# The election was not the Democrats' Fault **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 9, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962 "2024-11-09T01:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/21 "2024-11-09T05:46:29Z")
Certainly possible, and Vance worries me more than Trump does - but on the other hand, he has zero charisma and Trump’s cult of personality is not going to outlast Trump. Vance would be like having Ted Cruz as president, because the Republicans in Congress would despise him and he’d be utterly ineffective at talking tough or selling an agenda. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/22 "2024-11-09T06:00:51Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > It’s the fault of the 16M Dems that voted for Biden in 2020 but didn’t show up to vote in 2024 They haven’t finished counting the votes yet. The final tally will be nowhere near 16 million. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Here is something to think about. People actively hated Clinton. I mean I said many times on this board that I’d rather have a leperous wombat as President than Clinton. And yet she won the popular vote. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > He as so bad that Biden got 15M votes more popular votes than Clinton More people turned out to vote in the Biden/Trump election, which neither you nor Trump seem to recognize. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So why did Harris get the same number of votes as Hillary? Base rate fallacy. Also, the votes are still being tabulated. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/23 "2024-11-09T06:16:57Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …I guarantee that JD Vance _loves_ the Project 2025… Oh yeah he does: > Vance, however, openly has close ties with the Heritage Foundation and its founder Kevin Roberts, who [told](https://x.com/NYTnickc/status/1812929037636923410) reporters the organization was privately “really rooting” for Vance to be the VP pick and told [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/15/mr-maga-goes-to-washington-00147054) in March that the senator “is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.” > > Vance penned the foreword to Roberts’ [forthcoming book](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/08/07/project-2025-think-tank-leader-delays-book-with-jd-vance-foreword-amid-controversy/)—in which he quoted Roberts as saying “it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets” and praises the Heritage Foundation as “the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” also noting Roberts’ book “explores many of the themes I’ve focused on in my own work.” > > The senator has long had a relationship with the Heritage Foundation, writing the introduction to a 2017 [report](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/03/jd-vance-praised-report-by-project-2025-group-denouncing-abortion-and-ivf-what-to-know/) the group released that decries a rise in unwed births, abortion, public benefits and “the ideology of the sexual revolution,” with one section lamenting women having children at older ages and “spending a large portion of their most fertile years building their careers” and criticizing in vitro fertilization. - [SOURCE](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/10/01/jd-vances-ties-to-project-2025-explained-ahead-of-tonights-vp-debate/) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/24 "2024-11-09T14:33:57Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > More people turned out to vote in the Biden/Trump election, which neither you nor Trump seem to recognize. Yeah. Believe or not I did the math. Which is why I said that there were LESS votes. Because that’s how numbers work so thanks for the unwarranted condescension. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/25 "2024-11-09T19:00:11Z")
Thank you, I thought it was just me. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/26 "2024-11-11T19:54:42Z")
I’m getting the same from several message boards: the democrats have not helped us much for 30 years (Biden gave them cheap insulin) so we must punish them now by voting for Trump. Because they don’t lose anything, they think? Or is just punishing Democrats enough for them? Why vote at all if there is nothing to gain? Just the vengeance? I really can’t believe they thought Trump would bring prices down. They are that dumb? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/27 "2024-11-11T20:01:54Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > I really can’t believe they thought Trump would bring prices down. They are that dumb? Come on now. He said he’d reduce the cost of energy by 50% within 12 months. You think people were stupid to believe that? Maybe they don’t believe it, “but at least he’s trying.” People voted for Trump because they want Trump. Their excuses are just excuses. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/28 "2024-11-12T03:29:54Z")
It’s the pendulum, I tell you, man. It’s all about that pendulum. It was the Repub’s turn no matter what the Dems did. The Constitution almost guarantees it. What’s the longest one party has stayed in power? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/29 "2024-11-12T03:46:27Z")
I just asked [poe.com](http://poe.com) this question: > In United States of America history under the constitution, (a) what is the longest one party has retained the presidency, (b) what is the longest one party has maintained a majority in the Senate, (c) what is the longest one party has maintained a majority in the House of Representatives, (d) what is the longest one party has maintained a majority in both houses of Congress at the same time, and (e) what is the longest one party has had a majority in both houses of Congress and had thed presidency at the same time? And here’s the answer I got: > Here’s a summary of the longest periods of party control in various aspects of U.S. government history under the Constitution: > > ### (a) Longest One Party Retained the Presidency > > - **Democratic Party** : 1933–1953 (20 years) > This period includes four consecutive terms by Franklin D. Roosevelt and one by Harry S. Truman. > > ### (b) Longest One Party Maintained a Majority