Monterey locals react to growing presidential candidates list

Many people in Monterey were tentative about California Senator Kamala Harris’ announcement to run for the Oval Office come 2020.

However, at least one person was excited to see more women running for president.

“I think it’s really important that women are being moved to places of power and having that diversity is really important,” said Jordan Wright, a Monterey resident.

Senator Harris joins three other women who have announced they plan on taking on President Donald Trump in 2020. Harris is also the first African-American candidate to run in this race.

“So the fact that there’s more women that are currently running than men, I think that’s a really big step forward,” said Wright.

But others are afraid too many candidates will muddy the waters.

“I’m afraid that if too many people challenge that it could be distracting, so I’m hoping that we find some really strong candidates that can stand out,” said Steve Babcock, a Monterey resident.

“I’m hoping that it’s going to be a really nice cohort, and I’m really looking forward to substantive conversations,” said Philipp Bleek, a professor of international politics at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.

Bleek has worked with democratic campaigns in the past. He thinks it would be beneficial for the democrats to ignore the Trump Administration a little bit during their campaigning.

“Like to have conversations about issues and not just have it be a kind of anti-Trump referendum,” said Bleek. “I think that would be healthy for us.”

The professor said he believes when it comes to political candidates, picking your favorite really comes down to a gut decision more than anything else.

“I think we’ve come to realize this recently more is the degree to which this is a gut decision,” he said. “People, to some extent, can articulate why they like a particular candidate, but to some extent, they can’t even necessarily articulate it.”

“As far as any candidate standing out though yet, way too early and I just hope someone does stand out,” said Babcock.

California has moved up its primary to early March next year, which gives the state more influence in the primaries in general. Candidates are expected to campaign in our state more frequently this time around.