Do Democrats want to score points or to defeat Trump?

As the Democratic presidential primary winnowing process begins, the candidates shouldn’t forget the endgame: Defeating Donald Trump. And Bay Area voters should remember that the November 2020 election will not be decided in the California political bubble.

In other words, tilting too far left during the primary campaign risks peril in the general election. Yet, some presidential candidates in the first of 12 Democratic debates were running as if the country’s political makeup mirrors California’s strongly left-leaning bent.

The general election will likely be tight and the outcome determined in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida. Those states, with a total of 75 electoral votes, backed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. But Trump won them all in 2016, each by margins of less than 1.2 percentage points. That cost Hillary Clinton the presidency.

It didn’t matter that 2.9 million more voters nationally cast ballots for Clinton than Trump. And the total popular vote won’t matter in 2020. It’s about the Electoral College. It’s about getting to 270 Electoral College votes.

Which means capturing at least three of the four swing states, which are nothing like California. The Golden State is far more racially diverse; three of the four swing states are at least 74% white. A higher percentage of California’s adult population is college educated. The median household income here is at least 18% higher.

For Democrats, winning those swing states will be about both personality and policy. On personality, they need a likable candidate who can parry Trump’s verbal attacks and provide the presidential persona much of the country is seeking.

Hence, Sen. Kamala Harris’ verbal takedown of former Vice President Joe Biden should give supporters of the latter cause for concern. Biden set himself up with his earlier tone-deaf, albeit misunderstood, comments about getting along in decades past with bigoted Southern senators. Then, he was unprepared when Harris launched her predictable attack. If Biden couldn’t anticipate and effectively counter that, how will he stand up to Trump?

On policy, those Democrats who stray too far left will leave themselves and their party vulnerable in the general election. In a social media era, the tradition of tacking left for the primary and back to the center for the general election presents hazards. Candidates’ words can more easily come back to bite them.

Consider, for example, the debate over health care. Ensuring all Americans have access is a winning message. However, insisting on replacing everyone’s private insurance with a government-run “Medicare for All” option, while it might be sound policy, is a political loser.

Yet, that’s exactly what Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are doing. (And what Harris advocated before flip-flopping for the second time on the issue.) Sanders insists that people will stand up and tell the insurance companies “that their day is gone.”

Sanders and Warren might be right that replacing private-insurance premiums with a tax increase to fund a government-run plan for all is more cost-effective for most Americans. But voters are unconvinced.

Yes, polling shows they overwhelmingly think health care is too expensive. And a majority think the federal government should ensure all Americans have health care. But a majority still prefer private insurance to a government-run system.

Spending the presidential campaign trying to sway Americans to give up their insurance will leave the party vulnerable to attacks from Trump — and waste valuable time that could be better spent reminding voters of the president’s erratic behavior and attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. It will put Democrats on the defensive rather than the offensive.

Whether the issue is Medicare for All, slavery reparations, free college or abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a certain point, the party and its candidates must decide what they want — to make a point or win the presidential election.