# How can the Democrats win the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 18, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262 "2019-07-18T16:37:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/41 "2019-07-18T20:52:50Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Nominate Joe Biden right now. Right. fucking. now. Screw the debates. Forget the DNC convention bullshit. Just throw all the support behind JB. Joe may not be the democrat we want, but he’s the democrat we need right now. Sorry, Liz. Sorry, Pete. It was never going to be you, Kamala. Or you, Bernie. You’ll all be getting a call for senior cabinet positions. Thanks for coming out and please don’t forget to validate your parking stubs. Yeah. I am not a huge Biden fan, but this would work. Stop the bernie bros from attacking Biden, shut Harris up. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/42 "2019-07-18T20:54:47Z")
I personally know progressives who would be in danger of staying home if Biden is the nominee. Dumb, and I’m hopeful that this is just talk, but it could be real. To guarantee their vote, they need someone they can believe in at least a little tiny bit. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/43 "2019-07-18T20:58:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You are going to have to shut the progressives up. > > Anyone who voted for Trump last time is going to vote for him again. The SDMB and the other yellow dog Democrats will vote for anyone with a D after their name. Therefore you have to get the moderates. > > Progressive ideas like the Green New Deal and free health care for illegal immigrants and reparations and all the other things that the yellow dog Dems love are unpopular with moderates. Y’all can tell each other as much as you like that they are winning issues. Feel free - and get ready for another four years of Trump. Drop the stuff about impeachment - that makes you look petty and hypocritical. > … No, listen to them on issues. But make them stop attacking fellow dems. That is not true. trump lied to the rust belt, and now they know it. That will be a big thing in the election. No one is proposing "free health care for illegal immigrants ". What people are proposing is that we give people healthcare and dont check their citizen status first. That’s totally different. The Green New deal is not supposed to be a short term plan. But you are correct about Impeachment. if they cant make it stick in the senate, dont do it. Pelosi knows this. AOC doesnt. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/44 "2019-07-18T21:01:24Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > To answer the OP’s question: > > Get as many people you know to register to vote. Ask them if they’re registered, if not tell them how. Follow up. Make sure they go and vote on Election Day 2020. Offer rides, make phone calls… > After the Primary, vote for whoever wins the nomination, no matter who it is. Yep, the higher the voter turn out, the more the Republicans lose, it’s as simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/45 "2019-07-18T21:06:58Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Maybe I’m completely out of touch but my sense is that people actually like Biden, where as too many merely tolerated HRC. Biden wouldn’t have the baggage of a twenty year smear campaign hanging around his neck, true. But then, neither do any of the other candidates, so that advantage is sort of a wash. And Biden himself is just a bad candidate. He has a history of running for president, starting out with good numbers, and then stepping on his dick over and over until his candidacy crumbles. Up 'til now, that’s always happened during the primary. I’m very concerned that this time around, he’ll hold it together long enough to get the nomination before he torpedoes himself. If we skip the nomination process altogether, as you suggested, that becomes even more likely. More to the point, I think the lack of a vigorous primary cycle in 2016 left us with a candidate who was critically vulnerable in ways she didn’t see, because she hadn’t been tested. If she’d had to actually fight for the nomination against more than just Bernie, she might have gone into the general with a much stronger idea of what sort of campaign she needed to run. That, or the flaws in her campaign would have prevented her from getting the nomination at all, and a stronger candidate would have taken her place and possibly beaten Trump. The current crowded democratic field is a _good_ thing. If Biden’s campaign can’t survive taking shots from Kamala Harris, he’s going to be absolutely fucked in the general against Trump. If we insulate him from taking any fire from his own side, we’ll have no idea how much fire he’ll be able to weather from the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/46 "2019-07-18T21:08:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not talking about candidate preference, I’m talking about winning. Biden v. Trump is a rerun of a contest we already lost. Doing it again and thinking it’ll work this time is madness. Nope, just the opposite. Look, Dems made a few mistakes in 2016, but soem of them will not be repeated. 538 sez that the biggest single cause of Hillary losing was the Comey memo. Not gonna happen in 2020. So, 100% solid, right there, with nothing else changed- belies that idea that trump vs Biden will be a rerun. Next- the dems were over confident. We wont be this time. Finally, not enuf attention was paid to the EC votes in the Rust belt. I doubt seriously, that whoever is the dem candidate, that they will make that mistake again. So, saying things like “Biden v. Trump is a rerun of a contest we already lost. Doing it again and thinking it’ll work this time is madness” is one thing that will help trump win. And it’s totally wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/47 "2019-07-18T21:09:44Z")
