So many of us continue to live in denial...

[appmanga]

...looking for all kinds of reasons why Harris didn't just lose, but lost in a stunning fashion. I wrote here months ago the "Biden's age" was the proxy for "that black lady who takes over if he dies". I can understand why it's difficult for so many to wrap their heads around the fact "inflation" became the replacement for that because it means admitting a truth that might be scary, painful, embarrassing, or all of the above.

Kamala Harris lost because of sexism, racism, and bigotry. It's just that simple. I underestimated the impact of the transgender prisoner ads, and I guess the campaign did too. While the black men who voted did vote for Harris in huge numbers, a lot of them, particularly in the South stayed home. Numbers from NC and GA are going to show that. There was already a cohort of Latino men who openly expressed they wouldn't vote for a woman for president, and those ads buttressed their reluctance. Areas known to have large Puerto Rican populations still went for Trump in spite of being insulted by his campaign.

People have become sophisticated enough to say things like "inflation", or "I don't know enough about her", or "I have to do my research" as opposed to channeling their inner Archie Bunker, but the conclusion is the same. This is why they polls don't reflect the results: people aren't obligated to tell the truth, so they don't. Trump has provided the permission structure and the attitude, and, as his supporters have said, he says what people really think. And he doesn't suffer any punishment for it. They can let their votes do their talking.

So if the result isn't making sense to you, it's because of the denial. The media continues to do it as well. When you come to the wrong conclusions you can't arrive at the right corrections.

[onecaliberal]

1. Nikki Haley said it in a debate.

[Bluetus]

2. "Biden's age" was the proxy for ...

"that black lady who takes over if he dies"

I don't know how many people thought through that on a conscious level, but I think you speak the truth here. Racism and sexism are so ingrained in what America has always been that it really doesn't take much of a dog whistle to wake up those demons.

On the sexism side, the list of countries which have had a female head-of-state is very long now. Yet here we are in America in 2024 with a super-qualified woman against a complete nitwit, and there are 15 million people who just can't go there. Sickening.

[thesquanderer]

38. yet "that black lady who takes over if he dies" was also true in 2020 when he beat Trump.

And even then, at Biden's age, it was not exactly a remote possibility.

[harumph]

3. The winner. People don't have to tell the truth when asked - and they don't.

Thank you. This is the best most succinct explanation I've read today. Posters saying that Kamala should have done this
or should have said that - are missing the point. There's NOTHING she could have done. And if she had beclowned herself
to appeal to the mouth breathers, it would've been even worse turnout. Too many young American males are grievance driven little shits who don't even see women as real persons.

[Jarqui]

30. Considering her position on July 21st, I think they ran a great campaign

They seemed to make very few errors.
They got through the transition from Biden with nearly everybody on board - which was remarkable - a credit to them and to those who didn't make a fuss when they could have.
They seemed to have the better ground game.
They did a phenomenal job raising money.
She won the debate.
They got clobbered on social media but that wasn't a fair fight - people like Musk were pulling strings there.

No question misogyny & racism played a significant role.

I'm still suspicious of Trump shenanigans so I'm not sure of all my conclusions yet.

[Kaleva]

35. I assumed women would carry Kamala to victory

While she did get a majority of the minority female vote, she apparently lost the white female vote

[cannabis_flower]

42. As a white female voter

I voted for Harris. I’m embarrassed at all the white women who would vote for a felon, traitor and liar.

[Yavin4]

69. Don't fall for the "price of eggs" bullshit. People are doing very well in this economy

Yes, some people are struggling, but Trump's voters are not. If they were, then explain this:

1. Ford F-150 tops US sales chart again

In 2023, Ford sold 750,789 F-Series models, up 14.8 per cent from the year before. The Blue Oval unfortunately didn’t break out figures for the all-electric Lightning or the hybrid variants, but claims they were the best-selling electric and hybrid pickups last year.

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/ford-f-150-tops-us-sales-chart-again-but-theres-an-asterisk

2. Airlines for America Anticipates Record Air Travel This Spring - MARCH 19, 2024
Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, projects that U.S. airlines will carry a record-setting 167.1 million travelers (~2.7 million each day) during the 2024 spring travel period, March 1 – April 30. This new record will mark a 6 percent increase over the 2023 spring travel season when 157.4 million travelers (~2.6 million each day) took to the skies.

https://www.airlines.org/news-update/airlines-for-america-anticipates-record-air-travel-this-spring/


3. Cruises - United States

It is projected that the revenue in the Cruises market will reach US$24.70bn in 2024 in the United States.
Further, it is expected that the revenue will exhibit an annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2029) of 5.57%, ultimately resulting in a market volume of US$32.39bn by 2029.


https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/travel-tourism/cruises/united-states#:~:text=Cruises%20%2D%20United%20States-,United%20States,to%20be%20US$1.45k.


