With the 2020 presidential election just over a year away, the primary elections are beginning to develop along with the candidates aiming to topple Trump.

The Democratic party has three major candidates at this point: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Biden is first in most polls, but more recent surveys have shown Warren tying up with him and Sanders following behind in third.

“Make America moral again,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News.

That is the core principle of his campaign and a common theme throughout every campaign preparing to challenge Trump, regardless of political affiliation. However, Biden’s main priority seems to be keeping Trump from returning to the White House for a second term. Biden insists that when it comes down to winning an election, no other candidate is more qualified than himself.

Warren, a former teacher, is advocating for the improved education of every child. Other aspirations the senator has includes ending a wealth-biased Washington, strengthening the middle class and creating a foreign policy that will ease the lives of military families.

After his close competition and ultimate loss to Hillary Clinton, who is not expected to run in the upcoming election, Bernie Sanders is back with his familiar plans of health care for all, eradicating student debt and social justice. In a recent stab at Biden, Sanders asserted that while it is necessary for Trump to be beaten, it is imperative for whoever beats Trump to be looking past the election and have plans that will make America a land of opportunity for all classes of people, not just the one percent.

One last notable Democratic candidate is Tim Ryan, a BGSU alumni from the Youngstown area. Ryan recently released an audio album on Spotify that covers some of the issues his modest campaign will be covering, such as gun control and education. He is the first candidate to ever utilize digital streaming through the album medium, a precedent that might boost his support.

In the most recent debate, held on Sept. 12, Biden, Warren, and Sanders appeared together on stage for the first time with seven of the other most prominent Democratic candidates. Many topics were discussed such as Warren and Sanders’ all inclusive health care plan versus Biden’s more conservative approach, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s passionate gun policies, a few stabs related to age and loyalty made at Biden by Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, and a surprise gift to American families totaling $120,000 from  Andrew Yang. Overall, the debate was not as eventful as some had hoped, but it did give lower-polling candidates a chance to win over some new votes.

The Republican primary candidates are facing a much different election than the Democrats. Trump is dominating the early polls, with some sources projecting him with an overwhelming 82% of votes, and his “Promises Made, Promises Kept” campaign supposedly hasn’t even begun. However, the Commander in Chief has already started to mock his three Republican opponents: Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh, and Bill Wed.

“The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!” Trump tweeted on Sept. 9. 

The next day, our president would continue his taunting by posting a sign that reads “Trump 2024,” insinuating a third term for him, which would be a direct violation of the two-term presidential limit set by the Twenty-Second Amendment.

Trump’s running mates, especially Sanford, are calling for Republicans to rethink their positions and reconsider whether the president and his personality are really the best options for the nation. If for nothing else, the “Three Stooges” are running to give Republicans a choice and challenge the political monopoly Trump has amassed.

However, choice is something that some Republican voters do not have. In four states, primaries are being forgone to save states time and money. They view Trump’s nomination as the Republican representative as assured and have already declared him the winner, a practice that states have exercised in the past during the reelection campaigns of presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

While things are looking up for President Trump, it is still too early in the election process to assume anything. After all, Trump proved in 2016 that the race isn’t over until it’s over.