There’s lots of blame and anger directed at Democrats, but ultimately it’s the Republicans who picked Trump.
They could have won against the unpopular Biden/Harris with practically any other candidate. Nikki Haley polled well against all possible Democrats.
The party was already done with Trump in February 2021, but then they explicitly decided that they prefer one more try with an old man who doesn’t spare much thought to actual policies but does brag about sexual assault, tried to orchestrate a coup last time he lost an election, etc. etc.
It’s not inflation or Biden’s unpopularity or some other external factor. Lots of Americans really want what Trump is selling.
That is not what they prefer because that's not the image Trump voters see when they see him.
- They see an outsider who is not lying to them telling them things are great when in their daily lives things seem decidedly not great.
- They see someone who says he will stop illegal immigration, not someone who is anti immigrant, but someone who will actually enforce the law that democrats either refuse to or have been incapable of enforcing.
- They see someone who says he doesn't want to involve us in expensive long wars overseas like the ones everyone was sick and tired of being involved in for the last two decades.
- They see someone who has taken actions that align with their deeply held religious beliefs about what constitutes taking a life (abortion).
- They see someone who says he will bring jobs back that all the "swamp" politicians (on both sides) sent overseas in the name of globalization.
I want to be clear that I'm saying that he is or isn't a narcissistic misogynistic billionaire rapist, but that's not who the majority of americans just voted for. You can say that they are wrong, misinformed, idiots, etc. but focusing on that and not why they voted for him is exactly why the democrats lost and will continue to lose.
Yes, we know. Those people are wrong, but the mistake of their opponents is thinking that pointing this out is sufficient in the post-Obama era where things are so focused on retaining power. Most Republican politicians and staffers knew Trump lost in 2020 - we have records of them saying so – but they also recognized that he got a LOT of people to vote and gambled that the Democrats got lucky with the freak pandemic and Biden’s somewhat unique combination of being well-known nationally and white men thinking of him as one of their own even if they don’t agree with all of his policies. They adopted the big lie gambling that he’d do it again in 2024, and it worked.
They could have won against the unpopular Biden/Harris with practically any other candidate. Nikki Haley polled well against all possible Democrats.
The party was already done with Trump in February 2021, but then they explicitly decided that they prefer one more try with an old man who doesn’t spare much thought to actual policies but does brag about sexual assault, tried to orchestrate a coup last time he lost an election, etc. etc.
It’s not inflation or Biden’s unpopularity or some other external factor. Lots of Americans really want what Trump is selling.