U.S. Politics, November 2024: GARBAGE DAY!!

But her females

I'd also add racism and misogyny.

I think a lot of people who normally vote Dem decided to stay home or only vote on down-ticket.

Those people are fucking stupid

I dohave a friend, who is an immigrant from central america who is more socialist than anything else, who didn't vote for trump, but despises the democrats, and he's been laughing all day. he's on the accelerationist bent: "burn the dems to the ground". this is based on the assumption that people will revolt when things get bad enough I guess, but the problem is I don't believe they will do that.

At least we can say the election was relatively peaceful... a couple burnt ballot boxes, no (so far) nobody shitting on Pelosi's desk

a coworker opined that Harris had too many Beyonces and Cardi B's up on stage and probably should found more Joe the Plummer-types

― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, November 6, 2024 7:23 PM (one minute ago)

this is an incorrect framing of what happened but it does highlight something interesting about the campaigns. trump openly campaigned w/ rappers and other musical celebs as much or more than kamala did, the notion that trump was centering the everyman is false. but kamala's celeb endorsers were mega famous A list people that only emphasized how out of touch she was w/ the constituents she needed to win over -- beyonce, lady gaga, katy perry, billie eilish etc. trump meanwhile campaigned w/ artists like Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow in NYC, puerto rican artists like Anuel AA and Nicky Jam. he had Kodak Black releasing tribute tracks. these are artists that resonate with people in voting blocs that trump targeted specifically all campaign and then rode, in part, to victory. kamala's celebs, like her campaign, were meant to appeal to everybody, which in this election meant they appealed to nobody. we all bemoan the democratic party's celeb worship, but it should be something they own -- instead trump even kicked their ass on that! the coal mine is so full of canaries that it looks like the sun down there, but trump outfoxing the dems fucking majorly on celeb endorsements is one of them

a coworker opined that Harris had too many Beyonces and Cardi B's up on stage and probably should found more Joe the Plummer-types

i blame dj cassidy personally get that guy outta here

seems like some Dem insiders are partially blaming Walz: who one operative said “ultimately offered next to nothing.”

I don't think that's fair, I think we was a good everyman foil to Harris' coastal 'elitism'... I'm not sure Shapiro or anyone else could have substantively made much difference in the final count

Walz was fine, they sidelined him if anything

yeah they just did nothing with walz - instead of offering any sort of vision like he's able to, they ran to the right, abandoned his "weird" attack, and generally de-emphasised him despite him being the most popular person on either ticket

They just need a scapegoat. The problem wasn’t the candidates.

i really seriously truly cannot believe that they had katy perry -- one of the most openly disliked pop stars in america, whose entire album cycle from earlier this year was defined by how much people do not like her and find her brand of feminism sorely outdated, and who ***played hillary's rally in pennsylvania in 2016 right before election nightt*** -- perform in pennsylvania again immediately before election night. it's actually completely stunning and yet says so much about the party's misread of its own base -- which again openly revolted against katy perry in a hugely public way less than 6 months ago -- to say nothing of other voters

At this point the dems represent the elite consensus and people want to throw a bomb into that — for reasons that are in some ways understandable and in other ways not.

i have seen the sentiment pop up that this all could have been stopped on jan 7 or whatever if we'd just arrested him, and i really wonder how people who think that cannot understand that he would have won the election from prison

i think at least that the failure of the dems & institutions to take jan 6 seriously and actually impose any real consequences meant that voters also didn't take it seriously

would have won the election from prison

and half the nation would've enthusiastically elected a fucking sea lion over Donald Trump, maybe we should run a sea lion next time if they're eligible

If anything the prosecutions helped him. I actually think they helped him dramatically.

