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Booker Bodies Biden, Bernie Gets Cardi, and Kamala Gets Clapped: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 5
Before you read The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings for Week 5, we want you to close your eyes and use your imagination. It’s January 2023: Lil Nas X has just accepted a Grammy for his 32nd remix of “Old Town Road”; Facebook has just rolled out its new uncomfortably honest slogan, “Yeah, We’re…
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Bernie Blows It, Beto Shows It, and Biden Finally Grows a Bit: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 4
This week’s power rankings had a one-week gap because we had a lot of events we wanted to cover to make sure candidates were staying on their toes. We know you missed us. (So did the 2020 Democratic campaigns, who kept asking when the new rankings were coming out. We see you!) Our insiders and…
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‘This Election Is Too Important’: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Fighting Trump and Endorsing Joe Biden
The Joe Biden campaign for president has been a spectacle to behold this year. On the one hand, if you wrote out Biden on paper, it would look something like this: seasoned older white man, executive experience, wingman for the first black president. You’d think he’s a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination in 2020. Yet,…
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Life of a Henchman: Sore Winner Brian Kemp Sics Georgia Ethics Commissioner on Stacey Abrams
Do you know what a henchman is? They’re faceless, nameless, losers who do the dirty work for the villain in movies or TV shows. Henchmen are easy to recognize; just look for the endless stream of guys in ridiculous matching outfits getting knocked down, thrown off of bridges, or set on fire in a climactic…
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The Root's 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 3: Kamala Harris Throws Black Voters Under the Bus(ing?)
This week’s Root 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings is full of surprises. We have a new No. 1 after several candidates forgot that black people still matter, and a special guest power-ranking judge. This week, me (Dr. Jason Johnson, Politics Editor at The Root) and Marcus Ferrell, former African American Outreach Director for Bernie Sanders…
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Casting Halle Bailey as Ariel Is Great. The Real Question Is: Who Will Be Her Prince?
When news broke last week that Halle Bailey had been cast as Ariel for the new live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, I was thrilled. I’m a big fan of the show Grown-ish and her character Sky Forster has a good mix of comedic and dramatic timing. Bailey can sing, and images of red locks…
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Biden Misses the Bus, Booker Starts to Cuss, and Harris Adjusts: The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 2
Welcome back to The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, where our select committee of activists, consultants, politicians, and analysts decide where the candidates stand on the issues that matter to black people. This week’s rankings are curated by Dr. Jason Johnson, Politics Editor of The Root (yours truly) and our returning judge Marcus Ferrell,…
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A Wild Night on MSNBC: Why the Latest Presidential Debate Has Donald Trump Shook—and 4 More Observations
Thursday’s debate was Donald Trump’s biggest nightmare: A loud, creative, diverse and television-ready slugfest that lasted for two hours, went off the rails a few times and left the audience wanting more. While policy matters, Trump knows that his biggest weapon against any Democratic challenger is making enough of a circus that issues, facts, and…
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Let’s Play Democratic Debate B-I-N-G-O Tonight! (No, We’re Serious)
Nobody won Wednesday night’s first 2020 Democratic presidential debate, but a couple of people lost. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) looked confused for half the night and somehow managed to make Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) look like a foreign policy expert. Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), despite having more executive experience than anybody on the stage (except…
