2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Ezra Klein: Democrats don't need to convert Trump supporters [View all]NewJeffCT
(56,842 posts)but, it was close enough that Bush and Trump were able to steal it. Maybe a more charismatic politician wins in 2000? (Biden? Not sure who else was viable in 2000? Bill Bradley was another smart, very competent and boring type) Maybe Julian Castro wins this year because he is young and exciting and a good speaker (per his 2012 DNC speech)
But, to be honest, it's the same for the Republicans - Reagan was exciting to them, so he won. Bush Sr was boring, but was going up against more boring Mike Dukakis. However, once Bush Sr was up against the young and charismatic Bill Clinton, he lost. Then, boring Dole lost in 1996. "Fun" Bush Jr defeated boring Gore and Kerry because he was the guy that people wanted to have a beer with, and he excited Republicans. McCain and Romney were boring and up against young and charismatic Obama and lost. Trump - for all his lies and his faults - was exciting, good for TV ratings, and he turned out a lot of those rural white voters and won.
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