The Democratic candidates for president continue to bicker about their differences on the issues. But they are missing the biggest concern of Democrats and Independents.It is becoming more obvious all the time that issue differences among Democrats are secondary to the voters. Voters want to know which candidate has the best chance to defeat Donald Trump next November.
The voters know that a Trump re-election would be disastrous for the country
That is how Eugene Robinson puts it in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Here is part of what he has written:
I like ideological purity as much as anyone. But not this year. Not this election. The Democrats contending to square off with President Trump face less an opportunity than an imperative. Nuanced policy differences among the various hopefuls could not be less important. Winning in November isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.
It is ridiculous to argue the merits of Medicare-for-all vs. Medicare-for-all-who-want-it vs. expanding the Affordable Care Act while President Trump is taking a blowtorch to the norms that allow our political system to function and bind our society together. His nasty little “Friday Night Massacre” — vindictively ousting officials who testified at his impeachment hearings — was a mere taste of what we can expect in the coming months. He has gone full thug.
For Democrats, electability is the whole ballgame. Primary voters need to be as cold-eyed as possible in choosing a nominee who can not only beat Trump but also help generate blue-wave turnout that keeps control of the House and takes back the Senate. That’s going to require compromise from someone: flipping Obama-to-Trump voters and stoking flagging Democratic enthusiasm may demand very different approaches and qualities. But whoever that compromise falls on most heavily must be prepared to make it. There is no choice but to take a deep breath and do what needs to be done.
The pro-Trump base is smaller than the anti-Trump base. If voters who believe this president is a dangerous threat to the nation and the world turn out in November, our long national nightmare will be over. But if enough of the majoritarian Resistance stays home — nursing grudges over policy positions that are, at best, aspirational — then Trump wins four more years.
I don’t want that on my conscience under any circumstances. Do you? . . .
There is one question for Democratic primary voters: Who can win? Nothing else, at this point, really matters.
