Essay: Fringe Candidates

​The Power of Fringe Candidates

By Joanna Patzig

Flickr: Marc Nozell

There are a lot of candidates in this presidential race. For some that makes it hard to stand out, while for others the broad competition adds policy pressure from all sides. The context of the other candidates really influences how we understand the competition. It’s helpful to see Biden’s outdated watered down republicanism in contrast to Bernie Sanders’ democratic socialism. It’s weird to see Marriane Williamson next to anyone, frankly, but her charismatic big picture ideas (best set to Twin Peaks music) reveal a lot about our political expectations for her and the other candidates.  

Underneath this 27 candidate pool, voters are aware that who ever wins the primary will have to win against Donald Trump --  but not every candidate is in the race to win. Some candidates are making a difference simply by voicing their opinions in the public sphere. This is a continuation of the U.S.’s  history of fringe candidates, perennial candidates, and those third party members who use elections as a platform for their specific ideologies. For example, Bernie Sanders actually ran as an independent early in his career. In the 2016 election Sanders’ leftism seemed radical, and initially people really doubted that socialist policies could be part of a mainstream campaign. Of course, Sanders proved to be a real challenge to Hillary Clinton, and continues to pull a lot of support. Deep into the Trump administration, younger voters are demanding economic and social justice that Sanders represented in 2016 more than ever, whether or not Bernie still leads the movement. However, other more moderate candidates like Biden and Harris are equally popular, which is why I’m glad to see more extreme fringe candidates like Mike Gravel gain popularity. 

Who is Mike Gravel? That’s a great question, I certainly didn’t know before Marriane Williamson tweeted about his campaign. Mike Gravel is an 89 year old (and you thought Biden and Trump were old!) former senator who champions direct democracy. You might remember him from his foibles in the 2008 election, most notably that video where he just throws rocks into a lake. Now, Gravel is back to poke holes in conventional politics in a more “postmodern way” with the help of two meme-savvy teenagers who manage his campaign. There’s great irony in “The Teens” punchy progressive tweets under an octogenarians names. Gravel seems to be like a figurehead of this absurdist but sincere campaign, and while it mostly seems like a joke some people believe he could make a difference if he got on the debate stage. Gravel isn’t actually trying to win, so he can champion progressive politics more explicitly and radically than most. After reaching the minimum amount of individual donors to qualify for the second round of debates he almost got that chance, and still could in the future.

Gravel is an interesting part of the media spectacle surrounding the debates, but it’s hard to say how consequential his project will be. It feels appropriately bizarre in this bizarre time, but that may be more satisfying than helpful. I do hope that the next administration will be able to make space for the progressive politics that diverse candidates are championing in the debates, although realistically there isn’t much precedent for that. I think Andrew Yang has almost no chance of becoming president, but on the other hand his proposal of universal basic income has resonated enough to take him to the debates, which could mean something in the future. 

As a student who has been radicalized by an autocratic right and the impending environmental crises, I find these progressive strains in the primary race hopeful, even at the fringe. That being said, the DNC needs to unite enough to pick a candidate who stands a chance to win against Trump, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.