4. DISNEYLAND’S FINANCIAL MAGIC: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PARK’S ANNUAL EARNINGS - Aug 9, 2024

In 2023, Disney Parks overall earned a whopping $8.95 billion in operating income. Using Disneyland’s substantial 22.37% attendance share from 2022 as a benchmark, it’s estimated that the beloved park contributed around $2 billion in net profit in 2023. That’s enough pixie dust to make any accountant’s eyes sparkle!

Breaking it down, that’s approximately $5.48 million every single day, or about $228,310 an hour. Even when you narrow it down to seconds, the park manages to pull in about $63.42. Truly staggering numbers for a place that began as a visionary dream sketched on a napkin by Walt Disney!


5. FanDuel increases U.S. market projection by 70% to $39 billion 10.18.2024
The one with the broadest impact came from FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, who said the company had revised its forecast of the U.S. sportsbook TAM (total addressable market) at maturity in 2030 from the $23 billion that it set two years ago to $39 billion, an increase of 70%. That projection assumes that 80% of U.S. adults are able to bet online legally by then, a reasonable assumption that is the same as it was two years ago.

[Kaleva]

72. And a majority of adults are overweight

An indication that food is plentiful.

[Elessar Zappa]

4. I think it was a combo of factors.

One is certainly racism and misogyny. But I do believe that the cost of groceries and rent hurt us tremendously. Not sure what we could’ve done to combat that.

[valleyrogue]

12. It really wasn't. It was all about the GOP getting the MRA and incel vote via social media.

Young women are seeing right through the economy b.s.:

https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-fury-gap

[kelly1mm]

28. Gen Z moved towards President Trump, moreso men but women as well as compared to those that supported

President Biden. The exit polls show all demographics shifter R except 65+ olds and white men with a college degree.

[Skittles]

14. once again

please feel free to tell us what repukes would do to help the average person, WHEN DO THEY EVER HELP *WE THE PEOPLE*? Notice how they screamed about it but never had any remedies? REPUKES WORK FOR CORPORATE WHORES.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. Yes, it should be obvious.

But these people are apparently blind to reality.

[Skittles]

17. THAT is what all of us with critical thinking skills can agree on

yup

[Pisces]

32. We could have acknowledged it more instead of saying it was better and just in peoples minds that things were bad,

We kept arguing with people that they didn’t know what they were talking about, that the economy was good. It was good for some in the stock market not the regular people.

[Walleye]

56. So do they think grocery prices are going to come down now. Trump cares about your grocery prices?

[kelly1mm]

5. Lets assume this is true for arguments sale. Lets ALSO look at Gen Z voters moving towards

President Trump (along with millennials, Gen X, shoot basically EVERYONE EXCEPT BOOMERS)

So what is the path forward? If 'sexism, racism, and bigotry' are ascendant in US politics where should the Democratic Party look for votes?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Joe Biden had a 39% to 41% approval ratining in exit polls.

He deserved better but that's irrelevant to this exercise. No incumbent political party candidate has ever won re-election with those numbers, not Adlai Stevenson, not Hubert Humphrey, not Jimmy Carter, not George Herbert Walker Bush, and not John McCain. If voters were happy with the direction of the country and the economy she could have won if she was from Mars.

[asm128]

9. Except, you know, Bush Jr., who, by 2004, had dismal approval ratings

N/T

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. His appoval ratings in November of 2004 hovered around fifty percent.

I can supply a citation if you want.

[Skittles]

18. yup

apparently, allowing the biggest terrorist attack in our nation's history really boosted his ratings

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. In the immediate aftermath of the attack it hit 90% in Gallup.

[Skittles]

25. that made me sick

I knew right then he'd use it to start bullshit wars

people are so freaking gullible

[leftstreet]

7. Nonsense. Knuckledraggers would have run to vote Sarah Palin

It's about which party is running the woman

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. People forget Barack Obama won twice.

There is always a majority of voters who would vote for a Martian if they felt the Martian would make their lives materially better

[Skittles]

19. he may have been the first black person to be president

but it has been ALL men - he did not have to deal with misogyny

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Skittles

If a majority of voters were happy with the way the last four years went you or I could have beat Trump if we had a (D) after our name.

