Would a Bernie Sanders type figure have out-performed Harris for POTUS this cycle? It’s … possible.
But anybody making the strong version of this argument should grapple with the fact that a Bernie-type figure *under-performed* Harris this cycle. His name? Bernie Sanders.
The global dynamics of the incumbency disease and the incompleteness of the exit poll data makes it hard to know EXACTLY what policy/culture portfolio would have maximized the Democrats’ chances of winning.
But I’d like to see the “whatever my thing is, that’s what Democrats should have done!” folks illustrate their points with a bit more evidence.
- Would a Bernie Sanders type figure have out-performed Harris for POTUS this cycle? It’s … possible. But anybody making the strong version of this argument should grapple with the fact that a Bernie-type figure *under-performed* Harris this cycle. His name? Bernie Sanders. The global dynamics of the incumbency disease and the incompleteness of the exit poll data makes it hard to know EXACTLY what policy/culture portfolio would have maximized the Democrats’ chances of winning. But I’d like to see the “whatever my thing is, that’s what Democrats should have done!” folks illustrate their points with a bit more evidence.
This is v. bad Derek. Trump also outperformed his Republican Senate counterpart in VT. 5% went to other candidates. A small % (2-3%) voted Harris or Trump top of ticket bc of the national popular vote implications.
Based on this chart, why not ask about an Amy Klobuchar-type figure
Pointing to Bernie as the synecdoche for all of social-democratic policymaking is as misleading as pointing to any one Democratic politician as the only possible representative of all of centrist Democratic policymaking.
