Warren Henry writes for the Federalist about Democratic voters’ approach to 2020.
Last weekend, The New York Times ran a supposedly “straight” news story headlined: “Should a White Man Be the Face of the Democratic Party in 2020?“ It is a discussion occurring in traditional and social media, most often pushed by elites whose answer is already “no.” Overall, however, Democrat voters seem much less consumed by identity politics than do those with soapboxes and megaphones.
Most Democrats would prefer to win the 2020 election. A few weeks ago, YouGov conducted a poll for the HuffPost (of all outlets) indicating 51 percent of Democrats think it is more important to nominate a candidate who can beat Donald Trump, while only 35 percent think it is more important that the nominee be closer to them on issues. Among Democrats and Dem-leaners, only the 18-29 age group prioritizes issues over winning.
YouGov also asked whether various demographic traits make a candidate more or less electable. The answers from Democrats were not quite what people may guess from Big Media’s political coverage. …
… Progressive elites and pundits would do better to consider how little Democrats believe identity matters to electability. Then again, they also would do better to realize that, while the Democratic Party is shifting leftward, it remains 56 percent white and 48 percent older than the age of 50. Indeed, whites without a college degree, whom the woke seem bent on pushing out, remain the largest segment of the Democratic Party. Perhaps the woke will own the party’s future; they have not won it yet.