This makes total sense to me. Trump is not strong. He likes to pretend he is strong and the media just eats it up. Elected D's need to be pushing back with every tool they have to show their strength to voters. Go call him names, stop acting like politicians and act like real people. Go shut down the Senate, go to the Treasury every day and demand to be let in to see what Musk is doing. When they are refused entry, get the news media there to cover it. Get voters there to push the message too.
There is so much that could be done that is not being done yet.
I am so bewildered that the Dems have not been resisting with full force. We can keep talking about it amongst ourselves, but how do we get real engagement. Talk does not change a thing.
I have been calling my elected reps every day and many others are as well. That's what has pushed D's over the last two days to go to the Treasury Dept and USAID office and demand to be let in. Because we have been calling and pushing, Senate D's are finally ready to go full obstruct, deny and delay. We have to demand our reps take action, even if it means calling them every day.
Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful analysis and incisive thinking.
I'm still wondering: how many of those 19 million abstention voters (esp. in Blue areas) were undervotes--folks who did vote down ballot, but chose to register disapproval of Harris/Biden by not voting for President, knowing that their states' electoral votes would go to Harris anyway. Statistically significant? Is that data available yet?
Thank you for reading. Under voting might be a factor, but nationally less than 2 percent of those who cast ballots at all didn't cast a ballot for president, and we don't know the break of those voters between Harris and Trump.
Your rather shallow analysis fails to identify the primary cause of Biden's defeat: his support for the genocide in Gaza, certainly the main reason young people didn't vote for him. On top of the democrats screwing Bernie out of the nomination in both 16 and 20, which alienated an earlier generation of young democrats. The Democrats will not win until they embrace their progressive wing and its policies. If it doesn't do that, the party deserves to die.
You are wildly overestimating % of the vote angry about Gaza, vs. that which would have been furious if Biden "sided with terrorists" and "abandoned Israel". You didn't notice what happened to Cori Bush?
Lamantable fact was, Bibi had a stronger hand than Biden.
Well, we don’t know, do we? Reagan withheld support for Israel when they invaded Lebanon. I think we underestimate how desperate the country is for someone with principles standing up for humanity. We overrely in our analyses on polls. Remember gay marriage? A majority was against according to polls until it happened and suddenly 70% were for it. Something like that.
Biden obviously acted as he did out of his assessment of political reality, not moral callousness, a trait he has NEVER exhibited. He constantly pushed Israel to conduct the war differently, from the very outset. He restricted certain muntions when he assessed he had cover to do so, 2,000 lb bombs after World Central Kitchen workers deliberately killed.
Trump, of course, has lifted all restrictions.
Israel has set itself up for a rude shock, after those Americans who reflexively support it die off. Biden warned of this, in effect, was ignored.
Forensic audit! Machine voting. tabulation machines tampered with. Amazingly FAST swing state results. C'mon. Look at Pallast's work. He does it all over the world and knows his stuff.
This makes total sense to me. Trump is not strong. He likes to pretend he is strong and the media just eats it up. Elected D's need to be pushing back with every tool they have to show their strength to voters. Go call him names, stop acting like politicians and act like real people. Go shut down the Senate, go to the Treasury every day and demand to be let in to see what Musk is doing. When they are refused entry, get the news media there to cover it. Get voters there to push the message too.
There is so much that could be done that is not being done yet.
I am so bewildered that the Dems have not been resisting with full force. We can keep talking about it amongst ourselves, but how do we get real engagement. Talk does not change a thing.
I have been calling my elected reps every day and many others are as well. That's what has pushed D's over the last two days to go to the Treasury Dept and USAID office and demand to be let in. Because we have been calling and pushing, Senate D's are finally ready to go full obstruct, deny and delay. We have to demand our reps take action, even if it means calling them every day.
And we shouldn’t just wait for someone else to act. If we see a call for action we can respond to we should.
It's also important to consider the voter suppression aspect as noted by Greg Palast which seems to be widely ignored.
https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/
Keith, thanks for the link! I read Palast's investigative report and donated to the cause.
This is the most important and distressful of all
Shame on the 19 million who didn’t vote. Not voting isn’t the answer.
Excellent perspective
Thank you for sharing!
Really well said and written and thought out. Thank you so much.
Democrats are waiting for their party to act as Democrats again, not as corporatists or Republican-light.
"There are three wings in the Republican Party: Wingtips, Wingnuts, and Democrats".
Old joke, but it sadly still has a point.
Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful analysis and incisive thinking.
I'm still wondering: how many of those 19 million abstention voters (esp. in Blue areas) were undervotes--folks who did vote down ballot, but chose to register disapproval of Harris/Biden by not voting for President, knowing that their states' electoral votes would go to Harris anyway. Statistically significant? Is that data available yet?
Thank you for reading. Under voting might be a factor, but nationally less than 2 percent of those who cast ballots at all didn't cast a ballot for president, and we don't know the break of those voters between Harris and Trump.
What happens if you were to factor in all of the ballots that were rejected in the 2024 election?
Ds probably win, narrowly. But Ds need to win big, to have a governing majority So the real Q indeed is,why so many atayed home?
This doesn’t include the effect of voter suppression which was blatantly illegal and votes lost in the mail or declared late.
Your rather shallow analysis fails to identify the primary cause of Biden's defeat: his support for the genocide in Gaza, certainly the main reason young people didn't vote for him. On top of the democrats screwing Bernie out of the nomination in both 16 and 20, which alienated an earlier generation of young democrats. The Democrats will not win until they embrace their progressive wing and its policies. If it doesn't do that, the party deserves to die.
If Michael's analysis is "shallow," please show us your more detailed analysis that empirically proves your point.
You are wildly overestimating % of the vote angry about Gaza, vs. that which would have been furious if Biden "sided with terrorists" and "abandoned Israel". You didn't notice what happened to Cori Bush?
Lamantable fact was, Bibi had a stronger hand than Biden.
Well, we don’t know, do we? Reagan withheld support for Israel when they invaded Lebanon. I think we underestimate how desperate the country is for someone with principles standing up for humanity. We overrely in our analyses on polls. Remember gay marriage? A majority was against according to polls until it happened and suddenly 70% were for it. Something like that.
Biden obviously acted as he did out of his assessment of political reality, not moral callousness, a trait he has NEVER exhibited. He constantly pushed Israel to conduct the war differently, from the very outset. He restricted certain muntions when he assessed he had cover to do so, 2,000 lb bombs after World Central Kitchen workers deliberately killed.
Trump, of course, has lifted all restrictions.
Israel has set itself up for a rude shock, after those Americans who reflexively support it die off. Biden warned of this, in effect, was ignored.
Excellent. Too many workers stayed on the couch, rather than embracing MAGA. Still, too many workers did go to MAGA, when none should have.
They actually cheated!
Thank you
How about don’t excuse apathy in advance. Non-voting registered Democrats are just as responsible as MAGAt fascists. Fuck them.
This also feels like it aligns with general feelings in our culture.
It seems like the primary way we communicate or discuss almost anything is in terms of ‘what is wrong with…’.
In the political world it is uncomfortably uncommon to talk about ‘what we support’.
The biggest reason I see this as problematic is it sows division.
Talking about what we value or support will bring people together. Talking only about what we dislike is a downward spiral.
Forensic audit! Machine voting. tabulation machines tampered with. Amazingly FAST swing state results. C'mon. Look at Pallast's work. He does it all over the world and knows his stuff.