[Orrex]

24. That's preposterously naive and out of touch

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. No incumbent president

No incumbent president with an approval rating of over 50% has ever failed to be re-elected and Richard Nixon and Al Gore are the only candidates whose predecessors had approval ratings above 50% and lost. Re-election campaigns are referendums on the party in power. If they like the way things are going they generally give them another term. If they don't like the way things are going they don't. One can hold two contradictory thoughts in their mind and believe both to be true; one can be a bigot and still vote for the target of their bigotry if they think that person can make their life better.

[Skittles]

41. what you are forgetting

is TRUMP was literally talking about Arnold Palmer's junk and mimicking oral sex in front of an audience.....he is ALREADY on the lists of the worst presidents of all time - why wasn't HE held accountable?

answer: BECAUSE HE IS A WHITE MALE REPUKE

[calimary]

45. WOW, DSB! This:

“One can hold two contradictory thoughts in their mind and believe both to be true; one can be a bigot and still vote for the target of their bigotry if they think that person can make their life better.”

Boy, I hope as many of our fellow DUers as possible see this post of yours, AND THIS quote from it, in particular. A MOST spot-on post, even though also infuriating and depressing.

[Skittles]

49. what have repukes EVER done to make their lives better?

I live in a red area, I ASK THESE PEOPLE and they cannot name one thing - not one that directly affects them.

[Orrex]

61. How many of those incumbents were black women?

His many were campaigning against a fascist with a trillion-dollar propaganda machine at his disposal and the assistance of a Russian dictator?

Dubiously citing precedent in an unprecedented disaster is not persuasive.

[Jack Valentino]

70. "Who got me a cheaper bag of Doritos?" Yeah, it was that Adolf guy...

That is the limit of what too many voters know about economics, unfortunately.
So they voted for the nazi whose proposed politics will likely
make their Doritos even MORE expensive...

So they'll either have to complain about it, go without
or switch to a generic store brand, which, while often quite tasty,
are just not Doritos

[Skittles]

26. bullshit

I call absolute bullshit.

[tulipsandroses]

40. Obama was the first president to utilize the internet in a campaign

It wasn’t quite the swamp of hate, lies and propaganda it is today. I’m not so sure Obama would win in today’s internet world.

[valleyrogue]

13. Not true. If it were true, why wasn't Nikki Haley the nominee?

There is your answer.

[Blue_Roses]

10. Denial is one of the 5 stages of grief

And we are grieving now. Alot of us just have to work through it at our own pace. Time will eventually let us know the full outcome.

[calimary]

47. Good reminder, Blue_Roses.

We need time to grieve - AND then get over it. And this place needs as many of us ready to fight for our America as we can possibly have.

[Blue_Roses]

50. We sure do. But, right now

it's hard to even lift our heads. I was in the grocery store tonight and when I saw someone who looked like they could be a Trump supporter, I found myself getting angry and depressed at the same time. I didn't do that before the election.

It's gonna take us some time.

[calimary]

52. I believe you, my friend.

I’m trying to anticipate being able to get over it by next Monday if not maybe some time over this weekend. Not sure I’d be ready to bet on that by then, however.

[tenderfoot]

16. What did the Republicans do right?

I can't think of ANYTHING.

[Pisces]

34. They didn't run a black woman with a 2 month campaign,

[cannabis_flower]

44. Bingo! nt

[Blue_Roses]

51. That's pretty harsh

Kamala Harris was a good candidate and she ran an amazing campaign. What we didn't realize was how DUM the Trump supporters are.Thats where we made our first mistake.

[Ontheboundry]

65. She lost ground in every demographic save one

Baby boomers oddly enough, the group we on DU blast the most.were the only she did better than Biden

This is a messaging issue

With Hispanic women

Hillary+44
Biden +33
Harris +22

The Hispanic men was a bloodbath

So it's slipping regardless of gender....

We lost a full 5 points with blacks (all from the men)

[Pisces]

73. A 2 month campaign did her in. We needed a primary from the very beginning. Our blind spot was how

Much we respected Joe Biden, and the people around him should have given better advise.

[Ontheboundry]

54. One thing trump.does well

Is push emotional buttons and not give a single F what anyone thinks about him feelings be damned is his style,.and oddly that works with enough people

The man is a pos,.but he has that talent for sure of touching emotional.cords.

[Orrex]

20. The best time to attack someone who's traumatized is while the trauma is still ongoing

That way you can cause the most pain and harm.

It's been less than 48 hours since Harris conceded. Could you maybe hold off on scolding people until they've had time to fucking process this wholly unprecedented and world-shattering disaster?

Let me guess: when someone's standing on the lawn, turned away from their house in flames so that they don't have to see it burn, you push them back inside and chastise them for living in denial, right?

JFC why is there always this rush to make people feel stupid for feeling human?

