Reply #18: there is a disconnection

[Two Americas]

The type of candidate who most appeals to the most active Democrats is the opposite of what appeals to the general electorate.

Kerry is an excellent example. He was the perfect candidate for the party activists and yet the very features about him that appealed to us were anathema to the general public. We select the candidate that most appeals to us, based on criteria that only matters to us, and again and again run a candidate that cannot do well with the general public.

We seek and run the candidate that best matches our values and our preferences rather than the candidate who will best advance our principles and ideals to the general public. The two are almost completely mutually exclusive.