Why were there so many bad takes about Kanye West?

[BlueSwan]

1) 2016 was seen as a sign that thrid party candidates mostly hurt democrats almost regardless of said third party's political platform, given that republicans are MUCH more likely to fall in line with an unpopular candidate than democrats.

2) A general disregard for the intelligence of voters. Mind you, this disregard is rooted in empirical fact.

3) Kanye West seemed like the type of person (regardless of politics) who might be able to appeal to less informed young voters and certainly not only young black voters, but young voters in general - a demography that is highly likely to vote for democrats if their vote at all.

In the end Trump was too polarizing and Kanye too insane for his candidacy to matter. In an alternate reality where the GOP had a less polarizing candidate and Kanye was a bit more sane, I do think he could have done damage to the democratic coalition.