1. So: there's been a spate of polemics recently arguing (or worrying) that Bernie Sanders is unelectable in the Atlantic, New York, New York Times & Slate. They raise good points but need more clarity on how electability is a choice that depends on members of Dem coalition.
-
-
3. By any reasonable measure, Trump was in 2016 an unelectable candidate: no experience, hated by party elite, early signs of mental decline, history of bankruptcy, many offensive statements, many sexual assault allegations, "grab 'em by the pussy" etc?
Show this thread -
4. So how did "unelectable" Trump win an electoral college victory? Because of polarization. "Never Trump" Republicans were pitifully few in numbers (although they all ended up with newspaper columns) & most GOP thought "Hillary is the Devil & Trump will give us courts."
Show this thread -
5. So the question about electability really falls on the Democratic electorate: are they willing to support a candidate from a different wing of the party in order to defeat Trump. Or to be more specific, will
@jonathanchait vote for Sanders or Warren if they are the nominee?Show this thread -
6. The so-called electability problem is really a party unity problem. More thoughts on this here:https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democratic-unity-sanders-warren/ …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Dems won't sit out 2020. A bunch of them will just vote for Mike Bloomberg, when he runs as a pro-Dem independent against both Trump and Sanders. And that results in a Trump romp in the electoral college and four more years of Trump/Pence.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Yeah, in '04 or '08 moderate Dems would have been happy to sit out or vote for Dubya/McCain; this time around most of them know full well that the threat Trump poses is far too great to not "vote blue, no matter who," even if it's Sanders.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
It changed the logic on the Republican side, but not on the Democratic side. A statististically significant slice of left-leaning voters are all too willing to sit out if their candidate is too extreme or unfit. As 2016 itelf showed.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
They're premised on the idea that there are lots of NeverTrumpTM Republicans who would really love to vote for a Democrat, but just not THIS Democrat. They're wrong, bc (1) there aren't that many of them, and (2) they're unlikely to vote for any Democrat.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Did Donald Trump tack back to the center and start acting more normal once he won the nomination? Nope. There is a lesson there.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
I think the calculus right now is whether we’re going to get a blue wave like 2018. Whether it even matters who wins the primary or not because everyone running has electability problems.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.