Interested in learning more about some of the major issues that will guide presidential campaigns during the 2020 election? See below for websites covering the hot topics that American constituents are talking about and how candidates have responded:

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Candidates’ Stances on the Issues:

• POLITICO offers a comprehensive list of the main issues in the Democratic presidential primary, with explanations of each and where Democratic candidates stand: https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/.

• CNN breaks down current and withdrawn presidential candidates, where clicking on a still-running candidate provides more information about their stance on one of the key issues, notably climate change, the economy, gun violence, healthcare, immigration, college tuition and student debt: https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/candidates. 

• Similarly, Refinery29 divides the issues that their readers most value in the 2020 presidential election by sub-issues and the top candidates’ responses: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/presidential-candidates-view-stance-issues-2020.

• Ballotpedia, a nonprofit website whose staff shares a common mission to educate readers about federal, state and local politics, describes itself as “the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections.” Check out Ballotpedia for resources regarding the 2020 presidential election, candidates and policy positions: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:About. 

• NPR introduced a special series, “Tracking The Issues In The 2020 Election,” which closely follows some of the key topics, such as healthcare and immigration, and where Democratic candidates agree or disagree on these topics: https://www.npr.org/series/758097234/election-2020-issue-tracker.

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Some of the Issues, in Greater Detail:

• Trade: 

  • Tariffs as a negotiating tool, trade with China, NAFTA and more (POLITICO) - https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/trade/

  • What the candidates say (Ballotpedia) - https://ballotpedia.org/2020_presidential_candidates_on_trade

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• Government Function:

  • Ending the filibuster, expanding the Supreme Court, eliminating the Electoral College and where Democratic candidates stand (NPR) - https://www.npr.org/2019/10/10/767348156/bigger-supreme-court-no-more-electoral-college-see-what-2020-democrats-would-do

  • Trump’s Stance:

    • “President Donald Trump once called the Electoral College a 'disaster.' Now he's backing it” (USA Today) - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/20/donald-trump-backs-electoral-college-he-once-opposed-it/3220879002/

    • “Trump to GOP: Dump the filibuster before Schumer does” (POLITICO) -https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/26/donald-trump-kill-the-filibuster-677151

    • “Trump rejects idea of expanding U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters) - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-court/trump-rejects-idea-of-expanding-u-s-supreme-court-idUSKCN1R02E9

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• Gun Policy:

  • Assault weapons, background checks, registering weapons and Democratic candidates’ responses (POLITICO) - https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/gun-control/

  • Democratic and Republican responses (Ballotpedia) - https://ballotpedia.org/2020_presidential_candidates_on_gun_regulation

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• Climate Change:

  • Scientific Resources:

    • (NASA) - https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

    • Climate change FAQs (NASA) - https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/  

    • “The Physical Science behind Climate Change” (Scientific American) - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-behind-climate-change/

    • Climate change topics (EPA) - https://www.epa.ie

    • Climate change FAQs (EPA) - https://www.epa.ie/climate/communicatingclimatescience/frequentlyaskedquestions/

  • “Here's Where Each of the Presidential Candidates Stands on Climate Change” (KQED) - https://www.kqed.org/science/1957119/climate-change-is-a-top-issue-for-californias-democrats-heres-where-the-candidates-stand​

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• Taxes:

  • The Tax Foundation, described on its website as “the nation’s leading independent tax policy nonprofit,” published an article that analyzes “2020 Democratic Tax Plans” by candidate and by tax topic: https://taxfoundation.org/2020-tax-plans/.

  • Responses from all candidates (Ballotpedia) - https://ballotpedia.org/2020_presidential_candidates_on_taxes

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• Iran’s Nuclear Deal:

  • What is the nuclear deal, and who supports it? An article written by NBC News contributor F. Brinley Bruton: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/smart-facts/what-iran-nuclear-deal-n868346

  • President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, as Mark Landler explains in his New York Times article, “Trump Abandons Iran Nuclear Deal He Long Scorned”: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html

  • Biden and Sanders have both expressed interest in rejoining the Iran nuclear agreement (Voice of America): https://projects.voanews.com/election-2020/english/positions/foreign-policy/iran-nuclear-deal.html

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• Federal Budget Deficit:

  • What is the U.S. federal budget deficit? (The Balance): https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-budget-deficit-3305783

  • “U.S. budget deficit likely to break $1 trillion in 2020 despite strong economy,” a PBS article by Andrew Taylor: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-budget-deficit-likely-to-break-1-trillion-in-2020-despite-strong-economy

  • As of 4/7, candidates have not yet declared positions on this issue (POLITICO): https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/economy/budget-deficit/

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• LGBTQ Rights:​

  • Joe Biden’s comments on LGBTQ issues (The Human Rights Campaign): https://www.hrc.org/resources/joe-biden-on-lgbtq-issues