JudasIscariotTheBird wrote:All I'm saying is that in large fields, the candiates that someone would naturally dismiss as unelectable become more likely to win than you would assume, especially in this environment where authoritarian figures are winning elections across the globe. Yes, the Democrats are less likely to support one than Republicans, but lets also not pretend that there aren't a substancial number of Dem voters who are completely out of their minds. Gabbard has a "D" next to her name, and that will be enough for a lot of horrible people who happen to vote Dem just because its what they do. Also, imagine how many Islamaphobe and queer-bashing voters the Dems might pick up if Trump gets impeached and convicted, and the MAGA crowd wants an authoritarian to support in a non-Republican party. Yeah, it isn't a likely scenario, but the larger the Dem field is, the stronger her chances of winning become (which is the inverse of any other Dem candidate.)
Anecdotally what I've seen on FB is a bunch of people (myself included), being, "Wow, that's really cool. She's super liberal!" And then, after reading about her over the course of a few days realizing she's an extremest who was raised by extremists, and is willing to change her position 180 degrees as a matter of convenience.
Granted, anecdotal evidence is just that, and people who are paying attention right now are highly involved/interested in politics, so it's hard to say how she does when less informed voters get involved, but primary voters tend to be pretty involved.
A toast to Darrel Sink - a lifelong Cubs fan. You'll be missed.