Fine, let’s talk about that McElwee article a bit more.
Due to Duverger’s law, the US political system tends towards a two-party system. That means that coalitions are formed before elections, rather than after them, like in a multi-party parliamentary system.
McElwee sees coalition-building as horse-trading on issues. That’s what coalition members do after an election in parliamentary election, not what coalition members do before a first-past-the-post election in the US. What the center-left coalition needs is a uniting narrative in the way that Republicans have organized its coalition partners to be unified around lowering taxes and being anti-government. The Democratic Party has not organized its coalition partners nearly as efficiently.
I think it’s a mistake to see Medicare for All as the uniting force. Yes, it’s popular, but it’s only one issue and doesn’t have easy linkage to other issues. I’ve argued that the uniting narrative for a center-left coalition should be one of class warfare against economic elites and the need for strong government as the only tool capable of protecting the people against corporations, banks, and the 1%. Universal health care can be framed as being derived from that. Addressing issues of racism and sexism can be framed as being derived from that. Protecting workers can be framed as being derived from that.
The group traditionally included in the center-left who wouldn’t feel comfortable in that message are the neoliberals who use social issues to hide that their main concern is deregulation and smaller government in line with the classical liberalism that they are a resurgence of. And, really, fuck those guys. I’m not crying if Democrats lose the vote of some gay hedge fund manager in Manhattan.
I would ask if they would have bothered to make a choice that far down on that ballot if we had IRV with all the major Democratic primary candidates, Trump, and maybe some third-party people or if they would have left Trump and Biden unranked.
Right, the only way to prove you’re not a nazi is by voting for Sanders. And even if you vote for Sanders you might still be a nazi anyway. Cool story bro.