# Democrats Think Their Candidate Is Running for President of Online, Again  ## Metadata - Author: [[Freddie deBoer]] - Full Title: Democrats Think Their Candidate Is Running for President of Online, Again - Category: #articles - Summary: insert summary - My notes: - Summary: The author argues that many Democrats mistakenly focus on appealing to online audiences instead of swing voters who will decide the election. They believe Kamala Harris needs to connect with a broader range of voters, especially white independents, rather than just her core supporters. The piece critiques the media's overconfidence in Harris's chances, suggesting that past mistakes from 2016 are being repeated. - URL: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/democrats-think-their-candidate-is - Source File: web-only ## LLM Chats ## NotebookLM ## LLM Audio ## Highlights > (If you’re over the age of 25 and you catch yourself earnestly discussing whether something is “brat,” please find Jesus. Or heroin. Or Dianetics. Whatever it takes to change your life.) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j448zyf0tk90bp4h4ava9rwh)) > For all the talk of Black women or Black voters saving the country in 2020, [the reality](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/) is that Biden sufficiently reduced Trump’s lead with white suburban voters and white voters without a college degree to win the election. Votes within a given state are fungible, so of course Black votes were *important*, but it’s just not true that they were determinative. And… why would we need to pretend that they were? Is that some sort of laurel we need to hand Black people? I find it all so bizarre, just more of this senseless liberal habit of acting like hype men for the concept of Black people, as if that's what fighting racism entails. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j4495jb7bdwedj4cf0zcyc4z)) > You will note, for the record, that Republicans do not tack relentlessly to the left to win swing voters. Trump’s willingness to protect Medicare and Social Security after a decade of Paul Ryan’s efforts to gut them was certainly an advantage. But he was also rewarded in 2016 for not-at-all moderate stances on immigration and crime. Many prominent candidates have succeeded with maximalist takes on an aggressive foreign policy. Ronald Reagan was one of the most successful presidents ever, in the public imagination, and there was essentially nothing moderate about his policy agenda. But his *vibes* were immaculately comforting and grandfatherly. This is an exploitable condition in American politics, leaving the door open to far more ambitious policy efforts than a James Carville would ever allow. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j449ny1b04y3s593wscqrjka)) > And the intelligentsia, for lack of a better term, seem committed to pushing the campaign into precisely the wrong direction. Hess writes, “A meme alliance has emerged between the Democratic Party’s irony-pilled leftists and its #resistance-core centrists.” Ah! Both kinds of voters! ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j449q2adqg7ga5tp4mg0b41d))