Well... · 7:47am November 6th
*Sigh*. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I voted for Harris and before that was voting for Biden, and yes it was because of Trump. Everything he said he would do, said he would be, everything that would've gotten any other candidate rightfully disqualified. And after all of that, he won anyway.
I'm not here to condemn him, though. Much as it pains me to admit it, he won fair and square, even managing to win the popular vote (or so it would seem) and likely giving his party the biggest Congressional majority it has known in decades. The blame for this lies almost certainly with the Harris campaign for not doing more to persuade voters on the economy, or highlight what she would do different that would actually move voters. And part of the blame also lies with Biden for not stepping aside during the primaries, thus allowing Democrats to test who really had the best strategy and the best appeal. Harris deserves credit for putting together a campaign on short notice and making a run of it, but sadly whatever momentum she may have had early on was floundered. She wasted too much time on cross party appeal, and not enough time trying to appeal to young voters, especially young male voters or young voters of color, most of whom were thus swayed by Trump's populism.
All I can say is that I hope Trump does at least somewhat succeed in the things that voters say they care about the most. But considering how Trump supporters have been taunting Biden and Harris about causing the inflation spike that is still stubbornly elevated, I hope you will all remember this should Trump fail or should his policies lead to unintended consequences. This time, Trump will be running the show himself, there will be no one else left to blame if things go wrong.
Assuming that Trump only serves one full term and does not try to change the Constitution to let him serve again, Democrats will need to take a good hard look at themselves and start figuring out how to woo young voters back. The educated vote or the suburban vote is no longer enough. The stars may never align again like they did with Clinton or Obama, but it's abundently clear that what the party has supposedly stood for is no longer enough. Democrats need to learn how to be better salespeople, and can't just run on always being the lesser of two evils.
With Trump, these next four years will be interesting to say the least. He's defied all the odds before, and even if it was partially because of what he inherited in 2017 he was able to keep the economy stable until Covid hit. Whether he can do so again will be the big test.
I didn't bother to vote. Personally, I believe the whole thing is pointless. Why bother voting if some idiot gets into office only for someone else just as stupid or worse takes over when their term is finished? The first and only time I voted was when Bush got into office and I voted against him.
I skipped out on voting this year for two reasons:
1. I was running out of funny write-ins
2. I was sick today
5813886 Honestly, I think it's saying something that Obama in 2008 remains the most decisive political victory for either party for president. The problem is, our winner take all systems prevents any real effort to change or challenges the two parties.
I think it's the people behind him that we should be more concerned about. Project 2025 has me pretty scared.
This is how democracy dies. To thunderous applause.
Im in the same boat I hope things don't turn out as bad as I think they will. But we shall see in the next 4 years how things turn out
5813889 Alas, Democrats learned the hard way that not enough people care so long as they get more money in their bank account. Really pains me to think Bernie Sanders had it in the bag in 2016 and 2020 with his populist rethortic, and Democrats wanted to "play it safe". And this time around, Bernie would've been too old and too risky given that he had a heart attack during his 2020 campaign. Assuming there is still a country by 2028, Democrats need to stop running away from their own shadow and actually articulate what they stand for and why it's a good thing. Instead of trying to win back the old voters who've already turned away from the Democrats, instead Democrats need to go to the voters of the future. The squad, for better or for worse, showcases what that is.
5813888 The candidate wasn't the problem. It was the whole administration that was the problem. Like I said Idiots in office, and I wasn't just referring to the president. Now to be fair Obama did some good things while he served but the others in office had a chokehold on what he could and could not do as president.
5813892
Well said. We now have four years to regroup and figure out what to do next. Assuming that the country still exists. Watching from the UK, I can only hope Starmer plays this tactfully.
5813893 Biden's problem was that he tried to have it both ways. He tried to be bi-partisan with his narrow majorites, but he also tried to push for a lot of the party's priorities. And unfortunately, his gaffe prone ways and him just relying on not being Trump wasn't good enough. Democrats shouldn't have waited until the closing days of the election to announce hearings on grocery prices, that's something they should've been doing as soon as inflation started becoming an issue for voters.
I try to stay away from politics. I mean I have an rough idea how it works but I'm no Polysci student (And yes I know how contradictory that is. Blame my dad for getting into political rants about any problems.) Frankly, we all knew that Trump was going to win despite how guilty he was for his actions during his previous term, it's just that there is really no substantial proof of it. And even if there was by the time it's revealed Trump will either be out of office or long dead due to the red tape.
5813897 At the very least, I can't see him actually succeeding in changing the Constitution so he can serve four more years. The Constitution has not been amended in decades because of the fact that you need 3/4 of Congress or 3/4 of all the states to support it. Even with the margins Trump will have in Congress, I know he won't have enough. Everything else will be fair game. How much he will actually succeed in doing will be the big question.
