how is Biden the only person that can beat Trump? What left-leaning person would go “hmm, it’s not Biden so I guess I’m voting Trump”?
It’s not that Biden is the only person who can beat Trump. Biden is the only person RUNNING who can beat Trump. There are plenty of people who could beat Trump, but until one of them says they want the job this entire thing is a nonstarter.
the DNC kinda prevents legitimate alternatives from succeeding though. It doesn’t have to be this way but the party keeps it like this, maintaining the incumbent as the only choice.
People want more options and they would be available if it was remotely possible to overcome the DNC’s favoritism to Biden.
I 1000% agree with you. The DNC shouldn’t be operating as an arm of the incumbent, that’s precisely why we’re in this position now. I just don’t know how that changes when the DNC is staffed with people chosen by the incumbent, especially before November.
I would argue that anyone who meets the qualifications COULD have run, but the chances of beating the incumbency advantage were admittedly pretty low. There are a lot of institutional obstacles in the way, but that’s not the same as actively preventing someone from tossing their hat in the ring. That’s like saying RFK Jr was prevented from running. He just had no chance winning the Democratic primary (because he’s a piece of shit) so he went independent.
The deck is clearly stacked against anyone trying to unseat an incumbent, but that’s not new information. That’s literally how our system works. I would prefer the DNC be neutral and have a drag out fight in the primary and then support the winner, but that’s pretty tough to do when the incumbent is the de facto leader of the party.
Did I say that? I might have said something like it in another comment, but I don’t think I ever said anyone who is voting for Biden would vote for Trump if the Dems nominate someone else.
There exist many voters who do not follow politics and will only show up to vote for someone they know. Name recognition builds trust and enthusiasm for voting. We need all the voters, not just the ones tuned in enough to know they shouldn’t vote for Trump.