“FIGHTING BACK”: Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman rallied the PCDO Sunday night at a meeting of about 120 supporters, who unanimously endorsed her for re-election to the House of Representatives for the 12th District and Senator Cory Booker for another term representing New Jersey in the U.S. Senate. In a straw poll, Elizabeth Warren finished first of the eight candidates in the Democratic presidential primary race, followed by Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg.

By Donald Gilpin

The Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), in a straw poll of 114 voters gathered at the Suzanne Patterson Center on Sunday evening, supported Elizabeth Warren for president as they geared up for the 2020 primaries and the November general election.

After hearing an array of speeches from organized campaign representatives as well as volunteers from the floor weighing in on why they are supporting one of the eight remaining candidates in the Democratic presidential primary race, the audience members ranked the candidates. First-choice votes were weighted with eight points, second choice seven, third choice six, etc.

Warren won a total of 634 points, Amy Klobuchar finished second with 602, and Michael Bloomberg was third with 530. Pete Buttigieg finished in fourth place with 501 points, followed by Bernie Sanders with 453, Joe Biden with 372, Tom Steyer with 227, and Tulsi Gabbard with 116.

Warren won the most first-choice votes with 31, followed by Bloomberg with 24, Klobuchar and Sanders with 16 each, Buttigieg with 13, Biden with 5, Gabbard with 1, and 0 for Steyer.

PCDO President Jean Durbin interpreted the results as an indication of Princeton Democrats’ focus on winning in November. “The data from this poll shows that moderate progressives were favored over liberal progressives, which could point towards Princeton Democrats overall focusing on winning regardless of the standard bearer,” said Durbin.

Also voting on the most important issues in the campaign, participants chose climate change (68 points), defeating Donald Trump (67), and health care (35).

The PCDO gathering also unanimously endorsed Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for re-election to the House of Representatives for the 12th District and Senator Cory Booker for another term in the United States Senate.

In urging the Princeton Democrats to make sure that friends, family, and neighbors are registered to vote and that they do actually vote in November, Watson Coleman described the current moment as “a very crucial time for us. Everybody says that this is the most important
election in our lifetime. I’ve never seen corruption in our government as pervasive as it is now. There is not one secretary or cabinet member I have confidence in. The new judges scare us. Allowing this to continue will be devastating to coming generations.”

Watson Coleman, a member of the House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees, noted that the House had sent 275 bills to the Senate on gun control, immigration reform, energy efficiency, climate change, voting rights, mental health issues, and health care. “But there’s Mitch McConnell, frequently referred to as the grim reaper,” she said, “and the legislation is in his graveyard.”

She continued, “We have worked very hard on the agenda for the people, and now we’re trying to move to another level.”  She emphasized the responsibility of Congress after the Senate vote to acquit the president on impeachment charges. 

“This is an impeached president,” she said. “He was not found innocent. There was never a trial. This is an impeached president with a Senate that failed to do its job, so we have to do our job.” 

In noting threats to the integrity of government, to education, to immigrants, and to the environment, Watson Coleman rallied the Princeton Democrats, “I need to be there to fight back. I want to be there with the majority in the House and a majority in the Senate — and the Republicans are vulnerable after that impeachment trial. And I want to be there with a Democratic president of the United States.”

The PCDO will hold their local candidate forum and endorsement meeting on March 15 at 7 p.m. in the Suzanne Patterson Center. Democratic candidate for mayor Mark Freda will speak, followed by a candidate forum with the three Democratic candidates for Princeton Council, incumbents David Cohen and Leticia Fraga and newcomer Dina Shaw. Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker will be the emcee.