Andrew Yang is the hottest candidate of 2020 on this side of Elizabeth Warren right now



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The current reality of the 2020 presidential race is this: apart from Elizabeth Warren (and her second place behind Joe Biden), there is no slimmer candidate and more buzz than Andrew Yang in the third tonight's debate.

What is, if you stop and think about things for 30 seconds, a pretty remarkable statement. Yang started the race for the 2020 presidency in a totally unknown form, never having run for election. He voted 0% because, well, he was a total and complete stranger.

His platform – focused on the dangers of our fast-paced company – was different from the one spoken by the other candidates. His central idea of ​​offering a universal basic income of $ 1,000 to all people aged 18 and over in the country was dismissed as unachievable and insane.

And yet, Yang will be one of 10 candidates on stage in Houston for the third debate of the 2020 Democratic primary. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Governor Jay Inslee (Washington) and the former governor Colorado's John HIckenlooper survived well-established political figures, all of whom left the race despite fundraising problems and disappointing polls.

And at least for the moment, Yang is firmly in the second level – with Senator Kamala Harris (California) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (Indiana) – slightly above the bigger names (in politics), at least as Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker.

How? 'Or' What? Good question, no easy answer and obvious!

I have some theories however:

1) Yang is an outsider at a time when voters want outsiders.

2) Yang seems to be a normal person who does not take himself too seriously. In the last 48 hours, he tweeted about the dumb to schedule a debate the same night as an NFL game and posted a video of himself shooting hoops (and dunking!) to prepare for the Houston debate.

3) Yang explicitly ran his campaign online, realizing that the power of the Internet was the only way – at the beginning of his campaign – to allow someone with a profile like his to raise funds and get organized. He also, from the beginning of the campaign, presented this initiative in a team effort. he's the face of the movement, of course, but he's not the movement.

Is Andrew Yang unfairly ignored?

4) He's talking about a problem – automation and what it means for who we are and how we work and live – who feels fresh, relevant and, more importantly, different from the same elements that voters get voters from the other candidates below. Yang.

Regardless of the reason, Yang has struck a chord at least among some segments of the Democratic primary electorate. In the last six polls on the race – collected by Real Clear Politics – Yang's support ranged from 2% to 5%. Which is not great, except if you consider that these figures represent more than 14 of the 19 other Democrats still running for president.

To be clear: Andrew Yang is still a long shot. The most likely outcome is that it has reached its ceiling and will not go higher. But nobody – including me – thought that Yang would even get to that point. Which means that predictions about his future look like madness.

And if Donald Trump's victory in 2016 has taught something to the political class, it's this: Never, never say never.

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