Biden is so boring he makes Gore look like Mr. Excitement. Don’t see any way he beats Trump. Same for Sanders and Warren. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/48 "2019-07-18T21:10:12Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Maybe I’m completely out of touch but my sense is that people actually like Biden, where as too many merely tolerated HRC. Yep. The GOP hate machine and the Bernie bros made sure that the already somewhat unlikeable Hillary was downright hated by many. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/49 "2019-07-18T21:11:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I personally know progressives who would be in danger of staying home if Biden is the nominee. Dumb, and I’m hopeful that this is just talk, but it could be real. To guarantee their vote, they need someone they can believe in at least a little tiny bit. If they get a progressive, the moderates will stay home, which is far worse. The progressives will have to be happy with getting a solid progressive platform. If they arent happy with that, and stay home because it’s Biden, then they deserve trump. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/50 "2019-07-18T21:57:23Z")
> [@Les\_Wizerables](#): > > Yup yup yup. > > For all the talk of the appeal of centrism, for the last two decades the more extreme candidate of the two has won (other than maybe 2004) and coalescing around am experienced moderate/centrist during the primaries has proven to be a mistake. > > I don’t think it’s a coincidence. America is polarized, and the number of people in the middle who know they will vote but don’t know who they’ll choose pales in comparison to the number of people further along one end or another of the spectrum choosing between voting and staying home. A [short editorial in](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/opinion/trump-2020.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage)today’s NY Times makes much the same point. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/51 "2019-07-18T21:57:37Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Not once the Senate finds him “not guilty”. They can just run out the clock, constantly having investigations and releasing the results to the press or sending the DOJ to investigate to lower his favoribility ratings. I don’t know if there is a time limit on when the senate has to convict. If the democrats just impeach and don’t actually vote for it to go to the senate, thats fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/52 "2019-07-18T22:19:15Z")
I’m surprised you don’t all recognize that the reason Hillary lost is that she’s a woman. This country was not and is not ready for a woman to be president, especially a tough (read abrasive) woman. And right now, **bump** is right in post 26 that the dems have no coherent message and no reason for anyone to vote for any of the dozens of candidates who have a D after their names. I am a Dem and a woman and I find myself having to agree that the only one of the sorry lot that has a chance to beat Trump is Biden. How sorry is that? I am probably going to have to hold my nose and go to the polls and vote for him (if I’m lucky). Too bad some of the dems didn’t do that for Hillary last time but water under the bridge. How can we get them to do it this time? GET SERIOUS. Pick a damn leader and get behind them. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/53 "2019-07-18T22:26:29Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I’m surprised you don’t all recognize that the reason Hillary lost is that she’s a woman. … Oh, this is a recurring theme in my household, going on three years. One reason I once would have rather seen Cory Booker over Kamala Harris, say, and still lean toward Biden now (much as I like Warren’s positions and determination). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/54 "2019-07-18T22:36:42Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I’m surprised you don’t all recognize that the reason Hillary lost is that she’s a woman. This country was not and is not ready for a woman to be president, especially a tough (read abrasive) woman. And right now, **bump** is right in post 26 that the dems have no coherent message and no reason for anyone to vote for any of the dozens of candidates who have a D after their names. I am a Dem and a woman and I find myself having to agree that the only one of the sorry lot that has a chance to beat Trump is Biden. How sorry is that? I am probably going to have to hold my nose and go to the polls and vote for him (if I’m lucky). Too bad some of the dems didn’t do that for Hillary last time but water under the bridge. How can we get them to do it this time? GET SERIOUS. Pick a damn leader and get behind them. I dont think that was critical, but yes, it was a factor. Biden can whip trump, and trump know it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/55 "2019-07-18T22:38:38Z")