His wall idea back then was silly. Look at how it went back in germany. No offense but it really seems people dont learn from the past.
5813900 If the worst does happen and people find out how it doesn't actually make things better, all Democrats need to do is say "We told you so". The voters decided to do this, so they better not complain about what will happen if things don't improve.
5813901
Exactly. Or if someone snaps again
5813903 Let's just hope no one actually thinks to call Trump's madman bluff, or that someone ends up being the Mike Pence in the room who rises to the occasion when it's needed most. I really do think the GOP should just let Trump be sworn in, then use the 25th amendment to boot him down to VP, let him keep pumping up the crowds and let Vance enact the agenda since he clearly wants to be the heir apparent.
5813904
Good thinking. I am just unsure due to the war near my country.
5813905
Same here. The UK isn't quite as close to Ukraine as Germany is, but the threat of war coming to our shores is a very real one. And will the US stay or hang Europe out to dry? As bland as Biden may have been, at least he was predictable.
5813907
True
the fools who voted trump don't hes germen decent his last name is from germen
are you believers of god??
I didn't bother to vote because, as far as I was concerned, BOTH candidates (and both parties for that matter) were (and are) equally untrustworthy. It is literally impossible to get a politician past the small-town level that is both competent AND honest.
The only advantage our political system has to monarchies and dictatorships is that the transfers of power are (usually) a lot less violent. Unfortunately, one of the exceptions was less than four years ago and the probable (but not proven) lynchpin behind that exception got re-elected.
Okay, there ARE another couple of advantages I forgot about. One of those is term limits (i.e. we don't have to put up with too many of them for that long in comparison to a royalty). As well as checks and balances putting limits on what they CAN actually do in comparison to a dictatorship.
5813907 Sadly, that's where Democrats went wrong. They thought Trump was an aboration or an abnormalty. He wasn't. By the time they realize that the hatred and contempt he's stirred up is here to stay, it will be too late.
5814039
True. Let's hope they can at least restrain the crazier ideas.
5813916
Ikr anyone from Germany can’t be trusted
5814048 I think the problem with Democrats is that ever since Bill Clinton came along they've become scared of their own shadow, afraid to deviate from the proverbial center, not realizing it no longer exists. Democrats biggest wins have been when they actually stood up for themselves, it's what drew people to Obama in 2008. They need to go back to that, and perhaps most importantly, if they say democracy and freedom are at stake, they need to act like it and actually try to fight for it.
5814056
Maybe it's time for The Squad to step up.
5814058 Or failing that, a swing state governor, or even just someone like Pete Butigieg or Amy Klobuchar. Someone who's willing to go into the rural areas, which is where Democrats need to at least stop the bleeding. Urban and suburban votes are not enough.
All I’m gonna say is, let’s come together and focus on healing. The messaging, at least to me, felt all over the place and not hitting key demographics they needed to win.
Whether you’ll agree with me saying this is something I don’t know, but…I think the other reason for why Harris ultimately lost is because she wasn’t doing enough to convince the people she’s qualified to lead.
In this case, whereas Trump would always attend media meetings and interviews, as well as answer questions to the best of his ability and give people a better picture of what he wants to accomplish, Harris was hardly doing any of that. In most of the reports I’ve seen featuring her, she’d mainly just talk about abortion and things that hardly relate to the problems the country was having, whenever people would ask her questions she’d barely give much of an answer, and she rarely commented on what she wanted to do to actually help the country thrive and get better.
But, that’s mainly my perspective on the matter. If you don’t agree, that’s fine with me.
I try to take a nuanced approach to this election. While I wish he hadn't won, I don't blame people for not getting excited about Harris. She was a last-minute candidate who never tried to differentiate herself from Trump nor did she bother to explain how she was going to improve the economy and other issues.
If change is to come to this country, the Democrats and other groups must learn to do different things.
5814127 5814132 I have to agree. And the sad thing is, she had openings. But after the first debate, she didn't press any of them, instead defaulting back to her stump speech. Like many also rans before her, she ran a cautious and bland campaign.
5814141
Exactly.
Plus, regardless of my lack of fondness for Barack Obama, I will say this:
What helped win Obama the most votes and serve as President for 8 years straight was that he was a powerful and convincing speaker, had a commanding presence, and he maintained consistency in his campaigns. He also took the time to build a relationship with the people, including by going out into the world. These aspects in question were elements that every Democratic nominee succeeding him weren’t able to give, especially in contrast to Donald Trump.
5814127
This will probably come as a shock, but... I agree with you, admittedly somewhat reluctantly. Whilst I'm not a fan of Trump's rhetoric or policy, he was constantly in the media spotlight and was regularly on the campaign trail, both of which are vital for building connections with voters. Harris' main issue was that she didn't have a chance to build a sense of who she was as a candidate; you didn't so much get a sense of what she stood for opposed to what she didn't stand for.
