November 3rd, 2020

In 307 days, the world will feel the gravitas of history when the United States elects Andrew Yang as America’s next president. The media will fumble with their understanding of how a “fringe” “longer-than-a-longshot” candidate ascended to the presidency. To the Yang Gang, this moment in history will seem natural — a response to the debilitating struggles Americans face every day. This campaign was the moment the public chose to put humanity first and rewrite the rules of our society to benefit the people in our communities. On November 3rd, 2020, humanity will win.

I know many Yang supporters who dream of this day, but they struggle to believe it will come true. We’re less than a year away and Yang was last polled in the low single digits. There are three juggernaut democratic candidates in the way. How can he go from that to winning the presidency? When we turn the clock forward, what will we see?

Let’s turn the clock other way. Where was the Yang campaign before 2019?

Before right now

As I recall, the campaign was struggling to raise money. It was May 2018 when I found myself sitting in a half-empty room in New York City listening to Zach Graumann ask a tepid audience to pledge $10 to “help the campaign reach its year end goal of $100,000” to kickstart their campaign for 2019. I had covered a lot of political soirees like this one when I was a political reporter, but none of those events were like this one. There was no security, no check-in, no cover fee, and — as far as I could tell — no real attendance either. I stood awkwardly in a room of maybe 18 people and made small talk with two staffers (who I would later find out were Andrew Frawley and Zach Graumann). Yang stood up and gave a presentation, but my reporter brain told me it was unlikely they’d raise $100,000 in the next six months.

My human brain told me something different. I left that event feeling the same way many people do: the campaign didn’t have the bravado of a well-groomed political machine, but Yang described the problems in my life more accurately than any politician had. He illustrated the near-apocalyptic economic standing of most normal Americans. He described a country at the precipice of catastrophe. He had a dark vision of the future, but it came with confident optimism in our potential to solve the problems of today. Yang’s decision to run for president was perhaps the most optimistic idea put forth by the campaign. It was guided by Yang’s experience as the canary in the automated coal mine. If the public knew what he knew — surely, they’d support his ideas.

A month later, Yang appeared on the Sam Harris podcast, followed shortly thereafter by every other podcast known to man. He attracted the attention of Vox.com’s Ezra Klein, Freakonomics, and — most significantly — Joe Rogan. This was an ingenious use of time and resources by the campaign. They saw a path for mainstreaming the campaign by generating buzz with a flurry of podcast appearances on shows with diverse demographics. Yang’s willingness to speak to anyone became the bedrock for his bipartisan coalition of progressives, conservatives, and everything in between, but his openness was one factor contributing to his success.

More than anything, the campaign has gained support from so many people because it has always been “about ideas.” Much like one of my favorite scenes in The Wire, Yang knew the importance of making the campaign about the work — not himself. As a result, this campaign has become larger than the life of an election cycle.

Right now

Consider this for a moment: if Andrew Yang were to drop out of the race right now, the political pundits would ask themselves “Who’s going to get the Yang Gang’s vote?” for the next several elections. That’s because the Yang movement has become more than a run for president, but a movement for humanity itself.

That’s the only way I can explain the level of passion Yang Gang exhibit every day, and this passion is remarkably consistent with the ideals of the campaign. Yang Gang puts humanity first by empathizing with the disadvantaged, creating relationships across tribes, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life. This is the only way I can explain why random strangers will leave a 65 percent tip for their waiter — knowing the human with that job is living paycheck to paycheck, gets taken advantage by the rules of economy, and may not have a job in the near future. Or why dozens of people have shared their personal journeys from radicalized far-right hate groups to the Yang Gang’s optimism and camaraderie. Or why artists around the world spend hours of their life creating artwork memorializing the importance of this movement.

This is what I look at when I consider the long-term potential of the Yang 2020 campaign. We could play the political pundit game and look at the numbers. We could put together a whole newsletter about how the campaign used to struggle to raise $100,000 in six months but earlier this year we raised $250,000 in 24 hours and now can reliably raise multiple millions in a week. Or how Yang’s polling has been on a steady upward trajectory starting with March’s 1 percent polling, the midyear 2 percent polling, and the most recent polls showing 6 percent (not to mention state polls showing us at 7 percent). We could even talk about how Yang is winning the media narrative by getting listed as a debate winner multiple times and calling out MSNBC’s blatant media blackout and winning. We know the campaign’s numbers look good, but so does the stock market.

Numbers aren’t the reason Yang is commended by other candidates after they drop out, or seems to remain the most popular guy in the competition. In the same way, political pragmatism isn’t what attracted anyone to Yang’s presidential campaign. For a man who talks so much about data and rationality, this movement has provided something much greater: belief in humanity’s potential.

A new way forward

I think Andrew Yang said it best when he was asked why he chose to run for president.

What I love about this answer is it doesn’t cite data showing his policies are popular or explains why his candidacy is viable — it is an appeal to the most human of values. Fighting the good fight, dedicating yourself to the common good, and believing the work itself has value regardless of the result. That’s what this movement is about.

We joined this movement to put humanity first, to rewrite the rules of our society to benefit the people in our community, and to find a new way forward beyond the cynicism, defeatism, and nihilism of the postmodern era. That’s the game we’re playing. Every day we commit ourselves to those goals is one more point in humanity’s favor. The result of that work may include winning the presidency in 2020 — and we have every reason to believe that’s possible — but it’s just a small goal toward recognizing the potential of our species and creating a better future for us all.

I’m humbled to be part of this movement, and I look forward to seeing what the Yang Gang can do in 2020 and beyond.

— Arthur

This edition of Yang Gang Wisdom was written by Arthur Augustyn, a writer based in the New York area. Arthur was previously a politics, education, and business reporter before transitioning careers to strategic communications. He is currently the City of Stamford’s Director of Communications. In addition to editing Yang Gang Wisdom every week, he writes for his personal blog Feather Ruffler and posts movie reviews on Instagram.

This project is not affiliated with the official Yang2020 campaign, which can be found at yang2020.com.