People find him inspiring and relate to his childish habit of self-victimization. It’s hard to counter this with smart policy when, in our current historical moment, there aren’t easy answers for making life more affordable while protecting workers and the environment and also competently managing the empire.

actually impose any real consequences

a whole bunch of beardos went to jail

And reducing the deficit and inflation at the same time. And turning back the clock on automation

Trump offers fantasies because there isn’t a road back to the society people are nostalgic for. He is willing to lie about it and say he will fix it, dems won’t because they aren’t liars—not that kind of liars anyway

Trump says "shit is bad, let me fix it" and of course people lean towards that

That speaks to what seems like almost an unsolvable problem at this point — if ppl’s baloney detectors/street smarts are so hopelessly broken that they look at a PROVEN, obvious, shameless conman, compulsive liar, sociopath, and take what he says at face value, and trust him to improve their lives, then how do you even begin to remedy that? I guess you could say, “oh, we need to teach critical thinking skills and media literacy…” but when it’s seemingly just a fundamental blindness, psychological naïveté, lack of wisdom?? well, how do you go about fixing that?

Idk if they even believe it. Sometimes it’s fun to pretend to believe, like saying I love you to someone you just met at the bar

"he had Kodak Black releasing tribute tracks. these are artists that resonate with people in voting blocs that trump targeted specifically all campaign and then rode, in part, to victory."

That is insane, he didn't ride those voting blocks to victory. He appealed to racist and misogynist white people, both men and women, of which there are a shit-ton in this country apparently of all ages

and trust him to improve their lives,

it's not that they trust him necessarily, it's just that he's at least promising he will improve their lives, while the dems refuse to promise anything, or are unable to communicate anything positive they have promised, or have proven incapable of actually delivering on much while in power

That is insane, he didn't ride those voting blocks to victory.

he made significant gains among ethnic minorities, though it's not clear whether that's through improved persuasion or just dems alienating their own base who stayed home (i'd guess a bit of both)

ppl’s baloney detectors/street smarts are so hopelessly broken that they look at a PROVEN, obvious, shameless conman, compulsive liar, sociopath, and take what he says at face value, and trust him to improve their lives, then how do you even begin to remedy that?

because people, rightly in lots of cases, look at politicians as obvious, shameless conmen, compulsive liars, and sociopaths. and most of them aren't even rich. the democratic party's entire platform the last three elections has been Politician = Safety and that was just repudiated on a massive scale. you guys need to get this exasperated thinking out of your head. the answer is to run better candidates with more compelling and relatable messaging

Harris was talking grocery price controls, loans for first time home buyers, etc.. actual policies to help people

But I think there's a central part of the electorate that love the chaos that only Trump provides, the 'oh no he didn't say that!' shock stuff that they find entertaining... they actively like the craziness while they're lives were actually improved under dull old Uncle Joe

My brother in Christ they never even got rid of the Post Office guy https://t.co/APqyGYD20o

— August J. Pollak (@AugustJPollak) November 6, 2024

xp and harris should have focused on those policies and portrayed them as a clear break from biden rather than emphasising how much bush-era republicans love her

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze3yr77j9wo

"The most common factor, however, was the economy - specifically, inflation.

"Out here, you pay $5 for a dozen eggs. It used to be $1, or even 99 cents," Mr Negron added"

really dude? really? you're telling me 4 years ago in Allentown PA, eggs were 5x less than they are now? this should be pretty easy to fact check.

that they look at a PROVEN, obvious, shameless conman, compulsive liar, sociopath, and take what he says at face value

They don’t believe him, but they also don’t believe Democrats. “He’s a con man” doesn’t work the same way when people have collectively believed all politicians are crooks for somewhere between 50 and 5000 years.

One side is acknowledging that shit’s bad and needs radical change, though, and that gets through. Democrats did years of “line goes up” economic talk, just like Republicans did from 2016-2020 and will do so again.

I think that most voters (not us, the weirdos who are reading thinkpieces and watching MSNBC and following HRC, etc) only see shards of what a candidate is, or present themselves as - a video here, an ad there, a story here, a TikTok, etc. - not the whole picture, or the actual picture. Because media doesn’t work that way anymore. If you’re a headstrong young man and you’re charmed by DJT and all the older people in your life are telling you you’re wrong, what are you gonna do?

yeah and I've heard the 'and he's a billionaire! He don't need the money' shit being thrown around as well

puerto rican artists like Anuel AA and Nicky Jam.