5814141
I felt the same way about Hillary and Biden.
Hillary was a lazy-ass woman who coasted by on her connections and smugly thought the election was in the bag.
Biden wasn't much better, and it speaks volumes about how weak he was that despite Trump bungling a pandemic, the election should've been as close as it was.
Either the Democrats abandon their technocratic ivory tower elitism, roll up their sleeves, and actually reach out to people, or they will fade into obscurity.
5814160 I agree. And they need to let Biden, the Clintons, and yes even the Obamas all leave the stage. Same goes for the likes of Pelosi and Clayburn. It's time for fresh talent that recognizes the hard truths of the 21st century, not talents that most old voters no longer care about and young voters have no recollection of from when they were in their prime.
5814159
Yay.
In addition to that, while I’m not particularly fond of the Democrat party’s policies and all they’re advocating for, the biggest piece of advice I’d give them is to gain a greater sense of organization as well. I mean, first they have Joe Biden running for reelection, then they pull him out following a poor performance and switched to having Kamala Harris run at the last minute. Everything just seemed…so rushed along, inconsistent, and hectic on the Democrat party’s end.
5814127
I agree completely with you there. I remember hearing someone saying the Democrats should be thanking Trump for sending this message to the party, specifically the leadership, about their messaging and their policies. The party clearly needs to do some soul searching and get rid of its Old Guard so they can focus on the issues that really matter from a fresh perspective. Harris proved she was out of touch, especially by not laying out her plans in the scant interviews she had, plus thinking that having all of the celebrity endorsements would reel in voters.
5814160
Agree. A hard lesson was learned here.
5814235 Well said. And quite honestly, Democrats need to stop with this Clinton esque "We can be all things to all people" nonsense. It's clear that they can either spend time trying to reel in old GOP voters chased out by Trump and risk aliennating their base, or they can try to build on the youth vote that has given them so many of their biggest victories, the ones who feel the system doesn't work and want it to be ripped up.
5814245
I just wanna reach across the aisle and say this was an interesting race, my dude. Again, all we can do is wait and see what these next four years bring.
5814178
Biden's refusal to pull out earlier was a spectacular own goal. Compare this to Labour's 2024 campaign in the UK, where Kier Starmer (the current Prime Minister) focused on what he would bring to the table whilst allowing the gaffe-prone Rishi Sunak (Conservative Party leader) to repeatedly shoot himself in the foot.
5814395
Well, that’s your opinion, of course.
Me, I personally didn’t think Biden ever had much of a brain to begin with.
5814448
Maybe he was too old.
Returning to my earlier point, being able to present well and speak to people is vital. Reagan was a master of this, able to effortlessly combine memorable imagery rooted in the USA's cultural past (the 'city on a hill' imagery is a reference to a speech John Cotton delivered to the passengers on the Mayflower) with a solid sense of humour and a very approachable manner. Watch one of his speeches and it feels as though he's talking to you, not at you. This is a skill a lot of public leaders lack.
5814451
I agree. Most politicians after Reagan hardly did the kind of things he did.
With Joe Biden, one of the biggest problems was that his speeches often sounded like they were just phoned-in. He’d sound like he either rehearsed them hundreds of times before going up on stage or that everything he was saying was being relayed to him through an earpiece, and on top of that…hardly anything he’d say would make any sense.
5814513 He'd always had that problem, even during his VP years. And age only made it worse.
5814521
Yay. These aspects in question often reminded me of the mental problems my own grandparents went through in their later years, and it was really painful to often see Biden going through situations similar to theirs and so many other elders.
5814513
There's a reason he was nicknamed Mr Gaffe; he was very prone to saying embarrassing things. And it only got magnified as time went on, such as muddling up Zelensky and Putin. That's quite the achievement. (Achievement being used ironically here.)
5814532 And honestly, 2020 was an abnormality. The only kind of election where an old, gaffe prone guy like him could get away with not showing his face and having to speak all the time. Had the pandemic not occured, he would've lost too, especially given how down the ballot races indicated that he had no coattails the way Trump did despite how much of a drag Trump supposedly was in 2018 and 2022. Biden was a last minute compromise and should've remained a placeholder from day one.
Granted, I am Canadian, so I guess my opinion isn’t valid. But I’m pretty sure people have more worries like prices of food or the huge immigration problem or other stuff. What “ the left “ stands for currently is completely bonkers from what it used to be. Those who used to be on the left were pushed out by the extremists on the left.
And yes, the Hollywood and main stream media talking points were complete nonsense.
She wanted to tax the rich Moore OK does that mean the middle class will be taxed less? Why of course not. Which kind of defeats the point
5814573
I definitely agree on that.
The 2020 election was quite honestly one of the most confusing and questionable moments in American history.