Rothman: Face It, the Biden Campaign Is Too Arrogant to Appeal to Disaffected Republicans

National Review senior writer Noah Rothman, on today’s edition of The Editors, questioned the effectiveness of the Biden campaign’s reported outreach to Nikki Haley voters — arguing that Democrats simply appear unwilling to pair that outreach with policy concessions. The campaign is too proud to try to win over Republicans on the issues, he said.

“The Biden campaign has made some overtures to disaffected Republicans, centrist Republicans, and right-leaning independents,” he said. “The Biden campaign recently put out a 30-second spot, allegedly targeting Nikki Haley voters, of Donald Trump saying negative things about Nikki Haley and disparaging her voters.”

But Rothman reminded listeners of what Biden said immediately after Haley’s departure from the race, that “there is a place for them in my campaign because there’s not a place for them in Donald Trump’s campaign” — and that the campaign offered little else beyond that. “And that’s it,” Rothman said. “No policy concessions. Nothing other than basically a moral and emotional blackmail.”

He argued that there is “a prevailing sentiment abroad on the progressive left, which is that they don’t only feel that they don’t have to appeal to these voters . . . but that they don’t really want to be a part of an ideologically heterogeneous coalition.

“They cannot deign to address the concerns of voters who remain unconvinced,” Rothman said, “because they just simply don’t recognize the validity of their arguments. And even to acknowledge them would be to lend legitimacy to another side they don’t feel is legitimate.

“They are so consumed with pride that they cannot stoop . . . to address the concerns of voters who remain unconvinced. ”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.