Should Buttigieg(D) challenge Donnelly(D) for the US Senate seat an Indiana?

[BzaDem]

32. I think you are missing my point.

When I am talking about moderate voters, I am not talking about moderate in any kind of objective sense. I am talking about moderate in a subjective sense, from the perspective of the voter in question. You can shout to such a voter all you want about how the Democratic party is not that leftist, make comparisons with other countries, etc. But they don't care. They do not want to vote for a candidate that THEY see as too far to the left, regardless of your opinion of their conclusion.

Often their view isnt even coherent. But if they see an incumbent or establishment candidate challenged from their left, that is all the information they need to draw their conclusion and vote for the Republican. (This also works in the other direction, when the right challenges its own. See Republican challenges and subsequent losses in Delaware, Colorado, and Nevada. Or later Republican victories in Colorado and Nevada, where the subsequent establishment candidate won after the primarily electorate learning about what happens when the establishment candidate doesn't win in a swing state.)

If this is attempted on the Democratic side with swing states or right leaning states, our own primary electorate will learn the same lesson (and avoid making the same mistake the next time around). But that would be too late to save several Senate seats, which would likely put out of reach our ability to confirm Supreme Court justices. Wouldn't it be better if we just skipped the learning phase, when the lesson is obvious?