Four key ways to expand the new Joe Biden coalition
We’ve arguably seen more movement in the Democratic presidential primary race in the past few days than we saw in the previous several months. Things are shifting rapidly. There’s now a coalition forming around Joe Biden, which includes several of his most popular former rivals. If you’re part of this coalition, and if you want it to succeed, the key is to expand it. Here’s how:
1) Unite with fans of Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Remind them that Pete and Amy have asked them to join the Biden coalition, and that they should honor Pete’s and Amy’s wishes. Point out that Pete and Amy will both be offered key roles in a Biden administration. Keep in mind that fans of Pete and Amy are probably shellshocked right now at this rapid turn of events, so go easy on them.
2) The poll numbers show that when the media started pretending Joe Biden was in trouble earlier this year, a large chunk of his supporters shifted to Mike Bloomberg. Biden was their first choice to begin with. Now that everyone can see Biden isn’t actually in trouble, seek them out and try to steer them back to their original choice Biden. Explain to them that Biden is an actual Democrat with a far better track record on the issues than Bloomberg. Also remind them that Bloomberg’s candidacy probably isn’t going anywhere.
3) Talk with Elizabeth Warren supporters. You won’t get anywhere by telling them that they have to ditch Warren for Biden right now. Warren is a strong candidate and they have right to continue supporting her, even though her mathematical odds of being the nominee are now dropping by the day. Present it to them as a hypothetical: if Warren does end up dropping out at any point, would they rather have Biden or Bernie? Biden has a long and proven track record of successfully moving the country to the left. Bernie may be on the far-left, but he has long track record of not being able to accomplish anything of substance for the left at all. Then if Warren does end up dropping out, they’ll be more inclined to join the Biden coalition.
4) Sanders is very likely to win a majority of the Super Tuesday delegates. Don’t let anyone in the Biden coalition get discouraged by this. While the media will spend the next two weeks pretending Sanders is the presumptive nominee, the reality is that the demographics in the upcoming states after Super Tuesday start to shift in Biden’s favor (Florida, Georgia, etc). There’s a reason Amy, Pete, Beto and others are lining up behind Biden: they know how to do election math, and they know Joe Biden can win the nomination and the general election.
