Has everyone forgotten about Gary Johnson? The bulk of the defections in the 2016 race were not to the left. People also forget the math of defections: One voter you pull away from your main opponent is worth as much as *two* voters lost to a spoiler.
I think that *if* Biden gets reelected whoever comes after will probably have to tack left or risk facing a Ralph Nader figure. But with Trump around the left is a paper tiger. At the moment not even the internet communists and assistant professors of geography are getting enthusiastic about Cornel West.
Ralph Nader was a big problem for Democrats in 2000 and somebody like Cornel West would be a big problem today if the Republicans were about to renominate Mitt Romney instead of Donald Trump.
Good point. It might be riskier for Biden to punch left more than Trump to punch right. But I doubt Trump thinks about that--I think it just happens to work to his advantage. He is probably thinking that it is better for him in the general election to try to moderate his message, and it just so happens the odds work more in his favor.
Has everyone forgotten about Gary Johnson? The bulk of the defections in the 2016 race were not to the left. People also forget the math of defections: One voter you pull away from your main opponent is worth as much as *two* voters lost to a spoiler.
I think that *if* Biden gets reelected whoever comes after will probably have to tack left or risk facing a Ralph Nader figure. But with Trump around the left is a paper tiger. At the moment not even the internet communists and assistant professors of geography are getting enthusiastic about Cornel West.
Maybe, but voters keep picking center left dems
Ralph Nader was a big problem for Democrats in 2000 and somebody like Cornel West would be a big problem today if the Republicans were about to renominate Mitt Romney instead of Donald Trump.
Good point. It might be riskier for Biden to punch left more than Trump to punch right. But I doubt Trump thinks about that--I think it just happens to work to his advantage. He is probably thinking that it is better for him in the general election to try to moderate his message, and it just so happens the odds work more in his favor.