this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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[–] Ensign_Crab 74 points 5 months ago (2 children)

That is in no way unexpected.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Exactly. And the other comments so far are pretty ignorant. All close elections are won by winning over independents AND people registered to the other party. Just because Republicans in Congress appear largely in lock-step with Trump doesn't mean Republican voters are.

It's fair to speculate that many Trump haters left the Republican party in 2016 and more in 2020. But certainly not all of them. And beyond the Trump haters are a swathe of people uncertain or uncomfortable with Trump who can be won over.

[–] Ensign_Crab 26 points 5 months ago (24 children)

Not what I meant. Democrats will bend over backwards to try to appeal to Republicans before they ever consider appealing to alienated progressives.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 11 points 5 months ago

The real travesty is that this is a close election.

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[–] RGB3x3 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Joe Biden is courting an unexpected group of voters: the other half

That's basically the headline.

[–] distantsounds 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Progressives and leftists are once again marginalized

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Unless they lose then it's all their fault

[–] distantsounds 7 points 5 months ago
[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

… because that strategy’s never backfired on a regular basis for the Dems before …

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

What are you talking about?

This was definitely NOT a huge component of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

It also definitely did NOT play into the Democrat's delusion that any left leaning voters they lost by shifting to the right would be replaced by the GOP moderates it would attract.

Oh, and Chuck Schummer also NEVER repeatedly made these claims in public, or during media appearances.

So yeah, this is a bold and definitely BRAND NEW strategy.

No way it goes tits up.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (18 children)

"What are progressives going to do? Vote Republican?! HAHAHAHA!" - The DNC

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 months ago

Yay. more joe manchins. hurray. I am so excited.

[–] mydude 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

"For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin." -Chuck Schumer, 2016

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

There are still blue-collar Democrats in Western PA? I thought they went extinct in the early aughts

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Sure there are, but they're all in Pittsburgh. As soon as you venture outside of city limits it's a very different story.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (6 children)

That's not unexpected, since Clinton and his DLC, the modus operandi has been to court the right wing vote, and as they do, the entire party shifts to the right to accommodate them.

[–] Wogi 14 points 5 months ago (3 children)

See one party is doing it's best to run a country with a Conservative government. I disagree but at least it's respectable.

The other is doing it's best to bring about a free market theocracy.

The Democrats assume the other guys are operating in good faith, and so happily follow along as everyone moves to the right.

We ask for healthcare and we give the biggest gift to the insurance companies in a century. We ask for student debt reform and we get a few handouts while millions of kids every year continue to sign up for predatory student loans. We ask that our children at least be safe in school, and crickets...

I'm not saying this is one guy's fault, this is the result of a trend that's been going on for decades. But the Democrats are attempting to curry votes from a group that will never support them and leaving the passionate base behind. And after January 6th I'm just left wondering why the fuck they're negotiating with terrorists?

If nothing is getting done until you have a majority at least for the love of God, swing for the bleachers. Get people excited again.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

And after January 6th I'm just left wondering why the fuck they're negotiating with terrorists?

Because most Dems like the status quo and despise populism.

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[–] Blackbeard 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

Statistically speaking and based on findings from House races, it's a sound strategic move:

If winning more seats is the top priority, the preponderance of evidence suggests that nominating moderate, centrist candidates in districts where Republicans have a chance of winning is the more effective strategy, with the caveat that a contemporary moderate is substantially more liberal than the moderate of two decades ago.

Most — though by no means all — scholarly work supports the view that moderate candidates in competitive districts are more likely to win.

It also might be part of the reason he won in 2020:

The data [from Pew] suggests that the progressive vision of winning a presidential election simply by mobilizing strong support from Democratic constituencies simply did not materialize for Mr. Biden. While many Democrats had hoped to overwhelm Mr. Trump with a surge in turnout among young and nonwhite voters, the new data confirms that neither candidate claimed a decisive advantage in the highest turnout election since 1900.

Instead, Mr. Trump enjoyed a turnout advantage fairly similar to his edge in 2016, when many Democrats blamed Hillary Clinton’s defeat on a failure to mobilize young and nonwhite voters. If anything, Mr. Trump enjoyed an even larger turnout edge while Mr. Biden lost ground among nearly every Democratic base constituency. Only his gains among moderate to conservative voting groups allowed him to prevail.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 22 points 5 months ago (1 children)

More evidence the US is not a progressive country and anyone who thinks it is will be disappointed by election results for their entire lives.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Has he tried sounding racist when pitching his immigration policy?

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[–] halferect 12 points 5 months ago (10 children)

Would be nice if he courted the existing left leaning part of the democratic party, but fuck it let's try and please the party that tried to overthrow the government

[–] Pfeffy 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And this is the game we always play. Biden will try to get enough conservative voters to overcome the resistance from the actual left. If he manages then we go further right like we always have and if he fails we go even further right like we always have. That's the great thing about Democrat presidents. They accomplish the same thing as Republican presidents. Just a little bit slower.

