Hear At The Library: The Democratic Presidential Candidates

The first 10 Democratic candidates prepare to debate on Tuesday night in Detroit.

Emily Schario is a producer in the WGBH Studio at the Boston Public Library, where she produces radio and digital broadcasts about the Boston community and beyond. Before joining WGBH, Emily was the news editor for her college newspaper and interned at WBUR’s On Point Radio. She has a degree in mediated communication and English literature from Stonehill College.

October 07, 2019

Updated July 05, 2023

What happens when you mix a handful of septuagenarians, a 37-year-old Mayor from South Bend, Indiana and Oprah Winfrey's former spiritual guru? Answer: The 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary. Although resembling a three ring circus in its earlier stages, the field of Democratic primary candidates is beginning to thin out, forcing many voters grapple with questions surrounding policy, political experience and electability. With the New Hampshire primaries only a few months away, we asked local Democrats their thoughts on the state of the Democratic Primary.

Here's our feature for this installment of Hear at the Library:

Hear At The Library | The 2020 Democratic Primary

Listen to the full interviews here:

Hear At The Library | Kevin

If election day were today, I think I might be inclined to vote for Elizabeth Warren. As an African American, I really like what she's said about having a racial dialogue in this country.

- Kevin Peterson, a resident of Dorchester, says that while the country is still grappling with the idea of electing a female president, he's confident we'll eventually get there.

Hear At The Library | Amy

I'm really torn about electability. And I don't want that to be an issue as a feminist, but that is a very real issue.

- Amy Hanes, a resident of Arlington and Elizabeth Warren supporter, says that if election day were today, she would vote for Joe Biden because she isn't confident that Warren would win in the general election against President Trump.

Hear At The Library | Patty

I'm a little worried about the disjointedness, about there being fractions in the Democratic party that would serve to benefit the incumbent. I hope people will realize that there's enough at stake that this kind of division is not going to serve the ultimate goal that we all have.

- Patty Cavanaugh, a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, thinks that Bernie Sanders has a better chance of beating President Trump in the general election compared to Elizabeth Warren.

Hear At The Library | Margaret

What's turning me off about the female candidates is they are being a little bit too pushy, they're not being themselves...I don't like candidates who have to fight for themselves so much.

- Margaret Green, a resident of Villa Park, Illinois, says she's most drawn to candidates who are honest and fight for others.