Read this, then come back to this comment….

The problem with this idea is that there is a huge right-wing machine painting every Democrat as extremist. Nominating a moderate Democrat to suppress Republican turnout only works in the absence of a machine maximizing that turnout already. And this can additionally be counted upon to demoralize your own base.

Democrats have been seeking centers since 1992. We’ve seen three explosions in enthusiasm: 2008, when Obama campaigned to the left of where he eventually governed; 2016, with the rise of Bernie and the candidacy of Hillary (to the left of where she was in the 90s), and now in opposition. We don’t need to seek centers. We don’t need to win over soft Republicans. We need a strong principled stance, and let’s see if *that* wins over anyone who left us because we didn’t seem to stand for anything. Analysis | Extreme candidates lose because they boost the other party’s turnout, research finds