Businessman Andrew Yang
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang took the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox stage like a businessman making a pitch to his shareholders — with a lot of audience call-and-response participation. He asked questions and told participants to raise their hands, for example, “if you’re a parent,” and several in the audience were able to answer questions about his campaign, such as what his slogan MATH stands for.
“Make — America — Think — Harder,” he chanted with the audience. Supporters of Yang call themselves the “Yang Gang.”
Yang, a New York businessman, focuses his campaign on his “Freedom Dividend,” a proposal to give every American citizen $1,000 a month to replace jobs and income lost by automation. He clarified to reporters later that undocumented immigrants would not receive the dividend.
His main point in his political campaign is taking down a corporate mindset in people, saying people should enjoy the work that their doing and end the exploitation of workers.
Christina Crowley and Luke Rohe both liked that Yang focused on topics the other candidates haven’t, such as automation. Crowley noted that Yang doesn’t just say things for a good sound bite.
“I think it’s what America needs to hear,” Rohe said. pic.twitter.com/ltyGSH4sok
— Daily Iowan Politics (@DIpolitics) August 9, 2019
During his speech, Yang also railed against the such tech giants as Google, Uber, and Facebook, calling for the companies to pay higher taxes.
At one point he asked how fairgoers would use a $1,000 a month “Freedom Dividend.”
Attendees shouted out various answers such as “health care” and “child care.” Yang said the dividend would mostly stay inside the country, creating jobs for localities.
“This is the ideal, optimal place to make a wave and bring it crashing down on Washington’s heads,” Yang said.
— Daily Iowan Politics (@DIpolitics) August 9, 2019
To illustrate his point, he noted that one state has a freedom dividend, then asked the audience which one.
“Alaska,” The crowd shouted back.
“And how do they pay for it?” Yang asked.
“Oil.”
“And what is the oil of the 21st century?”
“Tech.”
Yang is one of nine candidates so far to have qualified for the September debates, the candidates’ third round. (The others are Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.)
To end the speech, he noted that he’s not a typical politician, having no experience running for political office.
“This is not left, this is not right, this is forward,” Yang said.