Friday, April 07, 2017

Should Democrats Move Left in Down-Ballot Races? | RealClearPolitics

Should Democrats Move Left in Down-Ballot Races? | RealClearPolitics
“Bernie would have won.”
If you’ve been following progressive politics (or just browsing random corners of the internet) over the past several months, you’ve probably seen this argument.
Image result for bernie sanders cartoonThe basic idea is if Democrats had nominated Bernie Sanders in 2016, they would have kept working-class whites in the fold, prevented Donald Trump from winning key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, and kept him out of the White House.
It’s impossible to know if that argument is true -- hypotheticals like that are inherently unprovable.
But some progressives have been making an interesting move of late:
They’ve been importing the Bernie-would-have-won argument into discussions about how Democrats can win down-ballot going forward.
Specifically, they argue that if Democrats were to pull to the left on economics and emphasize those issues, they would be able to win majorities in the House, Senate and a number of states.
...I looked at past data and found that while such a strategy might not help Democrats win back the House and Senate, it could help them win back the presidency..."

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