By Thomas Mills

politicsnc.com

On Sunday, the New York Times endorsed both Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar for president or at least to become the Democratic nominee.

The endorsement comes at a time when Warren is trying to settle a high profile dispute with Bernie Sanders and Klobuchar is struggling to gain enough momentum to stay in the race.

The dual endorsement noted the internal debate raging within the Democratic Party over whether to support a candidate from the left flank of the party or one more in the center. Warren, they decided, is the best choice for those who prefer more abrupt change. What they really said was “Take Warren over Bernie Sanders.” People who believe in a more incremental approach should choose Klobuchar over her fellow centrists, most notably Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bloomberg.

Personally, I just want a candidate who can win. I like a lot of the policies espoused by Warren and Sanders. I believe we need to dramatically restructure our tax code to force the wealthiest among us to pay more of their fair share. I think we would be better off with a single-payer health care system. I think community college programs should be free since they are largely job training programs for corporate America.

That said, I’m not confident that enough Americans agree. Or if they agree generally, they would prefer a slower, more deliberate process to get there. I believe much of the country is more center right than center left. In particular, I think the people in the states Democrats need to win prefer an incremental approach more than a radical one.

I’m left believing that a more moderate candidate has a better chance of defeating Trump. I agree with the Times that Klobuchar would be the strongest match up against the president. She brings a record of winning broadly in a purple state.

I vehemently disagree with the sentiment that a woman can’t win. In fact, I believe the exact opposite. A woman could win handily and would attract more of the swing voters Democrats need than a man with similar views.