an interesting question.
on the D side, the leading candidates for that nomination are mostly all very similar in policies (Hillary, the wacky “leftist” substitute for Hillary some people are pushing, even Biden has mostly similar politics...his most significant difference being he occasionally says something truthful)
on the R side... there are significant differences in policies between, say, Bush or Chistie.......on the left....and Cruz or (to some degree maybe Rubio and maybe the governor of Wisconsin?) on the other hand.
SO, which D gets the nomination is probably not too important policy=wise. However, which R gets the nomination could really make a difference.
IMHO
good analysis. I also think Salon is trying to make sure nobody who really represents our beliefs, like Cruz, gets the nomination