Who would be the ideal nominee? Here are my criteria:
- It would be a man. I don’t agree that a woman can’t win, but running a woman hurts on the margins.
- He would have no ties to the Biden administration, so he can’t be associated with Biden’s perceived failures.
- He is a successful governor.
- He is young, articulate, and charismatic.
- He knows how to communicate with social media.
- He isn’t afraid to take moderate, well-reasoned positions on culture war issues.
- He doesn’t describe himself as a socialist.
- He opposes Trump vigorously, but without veering to the left on issues which create vulnerability for Democrats. In other words, he doesn’t think rejecting Trumpism naturally requires defunding the police or throwing open the borders.
- He understands that the McConnell version of the Constitution doesn’t work and must be changed. I have laid out the kinds of reforms that are possible in previous posts.
- He will actually promote a balanced form of liberal democracy that moves power away from the executive and the Supreme Court to Congress even if it means limiting his own options for change.
We won’t get this paragon. Let’s hope we get someone close to it.