A Nation of Pundits
PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—Ask any New Hampshire Democrats which of the nearly two dozen candidates they’re voting for in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, which is still six months away, and the reply usually isn’t a name, but a list—a few candidates they like, perhaps, or maybe a couple they’ve ruled out.
Ask them what factor is most important in their choice, however, and the response is instantaneous and nearly universal, right down to the words they use: “Who can beat Trump.”
These are the electability voters, and they are now driving the Democratic primary. They’re the biggest reason—perhaps even the only reason—that former Vice President Joe Biden remains atop the field: Whether they’re correct or not, rank-and-file Democrats believe Biden has the best chance of defeating President Donald Trump next fall, and that—more than health care, climate change, immigration, or any other single policy issue—is what they care about above all.
“Whoever can beat Trump is most important. I want him in prison,” Elizabeth Keniston told me in Portsmouth, where she was waiting for Biden to speak outside a local brewery on a humid Friday evening this summer. “I like the other platforms better, but I think he’s the only one the middle of the country might vote for. I usually vote for the person I want. But this year I’m going to be more thoughtful. I look at polls.”
Electability has long been a factor in the nomination battles of both parties, its significance varying from election to election.
