Don't think like a pundit when you vote

In 2020, pick the candidate you actually want to win — not the one you think party leaders like

A voter.
(Image credit: Illustrated | bizoo_n/iStock, sommersby/iStock)

There are 16 declared candidates for the Democratic nomination as of this writing — and former Vice President Joe Biden, the consistent poll leader, hasn't even announced yet.

The majority of these contenders are pretty plausible. Even looking beyond the top tier, entrepreneur Andrew Yang earned a spot on the stage for the first debate by garnering donations from 65,000 different individuals (an order of magnitude more than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had tapped at a comparable point in the GOP race in 2016). Meanwhile, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg just rocketed to double digits in the latest Iowa poll, taking third place behind Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and besting Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

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Noah Millman

Noah Millman is a screenwriter and filmmaker, a political columnist and a critic. From 2012 through 2017 he was a senior editor and featured blogger at The American Conservative. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Politico, USA Today, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Modern Age, First Things, and the Jewish Review of Books, among other publications. Noah lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.