Two years and one day ago, the New York Times branded a virtually unknown businessman a “longer-than-long-shot” hopeful for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Today, Andrew Yang confirmed the New York Times‘s fatalism, with some half a million donors and a million more inspired by the #YangGang.
Yang was a unique candidate from the start, an entrepreneur who jumped into the race after witnessing the disparity of economic opportunity across the country and running for the Oval Office on the distinct proposal of issuing a monthly $1,000 universal basic income to every adult in the country. But while Yang’s signature issue and meticulously detailed plans helped him stand out from a pack of candidates blindly racing each other to the left, it was his heart, not his policies, that defined his campaign as evidence of what makes America great.
Yang was a technocrat who married utopianism and realism in a race devoid of both. But Yang differentiated himself by broadcasting as wide a net as possible, drawing supporters spanning from those formerly of President Trump to Bernie Sanders. Yang was happy to appear on right-wing shows such as Ben Shapiro’s while running for the Democratic nomination. He would tout contemporary feminism while also noting that full-time mothers such as his own wife deserved a seat at the table in our political debates too.
The media heavily kneecapped Yang, with liberal outlets manufacturing outrage over his penchant for mocking stereotypes about his East Asian ethnicity and cable networks omitting him or misidentifying him outright. At debates, moderators consistently gave him half the speaking time of other candidates, yet he routinely managed to become the most tweeted-about candidate after the fact.
Sure, Yang would have fit in as easily in your frat house as he would in your church pews. But it was more than his effortless way with the masses and the internet. He simply cut through the smoke and mirrors of politics, proving his authenticity and earnestness with every interaction he had in his two years of campaigning.
This is not the last we’ve seen of Yang, who now is a celebrity in his own right. He has an ample fundraising base and platform to run in nearly any race in his home state of New York that he wishes to. And everyone, conservative and liberal alike, ought to hope he will. Politics need more men such as Yang, those with razor-sharp knowledge to back their proposals, but those who even so, put humanity first.
