Did the republicans just have a better ground game than democrats?

[Trumpocalypse]

Were they better at getting out their voters than we were?

If so, how do we fix it?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I thought the Democrats' ground game was very good this year,

definitely better than in 2016, but the GOP has fanatical cult members.

[JHB]

2. Republicans have a widespread, multi-layered propaganda apparatus backing them to the hilt

Democrats do not.

Until we create our own counter and break up theirs, this shit will keep going on.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Yes, they have Fox. We have no equivalent media outlet.

We also don't have conspiracy theorists spreading nonsense around the Internet.

[AlexSFCA]

11. they have non stop rw radio

we have no real alternative to that. I am less concerned about faux news, most people don’t have cable.

[JHB]

16. Much more than just FOX.

RW talk radio, religious radio stations, conservative book imprints (which help put conservative commenters on mainstream shows as they promote their books), Sinclair Broadcasting (inserting partisan segments into local news), dozens of online "media" sites (which also provide an avenue for laundering RW talking points into the mainstream), a long, long tradition of email forwarding networks and "media activism" to counter "liberal bias", etc.

Plus Facebook providing another conduit for all of the above.

[qanda]

19. Right! And then they have the nerve to still call it the Liberal media

I can't even turn on my local news station because it's so filled with propaganda and this is in Maryland. I cannot imagine what it's like in red states.

[lagomorph777]

41. Fux, Falsebook, Twit. We need to acquire/hack/destroy those outlets.

That step alone will make a HUGE difference.

[Cosmocat]

44. THIS

They also have the advantage of a common enemy (LIBERALS), hatred (deep passion) and focusing AGAINST something (SOCIALISM!!!!!).

"Ground games" being equal, these things are the jet fuel that makes them vote their asses off.

Also, make no mistake, 45 has taken them to full on cult level - people crawl out from under their rocks like cock roaches to vote for him (and along with him the down ballot).

[texasfiddler]

3. No. The people we want to vote for us won't hear from us until right before the next election

Republicans use Church and radio to spread their message (as wrong or crappy as it is) year round. We don't have an equivalent community based system like that. Just my $.02

[Tumbulu]

5. Bingo

That is it, exactly!

[Cosmocat]

45. This, also

nm

[Bigredhunk]

6. Right

But how do you counter people who believe qnon and pizzagate and the like vs those of us who only believe in truth?? You can't lie to our voters like you can to theirs (nor would any of us want to be lied to, nor would we believe the lies).

edit: This was meant as a reply to JHB.

[JHB]

29. You counter them by undermining them

I'm not talking about dramatically popping their bubbles, I'm talking about sanding holes in theirs so that it starts leaking and sagging and they eventually have to notice that (a good chunk of them, anyway).

In vast sections of the country, the local media amounts to conservative radio and conservative newspapers, with varying degrees of conservative religious radio & tv thrown in. There's nobody local talking in liberal terms.

Nobody swatting away terms like "socialism" and framing more progressive economic policies in terms of applying checks & balances and separation of powers to economic power, not just political power.

Nobody giving concrete examples of conservative media lying to you to get you all hot and bothered and stampeding in a particular direction.

Nobody talking about local issues from a non-conservative viewpoint.

This is the 50-state strategy applied to media. Not just existing media, but finding ways to make ourselves part of the media environment all across the country, in ways that are easy to find and don't require someone seeking them out.

[Turin_C3PO]

7. Biden ran a fairly flawless campaign.

I think there's just a lot of knuckledraggers in our country.

[lagomorph777]

43. Gullible knuckledraggers. Gullibility is the chink in GOP armor.

We can dig into THEIR world and change the program. Need some serious billionaire and tech help to do this.

[Cosmocat]

46. He ran a GREAT campaign

He was REALLY in a zone the last few months ...

[Johnny2X2X]

8. He's losing. So no!

Biden is winning.

[OnDoutside]

9. In Florida, definitely. To be fair, Rick Wilson has been constantly saying that the Republican

machine in Florida is the best in the US, he even warned about it in his book. There needs to be a radical overhaul of the Dem organisation in FL, this can't go on. Remember 6-8 weeks ago we were hearing noises about the lack of effective outreach to the FL Hispanic population, and look at the result.

[octoberlib]

13. And I remember Wilson saying that Democrats need to be polling ahead by 10 to win Florida.

He wrote about the machine in Miami-Dade. What I can't figure out is why Florida Democrats haven't studied and tried to emulate it or come up with something better.

[OnDoutside]

27. When I heard those noises in September, that's when i started to worry about FL. There was

some money poured into the state, and they still lose. In a Pandemic, in a state that depends on tourism.

[ananda]

23. Agree

Republicans blocked walked the whole damm state
of Florida, for example.

Then there were all those parades and rallies with all
the flag and MAGA clothing apparatus.

I’ve been concerned about Florida ever since. I think
this direct, personal outreach has been more effective
than ads and trying to reach people from a distance.

