That’s not accurate. It’s also inaccurate to imply that Republicans have a mandate. They were elected because of racism, misogyny, a screwed up value system and inability to process relevant information. It’s embarrassing.
Congressional Democrats did well. Better than Harris. House Democrats very well. Senate Democrats as well as they could given the number they had up for election this cycle. The three main issue were that 1. Harris was a black woman and they wouldn’t vote for that. 2. Cognitive Dissonance, they simply ignored Trump’s crimes as a value they cared about 3. Third grade level awareness. The biggest Google search after the election was “did Biden drop out?”.
You are trying to argue that the numbers point to a failure of the democratic brand when congressional democrats were still winning or doing better in states and counties where Harris was losing. That’s the part which is inaccurate. Misogyny and racism easily accounts for the difference.
If you take a look at the business world and compare the number of black women CEOs vs white men, the difference is more than 1.5% nationally. It’s 2024. Why does this inequality still exist? Is that a brand problem too? I don’t think so.
“The numbers are the numbers” is not the most valuable analysis you’ve ever given. “There are lies, damn lies and statistics” too. What we need to do is look a little harder at what this data is really telling us. Or at least engage in a little Hegelian critique to tease out the more sophisticated story that’s really underneath.
The 1.6% victory for Trump is the 5th smallest in the last 100 years. He got less than 50% of the total vote. Therefore he does not have a mandate, though of course he will claim it.
There is one uncalled House race, in CA where the Dem is leading with 99% of the vote in. If he wins, the GOP will have a one vote majority in the House for awhile. The Dems only lost one Senate seat in a swing state, and that was by a recount vote.
Dems for sure have work to do, but it wasn't as bad an overall loss as some people claim. I have faith they will figure it out.
Exactly. And as Republicans continue to propose sub par candidates dogged by sex crimes, alcoholism and deceptive behavior for Trump’s cabinet, they don’t come across as a team superior to Biden’s. It’s hard for Republicans to say that they are better than democrats with these people.
Putting incompetent and failed humans in positions of power to run the government will ensure that Democrats will big in 2026. So the Trump administration may only exist for 2 years.
Again bro you are very confused. I did not accuse Democrats of being racist. Instead, I refuted an accusation of 2024 racism by pointing out her 2024 problems were identical to her poor performance with Dems in 2020. If she did worse than 6th by popular vote, please let me know? Dropping out prematurely due to a lack of support and funds is doing poorly.
Oh, where did she rank in the DNC primaries? If we are blaming race and sex amongst the electorate in 2024 why did Harris bomb in the the 2020 Democratic primaries?
She dropped her campaign before the primaries began, because there were like 12 other well qualified candidates and she could not raise enough campaign funds.
She was not on a single primary ballot. Look it up.
So you are saying the 12 other candidates were well qualified but she wasn’t? Again, I am asking someone who believes sexism and racism is to blame for her 2024 outcome whether she faced the same discrimination by democrats in 2020?
No. I am not saying that, and I never said any such thing.
Politics 101. When there are over a dozen other well qualified candidates, the lesser known candidate has trouble raising necessary campaign funds, unless they are a billionaire and can finance their own campaign.
You all like to claim dems practice identity politics, well if that were true, she would have raised the most money in 2020 over all the other candidates! But, since she was not well known nationally , at that time, dems wanted to elect someone who was more certain to beat djt than an unknown candidate!
She did get onto the ticket as VP in 2020 and that ticket won!
Hey Dan - not trying to argue, just understand what you mean with Biden not having a mandate in 2020. Trump won the EC and popular vote this year, but had less than 50% so a plurality. In 2020, Biden won the EC and over 51% of the popular vote, so a majority. What would it take to be considered a mandate? I thought that was typically considered if winning both EC and popular vote of more than 50%. Can you please help me understand what you mean?
It was clear early on that the two campaigns had different theories of the election. The Democrats were running a base election like '04/'12, focused on abortion, democracy, etc. That seemed a dumb choice at the time, since a base election only works if the incumbent is relatively popular. Trump was running a swing voter election talking about economy and immigration. GOP got the environment right; Dems got it wrong.
