Here is some simple electoral math...

[brooklynite]

Both Sanders and Biden will get the votes of the Democratic base. But that is not enough. We need an additional pool of marginal voters.

Biden goes after votes in the middle. He claims that moderate Independents and Republicans in the suburbs (some of whom supported Obama) can be won back.

Sanders goes after voters on the left. He claims that there are non-voting progressives, especially millennials, who can be brought into the political process by nominating a “real” progressive candidate.

We know that there are moderate voters, and we know (from the 2018 election) that they will vote for moderate Democratic candidates.

We know that there are voters on the left but we DO NOT KNOW that they will show up. They didn’t show up in 2018 and Sanders has acknowledged that they haven’t shown up so far in 2020.

Which pool of voters should we appeal to?

[elleng]

1. ALL of them.

Sure hope Dems running things recognize this, and take advantage.

[gldstwmn]

7. Exactly. Annointing one and demonizing

another will alienate many.

[elleng]

9. Yes

[brooklynite]

26. You can't...

You can ask one group to join your coalition, but from a campaigning standpoint, you’re advocating MFA or building on ACA and you’re advocating for free college tuition or you’re not.

[elleng]

29. You/we MUST, learn how to use our words so we appeal to all segments.

[NCProgressive]

2. You're asking

Here is a steak - just grilled on the barbecue and there is also a 6 week old casserole in the freezer; Which one would you rather have?

[OhZone]

6. mmMMMmmm

Steak!

[gldstwmn]

10. But someone coughed on the steak

and it might have Corona virus. Viruses can't survive in the freezer and I love a good casserole.

[hlthe2b]

3. The Trump-fearful voters that sat it out in '16

and, I have to think that is going to be more moderate voters, 29 yrs and older. (no, I am NOT proposing leaving out our younger voters at all. I only mean to suggest a focus on that pocket of voters most amenable to our message, most motivated because of their direct impacts/experiences these past few years, and most likely to show up).

Once again, we address all of our voters. I only suggest an area of focus. And yes, I'd bet that overlaps heavily with the Obama coalition.

[brokephibroke]

4. The Obama coalition.

[OhZone]

8. This!

[relayerbob]

15. Correct answer

[coti]

19. Yes. Wish it was Michelle running! nt

[Triloon]

5. So where is the math..

I was all ready to see some fine blue dog technocracy... oh well.

[oasis]

20. A Bernie supporter requesting "the math". That's a good one.

[Triloon]

23. Happy to amuse you.

I guess you don't have any math to support the OP's promise of math either.
I became a Bernie supporter this morning after Warren dropped out. Would you have mocked me yesterday?

[oasis]

25. I don't believe revealing a slight inconsistency is considered "mocking".

If you threw in with Bernie, unaware that he had difficulty in explaining how he would pay for his grandiose proposals, then, my bad.

[zackymilly]

27. So you switched to Bernie from Warren, even though Bernie said a woman can't win & she was a liar.

[TwilightZone]

22. 41 House seats picked up in 2018.

The vast majority of them were won by moderate Democrats.

[Triloon]

24. And you think that left dems didn't vote for these candidates? Nt

[Laelth]

11. We have already decided which of those we prefer to secure.

I am cool with the party’s collective decision.

Go Joe!



-Laelth

[frazzled]

12. We either remain a coalition party or

we suffer the fate of the Republicans, who ... well, they're just plain crazy. The Tea Party, followed by Trumpism, has backed them into a corner of inflexibility that will certainly come back to haunt them.

[elleng]

14. and have to act like a coalition party,

much of which seems missing around here too often.

[TwilightZone]

13. Ironically, the youth vote *was* up in 2018.

We've been hearing Sanders claim for five years that he's going to bring out young voters and a wave of new voters. Didn't happen in 2016 or he would have done better. Hasn't happened so far in 2020. Turnout is up in many places, but they're showing up for Biden, not Sanders.

Here's the funny thing. Turnout of young voters in 2018 was up significantly, and Sanders wasn't even running.

They probably went to the polls in 2018 for reasons other than Sanders. Climate change, health care, gun control, etc., or for the same reasons as other voters. It seems to have had nothing to do with Sanders.

Source re: 2018: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/04/behind-2018-united-states-midterm-election-turnout.html

[Raggaemon]

16. "People of all stripes"

I'm reminded of the speech then SENATOR Barack Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, his "red states-blue states" speech, there was a seismic positive reaction to those words.

The need to heal is what Biden mentioned, IMO it's where MOST people are now, the need for things familiar as imperfect as they might be, at least recognizable, whether you call it "the establishment" or not.

Revolt and revolution have their time and place, uprooting the democratic party, pulling up the Obama legacy and starting with something that will require a behemoth task and burns up tons of political capital, taking YEARS of intractable struggling, nope, not right now Bernie !

PEOPLE OF ALL STRIPES is an inclusive message, revolution against the "democratic party establishment" is a divisive message, IMO

BS chose to focus on a narrow constituency, with a narrow message, it didn't work, he lost ground with the core of his voter base from 2016, now he's faced with redirecting his campaign, how will his base respond?

[bucolic_frolic]

17. Every thinking adult in America has a reason to show up

Trump!

We just have to reach them all so they understand what's at stake.

[DanTex]

18. We ran that experiment in 2016. Hopefully we get a different result this time.

If midterm results were reliable indicators of presidential elections, the Obama would have lost in 2012.

Biden is going to be the nominee, so this is basically a moot point, and I sure hope you're right. But this sounds an awful lot like Chuck Schumer's "for every working class vote we lose, we gain two suburban votes" thing.

[mikewv]

21. Actual Math starts with winning PA & MI

where Hillary lost by a combined 0.95% of vote total (23,000 or so votes) out of over 10 million votes cast.

[Alpeduez21]

28. No actual math was harmed

Or even used in the production of this OP
Thank you and good nite!