I think the ground game is overlooked in importance. If your voter registration was destroyed by a Republican operative, if you don’t know that your precinct moved or you can’t get there, if you were purged from the voter rolls, then your vote isn’t going to count. Democrats need to aggressively canvass the inner cities. Get volunteers from every block to go up and down with voter registration forms and copies of the current voter rolls in hand. Find out if people are registered and if they aren’t get their registration card filled out and make sure they get to the proper place. For those that need photo ID, help them get through the hoops to get the proper ID. Spend the money where it does the most good- the brown states in [this map.](https://www.270towin.com/maps/YReVw) Everything else we can pencil in the results right now. And as important as the presidential race is, it’s only a half victory if McTurtle still controls the Senate. Put money in the brown states [here.](https://www.270towin.com/2020-senate-election/2XzZjl) Yes, if Roy Moore gets nominated again, AL will be in play. We can get Susan Collins and Joni Ernst. Finally, get the message out how electing a Democrat will make a difference in the lives of ordinary people. Run against the tariffs, the dismantling of health care, the huge tax cuts to the rich, the environmental destruction wrought by Republicans. Let Lil’ Donnie throw his little tantrums. Stop giving him the time of day. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/56 "2019-07-18T22:45:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If they get a progressive, the moderates will stay home, which is far worse. > > The progressives will have to be happy with getting a solid progressive platform. If they arent happy with that, and stay home because it’s Biden, then they deserve trump. I think relying on moderates is a poor strategy. Democrats win when democratic voters are excited. Looking back at pres elections we won, it was when our candidate excited Democratic voters. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/57 "2019-07-18T22:50:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think relying on moderates is a poor strategy. Democrats win when democratic voters are excited. Looking back at pres elections we won, it was when our candidate excited Democratic voters. Dems win when the vote gets out, but the most radical presidential Dem candidates have always lost by a landslide. Radial agendas only excite the radicals. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/58 "2019-07-18T23:13:05Z")
[quote=“Velocity, post:6, topic:837262”] [ul] [li]Try to reduce the visibility of AOC, Omar, Tlaib - ‘the Squad’ - as much as possible. [They are deeply unpopular.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/anonymous-democratic-group-leaked-poll-205906247.html) Pelosi is more mainstream, let her be the leader.[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] Among “likely general-election voters who are white and have two years or less of college education”. You know, the Fox News demographic. If they DIDN’T think poorly of “the squad”, I’d wonder how Fox was fucking up so badly. Even with THAT caveat, AOC is more popular than Congress as a whole. Among that SAME group, Biden (you know, the moderate one) is getting demolished by 20 points against Trump. [QUOTE] [ul] [li]Run on a platform of “return to the normal good old days of Obama” - with “respectability, normalcy and dignity” being emphasized over and over again.[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] This makes sense. > [@](#): > > [ul] > [li]Stop pushing the “privilege” issue. It is inherently divisive. There is no way you can say “X has privilege, Y does not” without it starting an X vs. Y resentment. The very nature of that sort of talk serves to divide and aggravate.[/li][/ul] This is a non-issue on the national stage. What small parts are being played here are massively magnified by right-wing propaganda like PJ Media and Breitbart. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/59 "2019-07-18T23:29:16Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think relying on moderates is a poor strategy. Democrats win when democratic voters are excited. Looking back at pres elections we won, it was when our candidate excited Democratic voters. You could look at it the other way and say the GOP were down in the dumps in those elections. 1976 - Carter beats the Republican President who pardoned Nixon by 2% of the vote 1992 - Clinton beats the Republican President who broke his promise of no new taxes, oversaw a recession, and had a third party candidate hitting hard on populist ideas towards free trade and the national debt 2008 - Obama beats a Republican candidate who could not and did not want to use the record of the Republican president in office because it was a massive hindrance rather than a help. The democrats nearly lost an election the republicans had no right to win post watergate in '76. 20 million people opposed Bush and Clinton in '92. Bush Jr had a disastrous presidency culminating in approval ratings in the 20s so the democrats should have won in 2008 off the back of his unpopularity. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262/60 "2019-07-19T00:50:09Z")
We’ll see. This is all guessing, basically. There’s nothing we can do to broadly change the party’s approach. I think focusing on turnout is the answer, but I could be wrong – there’s no way to prove it either way until after the fact. We’ll find out in a little over a year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-democrats-win-the-election/837262.md?page=4)