It’s the economy stupid. That, of course, was the mantra in 92
This year’s mantra is “Its the left behind’s stupid.”
That’s what people, including pundits, refuse to see.
It’s not they are necessarily for Trump. But they are really struggling financially
Yes there is racism misogynist some blindness, etc. But the real issue are the people who are having a hard time keeping up, through no fault of their own
St Francis said “Understand rather than try to be understood.”
Or for those that want to stay on the old message, “How’s that working for you?”
Agree. And when Harris says she would have done nothing different from Biden, that was the proverbial icing on the cake. The overall economy (macro) is just fine by just about every measure and inflation has dropped to about 2.5%. But for the 40% of the population who have $400 or less in savings and feel insecure in their job and struggle to pay bills, buy gas, and put food on the table, the macro economy doesn't mean a thing. They don't care about the stock market either as they have little if any investments like that. Messaging by the Ds utterly ignored or failed in this area.
I’m not sure I’m in agreement with this assessment. If the Democrats’ brand was not appealing, then why are Harris’s tallies in 2024 so close to the total for Biden in 2020? The comparison seems to suggest that dem voters came out but Trump’s antics on the campaign trail (I.e., staged assassins, quirky dancing, and hateful rhetoric, Musk vote buying, etc.) worked in getting MAGA minions to the polls, as well as an inherent desire to “own libs”. Also, the strife in Gaza and Ukraine distracted from the real issues.
I need to take a break. I fully support what you’re doing and I’m not going to cancel my membership, but I just need to unplug from the daily churn of politics in Washington, for my own health. I very much worry about our future as a country and as a society, but I just need a break. I feel like it’s become more obvious than ever that neither side is really working for us. It’s just campaign rhetoric. I don’t know what else to say. But I’m worn out.
The topic might be valid and accurate but the fact it causes infighting rather than generates proactive ideas suggests it is wasting valuable time as this democracy is sinking.
When you see a boat going under do you raise the issue that the manufacture neglected to do x or do you work in the direction of saving the boat? Something is wrong with a site that takes us off the task at hand. We need journalism that focuses on the sinking boat so action will be taken. It doesn’t matter what the definition of journalism is when the purpose of journalism doesn’t matter. Isn’t it for the benefit of the people? Why does this benefit the people about to go under? I plan to spend my time saving the boat and I have ideas. But they’re wasted here it seems.
Ironic Dutch my friend (and I mean that sincerely) that you called me out yesterday for “going off topic” and you did here as well. Admittedly both were in response to other posts
The real question is “would I rather be right or rather be happy.”
What a shock. People didn't want to vote for a mixed race woman. Joe put the Dems behind the eight ball when he decided not to step aside after the 2022 midterms. Maybe we would have nominated Kamala anyway but the way things played out made it more difficult for her to be elected.
I hope those that voted for Trump/Vance are happy with the president-elect's nominations for the most important positions in the next Administration. Hegseth, Patel, Gabbard, et al. What a fine group of (insert perjorative adjective of choice here) folks
Love it. Said this for a while. Particularly how it let's dems off the hook. Some of this is the swing state vs the rest issue. Ie.. Why vote in CA when my Potus vote doesn't matter. Imagine a real national campaign? 🤔
Like Biden’s and Trump’s first (1996 and 2012) attempts at running primary campaigns, they weren’t very well organized. All three of them learned through experience though. But at the end of the day democrats in 2020 didn’t want to vote for a black woman while there were white male alternatives.
You can believe that, it’s your right, but many believe, like I do, that she was an awful candidate. This was shown in the primary and general election. Very poor. The Dems have much better but we’re stuck with her and did the best they could. It’s a lot like playing poker and being delt a bad hand. Really not much you can do….
She ran a great campaign though. With an incumbent President who was unpopular because of the remains of inflation. In a very short space of time. 3 months was it? She helped down ballot races which Biden would have tanked. In the end she lost by about 1.5 % with swing voters. So, what’s that, a few hundred thousand. Simply being a black woman running against a white man is worth 1.5 %. If Shapiro would have run he would have lost too for being Jewish. Unless you are a white Christian male you are going to lose votes.
