Views Of Democrats On Who Could Beat Trump

The chart above is from the Morning Consult Poll. The survey was done between January 17th and 19th of a national sample of 752 Democratic voters, with a 4 point margin of error.

The chart shows that a majority of Democrats think there are five qualities of a candidate that would make it harder for them to beat Donald Trump -- being gay/lesbian, being a woman, being a socialist, being older than 70, and being a candidate of color.

We can dismiss two of those immediately. There are no candidates of color left among the Democratic leaders, and a candidate over 70 would just be another such (since Trump is also over 70).

That leaves three qualities. Personally, I think we can dismiss the candidate being a woman also. Remember, Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes than Trump in 2016, and lost only because of a quirk regarding our electoral college system. I believe the nation is ready for a female president, and neither of the two leading women candidates (Warren and Klobuchar) have the baggage than Clinton had (after years of right-wing lies told about her).

I am a bit more leery of an LGBT candidate (Buttigieg). Polls show we are a far less homophobic nation than in the past, but who knows what people will do when then are alone in the voting booth. Will they vote old prejudices?

The one that really worries me is "socialist". Many progressives would like to think they could explain that away in a general campaign. I disagree. Many decades of propaganda have too many Americans frightened of socialism. And the Republicans (especially Trump) are licking their chops at the thought of running against a self-admitted socialist.

Some of you may say that the Republicans will call any of the Democrats a socialist -- no matter who gets nominated. That is true. But the charge won't stick for any of them but Bernie Sanders. That's because they can use his own words against him (and pictures of him in Moscow and with the Sandinistas). It's why he's the only candidate they haven't attacked. They would love to have Sanders as the nominee, because they believe he would be the easiest to beat. I agree.