“Not arguing the premise is wrong - but bow is this different from ‘vote against Trump’ on the other side?”
My guess is that independents, who I consider shy Democrats, respond to what the media sells. The media sells orange man bad, and they do it constantly and consistently, it has power with independents.
I think when Republicans try to run against Dems, the media won’t sell it, and independents, who generally lean Dem, don’t buy it. Not only that, it seems to dampen enthusiasm in fringe Republicans.
Sadly, elections are about the independent vote.
“My guess is that independents, who I consider shy Democrats....”
This is correct. Not universally true of course but true in a major way. Our side likes to believe that most independents are staunch conservatives who are disenchanted with the RINO party and refuse to labels themselves as such.
In realty, the majority of “independent” voters are either clueless idiots who believe whatever swill the media serves up; or they are staunch liberals who pretend to be thoughtful and diligent, researching all of the issues from every possible angle and then — and ONLY then.... do they vote straight ticket Democrat. LOL.