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Biden, not Warren, is Sanders’ chief antagonist
By Kent R. Kroeger (June 27, 2019)
The news media generally likes simple narratives. It makes their job easier and makes the news more digestible for consumers.
And while there is no shame in making one’s job less complicated or work product more consumable, it can easily misrepresent reality.
The latest example is from the 2020 Democratic nomination race and the simplified narrative goes something like this: Since offering more practical and concrete progressive policy proposals, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is challenging Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the hearts and minds of progressive Democrats.
The simplifying assumption is that Sanders and Warren are fighting for the same progressive voters. But is that true?
Of course, on a reductive level, this narrative is true by definition. All Democratic candidates are competing for the same voters in the Party’s base. But as documented in an earlier analysis of the December 2018 American National Election Study (ANES), Warren’s core supporters are demographically and attitudinally different from Sanders’ core supporters. Contrary to the media storylines, Warren’s support has always been concentrated among the most elite segments of the Democratic Party. She is slowly rebuilding Hillary Clinton’s 2016…
