state of West Virginia, commentators consider him somewhat of an ‘outsider’ or ‘underdog’ candidate. But in spite of this, he has nonetheless built up a considerable public profile. He’s probably best known for featuring in Michael Moore’s 2018 film Fahrenheit 11/9, which skewered the Trump presidency. Moore’s interview with Ojeda ended up serving as a trailer for the film, which further boosted his profile.