Democrats big mistake perhaps was to assume that voters are virtuous. They are not. Neither Democrats nor Republicans. You selected a convicted felon (indicted by several independent grand jury’s and then an independent jury) over a black woman. Right? For you Harris was a bigger issue than a criminal. That’s what democrats need to figure out how to overcome.
No, I’m 100% against the killing of innocent babies!
Say what you want about President Trump but no one, not one president in history has done more for the sanctity of life than President Trump. Period. 3 conservatives on the high court and maybe 2 or 3 in this next term! President Trump will have a lasting impact on our great country many many years after he leaves office!
Relegating the life of a woman below that of a fetus is always going to be a problem. It’s not acceptable. It’s not the 10th century. Republicans aren’t going to be in power forever, and it’s likely Roe will be restored eventually. Meanwhile the states, even red states seem to be protecting abortion rights in the meantime.
The idea that the presidential election was decided by a few thousand swing voters who were racist misogynists is a powerful one. Black women candidates are going to lose more votes here when competing with a white man. 1.5% isn’t much. If Democrats policies were as disliked as right wing commentators say, they would have lost more congressional seats. For me that’s justification for my racist misogyny theory.
As for the next 4 years, Trump should choose more Marco Rubio’s and less Kash Patel’s if he wants to get anything done. There are midterm elections in two years and any incompetent leadership will hand these to Democrats.
Don’t forget the price of eggs and home mortgages are too high. If these remain so, Republicans will lose in election contests going forward.
Incorrect. Harris was a candidate in the 2020 primaries where she tanked. How do you not know this? If we are blaming racism and sexism for her poor performance in 2024, did she face the same discrimination by democrats in 2020?
She dropped out of the primaries in December 2019 before a single primary vote was cast in the 2020 primary election. Look it up instead of just making up "stuff."
Much like her 2024 campaign, Harris ended her campaign due to a lack of funds. Since you are fond of playing games, she obviously was on a ballot because Biden announced her as his VP candidate prior to the convention. If she did worse than 6th place (she did receive votes), I will return to my question on whether her poor performance was a result of racism and sexism by Democrats?
Yup, found it! Took a moment cuz I had to wade through the 300 responses from yesterday when people were trying to justify this obscene pardon. Answered your question fully. Never one to back down and certainly not a coward.
Unfortunately, no known cure for TDS, it’s gonna be a very long and difficult 4 years for you but hey you can exercise your right to vote again when Trump II is over! 😎
You May believe that Dem talking point and spout it all you want but you are really living in some delusional fantasy land if you subscribe to that kind of nonsense
LOL ok yep you never answered. Thank you for confirming you are a coward and simply being a troll on here. Hope you find more meaning in your life someday.
It may not be well received by democrat leaders either. However for the party to win again they need to be honest w themselves about what went wrong. A good football coach watches film after a loss to see what went wrong. He may have thought he had a great game plan going into the game, but a good coach makes corrections, both to his players and his schemes, after analyzing the film. Democratic leaders need to be objective about why they lost and make significant changes
That’s not accurate. It’s also inaccurate to imply that Republicans have a mandate. They were elected because of racism, misogyny, a screwed up value system and inability to process relevant information. It’s embarrassing.
Congressional Democrats did well. Better than Harris. House Democrats very well. Senate Democrats as well as they could given the number they had up for election this cycle. The three main issue were that 1. Harris was a black woman and they wouldn’t vote for that. 2. Cognitive Dissonance, they simply ignored Trump’s crimes as a value they cared about 3. Third grade level awareness. The biggest Google search after the election was “did Biden drop out?”.
What's not accurate? The numbers are the numbers.
You are trying to argue that the numbers point to a failure of the democratic brand when congressional democrats were still winning or doing better in states and counties where Harris was losing. That’s the part which is inaccurate. Misogyny and racism easily accounts for the difference.
