Ross: Treating the 2020 Democratic field like March Madness

There are now 20 Democrats officially running for president in 2020, so let the debates begin! The only question: Will they ever end? You’ve got to winnow the field, and there’s only one way: Brackets.

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A series of pre-debate face-offs using NCAA-style brackets, with the TV audience choosing the winners. I’ve done all the work, separating the candidates into three divisions:

Division I: The early frontrunners

1. Biden
2. Bernie

You want to get that fight over with up front.

Division II: The eight remaining well-known candidates:

1. Warren
2. Klobuchar
3. Kamala
4. Beto
5. Booker
6. Gillibrand
7. Buttigieg
8. Hickenlooper

Number 1 seed Warren goes against number 8 Hickenlooper, then Klobuchar versus Buttigieg, and so on.

Division III: The lesser-known candidates:

Ranked by Twitter followers as of April 25, 2019

10.  Wayne Messam, 6,238 followers: Mayor of Miramar, Florida
11.  John Delaney, 19.7K: A banker who was one of the wealthiest members of Congress
12.  Jay Inslee, 48.1K: Governor of Washington State
13.  Tim Ryan, 71.2K: Represents Ohio, tried to unseat Nancy Pelosi
14.  Eric Swalwell, 76.3K: California Congressman whose priorities are student debt and gun violence
15.  Seth Moulton, 138K: Representative from Massachusetts, former Marine, wants to address climate change
16.  Julian Castro, 208K: Former mayor of San Antonio served as HUD secretary under Obama.
17.  Andrew Yang, 254K: Entrepreneur and former tech executive promising a universal income.
18.  Tulsi Gabbard, 339K: First Hindu member of Congress, served in the National Guard Iraq
19. Marianne Williamson, 2.61M: Author, entrepreneur and activist, friend of Oprah, promising reparations for slavery.

That puts the 10th seed, Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar Florida, with 6,000 followers, up against the number 1 seed, Marianne Williamson, friend of Oprah, with 2.61 million followers.

Bottom line, after just one round, you’re down from 20 to 10.

That leaves us with either Biden or Bernie, plus four others from Division II, and five from Division III. They would then go on to the main debates.

Civilized, exciting, and we all get to bed before midnight.

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