The Democrats won big with a moderate message exactly once in 1992 when Bill Clinton beat Bush, and they’ve been chasing that high ever since, even though they keep losing. Gore? Moderate, loser. Kerry? Moderate, loser. Obama? Progressive (at least in platform, he pivoted hard to the center almost immediately), winner. And we’ve already been over Hillary, Biden, and Harris.
The data is in. Chasing moderate voters is a much worse strategy than having a robust, progressive platform. But they keep doing this, and they keep losing. It’s ridiculous.
Oh my god, you’re right! I should have said, “They’re not gaining with moderates and, in fact, are losing moderate support in many crucial elections, especially when they weaken their message to try to be more appealing to them!” What an idiot I am for using concise language that anyone with half a brain would understand.
Anyway, since I’m also a pedantic twat, I looked it up, and it turns out a lot of leftists did show up in 2020! Looks like your assertion that, “The left doesn’t show up to vote,” is false as well. Looks like you got some proofreading to do! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You think they went left? Are you drunk? Are you doing a bit? Did you forget the /s? If you legitimately think she went left, you’re probably the only person on the planet that thinks so:
What makes you think moderates arent voting for democrats?
Because they keep fucking losing when they try to pick up moderates. In 2016, Chuck Schumer makes a grand prediction that Democrats will pick up two moderates for every one working-class voter they lose. Turns out they just lost working class voters. A NY Times study showed that hidden Trump voters were much more likely to be moderates. 2020, Biden went much farther to the left than Hillary, and he did better than her with not only moderates but conservatives. Harris campaigned with Liz Cheney to try and flip moderates, and she wound up doing 11 points worse than Biden with moderates.
The Democrats won big with a moderate message exactly once in 1992 when Bill Clinton beat Bush, and they’ve been chasing that high ever since, even though they keep losing. Gore? Moderate, loser. Kerry? Moderate, loser. Obama? Progressive (at least in platform, he pivoted hard to the center almost immediately), winner. And we’ve already been over Hillary, Biden, and Harris.
The data is in. Chasing moderate voters is a much worse strategy than having a robust, progressive platform. But they keep doing this, and they keep losing. It’s ridiculous.
Biden catered to moderates in 2020 and wouldn’t have won without them.
So you are wrong. Moderates are voting for democrats.
Yeah, no shit, that’s literally in my comment! Maybe try rereading it and getting back to me.
This was your comment. How bout you proofread it.
Oh my god, you’re right! I should have said, “They’re not gaining with moderates and, in fact, are losing moderate support in many crucial elections, especially when they weaken their message to try to be more appealing to them!” What an idiot I am for using concise language that anyone with half a brain would understand.
Anyway, since I’m also a pedantic twat, I looked it up, and it turns out a lot of leftists did show up in 2020! Looks like your assertion that, “The left doesn’t show up to vote,” is false as well. Looks like you got some proofreading to do! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They lost moderates to Trump in 2024 for going too far left and the left didn’t show up to fill the gap. Punishing democrats for moving left.
You think they went left? Are you drunk? Are you doing a bit? Did you forget the /s? If you legitimately think she went left, you’re probably the only person on the planet that thinks so:
New York Times: Harris to Court Moderates With a Onetime Right-Wing Provocateur
Wall Street Journal: Kamala Harris, with Liz Cheney, Courts Moderates in Pennsylvania
Politico: Harris is courting moderate Republicans.
The AP: Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates
What, in God’s name, makes you think this campaign was more left-leaning than 2020?
Ms Harris supported a number of progressive tax programmes. She co-sponsored a bill with former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders to expand social security for the elderly by increasing the tax rate on investments. As a presidential candidate in 2019, she supported a corporate tax rate of 35%, up from 21%. This was more aggressive than President Biden’s proposal, which she also backed, to increase the rate to 28%. During her acceptance speech after being confirmed as the Democratic candidate, she said she would “pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans”. This refers to the restoration of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit would give families with newborn children a $6,000 (£4,630) tax cut. A campaign official also told the BBC that the vice-president would continue to back President Biden’s proposal to not raise taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 (£310,000).
Earlier in her career, Ms Harris supported expanding publicly-funded healthcare programmes that cover the elderly, youth with disabilities and poor. This included backing Medicare-for-All, a progressive policy that would make all healthcare publicly funded. Her campaign told the BBC that she would not push for a single-payer system if elected to the White House. During her vice-presidency, the White House has had health care successes. It reduced prescription drug costs, capped insulin prices at $35, allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capped out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare drug coverage. On the campaign trail, she has said that she wants to erase billions of dollars in medical debt for Americans and would work with states on the issue.
As a prosecutor, Ms Harris defended California’s climate laws and sued oil companies for environmental damage. She also called for climate change policies via a “Green New Deal” during her 2020 presidential campaign - some of which came to fruition under the current administration.