in the Senate > > - **Democratic Party** : 1933–1947 (14 years) > This period coincided with the New Deal and World War II. > > ### (c) Longest One Party Maintained a Majority in the House of Representatives > > - **Democratic Party** : 1955–1995 (40 years) > This extended period included various shifts in political landscape but maintained Democratic control. > > ### (d) Longest One Party Maintained a Majority in Both Houses of Congress > > - **Democratic Party** : 1933–1947 (14 years) > During this time, the Democrats controlled both the Senate and the House of Representatives. > > ### (e) Longest One Party Had a Majority in Both Houses of Congress and the Presidency > > - **Democratic Party** : 1933–1947 (14 years) > This period included the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and continued with Harry S. Truman, alongside Democratic majorities in both the Senate and House. > > These periods reflect significant political control by the Democratic Party during the 20th century, particularly in the context of the Great Depression and World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/30 "2024-11-12T06:19:31Z")
Nice research! Thanks for that. Guess maybe that’s why they instituted the maximum two term rule, at least for presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/31 "2024-11-12T07:01:47Z")
Thanks! The key, as I tell my students, is to make an excellent prompt for the AI. And, yes, that is exactly why the [Twenty-Second Amendment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) was adopted. > The Twenty-second Amendment was a reaction to [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt)’s election to an unprecedented four terms as president, but presidential [term limits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_limit) had long been debated in American politics. I know everyone says “a president is limited to two terms”. But that’s incorrect. Here’s the text of the amendment: > **Section 1.** No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. > > **Section 2.** This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress. So, it’s two and one half terms. I know that’s nitpicking, but hey, look where we are. (^o^)/ ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/32 "2024-11-12T12:16:57Z")
The pendulum. Plus Trump. They won’t have a candidate that is so successful at repeating lies next time. Nobody does it better. Trump lies confidently. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/33 "2024-11-20T18:58:14Z")
I maintain that the primary reason Harris lost is simply because she didn’t have enough time to run a campaign. Trump has been running for President for over 12 years at this point. It’s been absolutely impossible to go a single day without seeing his face and reading his statements. His supporters are very vocal on social media, and he’s got friendly media outlets who hang on his every word. Harris, on the other hand, had _less than four months_ to campaign, and Vice Presidents are notoriously invisible. To the politically aware, she was very visible… but to everyone else, she was basically brand new. Even the week of the election, there were Google searches to the effect of “Who’s running for President”? She ran a great campaign. Unfortunately, Trump had a massive exposure advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/34 "2024-11-21T06:18:14Z")
Yup, and the majority of that blame lies with Biden’s ego. Biden should have made it clear, as early as 2021-2023, that he wouldn’t be running for reelection and the DNC should get things underway with his successor (who would still most likely be Kamala anyway, but at least she’d have a much longer runway for takeoff.) The D’s could have run a full traditional normal primary process. Instead, Biden’s ego in refusing to step down until he absolutely had to basically kneecapped Harris and caused her to do an emergency takeoff on a short runway. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/35 "2024-11-21T08:21:25Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I maintain that the primary reason Harris lost is simply because she didn’t have enough time to run a campaign. You can’t discount the fact that she’s also female and non-white. I don’t think America is actually ready for a female President yet as evidenced by Clinton and Harris, both of which skate circles around Trump intelligence-wise. Republicans shy away from running female candidates for POTUS and VPOTUS, save for Sarah Palin. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/36 "2024-11-21T12:48:43Z")
I’ve been having conversations like the OPs with my colleagues and friends who teach in college, high school, and primary school. (I am a professor in a Midwestern fair-to-middlin’ state college; my wife substitute teaches grade schoolers). I will present at my profession’s research symposium in March, the first time I’ve attended in several years. Instead of presenting on my own research, I will talk about the appalling lack of BASIC history knowledge among my undergrad students. I’m talking BASIC HISTORY. Recent, ancient,it doesn’t matter. 70% of my students are willfully ignorant dolts. I’ve been gathering data on this in my classes. I added a week of BASIC history to my World Cultural Regions course when I realized they had no basis from which to understand most of the course content (much of which is still pretty basic). I’ll do a little research on to what extent this is a Wisconsin public schools failure vs. a general 2020s failure (smartphone addiction?) vs. clueless parents vs. something else (the COVID generation? I doubt it’s that simple). Oh, by the way, I teach human and environmental geography of various sorts. I say “by the way,” because that doesn’t really matter. Their ignorance of history ruins EVERYTHING ELSE they “learn” and do, from physics to voting. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/37 "2024-11-21T13:34:30Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > _I will talk about the appalling lack of BASIC history knowledge among my undergrad students. I’m talking BASIC HISTORY._ I have experience conducting tours of historic sites connected to the American Revolution. Often we have groups of students, from elementary school to high school. I often make a point of telling them that the people we call the Founding Fathers were, in many cases, barely older than they are. Ben Franklin, who was in his 70s, was an exception, and certainly one of the best known American patriots. Everyone knows Ben Franklin, don’t they? Nope. Not these kids. School age kids can be sullen and unresponsive, I know, but not recognizing BEN FRANKLIN??? Please! I emphasize that history can be boring if all you’re doing is memorizing names and dates, but if you dig a little deeper into the people, there are some fascinating stories. I also paraphrase the often heard “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/38 "2024-11-21T13:34:37Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Your plan to educate new voters “…from kindergarten onwards into high school and university, about logic, honesty, and critical thinking,…”, while appealing, has at least three fatal flaws which will be left as an exercise for the reader to puzzle out. I just came across this thread, but thought this was worth replying to. IMHO there’s only one fatal flaw with this plan. It’s the same flaw that all other Democratic plans have. The plan can’t succeed if it’s never tried, and this plan will never be tried due to Republican opposition.\*. I’m sure this plan has other non-fatal flaws, but that’s the only fatal flaw. \*. If I had to put a date on it, I’d say the last time a Democratic plan not watered down by Republican opposition was actually tried was back when LBJ was president. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/39 "2024-11-21T15:05:21Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > So help me out here. Let’s look at two hypothetical situations. > > In one situation there’s a 9th grade class president election with two candidates, Cathy Smith, and Preston Kreap. > > Cathy’s platform includes a promise to liaise with the teachers about their satisfaction with the various courses, validity of the various tests and exams, and the suitability and usefulness of the provided school supplies. > > Preston’s platform, on the other hand, promises a Trans Am or a Corvette for everybody along with free detailing and all the booze and cigarettes that they want. > Unsurprisingly, the 14 year olds of 9th grade elect Preston as class president. > > In the second scenario, the two presidential candidates promise essentially similar things, except the voters range in age from 18 and older. This is analogous to this election but, for some reason the majority voted for Preston Kreap. I’d modify this allegory a bit: Cathy presents the aforementioned series of policy proposals that will help the school and her classmates, along with reasonably detailed outlines about how to implement them. She even borrows a couple of Preston’s more realistic policy proposals as her own. Preston makes a series of wildly extravagant promises, such as the Trans Ams, et al, while at the same time making contradictory promises, such as eliminating school millages so their parents pay less local taxes and can afford to spend more on them. He also promises things that make no logical sense, such as a plan to slap huge tariffs on the supplies the school purchases, which the manufacturers will have to pay, thus generating lots of free money to pay for the Trans Ams, etc. Preston also accuses Cathy of letting marauding gangs from a local rival school into their school to rape and murder their classmates en masse, a claim without evidence. Yet it strikes a chord with many students. He says that if Cathy is elected, the school will be burned down and many of the students will die. He says he alone can protect their school from its rival. Meanwhile, the school paper publishes articles with titles such as “Cathy’s Proposals Short on Details” and “Preston Draws Stark Differences Between His and Cathy’s Visions for School Future”. So in short I agree with the basic OP premise that the election was not the Democrat’s fault. Getting past the mountains of false propaganda is extremely difficult. There’s a ‘rule’ or ‘law’, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that it’s much more difficult to fight propaganda than to spread it. Ignoring the opponent’s lies is no good, but neither is being constantly on defense saying “that’s a lie, that’s a lie, that’s a lie”. How that can be effectively dealt with in future elections, I have no idea. BTW, the OP’s hypothetical proposal amusingly reminded me of my brief flirtation with politics, also back in 9th grade I think-- not class President, but a student council position I was elected to and won. When I was up for reelection, the students who had initially voted for me were angry because I had done none of the things they wanted, like more vending machines and better school lunch choices, such as fast food selections. I truthfully (and probably naively) told them that the position had no real power, and there was no way I could have made any of that happen. I guess what I should have said was that I had fought hard for those things, but the teacher-principal Deep State had blocked me, but now that I have more experience I would make that happen in my second term. Followed by accusing my opponent of all kinds of horrible false things. But I didn’t, and lost my second term decisively. That was the end of my political career. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962/40 "2024-11-21T15:07:24Z")
> [@solost](#): > > There’s a ‘rule’ or ‘law’, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that it’s much more difficult to fight propaganda than to spread it. > **[Brandolini's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law)** > > Brandolini's law, also known as the bullshit asymmetry principle, is an internet adage coined in 2013 by Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer, that emphasizes the effort of debunking misinformation, in comparison to the relative ease of creating it in the first place. The law states: > The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it. The rise of easy popularization of ideas through the internet has greatly increased the relevant ex... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-was-not-the-democrats-fault/1009962.md?page=3)