He mentioned the primaries briefly, but to go into a little more detail, there are two big rational factors at pull in opposite for the (largely very partisan) voters who vote in primary elections. To clarify, the average Republican tends to be farther right then the average person in the general population, independents sometimes can’t vote in primaries depending on state law, and since primary elections tend to see low voter turnout, most of the voters who do show up tend to be very politically focused and have much stronger views on average then even the average member of their party.
You want someone who’s as close to your views as possible. (Which would tend to pull the candidates to the far left or far right, from a general election standpoint, since the median primary voter is far more extreme in their views then the median voters as a whole)
You want someone who has the best chance possible to win the general election, since the other side’s candidate would be even farther from your views then a moderate from your own party (this tends to pull the candidates more towards the center, since centrists tend to have an advantage over extremists in the general election).
These two forces tend to fight it out in internal party politics in every primary season; you tend to get the “I’m the real conservative/the real liberal” candidate running against the “I’m the more electable” candidate in most races. It’s also worth noting that in races where one party has historically dominated a state or a congressional district, force #1 tends to be much stronger, since the other party has very little chance of winning anyway; on the other hand, in races that are expected to be close (Governor races in moderate states, presidential races, ect), force #2 tends to be a higher priority for voters, and you get much more centrist candidates from both sides.
He mentioned the primaries briefly, but to go into a little more detail, there are two big rational factors at pull in opposite for the (largely very partisan) voters who vote in primary elections. To clarify, the average Republican tends to be farther right then the average person in the general population, independents sometimes can’t vote in primaries depending on state law, and since primary elections tend to see low voter turnout, most of the voters who do show up tend to be very politically focused and have much stronger views on average then even the average member of their party.
You want someone who’s as close to your views as possible. (Which would tend to pull the candidates to the far left or far right, from a general election standpoint, since the median primary voter is far more extreme in their views then the median voters as a whole)
You want someone who has the best chance possible to win the general election, since the other side’s candidate would be even farther from your views then a moderate from your own party (this tends to pull the candidates more towards the center, since centrists tend to have an advantage over extremists in the general election).
These two forces tend to fight it out in internal party politics in every primary season; you tend to get the “I’m the real conservative/the real liberal” candidate running against the “I’m the more electable” candidate in most races. It’s also worth noting that in races where one party has historically dominated a state or a congressional district, force #1 tends to be much stronger, since the other party has very little chance of winning anyway; on the other hand, in races that are expected to be close (Governor races in moderate states, presidential races, ect), force #2 tends to be a higher priority for voters, and you get much more centrist candidates from both sides.