# I feel the DNC considers 2020 to have been a resounding victory when it was anything but **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 23, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240 "2024-06-23T20:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/21 "2024-06-23T22:24:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Can you possibly cite that these are the strategies of the DNC? > > They appear to be working hard in the swings states to avoid losing them and possibly to flip 1 or 2 more. That doesn’t seem to line up to what you wrote. Ever since the 2016 primary the Berniebros have spread the idea that the DNC has a lot of power and influence- which -sadly- it doesn’t have, > [@Akaj](#): > > The OP sounds like yet another way to debate the idea that the DNC should have nominated someone other than Biden, Yep, see this thread- or that Biden should have stepped aside. Yep- see this thread- > [@Things I'm Certain Of But Cannot Prove](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-im-certain-of-but-cannot-prove/1003156/81): > > Another thing I’m certain of but can’t prove: Short of a stroke, heart attack or death, nothing was going to stop the DNC from renominating Biden. They were going to put their thumb as heavily on the scale as need be. They were fully bought into the “incumbency advantage.” > **hidden by What Exit as hijack.** > > [Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)[Guest]([Registered - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/g/Registered) > > I will bet a shiny new nickel that he was a Sanders supporter. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/22 "2024-06-23T22:25:12Z")
View it however you want. He didn’t win by a razor thin majority in either popular votes or electoral votes, so saying he did is misleading. That’s all that I wrote. I’m not interested in pursuing this further, and it’s off-topic anyway. The topic is, did the DNC consider 2020 to be a resounding victory (answer: no) and are they being complacent now (answer: no). Regardless of what random people on Reddit are saying, this thread is just wrong from the start. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/23 "2024-06-23T22:25:39Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > By this point, of course, the DNC isn’t going to nominate someone other than Biden. But their strategy appears to have been “Biden won in 2020, and incumbency advantage exists, so he’s the best man for 2024.” I have never encountered any DNC argument this year that didn’t rely on that assumption to some extent. “The DNC” doesn’t pick the nominee and it hasn’t worked that way in over half a century. If parties were in the business of picking nominees President Clinton would now be nearing the end of her second term after her victories against Jeb Bush in 2016 and Paul Ryan four years later. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/24 "2024-06-23T22:26:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I will bet a shiny new nickel that he was a Sanders supporter. Does that make them wrong? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/25 "2024-06-23T22:28:24Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does that make them wrong? The conspiracy theory about the DNC is wrong. Just like 99% of other conspiracy theories. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/26 "2024-06-23T22:29:59Z")
---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/27 "2024-06-23T22:30:35Z")
**Moderating** : Drop the Sanders hijack now. What the hell? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/28 "2024-06-23T22:31:22Z")
Moderating: > [@DrDeth](#): > > I will bet a shiny new nickel that he was a Sanders supporter. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does that make them wrong? > [@DrDeth](#): > > The conspiracy theory about the DNC is wrong. Just like 99% of other conspiracy theories. Let’s not, YET AGAIN, relitigate the Bernie Sanders phenomenon in 2016 in this thread. Drop it now, please. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/29 "2024-06-23T22:36:13Z")
---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/30 "2024-06-23T22:47:21Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > View it however you want. He didn’t win by a razor thin majority in either popular votes or electoral votes The rules dictate that the electoral votes for the entire state go for one person. If there was only one state with 100 electoral points and Trump got 1 vote more from the people than Biden out of 50 billion voters in the state, then he’d get the whole 100 electoral points. If it helps you to sleep at night then view that how you want but, if you’re talking about how to win an actual campaign then getting versus losing that 1 vote is every bit as relevant as the 100 electoral points. You don’t just get to ignore the part that doesn’t protect your slumber. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/31 "2024-06-23T22:50:53Z")
Trump won 2016 by a mere 16k votes if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/32 "2024-06-23T23:23:53Z")
107,000 votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Also a very, very thin margin. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/33 "2024-06-23T23:26:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > By this point, of course, the DNC isn’t going to nominate someone other than Biden. But their strategy appears to have been “Biden won in 2020, and incumbency advantage exists, so he’s the best man for 2024.” > [@Smapti](#): > > “The DNC” doesn’t pick the nominee and it hasn’t worked that way in over half a century. I want to highlight Smapti’s reply, because it is exactly correct and it bugs me that this argument keeps popping up in this form. The DNC can’t do shit. Biden holds the whip-hand here and by and large when he says ‘frog’ the DNC jumps. You can put forward the notion that “Biden should have stepped aside for someone younger and more vigorous” - that’s fair, if entirely arguable. But you cannot argue that “the DNC should have nominated someone else”, because they can’t. They don’t have the political muscle to dictate terms to a sitting president. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/34 "2024-06-23T23:35:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The rules dictate that the electoral votes for the entire state go for one person. This is false for Maine and Nebraska. It’s funny how you’re lecturing me about the EC. The rest of your post seems to be addressed to someone else, because I have no idea how you get all of that from my posts. Stop talking about my emotional state or what helps me sleep at night, please. You know nothing about me. I addressed one part of the OP post, that Biden won by a razor thin margin. This is false both by the popular vote count and the electoral vote count. That’s it. I didn’t comment on whether there should be an electoral college, I didn’t post about what helps me sleep at night, none of that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/35 "2024-06-23T23:38:35Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Stop talking about my emotional state or what helps me sleep at night, please. You know nothing about me. > [@RitterSport](#): > > I didn’t comment on whether there should be an electoral college, I didn’t post about what helps me sleep at night, none of that. Moderating, I’ll make this official. @Sage_Rat, please don’t make this about other posters. Keep to what they wrote and facts and your opinions on politics, not what you think they think. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/36 "2024-06-23T23:38:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But you cannot argue that “the DNC should have nominated someone else”, because they can’t. They don’t have the political muscle to dictate terms to a sitting president. That’s not QUITE my point. My point was that the voters pick the nominees and the party has just about zero control over who runs for the nomination or who votes in the primary. If they did, Trump would never have been allowed to run as a Republican, and for that matter Hillary probably would’ve been givem the nomination in '08. It’s not the DNC’s fault that the only people who decided to run against Biden were an antivaxer, a self-help author, and Dear Abby’s grandkid. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/37 "2024-06-23T23:48:11Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > This is false for Maine and Nebraska. It’s also false for Bermuda, another place that’s not really under discussion. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/38 "2024-06-23T23:55:06Z")
I’m sorry, are you saying the rules of the EC are not under discussion? In a post lecturing me about how the EC works, you stated: > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The rules dictate that the electoral votes for the entire state go for one person. This is false. Any state can decide to allocate their votes more proportionately, and two of them do. What does Bermuda have to do with any of this?? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/39 "2024-06-24T00:06:15Z")
I think the odds of a sole electoral vote in Maine or Nebraska being the deciding factor in the presidential election is so remote as to not be worth putting much discussion into. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240/40 "2024-06-24T00:20:04Z")
I was basically playing the role in this [comic](https://xkcd.com/386/). However, I suppose if Biden actually barely squeaked by in the electoral college, then that one vote may have mattered, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-the-dnc-considers-2020-to-have-been-a-resounding-victory-when-it-was-anything-but/1003240.md?page=3)