Personally, I think we might be just teetering on the edge of a Recession.
And there will be buyers remorse. It may not happen next year, possibly much later. Hear me out:
1. There have been a lot of layoffs this year as well as bankruptcies. Sure, you can say "But job growth has kept continuing!". That doesn't tell the whole story. If you get a job at 50k but were making 100k before, that's still a big hit. And it won't show in the economic indicators right away, but eventually will. Company I left during the "great resignation" a year later laid off 2k+ people (dodged a bullet), many are still looking for work, some have created their own companies (which counts as job creation).
2. Inflation has forced a lot of people to cut back and prices have yet to come back to normal. So people are using debt as a way to pay for things, all the while, still making sacrifices. Amazon made some employee cuts not too long ago and I think more are coming. That hints to me that consumption might be going down.
3. Wages haven't moved up enough, hence with the recent strikes and almost strikes. The almost railroad strike for example still didn't address a lot and the workers had a gun to their head to return to work.
So I think we will eventually find out once all the voting is in, a lot of people simply didn't bother or lodged a protest vote. Granted, it doesn't make sense, but people do irrational things when emotional. We can say the economy is roaring non stop based on some economic indicators, but it was also roaring before the real estate bubble and boom, it happened, house of cards came falling down.
Side note, I don't think we should be too hard on ourselves. Remember that bastard was campaigning the minute he left the Whitehouse, while Harris had roughly three months and did not have enough time, research, develop a message different from Biden, distinguish herself, etc. In a way, it wasn't fair to her to be dropped into this so late in the game.
Nor did it help that Biden, according to the media, was giving blanket aid to Israel as well as the Ukraine war (which was initially pushed as being a quick one, but turned to be a lot longer anyone expected), while people were seeing thier food bills rise (revolutions have started over this).
The GOP I think also knows a reccession might be on the horizon. Which is why they fought tooth and nail to kill Student Loan forgiveness/reform. That could have put more money back into consumption and staved off layoffs, bankruptcies, etc. and pushed off discontent. Instead, that money goes to invisible banks. Leave it to them to commit economic sabotage of your average US worker.
So the party needs to regroup, study and work hard to figure out how to reach out to Joe and Jane Voter. Particularly during a recession, depending when it happens, the GOP may slowly get us out of it, but it won't be very good as I have no faith in their abilities.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Right away, TBH.
When I was looking for work this past Spring I stopped by the shop to talk to him, figuring I’d be a shoo-in for a part time job, not only because he’s an old family friend with whom we are on great terms, and my former ball coach, but also because I have experience in that particular industry.
He apologized but had to turn me down. Sales were 1/3 less than they had been last year. That’s highly unusual in this wealthy suburban area, and that is a huge drop. He was only keeping on two workers and had to turn down several others who wanted to return for the busy season. I could tell he was worried.
Anecdotal, I know. But that was my first sign the economy is not as rosy as we’ve been led to believe. The recession will be here soon. 
Congratulations yourself! 
