One of the reasons why the post-election discourse is so dire is because the root cause of Harris losing was inflation, but the Biden administration did everything right on inflation, and nobody is going to get a gold star for saying “we did things correctly and got screwed for doing it”.
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Trump voters have no clue about the economy. Trump’s America loved the nasty Trumpian bits
I keep going back to the young woman who told Pete B she could vote for Kamala because Kamala wasn’t environmental enough.
Clearly that didn’t help her at all.
You not only needed a Kamala but a Dem Congress too.
- R administration gets power, screws everything up…
- People get disgruntled, D admin gets power, D admin attempts to clean up mess but it takes too long…
- People get impatient, R admin gets power again, makes another mess
- Repeat forever
Like, no, what you want is *deflation* which comes with its own set of problems.
The lesson isn't to go more left or more 'centrist'. The lesson is to start cutting promos. Bitch slap theory of politics is back.
I would have to totally disagree with this assumption.
In the end it was so close I feel like 1-2 more clear public wins gets us there ($15 minimum wage?)
My impression is that minimum wage increases typically also boost pay of anyone near minimum wage to maintain pay differentials, so I think it would impact more people than just that 1%
The Uber eats price surge is VC going from “it’s okay to burn millions” to “no have a 40% profit margin”
and thank you for the link!
All these arcane theories to avoid talking about racism and misogyny.
brother jeff fard's show on FB (song is 2:30 long): https://www.facebook.com/jeff.fard/videos/887428096823843
Drone Radio Frequency detectors can be purchased for under $1000
trying not to be a target for propaganda is a fool's errand: we need to defang the billionaires that instructed their media to manufacture consent for Trump
that it’s *global* & not just the US is experiencing it
that Biden policies actually made the US the most resilient of 1st world nations
And I’d hear “Dems caused inflation” & “I don’t care about the rest of the world, just us”
Trump basic message was “this sucks.”
Harris basic message was “best economy in the world.”
People paying around half their income in rent agreed with Trump and thought Democrats lost their minds.
Hmm I have a theory that independents went away after the mention of taxing deferred gains. That’s a losing tax strategy
I'm sure the fact that it worked so well, denying just SOME of the benefits billionaires usually get from supply-side stimulus, was one reason they went so hard for Trump.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/the-impacts-of-long-covid-across-oecd-countries_8bd08383-en
I think your take is certainly plausible but I'd still like to see if someone can poll these voters or something.
But we were discussing whether it was essentially sexism that brought those voters out.
Other elements are the overwhelming tsunami of misinformation built by the massive right-wing media machine (that they were busy assembling while the liberals were asleep at the wheel), the always
1/3
2/3
If you think I'm wrong, then tell me where and why, and give me specifics.
3/3
Has anyone seen something similar? Can't find it now.
Of course the devil is in the details of making sure it gets hung on Trump.
That denial set the stage for what followed.
I don’t agree with all of this, but the record shows errors.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/what-biden-harris-got-wrong-inflation
1. Food price gouging persists
2. Gaza
3. Poor messaging (lame, vague, uninspiring)
4. Tariffs (reference #1)
5. Immigration
6. LGBTQ
7. Racism
Correct (I intended to add it but forgot).
Just because the economy is healthy and money is flowing, does not necessarily mean it is flowing to you.
The only one of those issues that was fixable was tackling immigration right away and not waiting till 2024.
Mistakes were made in not fighting greedflation. And now we’re all paying for it (pun intended).
It doesn't matter how the economy is doing if you've got two massive engines telling everyone it's bad, regardless
~ one 🇨🇦ian paying attention.
(Wish I could find this clip in better resolution.)
In contrast, three states experienced a significant increase in the share of renters’ incomes going to rent in 2023: Arizona, Florida and Georgia.
Rents increased 6.5% in Arizona, 8.2% in Florida, and 6.0% in Georgia
Dead ethics and skeletal financial empathy is liberal hell.
The truth may be that “trump voter” is an identity unto itself and they vote when he’s on the ballot. They are divorced from the the illusion of what he says vs the reality of what happens
For example, very little was done to help people avoid evictions after the moratoriums expired.
Also, we had the infatuation and balking anyway.
Also, eviction assistance actually is net savings 4 gov + econ.
Yea and that’s why dems are out of power lol. GOP may not do much but the Dem base sure sent a clear message to the party.
So I'm confused to why you would say that.
There are whole facets of the modern working class economy that seem to be completely off the radar in the self-reflections and recriminations that I’m seeing.
Like, there is not serious discourse warning just how screwed we are if he does deportations and tariffs. But there’s no sign it’s a bluff!
Maybe they tell pollsters it was inflation. They lie.
If inflation increases a lot and/or programs are cut (or badly managed), it will become an issue with voters.
Obama underestimmed the economy, defied "good governance" orthodoxy, but kept inflation at 0, and is the most beloved national politician alive.
But I feel like the GOP alt message universe is stronger than it was during Obama’s time? They attacked him ruthlessly, but there still wasn’t as many alt RW media options for ppl to avoid the truth
It doesn't matter how well you build a thing if you don't deal with the people coming to knock it down anyway.
Worst case, it appears partisan and loses votes. Spends some political capital too.
Still better off.
Organizing an event that results in a riot is against any number of laws.
Trump never saw a day of court over the emoluments clause, his election interference, or Jan 6.
Hardly slippery of a slope. Crime = Time. Etc.
If we manage the next 12 months without our own day of long knives we'll be in great shape.
We'll still be wondering if it's a bad precedent it to clean house after fascists make a fucking mess.
Harris said multiple times that murder of innocent Palestinians needs to stop. Trump said he wants Israel to finish the job. I’m sorry you lack the ability to get subtext.
The more overt comms problem wasn't message but reach and trust.
Joe started to fail to campaign maybe a year before the election.
And Gaza made some subjects too painful to run on.
Along those lines, I'd like to know the 'advisors' advice & hold them to account.
A campaign against big corporate Trump donors whose companies had record profits from jacking prices, by name, might have helped close the margin.
https://bsky.app/profile/lessdismalsci.bsky.social/post/3koepmqqb5f26
I mean, I think he did his best and there were lots of good, strong policy successes, but some of the data seems to indicate that middle-income families did not see as much inflation relief as the lowest income decile.
But it wouldn’t matter if press is intent on burying message like they have been
Lotta people failing to address communication breakdown past 4 yrs
And the reason was Trump dumping $2 Trillion into markets.
The fact that Biden constrained it to ~20% is pretty much a first in history. A literal impossible feat.
And sadly, the only way it will work is if it’s wrapped in conspiracy branding with the theme of “here’s the secret no one will tell you.”
Like so many things, the result of deliberate under-education.
All they know is their material costs are higher and the reason they are mad is dems tell them they are wrong. People are struggling still and pay didn’t offset rent increases and student loans plus high costs.
Reframe that as the Democratic party, and then look at what Machin/Sinema shot down in the Senate and where we had to compromise. It's hard to seriously say that Dems were perfect in that sense.
Mostly right I would say.
Every year of record stock markets and double-digit investment returns is another year of capital* gaining purchasing power at the expense of labour
Inequality, not inflation, may be the issue
* capitalist here