Official 2020 US Presidential Election Thread

[IvorEvilen]

noname2200 said:

JWeinCom said:

I don't get this... I mean sure Trump's a fucking embarassment, but why would she caucus as a democrat? Presumably she had views that led her to be a republican before Trump, so what has changed? I can understand deciding to be an independent because you don't want to be associated with the GOP anymore, but I can't see the logic behind this. Unless you have to caucus with one party or another for some resaon.

You're not required to caucus with anyone, although as a practical matter it's hard to accomplish anything without caucusing, since that's where decisions are made and actions are coordinated.

For what it's worth, we have seen politicians change from one of the major parties to the other during their term, including just last year (Jeff van Drew). It's rare though, and it's nearly always Democrats converting to Republicans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_party_switchers_in_the_United_States

Not exactly.  Although historically up until 2000, it was much more likely for a Democrat to change parties than a Republican.  Since then, things have begun to shift to be more equal between the parties.  Compiling the numbers since Trump took office in 2017, as those seem more relevant to modern politics:

Democrat -> Republican (14)
Democrat -> Other (9)
Republican -> Democrat (19)
Republican -> Other (15)

At this point in history, the tables have turned and Republicans are seeing more departures.  But I suspect this trend will end after Trump leaves office.