OK I agree with you then. Because I do think if the left wants to win it needs to expand beyond its current base. One of the reasons Trump succeeded is that low information voters perceive him as moderate. So I think there is a possibility the left could pursue a similar strategy where you maintain serious left policies but adopt a sort of moderate posture.
I think Mamdani is sort of the closest thing we’ve seen to this strategy, although obviously NYC is unique enough that you can’t just copy it directly.
I don’t think people perceived trump as moderate, people perceived him as “one of us”. That’s not the same thing (though interesting psychological research shows that most trump supporters probably desperately want to see themselves as average and moderate).
Mamdani was unapologetic, leading to support from the left, but he’s also charismatic. So he almost certainly captured the obama-trump vote by virtue of talking good and looking good.
I think you’re right that there are multiple dimensions to attracting these fence-sitters. But it is also true that voters generally express a desire for a more “moderate” candidate, and that they perceived Trump to be more moderate than Harris, despite all evidence.
Of course what they mean when they say these things on surveys is open to interpretation.
I’ve never seen any source say people thought Trump was more moderate than Harris. There were some questionable focus groups about him and Clinton, but Trump campaign #3 wasn’t really pretending anymore.
OK I agree with you then. Because I do think if the left wants to win it needs to expand beyond its current base. One of the reasons Trump succeeded is that low information voters perceive him as moderate. So I think there is a possibility the left could pursue a similar strategy where you maintain serious left policies but adopt a sort of moderate posture.
I think Mamdani is sort of the closest thing we’ve seen to this strategy, although obviously NYC is unique enough that you can’t just copy it directly.
I don’t think people perceived trump as moderate, people perceived him as “one of us”. That’s not the same thing (though interesting psychological research shows that most trump supporters probably desperately want to see themselves as average and moderate).
Mamdani was unapologetic, leading to support from the left, but he’s also charismatic. So he almost certainly captured the obama-trump vote by virtue of talking good and looking good.
I think you’re right that there are multiple dimensions to attracting these fence-sitters. But it is also true that voters generally express a desire for a more “moderate” candidate, and that they perceived Trump to be more moderate than Harris, despite all evidence.
Of course what they mean when they say these things on surveys is open to interpretation.
I’ve never seen any source say people thought Trump was more moderate than Harris. There were some questionable focus groups about him and Clinton, but Trump campaign #3 wasn’t really pretending anymore.
I tried to find the poll but I couldn’t so either it was an outlier or I misremembered.