So you’re criticizing Capla’s interest in models of electoral dynamics because politicians don’t do it. That misses the point: electoral dynamics are mathematically explicable. They don’t cause electoral outcomes, so an in-depth understanding of them is of limited value to candidates themselves. But trusting the explanations of the politicians as to why they won an election is a genuinely terrible approach to understanding anything but the politician’s own beliefs.
So you’re criticizing Capla’s interest in models of electoral dynamics because politicians don’t do it. That misses the point: electoral dynamics are mathematically explicable. They don’t cause electoral outcomes, so an in-depth understanding of them is of limited value to candidates themselves. But trusting the explanations of the politicians as to why they won an election is a genuinely terrible approach to understanding anything but the politician’s own beliefs.