Democrats Can Campaign on Technology for Edge in 2020

In an op-ed recently published in the Hill, Megan Roberts, associate director of the International Institutions and Global Governance program, and Kyle Evanoff, research associate in international economics and U.S. foreign policy, argue that Democrats should emphasize the labor market effects of automation as a counterpoint to America-first rhetoric in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

While most Democratic candidates are ramping up for the 2018 midterm elections, at least two hopefuls have cast their gazes farther afield. Last year, John Delaney, a congressman representing Maryland’s sixth district, and Andrew Yang, a New York author and entrepreneur, threw their hats into the ring for the 2020 presidential election, leaving pundits baffled at their early and unexpected announcements. Both are longshots to win—Delaney is a little-known third-term representative and Yang is likely to double his campaign as a book tour for his manifesto, “The War on Normal People,” which hit shelves earlier this month—but they could end up making a bigger splash than most pundits predict. 

Each of the two has opted to make technology and automation, peripheral topics at best in recent elections, central to his campaign. If the two play their cards right, they could nudge their rivals over the tipping point and help send them off to the roboraces.

Read the full op-ed here.