IMHO

[OnDoutside]

28. It probably was a factor, yes.

[artemisia1]

10. For getting out the vote (rallies), but not for keeping their supporters safe from COVID.

The only way we could have matched their game in this respect would be to become like them. In other words, not give a sh*t about anyone else.

[ananda]

26. They don't care about Covid.

All they care about is power and advancing
their crazed mean spirited agenda.

Most Reeps are either very angry Magats
or too holy for you conservatives...
and they have been acting like martyrs
willing to die for whatever advances their
lust for power.

Across the partisan divide, Dems and Reeps
literally have mutually exclusive views of life,
and this is what drives our electoral engine
right now.

[Mike Niendorff]

12. And let's not forget:

They were warned about Russian interference, and decided to do virtually nothing.

I'm sure that's got nothing to do with voting machines though.

Or wild statistical deviation in favor of Republican party.

Again.


MDN

[Native]

15. Yup.

[TigressDem]

14. Get rid of the man that let Corona Virus kill 1/4 million people?

He kept going out doing huge rallies that spread it and when he himself got it went out infecting people with no remorse.

If WE don't go out and spread the plague to get a few more votes, I don't think it makes US broken.

[octoberlib]

17. Because of the pandemic this is possible. Henry Clyburn had to jump on Biden to get him to

send teams out to knock on doors but it didn't start until late in the game. This is where the pandemic might have hurt us.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[R B Garr]

18. I heard Reverend Al say a brick through a window is a

vote for Trump. Republicans cater to the lazy-thinking simpletons who just want a couple sound bites.

The simpletons don’t want the lockdowns, either.

[rownesheck]

20. I read stories

that said republicans were worried about their ground game in Pennsylvania. What happened there? They may win that state. It ain't ground game. There's a reason rove joined the trump team.

[Turin_C3PO]

36. There's still a pretty good chance we take PA.

There’s like 1.5 or 2 Million votes yet to be counted that are supposed to be heavily in favor of Biden.

[Cosmocat]

47. Right - it is 100% culture

they didn't need door knocking, state is full of NO MORE BULLSHIT and DRAIN THE SWAMP yard signs.

[DeminPennswoods]

21. Trump's unique

Please don't take this the wrong way, but he is a gifted salesman and has a certain charisma that attracts a cult like following. I agree that the FoxNews and rw talk radio are big contributors, it's all enthusiasm for Trump the person/persona nothing else. You can see how unpopular his policies are when other pols try to follow the same script. It doesn't work and they lose.

Just anecdotal, but yesterday I had Trumpers in front of and behind me. The younger woman in front of me hadn't voted for awhile, but felt she just had to vote this time. The middle-aged couple behind me, the wife had voted, but I don't think the husband had as I thought I heard her ask him if he had his driver's license, an indication he wasn't a regular voter. These three were exactly the kind of low information voters that go for Trump. The woman behind me really didn't know how elections worked or the polls worked, couldn't understand why she, as a republican, couldn't vote for a Dem candidate in the primary. She had no idea how a closed primary system like ours worked. I doubt she could've passed a general American civics test.
All 3 of them were busy living their lives, work, kids, selling their house or buying a house somewhere else. I'd bet they have no idea how Trump's policies actually affect their lives or that he lies all the time or cares not a whit about them, they just like and believe him.

[RobinA]

55. I Get This Same

sense that a lot of voters don't really get that the things that happen on government actually have an effect on them. Plus, half the time they don't know what's happening. I am 62 and very concerned about the stop in payroll payments to social security and any further attempt to weaken SS. I ask people who vote for Trump if this doesn't worry them a bit. I get blank stares. Some young person will then tell me that they weren't going to get SS anyway. No, not if you keep voting for people who want to gut it. Then there are the people who respond that it isn't true. In other words, fake news. I ask them if they noticed an increase in their paycheck from SS not being withheld or did their employer send them a notice (as mine did) that it would still be withheld. Blank stare again. I guess they just think random things happen that aren't tied to anything they might have control over.

[DeminPennswoods]

58. Exactly

I guess I can understand a lot of it if you are busy just trying to survive.

I think of them as on the bottom rung of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Psyiological: food, water, warmth, rest. Maybe some of them are at the 2nd rung of Safety: security, safety, but that's it.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

[GoCubsGo]

22. I suspect some ratfuckery, too.

It's just a matter of time before we start hearing of people going to vote, and then finding out that they had been purged. Or, hadn't gotten their absentee ballots, and weren't allowed to vote in person. Or, had their absentee ballots "lost" in the mail. (Looking at you, Florida, and probably other places, as well.) Or, got discouraged by the long lines caused by the number of polling places being reduced, and didn't vote at all. And, how many paperless voting machines got hacked, or the GOP Secretary of State flipped votes a la John Kerry/Ohio in 2004? Same shit, different year.

