I agree with nearly all your points. But, and this may be a minority opinion, voters have shown how little they care about voting for people who support their opinions. On issue after issue, they continue to vote for Republicans, with whom they disagree about so many things, especially as they relate to their economic well being and thei…
I agree with nearly all your points. But, and this may be a minority opinion, voters have shown how little they care about voting for people who support their opinions. On issue after issue, they continue to vote for Republicans, with whom they disagree about so many things, especially as they relate to their economic well being and their democratic representation. I’m gonna propose an alternative point of view in the autopsy of our death at the polls. Which is, I blame Joe. Not because he wasn’t a great legislative initiator in a time when we desperately needed investment and recovery. He was indeed that, and brilliant at getting his agenda passed in spite of terrible odds, and especially two dimwits from his own party in the US Senate. No, I blame Joe for abdicating his one solemn responsibility: to talk to the American people. He ignored us. FDR used to have fireside chats, where he explained things, again and again, to his constituents. Ronnie Reagan was a master at simply talking, not speechifying, and explaining his views and his ideas. Obama speechified more than conversed, but his oratory was so damn powerful people got his message. Bernie Sanders gives us a lesson every time he opens his mouth. He presents the reality, compares the approaches to a problem, and successfully sells the progressive solution. Donald Trump never shuts up. His speeches are not speeches, they are interior monologues that go on forever, mostly about himself, but he nevertheless endlessly speaks, opines, and begs for attention. Joe Biden, with all the power and pomp of the White House, mostly stayed quiet. He was absent, for the most part, and left the explaining and advocacy to others, notably a bored news media. We never would have lost to Trump if we had had an engaged, conversational president committed to sharing his vision and his struggle. It was indifference that cost us, not policy. Blame it all on neoliberalism and Clintonomics and elitism all you want, which is the fashion, but I think that’s a very small part of the story. You’re giving way too much credit to the analytical powers of the electorate, which are grossly inaccurate, by the way. As if Musk and his crowd are the real populists! Ha!
I agree with you that Biden was and is a poor communicator. I wonder if the reason for the lack of communication by Biden was his staff keeping under wraps perhaps first because he is a known gaffe machine and later because they were covering up his decline. When Obama ran for re-election in 2012 economic conditions weee far worse than they are now. But Obama was able to frame the economy as improving due to his policies and, not coincidentally, won relatively easily. But, another factor that didn’t exist, at least to the degree it does now, is a media ecosystem that is rabidly right wing and drowns out traditional media, on which Democrats have depended to convey their message. Biden’s approval rating was above 50% until the Afghanistan withdrawal at which he point the right wing ecosystem sunk their teeth in him and never let go. And he never effectively counterpunched. All the benefits of the legislative achievements were never effectively communicated by Biden.
Maybe it wasn't about the economy Richard, the corporate media kept telling us it was,becauset he media is ,well, corporate and corporations are about income, profits and shareholder returns.
If you listen to Joe Rogan, Fox and right wing news, you know it is about the culture war,and those on the right who have Fox on their TV 24/7 and Joe Rogan on the radio when they drive, have spouses, children, friends and family members.Those that vote Republican don't read the NYT, WAPO or watch MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS,well maybe a minority like my architect cousin who watched CNN when he wasn't browsing Fox.
Meanwhile liberals are busy chasing the economic snipe.
Given that the reader is familiar with the pledging freshman snipe hunt.
We didn't lose on the issues. We lost because many people are completely visceral. The data shows we won on the issues. Had Democrats showed up in three blue wall states we would have won.
An autopsy in the past was relevant because the environment was unchanged.
The environment of 2024 was fresh water,2025 is salt water.
There are very few fish that can live in fresh and salt water, a bull shark is one of them.
we have to become bull sharks.
