Summary
Kamala Harris’s political skills have transformed a potentially disastrous 2024 presidential election into a competitive race.
Despite initial skepticism and a challenging campaign, Harris has improved her public image and closed the gap with Trump on key issues. Since Biden stepped aside in July and endorsed her, she has shifted from an unpopular vice president to a viable candidate, even matching Trump in polls on economic issues.
Her leadership has given Democrats a chance to prevent a Trump landslide and halt the rise of American authoritarianism.
It’s not a testament to her abilities, it’s a depressing statement about the state of America that a convicted felon, rapist, fascist loudman can be neck and neck with probably one of the smartest, most highly accomplished presidential candidates we’ve had in quite a while
I blame stupid voters AND Republicans trying to pull of a coup through voter suppression.
Up next, endless court cases in an attempt to get SCOTUS to hand over the election to Trump.
It’s a symbol about how far Republicans have truly fallen. Even George W. Bush could’ve and might’ve admitted defeat if he had lost the 2004 run. John McCain, respectfully has given Obama appraisal for winning over him in 2008. Mitt Romney was respectful too.
But 2020 with Trump? Throws the biggest fucking tantrum ever in the history of all elections and this country alone. By attempting a coup and an insurrection because he refused to admit that he lost.
I blame Fox News the most for decades of right wing propaganda.
Rush Limbaugh too
And Newt Gingrich
Rupert Murdoch and the cabal
I blame years of powerful people trying to ensure that people are not educated and are fed a diet of misinformation with a consistent narrative.
That is part of Republican voter suppression.
Yep, the truth is it shouldn’t even be this close, but Kamala has moved significantly right in the last four years.
The Dem party doesn’t try to get landslide victories, they want to give voters the absolute minimum they need to win. It’s the only explanation for why they keep moving right after Obama’s 08 landslide
Yep, the truth is it shouldn’t even be this close, but Kamala has moved significantly right in the last four years.
Actually, that’s probably why she’s winning. Because of the nature and makeup of the Electoral College, we can consider the Presidential election biased in favor of the GOP candidate.
It’s the only explanation for why they keep moving right after Obama’s 08 landslide
I’ve explained this in detail before, so rather than reposting, I’ll just point folks over to this, https://lemmy.world/comment/12409521
The Dem party doesn’t try to get landslide victories, they want to give voters the absolute minimum they need to win.
Well, I’m sure they would if they could. But see above - it’s not possible with the current structure. I’m still hopeful that we can get Harris elected, and then have a chance of getting the 127 DC states plan to pass - https://www.vox.com/2020/1/14/21063591/modest-proposal-to-save-american-democracy-pack-the-union-harvard-law-review
Which would allow Dems to pass the required constitutional amendments to address the systemic problems with the current, erm, system.
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In the country that very possibly going to vote Trump back in a party moving to the left would be a death sentence.
[…] cost the Wall-Street class anything significant…
And herein is your problem. The Wall-Street class is the most influential voting bloc in America. If you don’t bow to them, you don’t even make it onto the ballot, let alone into the oval office. The only way it is possible to get around this, in modern America, would be if you acted like you were going to play ball with Wall Street up until you’re sworn into office, and then pull the most epic bait and switch of all time on them.
To be clear, I don’t expect this from Harris. But if she were going to do it, exactly what she’s doing now would be the way you accomplish that. Let the megadonors believe that you’re on their side until you reach a point where they can’t stop you.
I am all but praying that Harris is pulling a bait and switch on Wall Street. It’s the only way I see fascism being actually stopped, instead of merely delayed or slowed by 4-8 years.
How on earth is Harris being tied with the worst presidential candidate in history spun as a good thing?
Yeah, how many of those votes are pro-Harris and how many are anti-Trump?
The enduring fact is that our election cycles don’t have to last years. She did this in a little over 100 days.
The Primary system is fucking broken. It only exists to make some states “Princess for a Day” and guarantee some advertising dollars. It is only so long because some states want a week to themselves, or want to be “first in the nation” or some other bullshit like that. And the parties do whatever they can to tip the scales all the time.
If I were in charge, I would change it like this:
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All primary elections for President must occur within a four week span in May or June.
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12 or 13 states go in each week. The order will vary from election to election, so the same bucket of states only goes first once in 4 elections.
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there must be at least three candidates for any primary to happen. Less than 3 candidates = no primary.
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parties are free to ignore these rules, but then they should settle their candidate by some other method than a state-wide primary that taxpayers pay for.
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That overcoat is clean af
I’ve seen some people argue that had Biden stayed in, we would be seeing the same numbers. Not sure if I agree with that. But it’s an interesting thought.
My guess is he’d be doing worse, that the advantage of being a white male wouldn’t be enough to overcome how his age is affecting him.
