The votes were there.

[TheProle]

Based on current numbers, which will obviously be revised upwards when all the counting is done, the simple fact remains:

If everyone who voted for Biden had voted for Harris, we'd be looking at a 10million + popular vote landslide and likely the electoral win. Trump is currently sitting at well under a million fewer votes than he had in 2020, which still wasn't enough for him to win then.

Simply put, millions upon millions of Biden voters either sat on the sidelines or went red.

Data:

Current 2024 Popular Vote Count (in progress):
Harris 68,127,607
Trump 72,810,883

2020 Popular Vote Count
Biden 81,283,501
Trump 74,223,975

[msongs]

1. less than 200K votes spread over 3 states...just like 2016 and 2020 nt

[spooky3]

2. Let's wait until all the votes, esp. California's, have come in.

CA needs weeks, because they accept mailed votes as late as tomorrow.

[rzemanfl]

3. Your years appear reversed.

[TheProle]

4. Thanks, editing.

[LeftInTX]

5. Some switched to Trump. That's a fact.

I'm thinking it's significant. Bexar County went from 58% Biden to 55% Harris. Parts of the Rio Grande Valley went for Trump. This was an area that was blue for over 100 years!

https://www.livevoterturnout.com/ENR/camerontxenr/37/en/Index_37.html

[oldmanlynn]

13. Alot of republicans voted for Harris that is clear

I have not seen anything that explains dems not turning out to vote

-Registrations where huge leading up to election
-Voters set turn our records in states but fewer voted for both candidates?
- dem enthusiasm was 10 points higher


I believe something is off with this election.

Nobody has offered up an explanation that fits.

[Scrivener7]

16. The explanation is that there are sexist and racist Democrats too.

[LeftInTX]

21. Look at the results in the link

It says it all

[Scrivener7]

6. We need to learn only one lesson: Never bet against the racism and sexism of the American people.

Our next candidate needs to be a middle-aged, straight, white man.

I hate it, but it's what needs to happen.

[intheflow]

14. I was pissed when Joe stepped down just for this reason.

I love Kamala and of course voted for her enthusiastically, but I honestly believe Uncle Joe would have won a second term by virtue of his whiteness + penis, and his outstanding presidential record.

[Scrivener7]

15. I think they were successful in making him a nonviable

candidate due to his age. I don't think he would have done better.

[intheflow]

18. Maybe.

I'm willing to consider it, but changing horses midstream was a gamble. I know some people were put off by her "not having been elected" in a primary. Obviously nonsense but Whoomp, there it is! as the old song says.

[Scrivener7]

20. All true.

[Elessar Zappa]

17. I don't think so,

apparently his internal polls showed him down significantly in swing states, even down in Nevada by double digits. The debate really hurt him, even though his numbers weren’t even too good before the debate.

[WarGamer]

7. 2020 was an asterisk election.

Because of COVID and enhanced voting rules making it easier to vote... turnout was high.

2024 turnout returns to the consistent and steady increase in turnout numbers historically... more than 2016 and less than 2020.

[TheProle]

8. People were also galvanized by BLM Protests

You make great points, and I always appreciate your insights.

[WarGamer]

9. much appreciated

[Jit423]

10. No matter what, race and gender are still huge factors in the power structure of America.

I was surprised by the number of white women who did not vote for Hillary in 2016. i thought they had learned.

[orange jar]

11. It is very frustrating.

I'm guessing the 2020 Biden -> 2024 Trump voters are the ones who voted for Trump due to their feelings toward the economy and/or other issues that have cropped up in the past few years, but who previously voted for Biden because of how shittily Trump handled COVID (why they want to take a chance on that happening again, I'll never understand). If Trump hadn't completely fumbled the response to COVID, I think we'd be looking at the end of his second term right now.

The ones who sat at home either didn't feel motivated to turn out, were somehow unaware that an election was even happening (see: people who thought Biden was still in the race), or people who are disillusioned due to, once again, the economy, social issues, Gaza, etc. This cohort is the one that seems to actually hate Trump enough to not switch to him, but for some reason did not feel compelled to vote for Harris, either.

I'd feel a little less… dispirited, I guess? if Trump won the electoral college but lost the popular vote. I just can't believe he actually won the popular vote. I truly did not think that a Republican would ever win that again after 2004.

[Faux pas]

12. To quote the drunken asshole

john boner "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Xmas".

[Nanjeanne]

19. Trump didn't win new voters. Maybe an insignificant # of Ds voted R just like an insignificant # Rs voted D. I think

it's time for a change from the beltway bubble consultant bs of chasing that illusive R/I voter that is going to make a Dem win.

What I wish Dems would realize is:

Rs aren't going to vote for you.

Swing voters are not R to D. They are non-voter to voter. And that can be won with a bold platform akin to FDRs

Engage in transformative politics and stop with the transaction politics. Excite, Innovate, Big - not incremental and small thinking.

Try to build a media landscape that can compete with right wing propaganda

Don't just organize every 4 or 2 years. Build a year round organizing effort and build coalitions in rural areas recruiting local people to run - build a big bench.

Be FDR like - Attack corporate greed head on and understand the pain working people are experiencing. Populism

Call out "hate for profit" scheme of the rightwing. Don't be afraid. Don't be defensive.

It's time to leave behind the Clinton/Obama/Biden way of doing things. Embrace a new way forward. Please understand this isn't an attack on them. It's been done. It's not helping. World has changed. Our politics have to also.

Stop dumping on your base - young people, progressives, lefties . . . Rs play to their base. Ds run from them and continually expect they'll show up anyway. Work with community activists.

Stop using the strategies that lost the last elections. Focus on new strategies (it can't be worse than what we have now). Stick to the hopeful vision we want to achieve.

Develop a platform that is forward thinking - visionary - right for people - and then just stick with it. Speak like a normal person. Engage in dialogue. Don't be a poll-tested robot.

If one more Republican pundit gets on TV and says the problem is the left or the progressives or the young or the anti war crowd or whatever I think I'll scream. I never have cared what a freaking Rethuglican has said and I certainly am not interested in their tired same old same old plan for Democrats future. Yeah. My two cents and hopefully this won't be construed as "anti" Democrat or "anti" Biden or "anti" Harris. I have been a Democrat my entire life. I've never voted any other way. I would like to see a Democrat in the White House again. I'd like to be proud of my country. I'm tired of trying to win over some white soccer mom who is too stupid to realize that her daughter is going to suffer from her vote or some ridiculous white businessman who hates Trump but sure likes his tax cuts and the chance to pollute the country. How about we win back the people tired of never getting ahead, never seeing a change in their pocketbook, their child's ability to get an education, the chance to take a two week vacation and rent an apartment and earn a decent wage? Paid Leave. Paid Sick Days. Tuition Free College. Medicare For All. Fair tax burdens. Living Wage. Negotiated Drug Prices for Everyone. Taxes that go to making our lives better - not wars. That's the Democratic Party I'm fighting for.