Vincent Oriedo, a biotechnology scientist, had just such a question. What lessons have been learned, he asked, from Harris’s defeat in this vital swing county in a crucial battleground state that voted for Joe Biden four years ago, and how are the Democrats applying them?

“They did not answer the question,” he said.

“It tells me that they haven’t learned the lessons and they have their inner state of denial. I’ve been paying careful attention to the influencers within the Democratic party. Their discussions have centred around, ‘If only we messaged better, if only we had a better candidate, if only we did all these superficial things.’ There is really a lack of understanding that they are losing their base, losing constituencies they are taking for granted.”

“We have set ourselves up for generational loss because we keep promoting from within leaders that that do not criticise the moneyed interests. They refuse to take a hard look at what Americans actually believe and meet those needs.”

  • XOXOX@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    SHE HAS A VAGINA. THAT’S ALL IT TOOK. DEMOCRATS DIDN’T MISS THE MARK. SHE JUST HAS A VAGINA AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC WONT PUT ANYONE WITH A VAGINA IN THE WHITEHOUSE.

    • Th4tGuyII@fedia.io
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      9 hours ago

      You’re literally doing exactly what this post complains about. The overwhelming sentiment of Harris replacing Biden was change - her campaign ran on that - yet she had basically all the same stances/policies a Biden, especially where it mattered to the voterbase (I.e. Gaza). She had an opportunity to diverge from Biden’s less popular platform, but chose not to, and it cost her the election. That’s the rub.

      As for 2016 - people did turn out for Hilary. She won the popular vote by a significantly higher margin than Harris.

      And as for 2020, Biden only won so easily because Trump’s woefully incompetent response to Covid19 was still in recent memory - and even that still resulted in a smaller margin than Obama’s first term.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      10 hours ago

      People stayed home because of Gaza and the economy but yeah it’s definitely because Harris is a woman.

      • rigatti@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        It’s a combination of all of those factors, plus others. People try to point to one thing, but a whole bunch of people didn’t vote for her for a whole bunch of reasons.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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          Yeah, in 2016 it was so close any singular failing could have been the one that turned a win to a loss, but after this last one it’s multiple.

          And they all sort of reinforce themselves. Seeing Democrats abandon one political principle and then seeing them being weak on one that’s close to home will make you less willing to accept it’s just a messaging choice. And all of that on top of the general economic malaise and lack of punishment for bad people in positions of power and something you might have let go becomes the final straw.

      • XOXOX@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        They did-fucking-not. They stayed home because she’s a woman. Just like they did in 2016. End of fucking story. The rest is just political writers needing clicks to survive.

        • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 hours ago

          Lol Hillary won the popular vote despite a decade of being attacked by the media. Hillary would’ve been president if it were not for the electoral college. Harris didn’t even have a decade long attack by the media, has somewhat of a momentum when Biden dropped out, and the Tim Walz pick also gained momentum, and there were lots of grassroot donations on the day of Biden dropping out. Still managed to perform worse than Hillary, didn’t even win the popular vote.

        • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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          And angry people in denial who STILL feel a need to parade their concern like it’s a fucking medal.

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        8 hours ago

        Gaza holds no water, kushner and Jr were on record for seeking to build condos in gaza once it was “cleared out”

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          6 hours ago

          And yet Trump toured Michigan promising (and making good on said promise, surprisingly) an end to the war.

          • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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            And he just launched a meme coin opening at 25 bln. Apparently rubes live on both sides of the aisle.

            Raids start next week.

            Edit to think he “made good” is a joke. Some conversation from him had nothing to do with months of diplomatic work from real professionals. Biden is still in office btw and any “deals” would have to go through him.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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              5 hours ago

              Some conversation from him had nothing to do with months of diplomatic work from real professionals.

              “You don’t see all the work going on behind the scenes” is Democrats’ “You don’t know my totally real girlfriend. She goes to another school.”

      • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        How many voters do you think can find Gaza on a map?

        But they sure can see that Harris is a woman.

    • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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      10 hours ago

      yeah funny how the dems can turn out for a joe biden who sucks in 2020 but not for a hillary clinton or a kamala harris who suck in 2016 and 2024. like yes, people sat out for a wide host of reasons, but there’s a very glaring pattern that’s very easy to see

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        Biden ran on progressive economic policy and a generally satisfactory platform. People had a problem with his age, but he didn’t suck, not in the same way Harris and Hillary did.

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          BIDEN IS A TALL WHITE MAN. THAT’S WHY HE WON. THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN IN THIS IDIOT INFESTED COUNTY.

          1. MAN
          2. WHITE
          3. TALL

          NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

        • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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          the lack of criticism for how centrist and shitty joe biden, just like hillary and kamala, is kind of exactly what i’m talking talking about. they all three suck in basically all the exact same ways. of all the candidates to run in 2020 primaries, he was basically the worst one. kamala was actually more progressive than him. but yet, here we are. arguing that he ran left of Kamala’s 2024 bid. and before you bring up palestine, they’ve all been shit on that subject since 2006 at least, so drop it. that’s not why kamala lost at the end of the day. it’s that joe biden was allowed to win as a mediocre white man in 2020, but kamala had to do everything perfect to be viable in the eyes of those 19 million voters who stayed home, especially in the swing states where people absolutely mobilized to get out the vote for an overtly fascistic and racist orange candidate

          • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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            they all three suck in basically all the exact same ways.

            No they didn’t. Biden ran on progressive policy written by Sanders; Harris ran on including Republicans in her cabinet and finishing the border wall.

            so drop it.

            No I won’t. 29% of people who voted Biden in 2020 and stayed home in 2024 cited it as the top reason they stayed home. It is part of the reason Harris lost because she didn’t promise to do anything different from Biden while Trump did (and seemingly kept his promise for once).

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Not really. Even Hillary won the popular vote (only didn’t become president due to the outdated electoral college), Harris just sucks.

      I mean, Hillary also had a lot of baggage, decade of being attacked by the media, still won popular vote. The media didn’t really have a decade to trash Harris’ reputation, but she still did worse than Hillary.

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        Hillary did have the Clinton name. Whether that helped or hurt, we don’t know, but it was a factor