[abqtommy]

30. I expect there's a LOT of ratfuckery. After all, it's the only method that the reTHUGS know

will result in "wins" for them.

[PubliusEnigma]

24. Do you always give up when you're winning?

[Trumpocalypse]

25. Who is giving up?

[Klaralven]

31. The Republicans benefited from social media movements more than Democrats

Including Qanon. I can't think of a Democratic equivalent to that.

[Goodheart]

32. My question is:

Do Republicans lie to pollsters about whom they're going to vote for?

[Blue_true]

33. They were out knocking on doors, we were not.

I believe that if people mask up and try to regularly maintain social distance, they will be ok, I know that isn’t a popular view here on DU, but that is how I see things.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

35. Biden's whole theory of the case

Biden's whole theory of the case was Trump and the Republicans think COVID-19 is a joke, we don't.

[Blue_true]

42. You don't have to consider it to be a joke to safely navigate it.

I have been freely doing things the whole time, I just don’t do stupid stuff like go sit down in restaurants or bars or go to gyms. I wear a mask over my nose and mouth when in public and pay attention to how close unmasked people are to me. There is some research that indicates that two properly masked people can be in close contact and the risk of transmission if one is sick and shedding is around 2% or less.

Joe is going to have to ask people to follow science and listen to Doctors to get the country back on track. A full shutdown simply will not work, IMO, but he can use local shutdowns when governors, mayors, commissioners and sheriffs are being boneheads.

[Mariana]

34. Republicans have radio, their cable channels, and a lot of the churches

constantly spreading their message of hate.

[AmericanCanuck]

37. Decision to not knock on doors cost us dearly

There were many safe ways of knocking on doors which should have been followed.

[Cosmocat]

48. Turnout was off the charts

the issue was not getting people the polls.

The issue is that this country has a critical mass of brainwashed slugs ...

[betsuni]

38. No. It's a racist cult. You're in or you're out.

They have a whole media/church infrastructure. Knocking on doors has nothing to do with it, of course.

[mathematic]

39. This is the highest turnout election in 120 years, so no

I've seen lots of takes trying to blame turnout. No. Trump is doing better than expected because tens of millions of americans, including racial and ethnic minorities, actually like what he's doing to this country.

[Cosmocat]

49. CORRECT!

nm

[RobinA]

56. Well...

they like what they seem to THINK he is doing to the country. Like his booming economy. What did he do to create a booming economy? Crickets. Wall Street is not the economy, it's a casino. I have benefitted from that casino, but it is speculative.

[DeminPennswoods]

60. Disagree

They like Trump. It's all him. He has a hold on these Americans as Rasputin had a hold on Tsar Nicholas.

In 2018, Scott Wagner (R) ran for governor essentially as a Trump clone up to and including the bombast. Gov Wolf (D-I) beat him by 17 points. When that happens, even your own party loyalists think you're a loudmouth jerk.

[jalan48]

40. No, they have their own television networks and hundreds of radio stations campaigning for

Republicans 24/7, year round.

[haele]

50. No, Americans in general are motivated by emotion.

Ever since the beginning. DeToqueville wrote about that back in the late 18th/early 19th century when he wrote his expose on the founding of America and the post-colonial American frontier.
We are like adolecents. We loves us some braggadacio, tall tales, populists, and olde time religion to make us feel superior to those old, corrupt Europeans we reject. There is also particular suspicion that someone is going to take "our stuff" from us, especially those who we don't think are as good as us. We may seem gererous and open, but it's only so long as it benefits us.
The American psychosis. Especially prevelent in those from European extraction.

Trump tapped into that zietgist.

[treestar]

51. We have not lost

Your title indicates we lost. You are talking about certain states?

[Trumpocalypse]

52. No it doesn't

But we haven't done as well as some were predicting. Plus we lost seats in the House and are not doing as well as we thought in the Senate.

[GoCubsGo]

53. Only if by "ground game" you mean "suppressing votes."

Joe Biden currently is leading the total vote count by >2 million. I expect that to grow. That doesn't look like an inferior "ground game" to me. The only thing Republicans are better at is laser-focusing on Democratic districts where they can ratfuck us via voter suppression and other forms of cheating.

[L.Pharmstrong]

54. Rose-colored glasses.

Many of the websites we tend to get information from have been overly optimistic because they prohibit citing to sources of information that are unpopular among progressives or are considered illegitimate sources of news. These sites also tend to prohibit dialogue that questions the prevailing progressive groupthink as repeating Republican memes. This is really unfortunate and leads to real disappointment when things don’t work out as anticipated.

[RobinA]

57. Plus, If You

express a bit of caution you get called a troll.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

59. They started their ground game with Reagan...

... and the GOP marriage to evangelicals like Jerry Falwell long ago.

Jimmy Carter was openly religious in 1976 too. Check out the electoral college map from THAT election. That happened over a decade after the civil rights laws of the 60's.