[appmanga]

62. If YOU feel attacked, you're missing the point...

...unless you feel some responsibility for this result.

Things are not the same everywhere in this country, but I've done quite a bit of traveling in SC, GA, and AL. In all three states gasoline has been below $3/gallon for nearly a year. Restaurants are crowded on weekends. People are attending sporting events with their precious discretionary dollars, and there aren't walking around in rags. These aren't the working poor who are just scraping by. These are the people who are dissatisfied because they simply think their lives should be without struggles.

The continued "conventional wisdom" will only cause Democrats to look toward the wrong answers and, therefore, get the undesired outcomes.

Kamala Harris run was undone by a culture war campaign that could have been a Karl Rove fever dream. Democrats ignore that at their peril. Not providing a coherent response to these tactics is to fail. It happened years ago with same-sex marriage, and it happened here with transgenderism. And to ignore the racism and sexism is to be willfully blind and to ignore the level of this toxicity in our country.

[Orrex]

63. The attacks are upon people feeling shattered by the election

It started Tuesday night and has continued.

[Beringia]

66. I appreciate critques and answers now, just take a break if you can't stand the heat

[Orrex]

68. See, even that framing is adversarial

Saying someone “can’t take the heat” is calling someone out for reacting like a normal human being. Instead, it should be “ if you can’t resist the urge to pile on, then maybe you should take a step back for a few days.”

I can “take the heat,” thanks, but I can also see the pettiness and pointless condescension in those who never miss a chance to kick someone when they’re down.

We’ ll see more of this Dems-attacking-Dems foolishness as Inauguration Day approaches, too. Maybe the scolds should take this time to figure out why they need to put people down so predictably.

[nilram]

23. What do you mean by "a stunning fashion"

The only way it was stunning is that it was unexpected. It's not clear that she's lost the popular vote. Any statements to the contrary don't take into account the as-yet uncounted ballots in California and elsewhere.

Actually the other way that it's stunning is that, in five swing states, voters elected Democratic Senators but not a Democratic president. Whatever their demographics or attitudes, it's pretty unusual for people to split their ticket.

People have been voting against their own interest for a long time (cf Ronald Reagan), that's not stunning at all.

[Ontheboundry]

64. Casey

Appears to have lost tho. My wife split her ticket again....

[summer_in_TX]

27. How many of us on DU are still working full time while trying to feed and clothe our kids?

I know for my son and his family of six kids (three of them teenagers) inflation hit them really hard. But my husband and I have enough cushion that it hasn't been that big a deal. No kids at home, not a lot of expenses that they're dealing with.

A friend who'd hoped Kamala would win went to her usual cafe for lunch today. The waitress who makes her so welcome and a hardworking kitchen worker on the autism spectrum who she finds part of what makes that cafe a home away from home for her were so thankful with the outcome, that there would be a change. Of course they aren't the type to be well-informed so they had hope when they voted. We know they are in for a rude awakening. But I can understand their life situations that led them to vote the way they did.

These are not the culture warriors, they're the little guys just trying to get by.

[TheKentuckian]

46. No, they are reckless, stupid, assholes they willfully put my ass and their's too in a sling.

Motherfuck them and the excuses for their literal insane depravity.

[markodochartaigh]

29. Of course Kamala and Joe were both lied about.

And the lies came from sources which are incredibly sophisticated in propagandizing. Never before has it been possible to produce propaganda so effective and so targeted.

But I think that the real problem is lack of empathy. Whether Kamala was too Black, too Asian, too female, too Democratic, too whatever, the problem is that, because of a lack of empathy, the voters found her too xxxx, and the propaganda was there to capitalize on the inherent prejudices.

I think that the core of the Republican everyone for themselves, toxically masculine, power/status adoring, philosophy is a lack of empathy.

Right now much of the population in the US is not ready to address their lack of empathy. I think that it will take a severe shock to tilt the balance to the point where enough people are ready to address their lack of empathy. I think that that time is coming.

[calimary]

48. I dearly hope that time is coming, my friend.

But I’ve been there before. And hope hasn’t served me nearly as much or as often as I’d wanted (or expected).

Hey, I‘ve got a lot to work through, too. I already know how rotten it feels cuz I’m already there, myself.

[moniss]

33. Well said and when you hit the transgender

issue and the inner Archie Bunker it really does a good job of crystallizing how people we think are one way based on how they seem on the surface but inside they are looking for that "something" to latch onto and allow them to comfort that bigotry internally while still keeping a fairly neutral exterior face to the world. Excellent analysis.

One of the problems in overcoming bigoted people is that they don't see themselves as being the problem. They see it as being the ones who are pointing out the bigotry along with the "other" that they are directed at in their minds at any particular moment.

