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@WestphalianPeace has a solid idea: win by making the opposition unappealing without removing all their exits.
These outcomes are obviously better than stoking a generational feud! Massacring your enemies is a waste.
I really do believe that a boring-ass Mitt Romney candidate would peel away a ton of Democrats. Trudeau equivalents can’t run such a platform because Trump could and would splinter their faction. But it’s the best, proven way to disarm America’s radical left.
Your examples were not that. The Nazis were beaten by main force. The 60s hippies weren't beaten at all. Nixon was beaten before he was pardoned. There may be cases where an enemy, weakened but still dangerous, should be allowed to retreat or surrender and live rather than being wiped out, but the right is not in that position. First they have to be winning, and winning by such a margin that mercy looks like magnanimity rather than weakness.
LOL. Literal boring-ass Mitt Romney got spanked, and the Democrats attacked him with vigor. Dog abuser, binders full of women, "race-mongering pyromaniac", eh?
Eh, that was then, and this is now. The shit flung at Romney was tame by comparison.
He was also running against a healthy, charismatic incumbent in the wake of a recession. Biden hasn’t been very visible, and the closest he’s come to signature legislation is student loan helicopter money. The COVID management was mediocre at best. The infra bill got panned as a DEI sinecure. He didn’t offer the radical centrists much on campaign, but I think they’ve been disappointed.
No, his most important trait is Not Being Trump. Harris is running on a similar “platform”.
If Republicans had that on the table, I’m confident it would be very well received…amongst Democrats. And there’s the rub. So long as Trump can spoil the election, Republicans have to keep his base satisfied. That means not compromising.
Do you mind elaborating on what Being Trump is? It seems to imply that Democrats are turned of by his crassness, and if only the Republicans would field someone more presentable, Democrats would be swayed (while swaying Trump's base in the other direction). The issue I have with this idea is that from hanging out with Trumpists it's less about surface-level characteristics, and really really not wanting another empty suit that will sell them out culturally to progressives, financially to corprations, and send them to fight in foreign wars. You can put someone more presentable with a similar platform, and Democrats will blow the "literally Hilter" gasket just the same (see: DeSantis).
So what is the Trumpness that Republicans are supposed to Not Be?
Exhibit B: Van Jones ‘shaking’ over Ramaswamy remarks: ‘That guy is dangerous’
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I think netstack literally means "not being the actual person Donald Trump".
I'm a bit skeptical that this is enough. We already seen some samples of he enhitlering of DeSantis, for example.
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