I’m really enjoying the contrast between these two quotes.
So much advice to Democrats seems to be “Just be Republicans, but not crazy,” while simultaneously ignoring that that’s 80% true already.
Some “progressive” extremists claim to support Trump under the old accelerationist idea that if things are made bad enough everyone will embrace Communism, therefore they support Trump and those like him. And ignore how “After Hitler, us” worked out for the German Left no matter how often it’s pointed out.
That said we are talking the real fringe here; not Bernie Sanders or OC, who are only “extreme left” by the standards of the Right, who consider everyone to the left of Mussolini a Communist. Lumping in moderate left people like them in with the crazy “tankies” is one of the many ways the Right has demonized the Left and shifted political discourse rightwards.
My impression is the extreme wing of the GOP is about 40 million voters who have taken over the GOP and the rest of the GOP are terrified of them and enabling them.
The extreme wing of the democratic party is a couple million tankies.
Its not comparable.
It happens as we age. 
My impression differs from yours, but both are just opinions, which is why I asked: do we really know just how numerous either party’s extremes are?
Where each of us falls on the political spectrum often determines who we call “extreme” and therefore how many people are to the left or right of our position. Reliable polling (is that an oxymoron? grin) will tell you what mainstream America considers normal and acceptable, as will their voting patterns. If people disagree with those views, the kneejerk reaction is to belittle the electorate (as I often see done on this site) but in doing so, they won’t find the answer to the the question you posed in this thread - Why did Democrats lose so many presidential votes in 2024?
Yep, exactly. It was mostly inflation, the price of eggs, etc. It wasnt that Harris was black or a woman. It wasnt poor election strategy.
Exit polls showed conclusively it was inflation, followed by the southern border.
Nope. Inflation
The GOP also did that, and altho sitting Veeps have not won recently, note that Biden & Nixon were both Veeps recently and ran on that strength.
True, but it wasnt that much.
Right- 2024 was the Year of the Right Wing Populists. Inflation was world wide, and RWP get into office mostly by making promises they cant keep- including “fixing inflation”.
As you can see by trump losing to Biden last election- when the voters realize they have been had- they turn on the promise breakers. Sadly, memories are short. Same with the UK, note how Boris and crew were just voted out decisively.
Yep- “The Border is open we are being invaded” - appeals to xenophobia- this happened world wide. “The economy is bad, inflation is out of control” another lies, but appealed to peoples pocketbooks. “Crime is out of control” another lie, but appealed to voters fears.
Well, maybe for president, but certainly on all the other ballots your votes matter. Even for President, see how trump got pissed he lost the popular vote vs Hillary, and see how he crowed when he won it vs Harris. So, the popular vote matters a little.
Well, his anti-gun position is a sure loser for the Dems. But he was also a writer and a businessman. I dont know why “never had a job outside of politics” is a bad thing= Joe Biden was a career politician. So was Harris. So was Bill Clinton. Gerald Ford. Nixon. LBJ was very briefly a teacher, JFK was in the Navy but after that- all politics. And so forth.
And honestly- The Atlantic is full of shit.
My votes for California’s senators also do not matter. Sometimes my individual representative is in play; usually not. And since I personally live abroad, the state and local issues affect me not st all.
I still vote, though.
While I agree with many of your other assertions, I think you (and the Republicans) employed a straw man argument in reference to the above topics by exaggerating a position that still held some merit.
The border WAS a mess, exasperated by Biden policies and minimized as an issue by Democrats (until it impacted them in cities like New York and Chicago). That cost them votes. Inflation WAS running rampant, and while Biden may not be entirely responsible, the Inflation Reduction Act was tone deaf (if not insulting to those struggling to put food on the table) and the Democrats minimized the issue and came off as uncaring and elitist. That cost them votes. And crime HAS been a problem with large spikes following George Floyd, and the “Defund the Police” mantra and many of the Soros-backed prosecuting attorneys who declined to prosecute criminals gave the impression Democrats didn’t care on this issue either. That cost the Democrats votes too.
Republicans may have highlighted and exaggerated the issues, but that doesn’t mean the core problems were “lies” or that people’s concerns weren’t valid.
No, the border wasnt a mess. America needs those workers. They want to work, and they are okay with doing hard backbreaking farm work that most Americans cant do and wont do.
Inflation was under control. Yes, in the early years of Bidens term it was fairly high (due to covid supply chain issues) - but by Nov 2024 it was down to 2.7 %- and it had been as high as 2.9% in the middle of trumps term. Anyway, the president has no quick fix for inflation, there is no magic wand. Biden did all he could, and slowly it was working.
Job Growth was up and growing since trumps term-
The GDP had massive growth -
- 2023: The US GDP was $27,360.94 billion, a 6.28% increase from 2022.
- 2022: The US GDP was $25,744.11 billion, a 9.11% increase from 2021.
- 2021: The US GDP was $23,594.03 billion, a 10.65% increase from 2020.
Crime? Violent crime was at an all time low- from a high back in 1992-
https://www.statista.com/statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/
So, the= GOP kept pushing those three big lies- and they were all lies.
Maybe I’m missing something: why toss in that “JFK was in the Navy” right after mentioning Ford and Nixon and LBJ without mentioning that they, too, were in the Navy?
Even the Biden Administration finally acknowledged there was a border crisis. You can argue whether we need the workers but most Americans favor an orderly, LEGAL immigration process, and they voted AGAINST mass illegal border crossings.
