YES! This is the time for Democrats to stand for something and inspire their base just a little bit.
A couple of things:
1. Have Democrats not been standing for things?
2. Opening things up for a primary is a huge gamble. What often is supported by the base and by the majority of Americans, might not be supported by key swing state voters who are more inclined to have a strong man who promises to make every one of their dreams come true. What is obvious to you might not be obvious to those in Penn or Mich who still think car factories circa 1950 are coming back.
Also, demographics. While most Americans have no problem with blacks, gays, and women, obviously plenty of others do. So if/when the primary opens up, will low info/avg voters be scared off by the nonsense? Democrats have a lot of promising candidates who are women, black, gay, centrist and liberal. You don’t think your avg/low info voter might think twice to vote for Mayor Pete bc they’ve been fed for 2+ years that all gays are tranny track pedos looking to rape your child in every public bathroom and read them LGBT books during Draq Queen story hour?
Am I saying that I fear that America isn’t ready for another black president? Or for its first woman president or openly gay president? It just might be when we’re facing down the barrel of an authoritarian Trump or fascist DeSantis. Do we want to find out? It’s risky. Especially since you know that FB algorithm is gonna be working in OT promoting thee most revolting disinformation about the election. Not to mention bad actors like Putin who might see Trump as their only way out of the hubris they’ve created in Ukraine.
3. I think base voters should be excited to vote for any Dem in 2024. It’s better for a Democratic corpse to occupy the White House than Trump or DeSantis. We can worry about passing the next round of health care policy later. Right now we are trying to keep authoritarians from ending American democracy.
You know what I do wish more base voters cared about? Local elections. Much can be done at the state level. How many voters blame Biden but can’t even tell you who their governor is? And wouldn’t it be nice to have more Senators in the Senate? Instead, Biden’s entire agenda is held hostage by Manchinema. FDR couldn’t pass anything in this Senate where Repubs say no to everything and Manchinema are bought off. Makes me wonder if it would actually be better for us to lose the presidency but hold onto the Senate? Then again, authoritarians don’t need the Senate. They’ll still find ways to consolidate power.