No. Biden wasnt getting WORSE numbers out of Republicans or centrist non party members, he lost all confidance from Dems. Flat out. You can’t show up sick to debate at 2am in the morning, at some point he should have said no, it’s going to make sense or we won’t, He had everything to lose in that debate, only his side gave a shit about it, the trumpers give zero fucks if Trump is deranged and unintelligible.
It is a much better situation than we were in just a few short months ago, so we’ve got that going for us, BUT we’re living in the age of huge organizations not being able to stick the landing and epic faceplants that are screwing up countries/empires virtually overnight, so… yeah.
And the fact that there were so few months left before the Election when Biden had to step aside. She had to work and work she did.
Granted the polls right now, least estimating, aren’t looking great. I expect an upset though.
all gonna come down to turnout.
As far as people who are eligible to vote go, she was always going to win. But as you say, it comes down to how many in swing states actually vote. If enough stay home, Trump wins.
Leave it to the modern journalist to spin a loss as a win. Comedic at best.
Panelist on pbs live election coverage was saying Harris ran a flawless campaign. They just dont get it.
Close, but no cigar does not preserve actual democracy, unfortunately.
Calling yourself a democracy, and being a democracy are two very different things. The first proper word in North Korea’s official country name is “Democratic”, and bear in mind Russia holds “elections” as well.
Only a small handfull of countries in the world dont at least claim to be democratic. Heres a map. https://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/comments/1b0md42/countries_that_dont_claim_to_be_democratic/?chainedPosts=t3_1cfr8lx
it aint over til the black lady sings.
The fact that it’s close is a testament to the idiocy and racism of the American public.
That and just a dash of sexism.
TBH when her candidacy first was announced I was completely convinced that Trump had already won… A woman, AND black?
Or is a testament to how effective rich authoritarians have been at keeping much of the public uneducated and or fed misinformation.
Voting is a two way street.
You can’t put all the blame on voters and none on the campaign. One of those groups gets paid millions and millions of dollars to get a D president.
When we ran a young charismatic candidate with a progressive campaign in 08, it was easy to get voters on board and red states became blue, it even carried over to flipping state governments
If we had a moderately sane Republican running, I’d agree with you.
But anyone who looks at Trump and thinks “Yep, that guy should have the nuclear football” is a fucking moron and I’m terrified that they’re allowed to operate motor vehicles.
But you can still make the argument the DNC seeing trump and using that as an excuse to run candidates more conservative than Dem voters are is also a dangerous thing…
That’s what I’m saying, you can blame 10s of millions of voters, or the handful of people at the DNC who get paid millions to get a Dem elected.
Both should do the right thing, and I get criticizing both. I even get criticizing the handful of wealthy unelected people running the DNC as the priority.
But I’ll never understand why so many people demand only voters compromise and insist the handful of unelected wealthy, powerful, and connected people running the DNC are above reproach
Bill Clinton, who won in 1992, was from the midwestern state of Arkansas. I think this trend started long before, and has to do with the center of the US shifting differently from some of the more populated areas of the US.
I don’t blame Democratic voters. I blame every voter. This should be a no brainer. Trump should be polling in the single digits.
Americans are fucking stupid. The ones who vote are stupid. The ones who run the parties are stupid. The ones who don’t vote are stupid.
I keep trying to hitch a ride off this bug infested mudball but even the aliens know to avoid it.
And in 08 a young charismatic candidate with a progressive platform got them to vote for him even in red states
The voters will vote if given a better option.
Well, this is a hurdle though: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/07/19/gerrymandering-republicans-redmap
If the Republicans were running a sane choice, then Democrats holding to their ideals would be key. Voters would have an actual choice and candidates would need to better distinguish themselves
However we have a scenario where the Republicans candidate is not a sane choice for the future of our democracy, our country, our future, and are in some sort of bizarro world where half the population is fine with that. A bizarro world where saying the quiet part out loud is “telling it like it is”, where blatant corruption and fascism is somehow not just tolerated but even celebrated. Where it’s ok to be racist, sexist, and scapegoating is the strategy of the day
While I’m happy to be voting FOR Harris, it’s critical in so many ways to vote AGAINST Trump, his excesses, his corruption, his abuse of power, his signature for sale, his lackey for Putin, his willingness to sacrifice our future for more money today, his narcissism at the expense of the citizens a President is meant to serve
When we ran a young charismatic candidate with a progressive campaign in 08, it was easy to get voters on board and red states became blue, it even carried over to flipping state governments
See https://lemmy.world/comment/12409521 - but the TLDR is that 2008 isn’t comparable, since a major gerrymandering effort by the GOP took place in 2010 that took Dems by surprise - and this gerrymandering made the above virtually impossible to repeat (by design, I might add).
Anti-Intellectualism, Anti-Abortion, The Ignorant .etc
Those also play roles.
Like I said: Idiocy
Why is no one discussing Dems have lost the senate and given a bigger majority in the house to Republicans. Even without Trump they are bound to control house and the senate.
