I get it, Biden is old and that’s a problem, but why doesn’t anyone seem to have a problem with the fact that Trump is almost the same age, has 34 felonies, raped at least 2 women, went to Epstein’s Island 11 times, sexualized his own daughter, stole classified documents, aligned himself with Xi and Putin, and can’t remember common names?
Is all of that really better than being 2½ years older than he is right now?
I actually disagree with this sentiment.
There’s clearly a split in the Democratic Party regarding the candidates and leanings of the old guard, vs a very large portion of their voter base that wants structural reforms in the country (universal public healthcare VS increased access to insurance, for instance), and I bet a large portion of the latter feel whipped into having to vote for a lesser evil rather than for a political project they actually have passion for.
Meanwhile, Trump was an outsider of the Republican party who managed to get their voters in love with him, to the point that he managed to hijack the party and leave it ripe open for a transformation from neoconservative to proto-fascist, despite the Republican old guard initially being hostile towards him.
The Republican party has managed to stay competitive, despite their political goals being less popular overall in the US than the Dems’, precisely because they allowed themselves to mutate and stay responsive to the changes in the electorate, the obvious tragedy being that democratic institutions (mostly referring to both political parties) have been far more willing to incorporate far right nutjobs who want to end democracy than they have for left-wing populism that wants to make housing affordable.
I don’t know if you don’t realize it, but you just agreed with the pithy quote.
My point is that plenty of high-information Democrat voters ultimately fall in line, but the party fails to reach further beyond, while Republicans don’t actually have to “fall in line”, because they like what they’re voting for. Is this not the opposite of the quote?
It depends who the Republicans and Democrats are. Republican Voters fell in love - Establishment Republicans fell in line. Republican Officials all talked about how terrible Trump was and would be but still get on their knees when it’s time.
Democratic Voters fall in love, with Bernie and AOC and their guy. Establishment Democrats tell them to get in line… Well, the Voters either do or don’t show up.
So, you’re correct that the original subversion was true but it also depends on who any individual commenter references as “The Dems” and “The Repubs” which you can always shift to suit your needs.
The Republican party pretends they’re wagging the dog but they don’t even have a leash.
