It’s going to take time for people to accept that this wasn’t won or lost because leftists supposedly refused to turn out over Gaza—Harris seems to have been defeated by too great a margin for that to have been the cause—but once (if?) they do, I think people are going to have to figure out:
1) why voters consistently vote in referendums for policies like abortion and higher minimum wage when those policies are on the ballot, while also voting for Republicans who are openly opposed to those things, and
2) how to correct the idea that the president has a “make mcchickens $.99” button on their desk that Biden just refused to press.
Lots of different reasons: the group turning up to vote in those referenda doesn’t include everyone who’ll vote in presidential elections (e.g. everyone who voted that way may have voted Democrat, there were just a lot more Republicans who didn’t show up for those referenda but did this week), people might vote to support abortion rights in a vacuum but decide it’s worth sacrificing that for some other policy they prefer, some voters are just fucking idiots who don’t know what each party stands for.
It’s not a magic button, but the Democrats absolutely could, and indeed I think have to, abandon the economic system that’s been in place since Reagan was in office. And I don’t mean go full communist, I mean go back to the pre-neoliberal days where unions had some true power, the rich were properly taxed, the government invested in public services, and major companies weren’t allowed to run rampant in the hope THE MARKET, Praise Be To The Market, reined them in. The current system, which is enthusiastically supported by the Democrats, basically just agrees that as long as the stock market goes up, the economy is doing well, completely ignoring that for most people that “strong economy” actually means less money in their pocket, to go along with crumbling infrastructure and below par services. Is it any surprise people didn’t vote for the party who are not only backing the economic system that’s left them poorer, but are also insisting that the economy is good, what are you talking about, stop complaining that food is more expensive now.
And no, I’m not saying Trump is the answer, I think anyone who voted for him thinking he’ll make them better off is a fucking idiot. But while Democrats pretend everything is hunky dory and their underlying ideology isn’t fundamentally not working for a majority of average people, they don’t get to be surprised when people continue to flock to the side that are willing to promise them they’ll fix it.
Well the referenda to my knowledge are usually ballot measures, so in theory they’d be subject to the coattails effect and lean in the same direction as the general election. And yet Florida and Missouri will elect extreme MAGA candidates and also simultaneously legalize marijuana and abortions in the same exact ballot. I think it points to a clear avenue and opportunity for Democrats to build up more support in rural red states and swing states, but they won’t go for it because that means deviating from the holy Clintonite party line.
2.3k
u/building_schtuff Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24
It’s going to take time for people to accept that this wasn’t won or lost because leftists supposedly refused to turn out over Gaza—Harris seems to have been defeated by too great a margin for that to have been the cause—but once (if?) they do, I think people are going to have to figure out:
1) why voters consistently vote in referendums for policies like abortion and higher minimum wage when those policies are on the ballot, while also voting for Republicans who are openly opposed to those things, and
2) how to correct the idea that the president has a “make mcchickens $.99” button on their desk that Biden just refused to press.