As many of us have said all election year, the monstrous train-wreck that is Donald Trump means that this election is all about Donald Trump. He knows it, and last night he gave us a huge opportunity to cement a sweeping victory of epic proportions (and one we rarely get): A real and true landslide.
Of course, the opportunity is always laid out first by the party that has its convention first. And what Donald Trump did last night, quadrupling down on far right politics, gloom and doom, and lack of policy — he ceded the entire spectrum of politics to the left of Trump to our side. If the Donald had actually pivoted — either by moving to the center or just becoming more sunny — Tim Kaine wouldn’t necessarily have given us this strategy. But now this ticket means we can win it all — and by a lot. I’m talking about 40 states or more!
Statistically, what I mean is this: In most polling — statewide or nationally — before pollsters work their magic to make the numbers add up to 100% between 2 candidates, Trump is almost always under 40%, and sometimes as low as the low 30’s. This means Hillary has the opportunity to win over as much as 67%. I’m not saying she’s gonna get that high, but the ceiling for her is much higher than it normally is for a Democratic candidate, and it’s much easier for her to get above 50% of the vote where she needs to in order to win.
Here’s another way to look at this, and that is a potential electoral landslide. Right now, Trump is under-performing in some typically red states, including IN, MO, SC, GA, AZ, KS and UT. No offense to Elizabeth Warren or the left-wing of our party, but there aren’t as many of you as there are of the middle of the country. And, frankly, Tim Kaine (who really is mostly progressive), when you combine who he is, his experience, and where he is from, gives cover to lots of the independents and moderate Republicans out there who hate Trump but would never, ever vote for a ticket with what they perceive as a too-left tilt.
We still need to get through the Democratic National Convention, but I have to say this is a really great opportunity to win it all.
And let’s be honest — if we do have it all, I’m sure there will be a far more progressive tilt to government policy than we’ve been seeing with the government split.
So what makes more sense — going for it and potentially winning the whole enchilada? Or sitting at home on your hands because your principles are feeling just a bit cheated. My advice — Hillary gave you way more with the platform than a losing candidate’s supporters usually get. Let it go and fight like hell to stop the far right. Because that’s the only opposition there is between now and November.