The following note was emailed to Political News Items subscribers a few days ago. It addresses the question: Can Trump win in 2024?
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One of the least convincing arguments in politics is “electability.” The pitch is that “electability” trumps belief(s) and that primary voters should therefore get with the program and do the right thing. Which is: Vote for the candidate who asserts that he or she is the most “electable.”
It has worked in the past. Then-candidate Joe Biden’s pitch in 2020 was a variation of “electability.” He said he was the candidate best able (or “positioned”) to defeat President Trump. As it happened and at the time, two-thirds of Democratic primary voters and caucus attenders agreed that beating President Trump was the overriding issue. Biden was nominated as a result.
Prior to 2020, “electability” didn’t really sell with Democratic primary voters. In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders came within inches of defeating the “electable” Hillary Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination. In 2008, Mrs. Clinton argued she was the more electable candidate. Democratic primary voters took a pass on that and nominated Barack Obama instead. Travel further down the ballot a bit in past primary elections of either party and you will see one failed “electable” candidacy after another. Voters don’t appreciate being told to mind their own business. They think politics is their business.
So here we are in 2023 and guess what? Republicans of all kinds are saying that former President Trump is “unelectable.” Case in point:
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