Summary
A post-election survey by Priorities USA found that voters in key swing states prioritized economic concerns like inflation over Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol attack.
Many did not view Trump as a continued threat to democracy, including key Biden-to-Trump voters.
Efforts by Kamala Harris’ campaign to highlight Trump’s authoritarian tendencies failed to resonate, as Trump’s image as a “successful businessman” persisted.
Democrats underestimated voters’ lack of hostility toward Trump, particularly among younger non-white voters, complicating their strategy in the 2024 election.
And there it is folks, the democrats failing to learn from this election.
Of course they didn’t! Check the boxes beside which lessons you think they should have learned:
☐ The dems moved too far to the right ☐ The dems moved too far to the left ☐ The dems focused too much on vibes and not enough on ground game ☐ The dems focused too much on ground game and not enough on vibes ☐ The dems catered too much on the educated suburban class vote and not enough on the common folk ☐ The dems catered too much on the common folk vote and not enough on the educated suburban class ☐ The dems focused too much on Trump ☐ The dems focused too little on Trump ☐ The dems should never have put a woman at the top of ticket ☐ The dems should have messaged more that there was a woman at top of ticket ☐ The dems messaging was too vague ☐ The dems messaging was too specific ☐ The dems focused too much on x topic and not enough on y topic ☐ The dems focused too much on y topic and not enough on x topic ☐ The answer was complicated and varied by state ☐ The answer was simple and based on national/global trends
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic, but I feel all of those options are reductionist in some capacity and creates an illusion that a single tactical change would have altered the outcome. An election and what it takes to sway opinion is multifaceted and requires a diversity of tactics. To me, the problem is systemic and embedded in the party, which encompasses several of the points you think I solely blame. Namely, the oligarchic control over the party via delegates and super-delegates creates a dichotomy between the party’s base of support and the desires of the billionaires holding the purse strings.
Americans not learning from the 2016 election. Americans not learning from the high school smoke pit.
Personally, I think a bulk of the fault is on the political parties that produced the last 3 elections, and where most of the attention needs to be. There is certainly some fault with the public, but some of that also goes back to the political parties failing to produce and maintain the advanced political awareness needed to be an informed citizen in the US. The Democrats will not accept responsibility for their failures, and has proven to be the less robust party despite the GOP facing bankruptcy.
It’s not really about the GOP as much as those running under the GOP. Republican candidates don’t need the GOP to bankroll them because they get tons of funding from foreign nationals and corporations who see an opportunity in them to destabilize the US further and increase the wealth gap respectively. The DNC meanwhile mostly see funding from the same sources as a hedge against a Republican loss and in order for them to keep Democrats from running with progressive economic policies. But to do that they only need to dangle just enough cash in front of the DNC to sway their policies, not enough to make them actually win.
The foreign money in our elections are definitely a big factor when it comes to this topic for sure, especially when discussing the GOP. However when discussing the Democratic Party, it’s not nearly as big a factor as the billionaires appointing delegates and super delegates. If there’s one theme I’ve noticed over the last 4 years in regards to party structure, it’s that the GOP has barely any money but the Democrats continue to get millions from the wealthy. Since our elections cater to put money in the hands of corporations, this directs both parties to provide for their sources of funding. For the GOP, that means fascism. For the Democrats, it’s clinging to the same neoliberalism that produced the mess we’ve been in for 50 years.