Pointing to one month of Biden’s term in which inflation was lower than Trump’s highest month wouldn’t have changed many voters minds. Inflation has and continues to hurt the poorest people, because prices don’t go back down just because inflation slows. That $1.00 burrito is now $1.79, and people live that when they go to the grocery store.
I repeat my earlier point: crime HAS been a problem with large spikes following George Floyd, and the “Defund the Police” mantra and many of the Soros-backed prosecuting attorneys who declined to prosecute criminals gave the impression Democrats didn’t care on this issue.
Republicans may have exaggerated the issues (as politicians do on both sides), but they were issues Americans were already worried about, and hearing Democrats lecture them repeatedly that there was nothing wrong at the border (A LIE!) and they’re racist if they think otherwise, that the economy was just fine (A LIE!) when they can’t afford groceries or to put gas in their car, and that we should defund the police and not prosecute criminals was a message the American voter rejected.
After the election, Chis Cuomo said, “In politics, if you tell people they are wrong to feel the way they feel, you lose.” And the Democrats did just that.
True, good point, but JFKs stint in the navy helped make him famous. But you are correct!
Sure, and the last election showed us that a LOT of American voters are bigots and xenophobics. I dont give a rats ass what they were against.
It doesnt make any difference. Inflation was under control, and the White House- despite trump claims- does not have a magic wand to end inflation. The Inflation was not Bidens fault. And it appears trump is gonna make inflation worse- much worse.
Well, if you say ANY amount of crime is a problem, then sure. But crime was not out of control. It was at an all time low. Defund the police was not a Democratic party policy, anc certainly not by the Biden administration. Defund the Police was a MAGA scarecrow. And no, DAs were not declining to prosecute violent criminals.This is just Republican talking points.
Yes, due to GOP lies.
There wasnt. And the border wasnt open.
The economy was great and inflation was under control.
Those claims are MAGA propaganda. The Biden administration was at no time in favor of Defund the police.
Republicans have spent the past two years accusing Democrats of trying to defund police departments. But the facts show that the police have not been defunded. In fact, not only have Democrats put more money into policing since fiscal year 2019, but they also spend more on policing than Republican-run cities. Here are the facts that disprove this myth:
1. Democrat-run cities spend more money on policing than Republican-run cities, with the 25 largest Democrat-run cities spending 38 percent more on policing per capita than the 25 largest Republican-run cities.
2. Of the 25 largest cities, 20 saw increases in their police budgets from FY 2019 to FY 2022. Twenty-one of these cities are run by Democrats.
3. The 25 largest cities saw their police budgets grow by a total of 5 percent from FY 2019 to FY 2022.
4. Democrat-run cities have more police per capita than Republican-run cities. The 25 largest Democrat-run cities employ 75 percent more police officers per capita than the 25 largest Republican-run cities.
1. At the federal level, President Joe Biden and Democrats sponsored and secured passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provides federal resources to support police departments. Republicans voted against President Biden’s ARPA, which included $350 million in federal funding to hire more police.
2. Cities across the country, both big and small, are using funds provided by President Biden and Democrats under the American Rescue Plan to support law enforcement.
Despite the rhetoric, Democrats are the ones who have placed an emphasis on funding law enforcement. The rest is just a political myth.
And trump just pardoned some cop killers. Who is the Law & Order party?
Since the pandemic, economic growth in the US has far outpaced that of our peer nations. Business investment is up; unemployment is low.
The consensus in the media seems to be that even though the economy is strong, people see it differently. Voters, burned by the rising price of groceries, felt pinched and demanded change. …It indicated that the 2024 election would be won by the Republican candidate not despite the strong economy but precisely because of it. …Our model offers an explanation for this pattern. It’s not that Democratic presidents cause high stock returns; rather, they tend to get elected when risk aversion and expected future returns are high. The opposite is true for Republicans. According to our model, Trump just got elected because risk aversion is low due to the strong economy. And when risk aversion is low, so are expected future returns. Though the stock market spiked when the election results became clear, as the political uncertainty fades and the prospect of lower taxes sinks in, the stage is now set for lower stock returns during Trump’s term. This is not Trump’s fault—blame it on the strong economy under Biden.
It’s possible but even in New Jersey there is strong MAGA support as you get further away from NYC, Even within NYC, liberal policies and Democrats don’t resonate with everyone.
I agree with those who said it could likely be protests: If you’re in California or New York or some other state that is absolutely positively going to go democrat in the Electoral College, but you’re unhappy with the Democrats for a variety of reasons, it’s a great opportunity to not vote for their candidate to make your voice heard. And considering there’s a laundry list of reasons, some good and some not-so-good, to be upset at the Democrats, I’m not too surprised about the safe state voters pulling away, trying to send a message. If I lived in California or New York, I would’ve written in Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, just to make the point of what kind of person and what direction I want the democratic party going in.
I’m aware that Trump has a real base. But the topic in this thread is Trump’s opposition.
There are large groups of people who voted against Trump in 2016 and 2020 who didn’t show up to vote against him in 2024. Why?
Several theories have been offered, including mine.
The border isn’t a crisis. The border is institutionally dysfunctional, in that we do not allow for and process immigrants and asylum speakers with anywhere close to the efficiency we need to meet the supply OR the demand for workers in certain sectors. And the reason we don’t is, as far as I can tell, is the large number of racists who don’t want anyone at all to come in. So we have a compromise that pleases nobody.
That said, the way in which D and R administrations deal with the border situation is quite different. Racist rhetoric, for example, is not moving us toward a solution.
The Biden Administration didn’t move us toward a solution either, since the majority of Americans rejected his method. There’s an argument made that the immigration issue serves both parties best if left unsolved.