Stand by for nothing happening for the next 2 years or worse.
I yearn for your optimism.
I thot nothing will b accomplished when there was a chance Harris could have won but now it is in the worse category.
ABC thinks trumps lead is insurmountable in Penn. This shit is joever.
Thank that to even heavier Gerrymandering in part, which according to right wingers, is a “leftist conspiracy theory”.
Since Trump seems to win I think a lot of things may happen in the next few years.
People: “We don’t want old!” Biden: “I still got this!” Debate. “Maybe I don’t.” Harris: “I’m not old!” People: “Good enough!”
I wouldn’t say that at all. It’s a testament to how terrible a candidate Trump is.
I’d argue the opposite.
The fact that Americans are possibly still voting for someone who will bring in the Fourth Reich if elected, over the first female president is a sign of just how badly Democrats have dropped the ball. ESPECIALLY after Jan 6th.
I 100% agree except why is it that “Democrats dropped the ball”?
Democrats aren’t voting for a fascist. Their politicians are not enabling a fascist. The Democratic voting base hasn’t been bamboozled by 30+ years of obvious propaganda pretending to be news.
Christians dropped the ball. Conservative immigrants dropped the ball. Legit news media dropped the ball. Large corporations and wealthy individuals dropped the ball… on purpose.
Democrats work on harm reduction because we don’t give them enough votes to make meaningful changes. A 1 or 2 vote margin isn’t enough to vote around the moles like Manchin and Sinema.
Leftists - the “don’t vote” kind - definitely dropped the ball.
It’s really tiring seeing you guys trot out the “it’s all leftist’s fault for not voting for us!” line again and again when the actions of your candidate give it away for the lie that it is. Leftists cannot simultaneously be the cause of every Democratic defeat, yet too insignificant a group to merit any consideration in party platform.
Go back to your handlers for better propaganda, this one doesn’t work on anyone with a pulse.
Christians dropped the ball. Conservative immigrants dropped the ball. Legit news media dropped the ball. Large corporations and wealthy individuals dropped the ball… on purpose.
There is a literal industry built on lies
To be fair, just being a corrupt industry full of scumbags is actually progress when it comes to religion. Go back 100 years let alone 500 and it was more like its own authoritarian political party. now it’s just hobby lobby with more private jets, and…well, that’s a good thing. I don’t ever want to have to expect the Spanish inquisition.
Anything to blame the Democrats, huh?
Look blaming the democrats is done not because the republicans aren’t to blame, but because blaming them is sort of pointless. It’s like blaming terrorists for the shit they do. Yes, it’s their fault. Yes, they’re morally reprehensible. So what? Are you going to spend time trying to come up with detailed arguments for what they could’ve done better? No, you look to the material conditions, people, and organizations responsible for fighting them, and for making sure people aren’t desperate enough to join them, because their job at least in theory is to do better. I blame the democrats because I believe they could have done better. I do not have even that small grain of hope when it comes to the republicans.
I think both can be true. That she cleaned up the situation is a testament to her skill as a candidate, and the fact this situation happened is in no small part an indictment of the Democratic party, in which she’s among its most senior leaders
no she didn’t. she had a window of positive energy she just tanked. jesus did we watch the same candidate running? lol
What evidence are you using to support your belief that she tanked? That’s a surprise to me and I’d like to understand more.
What exactly do you think would have won?
Humans are awful
Bernie Sanders
Pete Buttigieg
Or if they could have approached a very popular celebrity such as Dwayne Johnson or Taylor Swift and asked them to run.
Even Andrew Yang could have produced a better result if he made a better campaign pitch than focusing his solely on leftist pipe dreams that will bankrupt the country such as UBI.
There is an industry built on lies my guy. A literal lie industry. Industrial lies
It’s not the Democrats’ fault that there are so many cowardly, weak-minded, brainwashed losers in this country who fall for every bit of propaganda the GOP puts out. Politics shouldn’t be about culture wars but that’s how the republicans get votes.
It is the Democrats fault that there are so many cowardly, weak-minded losers in charge of the party though.
The Democrats are responsible for 50+ years of neglecting working Americans that created the culture you’re complaining about.
You could certainly say the Democrats should have been able to come up with a better outreach plan rather than running the same old plan that hasn’t penetrated into this group for the last several elections. It’s not as though the culture war nonsense and insane rightwing elements of the party are novel factors, such that the Dems can shrug their collective shoulders and say “Hey, we did our best, be we were flying blind into the unknown.”
You are right about stupid people falling for stupid shit, but that’s not why democrats lost. Trump got less votes than he did in 2020, that 70 million who voted for Trump are just people who love what Trump says.
What made democrats lose are the 16 million votes Biden got that Harris didn’t get. The GOP didn’t magically make those votes disappear, those missing votes is the failure of the democratic party.