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[–] distantsounds 10 points 5 months ago
[–] TropicalDingdong 8 points 5 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (7 children)

I think they will get a percentage of the "never Trump" section of the Republican party. The real question is what that percentage of the Republican party actually is, as admitting that currently can open people's worlds to a deluge of toxicity/ostracizing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

as much as they might (or might not) hate Trump, Republicans are still going to vote the party line

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I’m not so sure. I think it’s established that the percentage of Republicans who won’t vote for Trump is a lot higher than the percentage that will admit to it in front of their peers.

All we need is a few %, low single digits.

[–] TropicalDingdong 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Your uncertainty doesn't have bearing here. There is a preponderance of evidence showing that since 2016 (and before), there number of 'swing' voters has diminished to basically nothing.

Neither Trump nor Biden are actually running against each other , because no voters are going to be converted from one side to the other.

They are both running against "the couch", in that whoever can convince enough of their voters that the election is worth showing up for, will win.

Also, if you were a Republican, why wouldn't you vote for Trump? He delivered, in one way or another, on all the major policy goals of the base. For the Republican agenda, he's been the most effective president since Reagan.

Bidens camp is in a fever dream with this strategy. And I agree with the article. it is their strategy.

[–] billiam0202 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

They are both running against "the couch", in that whoever can convince enough of their voters that the election is worth showing up for, will win.

Yep, which is why we see a massive number of people around here who are actively trying to depress Democratic turnout by complaining about Biden and the Dems. A whole bunch of alleged leftists really don't seem like they mind another Trump presidency since they aren't, after all, trying to convince voters to vote against that.

Bidens camp is in a fever dream with this strategy.

Oh. Huh. Imagine that.

Also, if you were a Republican, why wouldn't you vote for Trump? He delivered, in one way or another, on all the major policy goals of the base.

You fucking what? He got three SCOTUS justices and tax breaks for billionaires and...?

He tanked the economy and killed over a million with his handling of COVID, the wall didn't get built, Mexico didn't pay for any of the repairs that did, Hillary has -34 felonies to her name, his trade war with China didn't bring back manufacturing, Russia was emboldened by his term, American global superiority was damaged by his garbage foreign policy, fossil fuel usage is continuing to decline in favor of renewables...

So other than showing bigoted racists that it's okay to be a loudmouth bigoted racist in public (which I will admit is a Republican goal) what "major policy goals" did he actually achieve?

For the Republican agenda, he's been the most effective president since Reagan

Yeah, I would argue that he's the least effective GOP president since Regan.

[–] TropicalDingdong 6 points 5 months ago

He tanked the economy and killed over a million with his handling of COVID, the wall didn’t get built, Mexico didn’t pay for any of the repairs that did, Hillary has -34 felonies to her name, his trade war with China didn’t bring back manufacturing, Russia was emboldened by his term, American global superiority was damaged by his garbage foreign policy, fossil fuel usage is continuing to decline in favor of renewables…

I agree with all that. But you and I don't live in the same world that Republican voters do. They litterally live in a completly different media and 'story of history' landscape. You obviously do, and should, despise all of the things that Trump did while he was president. But there is no denying that these were the things that Republican voters wanted him to do. And he gets to blame any failures on Democrats or the deep state or whatever other kookie bullshit they come up with.

You can and should hate the Republican agenda, but you shouldn't put blinders on to suggest that Trump didn't pursue it aggressively, and actually accomplish much of it. He got tax cuts for billionaires. He got the Supreme Court, and thus Roe. He at least tried to do almost all of the things he said he would do. You should disagree with all of those things, but you are not a Republican voter. Neither am I. But we should be clear headed about what Republican voters want, especially considering how horrible it all is.

[–] Ensign_Crab 6 points 5 months ago

But at least they get to show progressives who they prefer.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

I think Republicans are finally waking up to the fact their party has been hijacked by MAGA and their own interests don't align with Trump's personal interests.

I still can't believe how willing they are to parrot Russian propaganda though given how things were a mere 20 years ago.

[–] Linkerbaan 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Biden posturing as a Republican will not make Republicans vote for him.

Adopting rightwing policies ‘does not help centre-left win votes’

But it will help shift the general public more to the right and get neoliberals bending over backwards to start defending Republican policies when Biden implements them so all according to keikaku.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The Biden campaign, while struggling to drum up support from some of the key members of its coalition in 2020, is trying to gain votes from an entirely different group: Republicans who aren't interested in backing former President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, the campaign announced a new member of their team: Austin Weatherford, who served as former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger's chief of staff.

The announcement comes as the Biden campaign ramps up efforts to court supporters of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

"Nothing has changed for the millions of Republican voters who continue to cast their ballots against Donald Trump in the primaries," Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement the day Haley made her announcement.

"They wanted to work to earn the votes of Haley voters despite some policy differences," Schwartz said of the Biden campaign during the call.

The Biden campaign says they are also doing work behind the scenes to obtain potential endorsements from key Republicans as well, but those announcements are more likely to come closer to Election Day, when voters are more tuned in.


The original article contains 613 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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