If one insists on an autopsy, I blame the 14 million who sat out the election this time, and the Muslims of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania who gave the finger to Biden/Harris ,cut of their nose to spite their face over Gaza. There are a lot of noseless Muslims because Trump is Bibi's BFF, has given him carte blanche,as he has Putin, and if you can't swallow that, ask who is that moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
My point is this: Donald Trump doesn’t have finely crafted populist economic plans that he has presented. He doesn’t have a platform. He has complaints. He pulls ideas out of his ass from time to time, and then discards them. He merely seizes on the discontent. So…if you have a spectacularly improved economy, one that is creating jobs, but you have not managed to bring back lower prices and you have a housing market run amok, you have unhappy people. And they are unhappy because you haven’t gotten their support and appreciation for the good stuff you’ve done, which is basically saving their asses from the Trump disaster, but more importantly you haven’t leveled with them that the other unsolved problems are mostly structural. You’ve simply got to be out there, talking, like Bernie does, which is why people can relate to him, and why he defangs the commie label that the nutcases throw at him. The centrist Dems have always been more scared of the “communist” tag on Bernie than the electorate. They were terrified of mounting a campaign to extend Medicare to all. It’s a conversation and a fight we should have had, for crying out loud, win or lose.
I have to say: 1. The voters who did not show up lost it for us. The economy is a pretext for racism, hatred for the "other."
2. I like Bernie, but in 2016 a significant number of his supporters opposed HRC in the blue states and that's a major reason we lost. Went to Trump. I bet some voted the same in 2024.
3. He does not know jack shit about Cuba and serves as a totem for Hispanics here in Florida.
I’m not talking about rabid MAGAts here. I’m not gonna talk about the disaffected leftists, either. And I’m not going to touch Florida with a ten foot pole. I’m talking about the winnable swing states. And I’m disagreeing that a “significant” number of Bernie voters cost Hillary the election. James Comey and Hillary herself cost Hillary the election, with help from the free media given to Trump and the 20 year Republican campaign to demonize her. The voters who did not show up for us couldn’t wait to show up in 2020 to dump Trump. Biden lost them.
Gen Z, who have never voted previously, could, should have carried the blue wall states. Black voters who trend Dem also failed to show up in full force. Most are also visceral but trend D.
I agree with nearly all your points. But, and this may be a minority opinion, voters have shown how little they care about voting for people who support their opinions. On issue after issue, they continue to vote for Republicans, with whom they disagree about so many things, especially as they relate to their economic well being and their democratic representation. I’m gonna propose an alternative point of view in the autopsy of our death at the polls. Which is, I blame Joe. Not because he wasn’t a great legislative initiator in a time when we desperately needed investment and recovery. He was indeed that, and brilliant at getting his agenda passed in spite of terrible odds, and especially two dimwits from his own party in the US Senate. No, I blame Joe for abdicating his one solemn responsibility: to talk to the American people. He ignored us. FDR used to have fireside chats, where he explained things, again and again, to his constituents. Ronnie Reagan was a master at simply talking, not speechifying, and explaining his views and his ideas. Obama speechified more than conversed, but his oratory was so damn powerful people got his message. Bernie Sanders gives us a lesson every time he opens his mouth. He presents the reality, compares the approaches to a problem, and successfully sells the progressive solution. Donald Trump never shuts up. His speeches are not speeches, they are interior monologues that go on forever, mostly about himself, but he nevertheless endlessly speaks, opines, and begs for attention. Joe Biden, with all the power and pomp of the White House, mostly stayed quiet. He was absent, for the most part, and left the explaining and advocacy to others, notably a bored news media. We never would have lost to Trump if we had had an engaged, conversational president committed to sharing his vision and his struggle. It was indifference that cost us, not policy. Blame it all on neoliberalism and Clintonomics and elitism all you want, which is the fashion, but I think that’s a very small part of the story. You’re giving way too much credit to the analytical powers of the electorate, which are grossly inaccurate, by the way. As if Musk and his crowd are the real populists! Ha!
