BananaTrifleViolin
This. I get people are angry but they need to step back and look at this for what to was. It was a bad Democrat campaign, from a party that is out of touch with voters. I don’t blame Harris for this, I think she was a decent candidate given an impossible task.
The Dems did not contest Biden running despite obvious health concerns, then let him hold on til the bitter end dismissing all concerns, then had a coronation for Harris. Not very democratic and yet they made this election about democracy. And then they focused on abortion, as the main issue.
Yet voters concerns in the exit polls were clear - the number one issue was the economy. The dems failed to sell their message on the economy, they let Trump control the topic.
This is the sort of attitude that gifts power to repulicans ever more.
Instead of blaming voters, blame the Democrat party. It needed to appeal to voters concerns and needs. It needs to ask why it failed to convince younger voters, and address what their priorities are.
The obvious answer at the moment is the Dems failed to campaign well on the economy. Harris defended the last 4 years as a success but for many lower income people of all ages it will not feel that way. Middle class voters who own their own homes were shielded more from inflation than renters whose housing costs due rent inflation sky rocketed as well as all other living costs - they were hit doubly hard.
The Dems decided to focus on women’s reproductive issues and a fear of democratic loss, and hoped women would come out and vote balancing our other groups. This failed. It’s clear Harris and the Democrats should have campaigned hard on economic change and offered a different vision to trump.
So don’t blame voters. Blame the Democrats for this and many other failings in this election (no real contest at their primary, Biden hanging on til late with patronising dismissal of concerns over his health by the Dem leadership, and then a coronation of Harris who also inherited Bidens team rather than had time to build her own campaign).
Looking at the overall vote count the Rep vote seems largely similar to 2020, or slightly up, but the democratic vote has fallen significantly. This is largely due to the Democrats failure rather than due to Republicans success.
This is nonsense sorry. Polls shows 50:50 split between Dems and Rep, but the reality is 1/3:1/3 with 1/3 of the electorate and disengaged. The voters aren’t the problem, it’s the fucked up 2 party system which has been massaged by both parties over many decades to prevent any competition.
Why should voters feel loyal to either of those parties? Don’t blame voters for not wanting to chose between two crap choices. To many, both the Dems and Reps are the enemy. Why expect them to care if one side or the other think there is an existential crisis in the shitty system they shaped?
Blame the Democratic party and Joe Biden. They didn’t put anyone serious up during the primaries against him, they held out from replacing Biden until the last minute and then they lumped Harris with his campaign and no time.
Biden should have stood aside last year (as many voices pushed for), and then the party’s best and brightest should have been given the chance to be the candidate. It might have been Harris, who knows, but whoever it was would then have had the whole of 2024 across the primaries to establish a profile and narrative and tackle Trump.
And maybe a fresh candidate could have broken through on the most important topic to voters: the economy.
I think this is an oversimplification and lets Democrats off the hook.
A large part of how he won is to do with how polarised US politics are. The Democrats and Republicans are polar opposites, to the point that no matter who the candidates are the core voters could never conscience voting for the other side. Some Republicans may hate Trump but they will still vote republican as they see the Democrats standing for things they just don’t agree with (whether that’s Immigration or abortion or conservative values or fiscal conservatism etc). It just takes one; things are so polarised that it’s inbuilt that it’s a binary decision. The Democrats are just as guilty as the Republicans for carving up US democracy between the two of them. If you look at polls, they say 50:50 split but actually thats just “likely voters”; the underlying split is more like 1/3:1/3 with a whole 1/3 of the electorate disenfranchised and not bothering to vote. When they talk about undecideds, they’re talking about 2% of people likely to vote; not the whole 1/3 of the election who don’t vote at all. 3rd parties don’t get a look in, and even get blamed for taking votes from the anointed of the two big parties.
On top of that, the Democrats really fucked up. The party leadership supported Biden running, and no serious candidates stood in the primary race even though he was already clearly a weakened candidate due to age. Then when he was finally persuaded to go at near the last minute, it was too late. They again didn’t have a primary, they had a coronation, and then a short run to establish her. I like Harris but she inherited his team, his set up and was unable and unwilling to paint herself as a change candidate as she wouldn’t criticise the perceived mistakes of her own incumbent white house. She focused on abortion, and could seemingly not address the economy in a meaningful way to appeal to voters.
I don’t think it’s because Americans are easily fooled. I think it’s because both parties have created an extremely polarised political landscape which they have both used to their advantage to suppress 3rd parties and other views across the 50 states. In addition, the Democrat party tried to claim it was an election about “preserving democracy” and yet chose to do that by not enabling democracy in their own party.
Hopefully the Democrats will take a long hard look at themselves. And the good news, a slither of good news, is that in 2028 there will not be any Clintons or Bidens hanging around whose “turn” it is to run. The party can actually have an open primary and the best candidates can stand instead of feeling they shouldn’t run. Would we be in this position if there had been a full primary and the candidate had been someone like Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsome, Josh Shapiro or even just a truly independent run by Harris?
So America has decided and it looks like it won’t even be close. The republicans will control Congress and the presidency. And looking at the numbers this won’t be about turnout. In michigan for example, young voters went for Trump. He looks even on track to win the popular vote.
America has actively chosen Trump. They can’t blame turnout and it looks like they can’t even blame their crappy electoral system.
There will be a lot of recriminations in the Democrat party, and there is a lot of responsibility on their side. They were undemocratic, snuffing out their primary process, lumbering the party with a dud until the last moment and then rushing to pick Harris. I like Harris but they should have had an open primary even in July, and of course Biden should have stepped out of the election a year ago and let others compete and have a good run at the white house.
But also they are responsible along with the republicans for the 2 party system with its corruption, gerrymandering and shut down of options for any body who doesn’t agree with either party. We can only hope this will stimulate the Democrat party to embrace actual democracy. It didn’t last time.
But ultimately American voters have gone for Trump, they want him, they deserve him. The rest of the world will just have to deal with him.
Badly written headline - what was covered in poop? Thailand? The balcony?
This would be clearer: “Naked British tourist, covered in poop, falls from balcony in Thailand”
Useful to be reminded how many people don’t vote. The polls are always about likely voters; they don’t include those who won’t vote. So the 50:50 split is a nonsense; neither party likely has more than 1/3 of the electorate behind them, with a whole 1/3 disengaged from the whole thing.
I’d recommend video streams from BBC, Sky News and Channel 4 all in the UK. Channel 4 is partnering with CNN for data and shared stories, and their UK election coverage earlier this year was well regarded. TV news in the UK has to be impartial by law so they will not take a side in the election. They will however voice opinions from both sides.
Having said that though all coverage will endlessly speculate all night on what ever result means because that’s the nature of elections and filling air time.
Regarding the Guardian, that is not regulated but it is a good quality broadsheet. It is left leaning and effectively supports Harris but it’s coverage will still be good quality and not as partisan in the style of US media. But expect it to be biased somehwta in Harris’ favour.