[BigmanPigman]

36. Yup, and that is why the next and the next and the next

elections will have the same outcome. Thinking otherwise is foolish. People need to wake up and realize this is exactly who America is. Most of the world is as well. People are greedy, hate filled, selfish liars and men have controlled religion and politics and all aspects of everyone's life since humans stood upright. It will never change. This is why people suck. Men destroy life and they love it, love it, love it. It is the nature of the beast.

Animals do NOT do this, only people do. Carl Sagan is right. Animals harm to save their lives, humans do it to benefit their agenda.

Nothing changes. Don't expect it to.

[Beringia]

67. When will another woman take a chance and run, when this is America

[andym]

37. Actually it's about being the change candidate under periods of perceived economic uncertainty

Last edited Fri Nov 8, 2024, 02:09 AM - Edit history (1)

Trump is synonymous with extreme change and chaos-- that's why no Republican could beat him and why during a period of economic uncertainty and anxiety according to poll after poll this Spring, Summer and Fall, Trump was doing well-- surprisingly it's his very volatility and insanity that won him votes from a majority of voters. Trump out polled Joe throughout the year, and only fell behind Kamala in the polls for about 6-8 weeks when she was the new minted candidate and potentially a "change" candidate herself.

Trump and Vance made a big deal of painting Kamala as the establishment, "same old, same old" candidate-- trying to pin Biden's low favorabiity (40%) on her and it worked. That's why they kept asking how come she didn't already fix the economy-- very unfair because a VP is not the President. The only way she might have overcome being painted as a continuation of Joe would have been to come out with a very ambitious and new economic plan that sounded different from just being an evolution of Joe's plan and shout out that she is her own person with her own vision.

Still she out polled Joe against Trump this year and did better than Joe, a white man, would have based on polling data which belies the argument put forth in the OP-- that doesn't mean there isn't misogyny and racism that hurt her chances, just that there were other factors that loomed larger.

[SammyWinstonJack]

60. Trump is responsible for the economic uncertainty and

the morons just voted for more of the same. Bloody brilliant.

[andym]

71. Ironic and tragic, but Trump is a troublemaker and will cause more pain. NT.

[Pototan]

39. Except that 45% women and 45% of Latinos voted for Trump

We can win even when sexists, bigots and racists vote for Trump. We can't win when nearly half of their victims vote for him, too.

[Ontheboundry]

53. Hispanic men absolutely will.vote.for a woman

In 2016 Hillary got 71% of Hispanic men. Biden got less than her. Sexism still in play as the reason for Hispanic men?

How about we ask ourselves why hispanics as a whole are drifting away from us more.and more every cycle ?

This is our glaring fault as a party. We are unable to look at ourselves in the mirror and realize part of the blame could very well be our own

[True Dough]

55. The reasons you posit in your OP surely have validity

Racism and misogyny remain ubiquitous today, unfortunately.

But I think you're mistaken in downplaying inflation. That occurred globally, not just in America, but leaders around the world have paid a price for it in recent elections. Paying 30% more for basic goods within a few years has a real effect in many, many households.

And, whether you're a fan or not, David Axelrod makes some good points here:

David Axelrod
@davidaxelrod
The most unseemly thing about elections you lose is that everyone has theories about what you could/should have done.
The Harris campaign wasn't perfect but it, and she, did a lot of things well--debate; convention and more.
Reality is, they were facing tremendous headwinds--28% right track number; two-thirds negative on economy;
@POTUS approval, just 40 percent.
No incumbent party has ever overcome such numbers.
And give Trump's team credit. They set out from the start to define her as the status quo by tying her to an unpopular president on economy/border issues, and they succeeded.

[madaboutharry]

57. This is a breakdown Jen Taub on Mary Trump Media shared yesterday:

Last edited Fri Nov 8, 2024, 06:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Jen Taub, a law professor, streams a great morning show on YouTube every day. She had this breakdown of exit polling yesterday:

Black women: 92%
Jewish women: 88%
Latin women: 61%
White women: 47%

These were the statistics on men:

Black men: 78%
Jewish men: 71%
Latin men: 44%
White men: 39%

Note: I added the statistics for Latin men and women based on data from the NYT which weren’t in Taub’s chart.

Maybe I shouldn’t be shocked by this, but I am. I actually do not know how to process these numbers. They are deeply upsetting.

I don’t know how anyone can deny that sexism and racism played a significant role in this election. The numbers speak for themselves.

[LisaL]

59. I know.

The numbers speak for themselves.

[malaise]

58. A seriously good OP

What is pellucidly clear was my naivety