Bret Devereaux

Matt Yglesias is emblematic of a certain wonkish strain of analysis that almost consciously refuses to recognize the existence of political tendencies with fundamental differences. For him it's all about Democratic-affiliated candidates and their *stated* positions on policy.

Left voters don't trust Biden not because of the specific policy positions he has *stated recently* but because his long career has provided ample evidence of what he cares about, who he works for, and what kinds of pressures he responds to. Democratic affiliation elides this.

His latest article literally says this exact thing: https://www.vox.com/2020/4/8/21184584/joe-biden-bernie-sanders-supporters … Quote, "The real talk, however, is that Biden’s problem with the left isn’t about anything that is or isn’t in his platform, it’s about who he is. "

Yes, but this is exactly my point - he identifies this as a problem *of the left*. He doesn't think they are correct to see these differences as fundamental. He thinks they have made a not necessarily reasonable *choice* to emphasize them.

He's been very explicit throughout this race that if voters were reasonable they would respond to candidates' current policy positions. His argument here is essentially that left voters are not, so they won't.

Like, this is him elaborating further on his critique of left media. It's all about the *decision* to "emphasize points of disagreement" when speaking about a candidate who has "stances on dozens of issues." https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1247935306592071681?s=20 …

I read that as "it is a problem that the left media won't get in line behind Biden; they need to get in line because Biden is the most favorable candidate they are going to get" - part 2 being an effort to change part 1...

Whether the left should get behind Biden for this reason is another question. My point is that politics is not an accumulation of "stances on issues" and it never has been. Biden represents political forces and tendencies antithetical to the left; he always has.