While liberals have held their tongues as Kamala Harris tacked to the center, they're preparing for a major battle over the future of the party, with personnel emerging as a flashpoint.
I believe a large portion of the electorate that vote Democrat are liberals who weren’t fans of Biden but hated Trump, and intended to vote for Biden only to prevent Trump from winning. Kamala would not lose this contingency of voters even if they think Kamala is too progressive, but she would gain new voters who previously felt unrepresented. Only anti-Trump conservatives (a tiny but admittedly growing voting bloc) might jump ship.
Kamala chose to appeal to conservatives to steal votes from Trump and because it gets her more wealthy donors. It’s possibly a winning strategy, but it is not the only one, and this one abandons the progressive voting bloc in favor of conservatives in a time where younger people are trending leftwards. This is a move that will have long-term consequences.
Her campaign had record-setting grass roots donations. She didn’t need to kow-tow to wealthy donors to get enough funding–that is not the reason she’s running as moderate. It’s because she needs lots of votes from moderates and anti-trump republicans if she’s going to win (and I do think she will). And by the way, “stealing votes”?! That’s not stealing votes ffs, it’s winning them. Even then the race is way too close.
I don’t think you realize how many Democratic men can’t, won’t, or have a real hard time bringing themselves to vote for her because she’s a woman. Lots of interviews on video showing them. It’s so ironic to me that their main reason is they say “women are too emotional to be given the responsibility.” When trump is the biggest ketchup-throwing cry baby ever to occupy the Oval office? I can’t count how many times I’ve seen male senators and congressmen losing their shit while the women are the calm adults in the room. John Boehner, who was Speaker of the House, used to burst into tears on the House floor at the drop of a hat. But I digress.
Point is, not even Democrats are as liberal as you think they are. Only a faction of them are very liberal. (Out of curiosity, do you live in a blue state, and/or a large urban area? I wonder why you think there are that many truly liberal voters in the United States.)
I do agree with your first sentence that intense anti-trumpism is the reason we might finally get a woman president. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t happen. The US is just not like other democracies that way.
I believe a large portion of the electorate that vote Democrat are liberals who weren’t fans of Biden but hated Trump, and intended to vote for Biden only to prevent Trump from winning. Kamala would not lose this contingency of voters even if they think Kamala is too progressive, but she would gain new voters who previously felt unrepresented. Only anti-Trump conservatives (a tiny but admittedly growing voting bloc) might jump ship.
Kamala chose to appeal to conservatives to steal votes from Trump and because it gets her more wealthy donors. It’s possibly a winning strategy, but it is not the only one, and this one abandons the progressive voting bloc in favor of conservatives in a time where younger people are trending leftwards. This is a move that will have long-term consequences.
Her campaign had record-setting grass roots donations. She didn’t need to kow-tow to wealthy donors to get enough funding–that is not the reason she’s running as moderate. It’s because she needs lots of votes from moderates and anti-trump republicans if she’s going to win (and I do think she will). And by the way, “stealing votes”?! That’s not stealing votes ffs, it’s winning them. Even then the race is way too close.
I don’t think you realize how many Democratic men can’t, won’t, or have a real hard time bringing themselves to vote for her because she’s a woman. Lots of interviews on video showing them. It’s so ironic to me that their main reason is they say “women are too emotional to be given the responsibility.” When trump is the biggest ketchup-throwing cry baby ever to occupy the Oval office? I can’t count how many times I’ve seen male senators and congressmen losing their shit while the women are the calm adults in the room. John Boehner, who was Speaker of the House, used to burst into tears on the House floor at the drop of a hat. But I digress.
Point is, not even Democrats are as liberal as you think they are. Only a faction of them are very liberal. (Out of curiosity, do you live in a blue state, and/or a large urban area? I wonder why you think there are that many truly liberal voters in the United States.)
I do agree with your first sentence that intense anti-trumpism is the reason we might finally get a woman president. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t happen. The US is just not like other democracies that way.