Which Dem presidential candidate should conservatives be rooting for?

During last night’s Power Line VIP show, we received plenty of good questions from the audience. We answered a number of them. Apologies to those whose questions we didn’t get to.

One of the best questions of the evening came from Scott. He asked, in effect, whether conservatives who favor President Trump’s reelection should be rooting for the Dems to nominate one of their more extreme candidates, on the theory that she will be easier to beat, or one of their less extreme ones, on the theory that, if he beats Trump, we’ll be better governed than if an extremist does.

The consensus, I think, was that we should root for the Dems to nominate their most extreme (and therefore most beatable) candidate, on the theory that none of their candidates will govern as other than an extremist.

Joe Biden is sometimes said to be a center-left choice, rather than an extremist. This was true of Biden at one time, I believe.

However, there’s not much evidence that it’s true these days. Throughout this campaign, Biden has shed moderate positions he once took in favor of extreme ones.

As importantly, there’s little reason to believe that Biden would exercise much control over his administration. He’s not exactly a high-energy guy these days; nor was he ever particularly detail oriented. As president, he will likely choose the path of least resistance. That will be the leftist path.

Biden is likely to nominate an out-and-out left-winger as his vice president in order to “balance” the ticket. And he’s certain, wittingly or not, to populate his administration with leftists, if not at the Cabinet level then in the key sub-cabinet jobs.

That’s how it always works in Democratic administrations. The pool of candidates for these positions consists overwhelmingly of lefties.

In short, Joe Biden can’t save America from Democratic extremism, so there is no reason (other than perhaps sentimental ones) for conservatives to pull for Biden’s nomination. And there is good reason to root against it given the polls that show him running the best against President Trump.

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