What would be the best general strategy for Democrats in 2020?

Politics & Elections
#1

Reading the thread about which Democratic candidate has the best chance of winning in 2020 has me thinking about the voters who actually decide elections. It’s not the people who have voted Republican every election going back to Nixon or who have voted Democratic every election since LBJ. Focusing exclusively on the people who make up one or the other of those two groups seems to be a good way to lose an election. It seems to me the swing voters fall into four groups.

  1. People who typically vote Republican but don’t show up every election.

  2. People who typically vote Democratic but don’t show up every election.

  3. People who sometimes vote Democratic, sometimes Republican, and sometimes don’t vote.

  4. People who sometimes vote Democratic, sometimes Republican, sometimes third party, but always vote.

For the first three groups I think voting third party is functionally the same as not showing up to vote. A fifth group would be people who have never voted at all.

ISTM that as an overall strategy, the Democratic candidate should try to discourage turnout by people in the first group, encourage turnout by people in the second group, and try to convince people in the third and fourth groups to vote Democratic. Which of these strategies do you all think the 2020 Democratic candidate should focus on?

#2

All of them. We can multitask.

#3

No better answer than this. Bravo.

#4

I suggest increased couch-fainting, pearl-clutching, and hysterical predictions of impending doom. Also, outrage. More outrage.

That should work.

#5

I don’t think the democrats can multitask unfortunately. They are in a very tough position - they are trying to bring together people who are very passionate about certain issues and more moderate voters. I believe that the uncompromising nature of the first group will make it difficult to bring those two groups together. Personally I think the Democrats need to take a long term view that would probably result in some short term loses.

#6

Yes you have to seek all of the above, AND have the situational awareness to know when and where it is more productive to prioritize one or the other.

Well, that would be a slight improvement over the recent pattern of repeated short term losses with no apparent underlying direction.

#7

For winning the presidency, the democrats need to do better in the midwest. That can be done in various ways.

Increase support among whites w/o a college education

Increase turnout among young voters

Increase turnout among minorities.

All of those should make winning the northern midwest easier.

#8

The best strategy is to see what the midterms bring, it’ll be a completely different race if there is a blue wave and the Dems dominate the House and get the Senate by one or two versus not even taking the House and losing a lot of ground in the Senate.