Nicky Jam, whom Trump misintroduced as a 'hot [woman]' and who later retracted his endorsement after the MSG rally.

Bernie Sanders telling it like it is:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vermont/comments/1glcvpe/bernie_sanders_statement_on_the_results_of_the/

A politician’s job has got to become fully what a working musician’s job is now: working every one of three thousand media levers constantly.

(I do not envy anyone having to do this. It seems soul crushing. But this is the world that’s been built around us.)

it's not that they trust him necessarily, it's just that he's at least promising he will improve their lives

Fantasies have a strong appeal at all times, but especially so when you feel like reality is a prison you cannot escape. Then fantasies can feel like a door into a better kind of life. Trump is good at selling political fantasies that center on him as the great savior who will fix what ails you. The fundamental problem is market capitalism, but Trump can't fix that. So, in return for power he delivers daily chaos -- and for those who feel oppressed by a system they cannot hope to escape, his daily chaos feels good just because it isn't stasis.

"while the dems refuse to promise anything"

"just dems alienating their own base"

"you guys need to get this exasperated thinking out of your head"

"harris should have focused on those policies and portrayed them as a clear break from biden"

yeah yeah yeah

this is good

The Democrat and former Trump administration official Eugene Vindman has won his House race against the Republican and former army green beret Derrick Anderson in Virginia’s seventh congressional district, representing a key victory for Democrats as they cling to the last glimmers of hope of regaining a majority in the lower chamber.

I’m glad to hear that about Col. Vindman.

Oregon's 5th District looks like it will flip from R to D. That's a +1 in the right direction.

Sure, politicians are notorious for being shameless liars. But obv Trump is in a category all by himself. You’d think the felonies alone would be enough to put ppl off of him. I’m not sure it matters how brilliant a campaign anyone runs against him when there is a huge percentage of ppl who look at him, his whole presentation, and are like “Yes. That guy. I want him to be our ‘leader’”. Again, I don’t know how one even begins to fix that. There’s a sickness that is too deeply ingrained in the American psyche at this point.

I keep thinking about how empathy is getting programmed out of young men from a very early age these days and a politician who shamelessly runs on a platform without a shred of empathy is going to appeal far more to a lot of people than a more empathetic approach. A friend of mine who went to the far right, when I found his Reddit profile, it was like I was reading anonymous mocking letters from a cold gleeful serial killer.

I have to say - this election coinciding with the end of daylight savings is a real fucking bummer, it's already dark outside at 530PM PST

This feels like a revamp of 2016 debate.

Whatever Dems faults are, there's a big difference between voting for him in 2016 when he was a wild card and after four years of him in office.

Some voted because they think he'll fix the economy.

But people also voted for the guy who wouldn't let trans people "groom" their children. They voted for the guy who said he'd deport everybody (and immigration was one of the most cited concerns pre-election).

They voted for the guy who will own the libs. They voted for the guy who will give them a Federal abortion ban.

These voters weren't enough to win by themselves but they're enough that any victories are going to come by narrow margins. They aren't gettable.

Polarization of the voting populacw has been a thing for decades, but the number of voters who literally couldn't be moved on the right was smaller.

Like for the many, many flaws of the Democratic party, I feel like even the most exciting platform on the planet would have struggled based on these results. (Doesn’t mean we shouldn't try it, but I think we're giving most of the voting public too much credit. 75% of adults are irredeemable pieces of shit.)

Whatever Dems faults are, there's a big difference between voting for him in 2016 when he was a wild card and after four years of him in office.

he wasn't in office for the last four years and that makes all the difference.

I think everyone is going to be too exhausted to do the resistance lib Trump-all-day-everyday thing this time. “Oh, someone’s keeping a list of all of Trump’s lies? That’s nice. Oh, Melania looks angry in this video? Huh. Oh, some Trump staffer posted on a Nazi forum? Big surprise.”