Andrew Yang’s Yang Gang Remain Committed to the Cause
Andrew Yang takes selfies with the Yang Gang at Dartmouth University
Update: As of February 11, Andrew Yang is no longer in the 2020 presidential race. He dropped out, saying that he did not want to accept donations if he wasn’t sure he could win.
Andrew Yang’s numbers-based campaign faces some stark realities ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary,---mainly some poor polling--but the thousands of passionate supporters calling themselves the Yang Gang push on regardless.
An average of national polls conducted by RealClearPolitics on Sunday shows Yang in fifth place, behind Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, former Vice President Joseph Biden, Jr., Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. FiveThirtyEight, which focuses on poll analysis, found that Yang’s performance in Friday’s debate did not significantly alter voters’ perception of him.
But the story is different in the ranks of the blue-shirted, MATH-capped Yang Gang. Simon Rosenbaum, 15, from Stowe, Vermont, says that while the polls don’t look good for Yang, he’s still the best candidate for America.
“I think Yang will have a stronger showing than expected in New Hampshire,” said Rosenbaum, who campaigned for Yang in Vermont and helped get him on the state’s ballot. “But the polls aren’t showing that because he’s not yet a household name.”
Yang, who graduated from Dartmouth’s Ivy rival Brown, got a rousing turnout from an audience of mostly college students in Hanover. He spoke on his core policies: universal basic income, resolving job loss through automation, and monetizing citizen data use.
He also addressed students at Dartmouth specifically, speaking to the pressure they faced to succeed in what he called the “Big Six” post-college paths: finance, management consulting, law school, medical school, graduate education and teaching. Yang detailed these paths in a 2014 Quartz article, when he was still the founder and CEO of Venture for America.
“I understand what got you here. I was one of you,” said Yang. “You’re at one of the top institutions in the country, brimming with potential. You feel like you’re running this race, and you’re not even sure what you’re running to.”
Some of the Yang Gang even crossed borders internationally, such as Toronto native Joseph Toribio. He said he began following Yang because he preached universal basic income, and he believes that if Yang is elected, his policies will positively impact Canada
“I supported Bernie in 2016 because I wanted America to catch up to Canada,” said Toribio, who is volunteering during his time in New Hampshire. “But I’m supporting Yang in 2020 because I want Canada to catch up to America.”
Toribio said that when he knocks on doors here in New Hampshire, he gets a mixed reception first.
“I know New Hampshire has one of the older demographics, which generally isn’t his target, so you get a lot of Biden, Warren, and Pete supporters,” Toribio said. “But they’ll have Yang as their second favorite. So we have to convince people that Yang is the best shot at the general election.”
Yang’s website shows a fundraising goal of $2 million by Monday night. According to a post in the Facebook group “NH for Yang,” the campaign has raised just over $600,000 as of Sunday morning.