But this is why your broader point is ultimately right. People should be debating questions like this, and very clearly and explicitly articulating their counterfactual logic!

So in my view, it’s not obviously relevant that Trump did X or Y when thinking about what Harris should have done.

I sense that some Democrats may be talking themselves into suboptimal political strategies by over-reading comparisons to Trump.

I understood you to be implying that Trump’s behavior is the right counterfactual for Harris’s behavior. I don’t agree. Democrats have different incentives/support bases/etc.

Democrats will likely learn some wrong lessons if their analysis presumes Trump is the relevant counterfactual.

This is exactly my point

😏

There’s a lack of clear counterfactual thinking here.

For example, what is the evidence that Democrats would have done better without Cheney’s help? And if you want to claim that, how exactly would you demonstrate it?

There are so many ways to unlock economic potential, but most of them require regulatory reforms (and yes, some deregulation). Many politicians are terrified to take on the special interests that defend the status quo, while others actively fuel culture wars that make the politics of reform toxic 🤷

Can you be more specific about what “shitty cultural politics” they are smuggling into the abundance agenda?

Oh yeah I like this way of framing it

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