If you take a look at the business world and compare the number of black women CEOs vs white men, the difference is more than 1.5% nationally. It’s 2024. Why does this inequality still exist? Is that a brand problem too? I don’t think so.
“The numbers are the numbers” is not the most valuable analysis you’ve ever given. “There are lies, damn lies and statistics” too. What we need to do is look a little harder at what this data is really telling us. Or at least engage in a little Hegelian critique to tease out the more sophisticated story that’s really underneath.
The 1.6% victory for Trump is the 5th smallest in the last 100 years. He got less than 50% of the total vote. Therefore he does not have a mandate, though of course he will claim it.
There is one uncalled House race, in CA where the Dem is leading with 99% of the vote in. If he wins, the GOP will have a one vote majority in the House for awhile. The Dems only lost one Senate seat in a swing state, and that was by a recount vote.
Dems for sure have work to do, but it wasn't as bad an overall loss as some people claim. I have faith they will figure it out.
Exactly. And as Republicans continue to propose sub par candidates dogged by sex crimes, alcoholism and deceptive behavior for Trump’s cabinet, they don’t come across as a team superior to Biden’s. It’s hard for Republicans to say that they are better than democrats with these people.
Putting incompetent and failed humans in positions of power to run the government will ensure that Democrats will big in 2026. So the Trump administration may only exist for 2 years.
Again bro you are very confused. I did not accuse Democrats of being racist. Instead, I refuted an accusation of 2024 racism by pointing out her 2024 problems were identical to her poor performance with Dems in 2020. If she did worse than 6th by popular vote, please let me know? Dropping out prematurely due to a lack of support and funds is doing poorly.
Are you saying that DEMs were worse in 2020 because she placed 6th in DNC?
Lol. She did not place 6th. You are simply making that up, why?
Oh, where did she rank in the DNC primaries? If we are blaming race and sex amongst the electorate in 2024 why did Harris bomb in the the 2020 Democratic primaries?
She dropped her campaign before the primaries began, because there were like 12 other well qualified candidates and she could not raise enough campaign funds.
She was not on a single primary ballot. Look it up.
So you are saying the 12 other candidates were well qualified but she wasn’t? Again, I am asking someone who believes sexism and racism is to blame for her 2024 outcome whether she faced the same discrimination by democrats in 2020?
No. I am not saying that, and I never said any such thing.
Politics 101. When there are over a dozen other well qualified candidates, the lesser known candidate has trouble raising necessary campaign funds, unless they are a billionaire and can finance their own campaign.
You all like to claim dems practice identity politics, well if that were true, she would have raised the most money in 2020 over all the other candidates! But, since she was not well known nationally , at that time, dems wanted to elect someone who was more certain to beat djt than an unknown candidate!
She did get onto the ticket as VP in 2020 and that ticket won!
What part of that don't you get?
What's not accurate? Trump certainly does not have a mandate and niether did Biden in 2020.
Hey Dan - not trying to argue, just understand what you mean with Biden not having a mandate in 2020. Trump won the EC and popular vote this year, but had less than 50% so a plurality. In 2020, Biden won the EC and over 51% of the popular vote, so a majority. What would it take to be considered a mandate? I thought that was typically considered if winning both EC and popular vote of more than 50%. Can you please help me understand what you mean?
It was clear early on that the two campaigns had different theories of the election. The Democrats were running a base election like '04/'12, focused on abortion, democracy, etc. That seemed a dumb choice at the time, since a base election only works if the incumbent is relatively popular. Trump was running a swing voter election talking about economy and immigration. GOP got the environment right; Dems got it wrong.
It’s the economy stupid. That, of course, was the mantra in 92
This year’s mantra is “Its the left behind’s stupid.”
That’s what people, including pundits, refuse to see.
It’s not they are necessarily for Trump. But they are really struggling financially
Yes there is racism misogynist some blindness, etc. But the real issue are the people who are having a hard time keeping up, through no fault of their own
St Francis said “Understand rather than try to be understood.”
Or for those that want to stay on the old message, “How’s that working for you?”
