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Dave Yell's avatar

Long story short: American voters failed America to the detriment of us all.

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Bart Harley Jarvis's avatar

Apologies for posting this more than once since I heard it. David French told Charlie Sykes this, and I think it rings true: тАЬTrumpтАЩs return, is due in part, because of civic ignorance at mass scale.тАЭ

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Mark Miller's avatar

I think all this blaming of voters is unfortunate. 40% of the voters belong to fox news. They have not heard one positive thing about the Biden administration ever. If you talk to people, their reasons for voting Trump are sincere, but incredibly and painfully incorrect. Lay this at the feet of freedom of the press, I guess. It allows people to publish propaganda without restriction.

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Lily who reads The Bulwark's avatar

Who put a gun to their head and told them theyтАЩre only allowed to watch Fox?

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Migs's avatar

True and that is a choice. Just like itтАЩs a choice to be addicted to drugs

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Richard Kane's avatar

It also shows, with HarrisтАЩ performance among men, misogyny is alive and well in the country.

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Helen Stajninger's avatar

And racism

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Sheri Smith's avatar

Among some women too.

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Harriet Ivy's avatar

And how did that word not come up in this analysis?

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Maggie's avatar

We can't call the voters misogynistic because their feelings will get hurt!

They couldn't vote for Biden because of age, but wouldn't vote for his VP 30 years younger for...reasons that aren't misogyny? I'm I really supposed to believe the working class was splitting hairs between Biden and Kamala's policy?

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Douglas Peterson's avatar

Of course it was misogyny -- and fear of the "others" who do not look like them: that is anyone who looks different from the White Christian community they belong to.

As you suggest, they did not distinguish between Biden and Harris as representatives of Democratic policies. The undecided (eventually, MAGA) voters saw Biden and Harris as just about the same. However, because the Democratic party lacked a primary, Harris was never able to really convince the disaffected voters that she was the candidate who could better address their everyday needs. That she could carry forward Biden's agenda but also change it in ways that would benefit them even more. She had a strong message for those of us who listened. Unfortunately, too many of our fellow citizens could not listen for many reasons.

One main reason: the MAGA media knew how to tap into those fears of the working-class voters, the voters who could have moved the election in Harris's favor. With an onslaught of lies, deceptions, gaslighting, the MAGA campaign knew how to raise the fears within the voters to a fever pitch -- the pitch necessary to get them to vote against Harris. With consummate lies, Trump assured them they would have their grocery prices, their homes, their transportation all affordable again.

Most egregiously, the MAGA media played on the most lizard-brain level of their fears: fears of different immigrant cultures; fears of an open-minded acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community; fears of their children falling behind in life to the advantage of the "others."

Harris conducted a campaign almost exclusively directed at the cerebral cortex. She and her campaign managers trusted that reason would win out over fear and other hostile emotions. That was a noble mistake to make, but a costly one.

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Dave Yell's avatar

Probable. I still think the simple answer to Trump being elected was: 1. voters thinking the country was on the wrong track. 2. their belief that the economy was bad. 3.the long shadow of Biden on Harris.

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Matthew Newnham's avatar

And gullible voters who conveniently forgot how Trump's criminally negligent response to Covid not only cost 1M lives, but also the economy.

Those voters continued to believe the 6X bankrupt's claim to be a business genius.

So they stupidly believed that he would lower prices (e.g. eggs) on "Day 1", FFS.

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JF's avatar

ThatтАЩs my takeaway too. So exceptional we are. Meanwhile, Mexico has a female Jewish president and ranked much higher than the U.S. on the recent global life satisfaction study.

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Ann P's avatar

So much for the theory that Latino men wonтАЩt vote for a woman. Or do men not vote in Mexico? Ditto a Jew canтАЩt win a national election. For that matter, Zelensky is a Jew. So I guess that theory also doesnтАЩt hold water. Find the right тАЬpersonтАЭ with the right message and delivery style, and тАЬtheyтАЭ will win.

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Maureen Galligan's avatar

Long story true: Dems failed voters

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Dave Yell's avatar

Or you can say; voters failed Democrats, which in turn failed us all.

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Ellen Thomas's avatar

Maybe. But also, it suggests that most American voters just want Trump. If it hadnтАЩt been for COVID, it suggests he would have won in 2020, and it was effectively enough memory holed or misremembered that they got what they wanted when they got another shot at it.

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orbit's avatar

Long story true: voters rewarded Trump another presidency knowing full well he was incompetent and corrupt.

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JF's avatar

But, all that vulgarity on display is entertaining! The U.S. is one big reality show, where outrage is the metric of success.

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