In a crowded field of presidential candidates, most of whom are at or near the middle of their party's political spectrum, an extremist can grab enough solid support from the fringe to win the nomination as the other candidates divide the moderate votes.
The more mainstream candidates who run, the more the support for each individual candidate will be divided and watered down.
If those voters make up, say 15 percent of the party, then the extreme candidate gains a stronghold as the remaining 85 percent divide their votes between the large field of more centrist candidates.
We all saw that dynamic happen in real time - Trump won primaries because the conventional candidates split the votes and refused to drop out early enough in the process.
Head-to-head in a primary season that only included two to four candidates, Trump never would have survived.
With too many candidates in the field, one who can grab that solid 15 percent on any issue - likely an extreme position of some sort - could easily take the nomination as his or her rivals fracture the moderate majority of the electorate into pieces smaller than 15 percent.
For the past two-plus years, we've seen in all too depressing detail what happens when competition among an overly large group of mainstream candidates gives a lousy one from the edge a clear lane to the nomination.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/jan/27/the-larger-the-field-the-less-likely-we-are-to-get/
The more mainstream candidates who run, the more the support for each individual candidate will be divided and watered down.
If those voters make up, say 15 percent of the party, then the extreme candidate gains a stronghold as the remaining 85 percent divide their votes between the large field of more centrist candidates.
We all saw that dynamic happen in real time - Trump won primaries because the conventional candidates split the votes and refused to drop out early enough in the process.
Head-to-head in a primary season that only included two to four candidates, Trump never would have survived.
With too many candidates in the field, one who can grab that solid 15 percent on any issue - likely an extreme position of some sort - could easily take the nomination as his or her rivals fracture the moderate majority of the electorate into pieces smaller than 15 percent.
For the past two-plus years, we've seen in all too depressing detail what happens when competition among an overly large group of mainstream candidates gives a lousy one from the edge a clear lane to the nomination.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/jan/27/the-larger-the-field-the-less-likely-we-are-to-get/
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