j.r. leonard

What would make them better about winning elections? I do not think "stop moralizing" is a good take as the Rs moralize constantly (religious right is a core constituency).

Politics isn’t fair. It’s possible that moralizing works fine for Rs but not for Dems Dems also conduct a whole lot of circular firing squads

Any party that is losing does. Particularly now that partisanship is high and political party power is low. Which I partially blame on goo-goos like myself who supported eliminating earmarks, aka bribes to keep members in line.

Generally, politically popular movements make ppl feel righteous for voting for someone. It is such a bad tendency that ppl on the right are sanctifying Trump, a notoriously bad person who talks about what a bad person he is constantly.

That was also part of Obama's appeal to white, marginal D voters. They could feel righteous bc they were supporting a (non-threatening) black man, and they know in their bones that racism is bad -- even if they don't want to live near an actual black person.

Eh. Or maybe they voted for him because he is a gifted politician who knew how to message. You’re basically giving me a softer version of the right’s affirmative action president point

He was a gifted politician, that he could make himself palatable requires a lot of skill. Frequently being the first requires that you be MUCH better than the average. He won by an unusually high margin in both years despite respected opponents.

That he overcame a racial disadvantage and turned it into a strength is a sign of how incredible a pol he was.