The real loser of the 2016 campaign is policy

[fleabiscuit]

“The campaign for the 2016 Presidential nominations has shaken the political kaleidoscope, and the pieces are still moving. The populist surge of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders has torn the carefully crafted campaign strategies of other candidates into tatters. Populism is trumping realism. Political nostrums – like how Evangelical Christians or women will vote – are being challenged almost daily. The political establishment looks like the Wizard of Oz, with feeble powers inside giant machines….”

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/03/16-real-loser-2016-campaign-policy-reeves?cid=00900015020149101US0001-0316

[yallerdawg]

1. Oh, I like this:

But just as the unhinged ideas from Trump are doing nothing to dampen his fans, so the unrealistic ones from Sanders are not putting off his core supporters. And just as the scorn of the establishment helps Trump, so the attacks from experts on the mainstream left on Sanders’ ideas bolster his image as a revolutionary idealist, refusing to accept the status quo.

We should be honest: it is only in exceptional circumstances that policy is likely to be the central ingredient of politics. The personality, vision and message of the candidate, and the efficiency of a political operation, are typically more important. We should also be honest that the aspirational nature of campaign pledges very often puts them well beyond reasonable reach. Remember Hoover’s “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage?” Presidents can’t make that kind of change happen.

Except the majority of Democrats didn't take the bait!

[Treant]

2. I have to disagree

with some of this. Not the analysis of Trump or Sanders on the campaign trail, that's dead on.

But the idea that Sanders is competitive in the primary is only true in the media horse race, and even they're starting to have trouble propping that one up. He's trailing by a huge number of delegates and even favorable states aren't looking all that great for him.

Trump probably is competitive, for now at least, but isn't going to approach winning in the generals as things stand now--and that assumes he even achieves the candidacy.

Once again, the revolutions have been put off for lack of interest.

[charlyvi]

3. Also too, the idea that policy is not being discussed in this campaign is off.

Hillary discusses policy all the time. Bernie usually limits his policy discussions to economics, but our candidates aren't just show horses. That's in the Republican wheelhouse! But the media must have their both sides do it narrative.