“THey have NO ONE who is a star.”
If you have no star you run an unknown you can present as an “outsider”
The conservative South began shifting to the GOP during the Nixon administration. In the 1976 election Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, unknown on the national scene, won the Democrat nomination and the general election. He ran as a moderately conservative pragmatist outside and picked up enough southern states to win the election. As president he governed proudly as a liberal.
In 1992 the Dems did the same thing against incumbent President George W. Bush. Bill Clinton, an unknown governor from Arkansas appeared on the scene, won the nomination, and ran for POTUS as a moderate pragmatic outsider. He picked up some GOP southern states, depriving Bush a chance at winning the Electoral College. Once in office, Clinton governed as a leftist.
Biden was in North Carolina this week, with Democrat Governor Roy Cooper announcing a federal grant for the Charlotte airport.. North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes (more votes than Michigan) are critical to any GOP candidate for president now that Virginia is reliably Dem in presidential elections. Trump won NC in 2016 and 2020 by very thin margins. Those same years Democrat Roy Cooper won the governor’s mansion with more votes than Trump received. Roy is a leftist who is portrayed as a compassionate moderate in the press.
Unlike California, NC has a strong economy and its population is growing. Many liberals from the northeast and west coast are moving to the state and shifting the urban areas blue. The state has a large black population and Hispanic population. If the Dems can win NC, the Electoral college map is almost impossible for any Republican presidential candidate. It is the ultimate swing state to win. If Virginia, Georgia, and NC go Dem, the Democrats will win the White House in 2024.
Governor Cooper is very ambitious. He is well spoken. He comes across as rational, pragmatic, and compassionate. He has a proven 8 year record governing a prosperous state. He is the ideal outsider for the Democrats and media to package as a sensible moderate outsider. It would be very difficult for Trump to demagogue him as a radical leftist. He would have strong appeal to independents, moderate Republicans and women who are repelled by Trump or who want a respite from the chaos in U.S. politics.
Running Cooper solves the candidate problem for the Dems, just as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did in the past. He can run on a positive message. He can be marketed as a “safe” choice with a record for responsible and pragmatic governance. He can run with proven economic record, neutralizing one of Trump’s key messages. He offers relief from Trump’s chaos and Biden’s dementia. He can deliver NC’s critical Electoral College votes. He will govern from the left when in office but his ego is under control so he comes across as a man of the people.
He would be a perfect unknown to emerge at a staged convention where Biden voluntarily steps aside for health reasons and asks the delegates to choose the best candidate. Imagine if the delegates then surprisingly pass over Kamala, Newsom, and others to pick this unknown “proven” leader. Roy comes across in debates as a rock solid, smart, and safe pragmatist while Trump looks undisciplined and angry. The press mantra says Trump is becoming unhinged by all the court cases he is losing. Cooper has the self discipline to not be rattled by Trump’s personal attacks. He will stay on message as a safe, proven, pragmatic performer with the skills and temperament to find common sense solutions to the nation’s problems.
Waiting to bring out the surprise stealth candidate at the convention makes the actual fall campaign very short. After a summer of fighting court cases and a weak Biden, Trump would face a younger, smart, and proven governor of a very prosperous state who comes across as a moderate, sensible, and safe Washington outsider. Pair Cooper with a relatively unknown female and or person of color with a strong record and appearance of moderation. For voters looking for stability and sensible governance, versus four years of intense and viscous political fights, a perceived moderate Democrat ticket would be extremely attractive.just as it was in 1976 and 1992.
Democrats want to win. This might be the strategy to change the political dynamic in 2024 entirely.
I assume you are a democrat?
That is quite a good campaign speech.
I’ll never vote democrat though. Too many crackpots reside there.