I agree with you that Biden was and is a poor communicator. I wonder if the reason for the lack of communication by Biden was his staff keeping under wraps perhaps first because he is a known gaffe machine and later because they were covering up his decline. When Obama ran for re-election in 2012 economic conditions weee far worse than they are now. But Obama was able to frame the economy as improving due to his policies and, not coincidentally, won relatively easily. But, another factor that didn’t exist, at least to the degree it does now, is a media ecosystem that is rabidly right wing and drowns out traditional media, on which Democrats have depended to convey their message. Biden’s approval rating was above 50% until the Afghanistan withdrawal at which he point the right wing ecosystem sunk their teeth in him and never let go. And he never effectively counterpunched. All the benefits of the legislative achievements were never effectively communicated by Biden.
Maybe it wasn't about the economy Richard, the corporate media kept telling us it was,becauset he media is ,well, corporate and corporations are about income, profits and shareholder returns.
If you listen to Joe Rogan, Fox and right wing news, you know it is about the culture war,and those on the right who have Fox on their TV 24/7 and Joe Rogan on the radio when they drive, have spouses, children, friends and family members.Those that vote Republican don't read the NYT, WAPO or watch MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS,well maybe a minority like my architect cousin who watched CNN when he wasn't browsing Fox.
Meanwhile liberals are busy chasing the economic snipe.
Given that the reader is familiar with the pledging freshman snipe hunt.
We didn't lose on the issues. We lost because many people are completely visceral. The data shows we won on the issues. Had Democrats showed up in three blue wall states we would have won.
And the now show Democrats, Daniel, were Muslims
Only in part.
You are right but enough to give Trump the electoral votes he needed in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Kerry we are past an autopsy
An autopsy in the past was relevant because the environment was unchanged.
The environment of 2024 was fresh water,2025 is salt water.
There are very few fish that can live in fresh and salt water, a bull shark is one of them.
we have to become bull sharks.
If one insists on an autopsy, I blame the 14 million who sat out the election this time, and the Muslims of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania who gave the finger to Biden/Harris ,cut of their nose to spite their face over Gaza. There are a lot of noseless Muslims because Trump is Bibi's BFF, has given him carte blanche,as he has Putin, and if you can't swallow that, ask who is that moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
My point is this: Donald Trump doesn’t have finely crafted populist economic plans that he has presented. He doesn’t have a platform. He has complaints. He pulls ideas out of his ass from time to time, and then discards them. He merely seizes on the discontent. So…if you have a spectacularly improved economy, one that is creating jobs, but you have not managed to bring back lower prices and you have a housing market run amok, you have unhappy people. And they are unhappy because you haven’t gotten their support and appreciation for the good stuff you’ve done, which is basically saving their asses from the Trump disaster, but more importantly you haven’t leveled with them that the other unsolved problems are mostly structural. You’ve simply got to be out there, talking, like Bernie does, which is why people can relate to him, and why he defangs the commie label that the nutcases throw at him. The centrist Dems have always been more scared of the “communist” tag on Bernie than the electorate. They were terrified of mounting a campaign to extend Medicare to all. It’s a conversation and a fight we should have had, for crying out loud, win or lose.
I have to say: 1. The voters who did not show up lost it for us. The economy is a pretext for racism, hatred for the "other."
2. I like Bernie, but in 2016 a significant number of his supporters opposed HRC in the blue states and that's a major reason we lost. Went to Trump. I bet some voted the same in 2024.
3. He does not know jack shit about Cuba and serves as a totem for Hispanics here in Florida.
I’m not talking about rabid MAGAts here. I’m not gonna talk about the disaffected leftists, either. And I’m not going to touch Florida with a ten foot pole. I’m talking about the winnable swing states. And I’m disagreeing that a “significant” number of Bernie voters cost Hillary the election. James Comey and Hillary herself cost Hillary the election, with help from the free media given to Trump and the 20 year Republican campaign to demonize her. The voters who did not show up for us couldn’t wait to show up in 2020 to dump Trump. Biden lost them.
Gen Z, who have never voted previously, could, should have carried the blue wall states. Black voters who trend Dem also failed to show up in full force. Most are also visceral but trend D.
Mr. Truchero, nobody has said it better.