More and more Democrats prefer diversity in a presidential candidate of 2020

The vast majority of Democrats do not care what their presidential candidate looks like in 2020. But if it were based solely on identity, the Democratic candidates would probably be the most enthusiastic, much like the California Senator, Kamala. Harris, a 54-year-old colored woman, based on a new Pew Research Center survey.

More Democrats would prefer that their 2020 candidate not be an old white man, according to the survey. The poll, conducted between late April and early May, found that nearly half of Democrats and Democrats said the best age range for a president was in his 50s. Only 3% of those surveyed said they preferred a 70 year old president.

The survey found that much larger percentages of Democrats would be more enthusiastic about the 2020 candidate if he was a woman than not at all (31 to 4%). The same is true if the candidate was black (21% would be more enthusiastic, while 4% would be less) or Hispanic (21% to 6%).

But ultimately, Democrats say that identity does not matter; 82% said it would not make any difference if the candidate was white or male. It makes sense. As it stands, two older white men – former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77 – have been leading the poll since their entered the race. Biden far exceeds all other candidates in the polls at this stage.

The 2020 Democratic presidential primary is reputed to be the most diverse list of candidates in history, but also because of its size – 23 candidates, the vast majority of whom are white men. That says a lot about one of the most important factors in this election: who, according to the Democrats, gives them the best shot at the White House.

Democratic voters give priority to eligibility for the moment

Of course, these advance polls must be the subject of an important warning: they are in advance.

"The electoral numbers of Joe Biden (and Bernie Sanders, to a much lesser extent) could be based on a residual identifier," said Kyle Kondik, election observer at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "They have not been tested yet, but they will be, and it may be that some of the wishes of the Democratic electorate are not expressed through the election candidates."

Democrats may be more interested in representation as they get to know the candidates.

But we know some information on this democratic basis so far: one poll after another, it shows that the Democrats give priority to what is called "eligibility." therefore only if their beliefs match those of the candidate.

As Li Zhou of Vox reported, this largely explains why so many Democrats say they do not care so much about the identity of their candidate: "the expectation of who can winning is inseparable from the knowledge of who at won, "writes Zhou.

"Indicators like authenticity, sympathy and eligibility are just codes we use against candidates who do not look like what we usually do," Christina Reynolds told Vox. spokesperson for Emily's List, a political organization that supports women candidates

Thus, the Democrats seem to have created a gap between the well-to-do and those who need it. The representation of identity, whether by sex, sexuality, ethnicity or age, seems to belong to the first category.