Late Stage Capitalism

The establishment Democrats have trained their voter base very well to respond to "electability", which is shorthand for, "can this person win against the Republicans?" Establishment Dems have insisted that the most electable candidate is the one that can win Republican voters by offering policies Republican voters like, which recently includes stuff like being pro forced birth or against affordable housing. This has resulted in a lot of older folks in the Democratic voter base professing to like and prefer progressive candidates, but not voting for them out of fears of "electability".

Basically, the Establishment Democrat leaders have been using the Republican party as a threat to beat their voter base into compliance. "Vote for our candidates no matter what or you'll get a Republican." This has had two major results in the Democratic voter base: 1. Older voters becoming numb to the threat like an abuse victim deciding to disassociate and not participate. 2. Younger, "untrained" voters deciding to fight back by voting for the candidate they most agree with. This is why we have seen progressive candidates win "the youth vote" most consistently, which Establishment Dems have been trying to claim is mostly 18 year old college students, when in actuality they mean "anyone under 40". It has only stopped working recently because more and more older folks are checking out and not voting because the promises of the Establishment Dems haven't materialized for decades while younger voters are voting for progressive candidates.