Agree. And when Harris says she would have done nothing different from Biden, that was the proverbial icing on the cake. The overall economy (macro) is just fine by just about every measure and inflation has dropped to about 2.5%. But for the 40% of the population who have $400 or less in savings and feel insecure in their job and struggle to pay bills, buy gas, and put food on the table, the macro economy doesn't mean a thing. They don't care about the stock market either as they have little if any investments like that. Messaging by the Ds utterly ignored or failed in this area.
I’m not sure I’m in agreement with this assessment. If the Democrats’ brand was not appealing, then why are Harris’s tallies in 2024 so close to the total for Biden in 2020? The comparison seems to suggest that dem voters came out but Trump’s antics on the campaign trail (I.e., staged assassins, quirky dancing, and hateful rhetoric, Musk vote buying, etc.) worked in getting MAGA minions to the polls, as well as an inherent desire to “own libs”. Also, the strife in Gaza and Ukraine distracted from the real issues.
I need to take a break. I fully support what you’re doing and I’m not going to cancel my membership, but I just need to unplug from the daily churn of politics in Washington, for my own health. I very much worry about our future as a country and as a society, but I just need a break. I feel like it’s become more obvious than ever that neither side is really working for us. It’s just campaign rhetoric. I don’t know what else to say. But I’m worn out.
To rephrase that last part… distract from local issues and are more real to American public than wars on the other side of the globe.
The topic might be valid and accurate but the fact it causes infighting rather than generates proactive ideas suggests it is wasting valuable time as this democracy is sinking.
When you see a boat going under do you raise the issue that the manufacture neglected to do x or do you work in the direction of saving the boat? Something is wrong with a site that takes us off the task at hand. We need journalism that focuses on the sinking boat so action will be taken. It doesn’t matter what the definition of journalism is when the purpose of journalism doesn’t matter. Isn’t it for the benefit of the people? Why does this benefit the people about to go under? I plan to spend my time saving the boat and I have ideas. But they’re wasted here it seems.
Ironic Dutch my friend (and I mean that sincerely) that you called me out yesterday for “going off topic” and you did here as well. Admittedly both were in response to other posts
The real question is “would I rather be right or rather be happy.”
I read that NYT article this morning. It was good.
What a shock. People didn't want to vote for a mixed race woman. Joe put the Dems behind the eight ball when he decided not to step aside after the 2022 midterms. Maybe we would have nominated Kamala anyway but the way things played out made it more difficult for her to be elected.
I hope those that voted for Trump/Vance are happy with the president-elect's nominations for the most important positions in the next Administration. Hegseth, Patel, Gabbard, et al. What a fine group of (insert perjorative adjective of choice here) folks
Did Democrats not vote for Harris in 2020 because she was a mixed race woman?
Look it up, she was not on any primary ballot in 2020. She dropped her campaign in Dec 2019.
Love it. Said this for a while. Particularly how it let's dems off the hook. Some of this is the swing state vs the rest issue. Ie.. Why vote in CA when my Potus vote doesn't matter. Imagine a real national campaign? 🤔
Harris/Waltz terrible ticket.
JB administration put this terrible ticket in a horrible situation.
Turnout reflects that.
If the 2024 electorate was the “test” and the 2020 DNC was the “control”, she performed equally bad.
Like Biden’s and Trump’s first (1996 and 2012) attempts at running primary campaigns, they weren’t very well organized. All three of them learned through experience though. But at the end of the day democrats in 2020 didn’t want to vote for a black woman while there were white male alternatives.
You can believe that, it’s your right, but many believe, like I do, that she was an awful candidate. This was shown in the primary and general election. Very poor. The Dems have much better but we’re stuck with her and did the best they could. It’s a lot like playing poker and being delt a bad hand. Really not much you can do….
She ran a great campaign though. With an incumbent President who was unpopular because of the remains of inflation. In a very short space of time. 3 months was it? She helped down ballot races which Biden would have tanked. In the end she lost by about 1.5 % with swing voters. So, what’s that, a few hundred thousand. Simply being a black woman running against a white man is worth 1.5 %. If Shapiro would have run he would have lost too for being Jewish. Unless you are a white Christian male you are going to lose votes.
