How did it happen?
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Yes, Ax.
It's not the fact that Harris had trouble communicating. It's the fact that she froze like a deer in the headlights whenever she didn't have a teleprompter or whenever her teleprompter malfunctioned.
It's true that Trump is surrounding himself with a group of very unpleasant people.
The issue of concern for my generation was the first Iraq war. It seems that such concerns never end.
It seems looking back on it now even though it was such a short time ago that Trump won on the day that Harris was elevated. Her one talent was to read a speech in public and she couldn't even do that without outbursts of inappropriate laughter.
Biden didn't govern well during his term and ended it with a trainwreck.
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@pique
"54%
Top 10 U.S. Literacy Rate Statistics
Nationwide, on average, 79% of U.S. adults are literate in 2022. 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022. 54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level." https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/research/literacy-statistics#:~:text=Top 10 U.S. Literacy Rate,literacy below sixth-grade level.
They vote.
IMO they don't watch interviews on news shows. They react. -
@pique do I think people should have rejected Trump because of who he is? Of course. But in the end, people prefer to vote FOR something. Harris had high favorable, so the mission was to get people to offer something.
Her biggest risk was being seen as a continuation of the inept Biden administration.
And there she was, campaigning with Biden. Refusing to distance. Having no plans she could articulate. Here's a test. Many of us support Harris, and she ran on the Border Bill. Go on, tell me what was in it? I pay close attention to such things, but Harris never told me what she would do about the border other than sign a preexisting bill.
Many people are suffering. My daughter has triplets and, despite being two college educated people with no debt, they can't afford a house. I need a new car, but I balk at the idea of paying $45,000. People are drowning. How could they vote for someone who would stay the course?
And the ideas Harris did lay out were awful. $25 k to first time buyers? Would do nothing about supply. I think housing is the biggest crisis in our country right now. People rely on the house as a nest egg. Home ownership improves communities. Why not propose a public private partnership to build affordable single family homes, no bigger than 3 bed 2 ba., modest size. Govt helps with down-payment, repaid when property s sold.
I'm sorry she lost. She had a shot, but she wasn't up to the challenge.
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Cindy, as I've said before, a ham sandwich would have been a better choice than DT. I will admit, I think Harris could have been more inspiring. I don't think she ever really caught fire. She could have done better. But damn, she worked her ass off. And, to me, this is really important--what DT offered was much, much, much worse for working people. So this argument that she didn't do enough kind of falls flat. I mean, people voted for the worst of two evils. How does that make sense?
As for a better plan for the housing crisis, our wonderful senator in Montana laid out an excellent, pointed plan for addressing the housing shortage. He lost badly to a Trump-backed millionaire carpet bagger who wants to privatize public lands and ban abortion. All while Montana voters also passed a constitutional guarantee for abortion.
The folks who wouldn't vote for Harris because Biden sent arms to Israel--are they happy now? Look who DT's new ambassor to Israel is going to be--a guy who says the Palestinian people don't exist.
Something is wrong with this picture. And to me it smells like Elon Musk.
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Pod Save America has Ezra Klein talking about next steps. The country has fundamentally changed, but Dems haven’t. They just aren’t listening.
I’m a lifelong Dem. But even I have considered becoming an independent. I feel like the party is much too caught up in fringe issues. Take trans sports participation. Why do Dems have a dog in that fight? It has nothing to do with helping the middle class. Why can’t we just say it’s a local issue and move on.
I don’t dislike Harris. I have said for years that she is not very smart and has poor political instincts. She did her best. But the way that she lost shows how tone deaf the party is.
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@Steve-Miller take Black people. As someone born in 1961, I cannot imagine civil rights and discrimination being much lower than No. 1 on a black person's list of concerns. And to vote republican made you a pariah.
Trump won a bigger share of the Black vote each time her ran.
I think a lot of black people see racism as less of a motivator than before.
More generally, I think Dems see giveaways as a way to win votes, but it isn't. Part of the problem is that folks just dont understand the reasons they are struggling because the reasons are complex.
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Cindy - "Part of the problem is that folks just dont understand the reasons they are struggling because the reasons are complex."
I believe this may be a large part of "how did this happen?" - that Republicans have gotten good at providing simple reasons... no matter that those reasons aren't true, they resonate with voters... Seems to me that I remember Hillary having a plan and policy for everything, but it took more than a few words to explain.
