Can the Former and Never Trump Republicans Save Democrats from Themselves?

With Ryan Adams

Last year, we made the case for why Joe Biden would be our best bet against Donald Trump. I thought Bernie Sanders was the candidate that would bring on another 1972-like situation as the one thing guaranteed to drive voters to oppose, more than anything else, is socialism. But that was before the pandemic hit, crashed the economy, and sent the country into a fear and panic spiral.

It was before Biden committed to choosing a female Veep, and it was before the murder of George Floyd sent the country reeling, with protests in all 50 state. On the left, they showed mostly violence by the police against protesters. On the right, they showed mostly violence by the protesters. As usual, the truth was somewhere in between. But this turbulent conflux has pushed the demand for an agenda that put would social justice — along with identity politics — front and center. The “Defund the police” label has stuck to the left and they will have to support or defend it.

All these things have shaken up the solid advantage Biden had — that he represented a sober lateral move, to convince enough voters to turn to a man they know and trust, even if it meant unseating an incumbent after only one term, a rare thing in presidential politics. But things look a lot different…