Rally behind one challenger
Finding a good challenger is not the hard part. Converging on one is.
The split-field problem
The most reliable way an incumbent survives is four challengers who broadly agree. They divide the vote against a single well-funded name, each one convinced they are the strongest, and the seat does not move. This happens in both parties, every cycle, and it is not caused by anyone's bad faith — it is what happens by default when nobody coordinates.
An incumbent with money does not have to beat a challenger. They have to avoid a two-way race.
Converging by a method, not by a deal
The base has to pick one, early, and the method has to be one that everybody involved accepts as fair before they know who wins it. That is why the criteria are published first:
- Merit decides, not access. Candidates are assessed on public criteria, with the reasoning published beside the result — Meritocracy and Qualifications.
- The community doing the converging is the party base itself, inside its own primary, on its own door. No door tells another door who to pick.
- Nobody's assessment is a private number. Every result shows how it was computed and how much is actually known about the person — see Evidence.
- A citizen who disagrees keeps their position on the record. Consensus is shown as consensus, with your delta from it visible — Community consensus.
The deadline is the primary, not the election
After the ballot is set there is nothing left to coordinate. Every part of this — recruiting, assessing, converging — has to finish before the filing deadline, which for most seats is a long way before anybody is paying attention. Working on the right calendar is most of the advantage.
Why this happens on the party doors
A primary is an internal contest, so the convergence has to happen inside the community that votes in it: WeCitizensR.com, WeCitizensD.com, WeCitizensL.com, WeCitizensSocialism.com. Each base runs its own play with its own priorities. What they share is the arithmetic underneath and the rule that a seat view always shows the strongest challenger who is not from your side. See One App, Four Doors.
Also in this area
- Challengers first — why the order is reversed.
- The seat view — the page a citizen actually uses.