Long-shot Democratic Party presidential candidate Andrew Yang -- the first person of Chinese ancestry to vie for the presidency of the United States -- remains in the fight for the nomination despite a wave of predictions he should have quit by this time.
The ebullient Yang remains unfazed by his dark horse status and insists he can still pull off the most stunning victory in American political history. Considering the immense hurdles he has to climb -- he's in sixth place among 19 Democrat hopefuls -- Yang will need all the willpower he can summon.
An entrepreneur, lawyer, and philanthropist, Yang founded Venture for America (VFA), a nonprofit that focuses on creating jobs in struggling American cities. In 2015, he was selected by the Obama administration as a "Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship."
Yang is the first Democrat to file his candidacy for the presidency. He did so way back in November 2017 by filing his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
Yang, 44, was born in Schenectady, New York. His parents are from the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Yang's Big Idea on which his presidential campaign is built is his championing a Universal Basic Income that benefits most Americans. Yang proposes a $1,000 per month "Freedom Dividend" to all U.S. citizens between the ages of 18 to 64.
His idea has gotten traction among many Democrats, which is why he's still in the hunt. This and the fact he's somehow managed to raise $10 million for his presidential campaign in the third quarter, the sixth-largest total among Democrats and more than triple his total for the second quarter.
That money is going to Yang taking his Freedom Dividend on the campaign trail.
"You all heard at some point there's an Asian man running for president who wants to give everyone $1,000 a month," said Yang at a packed union hall this month in Las Vegas, Nevada.
His other campaign message is automation is destroying U.S. jobs and that his "Freedom Dividend" is the best way to mitigate the damage.
"The real catalyst and the numbers --I'm a numbers guy -- is that we automated away four million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa," he said. "And if that list of states sounds familiar, those are the states that Donald Trump needed to win, and did win."
Surprisingly, this message has taken root among young, male Democrats, independents and some Republicans, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls.
The polls reveal Yang appears to be attracting many of the same types of voters Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) did in his strong outsider run for the White House in 2016.
Reuters polling data shows Sanders supporters are three times more likely to choose Yang as their second favorite than backers of either Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) or former Vice President Joe Biden, the two leading contenders.
Quite an achievement for a man was still virtually unknown to some Democrats.
Yang's campaign slogan is "MATH," which stands for "Make America Think Harder." MATH is also a tribute to Yang's devotion to data. As he said, he's a numbers guy.