Democrats big mistake perhaps was to assume that voters are virtuous. They are not. Neither Democrats nor Republicans. You selected a convicted felon (indicted by several independent grand jury’s and then an independent jury) over a black woman. Right? For you Harris was a bigger issue than a criminal. That’s what democrats need to figure out how to overcome.
No, I’m 100% against the killing of innocent babies!
Say what you want about President Trump but no one, not one president in history has done more for the sanctity of life than President Trump. Period. 3 conservatives on the high court and maybe 2 or 3 in this next term! President Trump will have a lasting impact on our great country many many years after he leaves office!
Relegating the life of a woman below that of a fetus is always going to be a problem. It’s not acceptable. It’s not the 10th century. Republicans aren’t going to be in power forever, and it’s likely Roe will be restored eventually. Meanwhile the states, even red states seem to be protecting abortion rights in the meantime.
Have a great day!
The idea that the presidential election was decided by a few thousand swing voters who were racist misogynists is a powerful one. Black women candidates are going to lose more votes here when competing with a white man. 1.5% isn’t much. If Democrats policies were as disliked as right wing commentators say, they would have lost more congressional seats. For me that’s justification for my racist misogyny theory.
As for the next 4 years, Trump should choose more Marco Rubio’s and less Kash Patel’s if he wants to get anything done. There are midterm elections in two years and any incompetent leadership will hand these to Democrats.
Don’t forget the price of eggs and home mortgages are too high. If these remain so, Republicans will lose in election contests going forward.
What is your theory on why Harris performed so poorly in 2020 among Democrats?
She was not on any primary ballot in 2020.
Incorrect. Harris was a candidate in the 2020 primaries where she tanked. How do you not know this? If we are blaming racism and sexism for her poor performance in 2024, did she face the same discrimination by democrats in 2020?
She dropped out of the primaries in December 2019 before a single primary vote was cast in the 2020 primary election. Look it up instead of just making up "stuff."
Much like her 2024 campaign, Harris ended her campaign due to a lack of funds. Since you are fond of playing games, she obviously was on a ballot because Biden announced her as his VP candidate prior to the convention. If she did worse than 6th place (she did receive votes), I will return to my question on whether her poor performance was a result of racism and sexism by Democrats?
I did! Look it up or ask it again, cuz I don’t recall what you were asking….
Liar. Do you condemn Trump's abuse of office and trying to steal the 2020 election. Answer you coward!
Dutch you are a coward!!!! Answer me coward!!
A coward I am most certainly not
False, you refuse to answer direct questions. You are a coward only here to stir up trouble.
Yup, found it! Took a moment cuz I had to wade through the 300 responses from yesterday when people were trying to justify this obscene pardon. Answered your question fully. Never one to back down and certainly not a coward.
Unfortunately, no known cure for TDS, it’s gonna be a very long and difficult 4 years for you but hey you can exercise your right to vote again when Trump II is over! 😎
Assuming we have an election in 4 years or Trump makes himself president for life
You May believe that Dem talking point and spout it all you want but you are really living in some delusional fantasy land if you subscribe to that kind of nonsense
LOL ok yep you never answered. Thank you for confirming you are a coward and simply being a troll on here. Hope you find more meaning in your life someday.
Best to you!
Well said. I took a look at those numbers and came to the same conclusion.
I predict that this will not be well-received by many of the readers of this Substack...........
Again, not my goal! I tell people what I think matters based on facts -- whether or not it conforms to their preferred views!
It may not be well received by democrat leaders either. However for the party to win again they need to be honest w themselves about what went wrong. A good football coach watches film after a loss to see what went wrong. He may have thought he had a great game plan going into the game, but a good coach makes corrections, both to his players and his schemes, after analyzing the film. Democratic leaders need to be objective about why they lost and make significant changes
Like Mike Tyson said "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." Well we got punched and better come with a better plan.
Totally get it, but no one likes to have their beliefs challenged (and admittedly, yes, that includes me!).
TDS has no known cure I’m afraid 😢