Terry… do you have any theories on what happened to the 15 million Democrat voters who apparently didn’t show up for this election? I would think a change like that in voting patterns would be the subject of a lot of analysis and commentary. Yet I haven’t heard a word about it. I’ve heard a lot about “record turnout”, but Harris seems to have gotten 67 million votes, while Biden got 81 million. And for context, Obama and Clinton got around 65 million each and Trump only got maybe a couple of million more votes than he got in 2020. As such, it would appear that 12 or 13 million fewer votes were cast. Clearly if nearly 10% fewer voter showed up that would be something of interest. Yet I haven’t heard or seen much discussion of it.
I have seen some discussion of the vote disparity on social media, yes, but no real explanations. My own theory is that during the pandemic, there was an urgency many people felt about the need for new (and more competent) leadership to address the public health crisis. That wasn't an issue this year. It also could be that Trump's closing 2024 closing arguments were dismissed as disastrous, leading some Dem voters to become complacent. But these are theories with no supporting data, so who really knows?
I agree with you, Terry, though I wouldn't blame Harris as much as I blame the Democratic Party. Over the past 20 years or so, we've made it crystal clear that we are the party of the educated, coastal elites, the party that reads the New York Times and the Washington Post, the party of identity politics (unless your identity is white, male, or non-college educated), and the party of wokeness, the party of buzz-kill and finger-wagging. To my MAGA friends, Trump is fun, unfiltered, manly, entertaining. He has simple solutions to complex problems ("Build the wall!"). And he owns the libs. What could be better (the election of an authoritarian notwithstanding)?
Thanks Tom. You nailed it. Harris found herself in a difficult situation. She was thrust into the nomination at a time when few people knew much about her. So the Republicans defined her. Working class voters had plenty of reasons to oppose her even before that. Class divisions now define America, both in terms of income and worldview. I think we will recover eventually.
Terry… do you have any theories on what happened to the 15 million Democrat voters who apparently didn’t show up for this election? I would think a change like that in voting patterns would be the subject of a lot of analysis and commentary. Yet I haven’t heard a word about it. I’ve heard a lot about “record turnout”, but Harris seems to have gotten 67 million votes, while Biden got 81 million. And for context, Obama and Clinton got around 65 million each and Trump only got maybe a couple of million more votes than he got in 2020. As such, it would appear that 12 or 13 million fewer votes were cast. Clearly if nearly 10% fewer voter showed up that would be something of interest. Yet I haven’t heard or seen much discussion of it.
I have seen some discussion of the vote disparity on social media, yes, but no real explanations. My own theory is that during the pandemic, there was an urgency many people felt about the need for new (and more competent) leadership to address the public health crisis. That wasn't an issue this year. It also could be that Trump's closing 2024 closing arguments were dismissed as disastrous, leading some Dem voters to become complacent. But these are theories with no supporting data, so who really knows?
I agree with you, Terry, though I wouldn't blame Harris as much as I blame the Democratic Party. Over the past 20 years or so, we've made it crystal clear that we are the party of the educated, coastal elites, the party that reads the New York Times and the Washington Post, the party of identity politics (unless your identity is white, male, or non-college educated), and the party of wokeness, the party of buzz-kill and finger-wagging. To my MAGA friends, Trump is fun, unfiltered, manly, entertaining. He has simple solutions to complex problems ("Build the wall!"). And he owns the libs. What could be better (the election of an authoritarian notwithstanding)?
Thanks Tom. You nailed it. Harris found herself in a difficult situation. She was thrust into the nomination at a time when few people knew much about her. So the Republicans defined her. Working class voters had plenty of reasons to oppose her even before that. Class divisions now define America, both in terms of income and worldview. I think we will recover eventually.