How some West Seattleites rated the Democratic presidential hopefuls – BEFORE they debated!

This week’s TV smash hit was the two-night Democratic presidential debate. You’ve seen the analysis of who “won” and “lost” – but days earlier, West Seattleites who went to the Morgan Junction Community Festival got a chance to “vote” at the West Seattle Democratic Women‘s booth. The group’s leader Rachel Glass just sent this report on how it turned out:

The West Seattle Democratic Women had our booth at the Morgan Junction Fair last Saturday, June 22. We had our signature interactive Penny Game, which has changing themes, but for this event, we invited attendees/passersby to vote for their choice of which candidate (out of all 24 Democratic candidates plus an Anyone But Trump option) they’d pick to be President. We displayed a hanging shoe rack and each pocket has the name of a candidate on it and the “voters” put the pennies into the pocket(s) of their choice.

We had just under 300 folks vote at our booth that day! Each “voter” received 5 pennies and they could put all their pennies into one candidate’s pocket or spread them out into the pockets of several candidates. Total: 1496 pennies cast. We had visits from older folks, teen pre-registered voters, millennials, folks of all races, ethnicities, LGBTQ, and even a deaf voter!

Here is a breakdown of the results in order of “Number of Pennies Each Candidate/Option Received”:

Anyone But Trump 387 26%

Elizabeth Warren 317 21%
Kamala Harris 182 12%
Bernie Sanders 129 9%
Pete Buttigieg 126 8%
Jay Inslee 89 6%

Total 1230 votes

Joe Biden 53 4%
Cory Booker 48 3%
Beto O’Rourke 29 2%
Julian Castro 20 1%
Andrew Yang 18 1%

Total 168 votes

The next 5 were Marianne Williamson, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Tim Ryan with 15, 13, and 12. Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, and Tulsi Gabbard with 8 each. The rest were less than 8.

Of course this “vote” was taken before the debates. WSDW’s next event where we do the Penny Game again will be at Delridge Day (August 10), which takes place after the second round of Debates (July 30-31). It will be interesting to see how the results change over the course of the summer!

If you’re planning a public watch party for the July debates, please let us know so we can get them in our calendar! The 34th District Democrats have already sent word of theirs – night one at The Point in Burien, night two at Arthur’s in The Admiral District.

WW Resident June 29, 2019 (1:45 am)

So we don’t even have a health care system that works for all its own citizens, but every candidate from the serving debate at least (that I saw) wants to extend Healthcare to illegal immigrants. WTF?!?!

anonyme June 29, 2019 (6:54 am)

Elizabeth Warren has made a few uncomfortable gaffes. But the fact that she has intelligent, detailed plans instead of slogans, and is willing to take a stand even if it’s controversial have garnered my respect. I agree with her stance that a dominant threat to our country is corporate power. I was a Bernie supporter last time, but I think he’s gone a little fuzzy. A Warren/Buttigieg ticket would tickle my fancy.

SWinWS June 29, 2019 (1:49 pm)

Tulsi Gabbard was the best by far. I am not surprised that corporate Democrats don’t like her. She is a non interventionist and has spoke the truth about our wasteful and dangerous regime change wars, all except maybe Bernie have said as much. It’s weird how mainstream Democrats are for war. I am voting Tulsi or Bernie for president, they are only ones that speak for people.

Kathy June 30, 2019 (3:28 pm)

Amy Klobuchar. I wasn’t there but I would have voted for her. She has a better chance of defeating Trump with the women and centrist voters. We democrats on the left coast have to wake up and realize that the Midwest is never going to vote for anyone perceived to be too far left. That was the Sanders supporters don’t take into account. You have to think strategically and not with your gut. Also, minority race voters are not necessarily as likely to vote for an ultra liberal candidate as they are often stereotyped to be. I am just talking into the wind, I know, just as I was during the caucuses for the last presidential election. Which didn’t come out well. We need to recognize that we are in a liberal bubble on the west coast. If you really want anyone but Trump you need to be strategic in who you support for the nomination.

Nolan July 1, 2019 (12:30 pm)

The Democrats tried the tactic of appealing to centrists in 2016 while neglecting their actual base. How did that work out, Kathy?

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