How do you feel complacency levels are among Dems right now compared to this time in 2016?

[bbernardini]

I realize this is unquantifiable, but I'm just curious about the anecdotal evidence of fellow DUers.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. All the Dem voters I talk to about the election are as petrified as I am.

[dalton99a]

12. +1. There is genuine fear

[live love laugh]

2. Poll lines are out of the door.

[OLDMDDEM]

3. Blue wave.

[TwilightZone]

4. No comparison.

In '16, there were a lot of posters (and voters) who were pretty vocal about their apathy. I see very little of that this cycle, if any. I've been on DU almost since its inception, and this is the probably the most enthused about an election that I've seen the community as a whole and the least divided.

[W_HAMILTON]

5. There has been no complacency among us since November 9, 2016.

2016 was a perfect storm that has not been replicated since.

We beat them in 2018.

We beat them in 2020.

Even though the party in power usually gets punished in the midterms, we had one of the best midterm performances ever in such a situation in 2022.

And we are going to beat them in 2024.

[Lonestarblue]

6. I am not complacent at all.

It’s abhorrent to me that so many of my fellow citizens are willing to elect Trump, knowing he will work to destroy everything good about it. It’s as if they are selfish toddlers who would rather destroy their favorite toy than share it with another child.

[bearsfootball516]

7. It seems like night and day.

Back in 2016, most Dems were extremely confident about winning. Now, I still think we will win, but nobody is taking it for granted.

[Aristus]

26. That's exactly what I was going to say.

I was confident in 2016, but not complacent. Now, we all have reason to be confident, but instead of complacent, we’re all nervous as hell.

[MontanaFarmer]

8. I don't sense complacency.

I live in a red area of a red state, so my response is more to things I'm reading, data I'm looking at, etc. The sheer amount of money raised and the number of paid staff and volunteers the VPH campaign has gives me the warm and fuzzies. I think Jen O'Malley Dillon is very smart and I liked what she had to say the other day. Plouffe is excellent too and I'm glad he's on the team. I think (hope?) too many remember 2016 to be complacent.

[newdeal2]

9. I think "we" are over-indexed in the other direction now

Suspicious over any positive news, excessive worrying / pessimistic, looking for bad news/polls.

[onecaliberal]

10. Not at all.

Doing everything and anything.

[Phoenix61]

11. All the Dems I know think we're going to kick his sorry

orange ass. The abortion issue is huge in my group. I’m canvassing with 80+ year old ladies and they are righteously pissed.

[Kaleva]

13. Being a star nember, you could look at the threads posted in 2016

[TwilightZone]

19. Though, I wouldn't recommend it.

I did that a while back because I was researching something, and it was utterly depressing.

I recalled a lot of vitriol about our candidate in the GE that year, but it was ten times worse than what I remembered. The level of ignorance, much of it quite intentional, was remarkable. Many of those posters are long, long gone.

[emulatorloo]

23. I think we had a few Republican operatives posing as "progressives" back then.

It was really interesting how a handfull of “progressives” were citing Fox News and quoting Fox News’ “legal analysts.”

[TwilightZone]

25. Agreed.

[Kaleva]

32. Hillary was trashed badly here during the 2008 primary

I'll look at the 2016 GE threads some day soon.

[yardwork]

14. I feel as if things are flipped from 2016.

In 2016, the Democratic Party was badly wounded and divided against itself. I continue to blame... certain people... for this, but I'm trying to let it go. The impact against Hillary Clinton's campaign was devastating. With Trump appearing to be a buffoon of unknown quantity, too many Democrats let their resentments keep them from voting for Hillary. I guess they assumed that Trump would certainly lose, or even that Trump might not be that bad, or he'd "bring the revolution," or some such nonsense. A lot of this online propaganda was funded and promoted by Putin, for obviously self-serving reasons.

I continue to believe that the attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023 was funded and encouraged by foreign leaders who want Trump back in the WH. The online propaganda was immediate and designed to divide Democrats again. I hope it doesn't work this time.

This election, I feel that most Democrats recognize that our nation is facing an existential threat, and while we don't agree on every policy, we must elect Harris.

Meanwhile, I think Trump and his MAGATs may be driving away moderate Republicans.

It's still very close and could go either way.

[IA8IT]

20. Agree!! This year we are united and voting for our lives

[Gore1FL]

15. I voted early. It was the 7th day of in Missouri. The lines were long.

This reminds me of 2008. MO almost went blue in 2008.

[oldmanlynn]

16. I don't think there is any complacency

Dems and many Republicans and independents know how serious the selection is

[Blue Thing]

17. There was a HUGE divide in the Dem party

Sanders supporters and Clinton supporters were divided. Sanders supporters felt cheated by the DNC putting their thumb on the scale for Hillary. Jill Stein marched to the doors of the DNC convention to take advantage of our angry divided party. Lots of 3rd party voters sprang from this. There was a great deal of resignation involved in the decision to vote with the party. In spite of all that, before Comey pulled his last minute BS maneuver Hillary had a 12 point lead in the polls.
It was a very different situation.
Now Republicans are coming to vote with Dems. Women are standing up for their rights.
Trump’s horrid handling of the pandemic killed multitudes of his unmasked unvaccinated followers.
I believe Kamala will win.
When she wins
we all will win.

[yardwork]

21. The DNC did not put their thumb on the scales for Hillary.

I suggest that you edit or clarify your post.

[emulatorloo]

24. ++++++++

Annoying when propaganda/disinformation becomes ‘conventional wisdom.’

[kevink077]

18. No complacency this year

There was lot of it in 2016. And Clinton still barely lost. Lots of Bernie voters sat home (how did “Bust” work out for them?). Dems are a thousand times more energized.

[Easterncedar]

22. I don't see complacency at all

Terror, depression, yes.

I have done a little volunteering, which at least helps ME. Last time I wasn’t able, and could only watch in horror.

Thanks to everyone who has replied with upbeat outlooks. It helps!

[sarisataka]

27. There has been less "in the bag" and "take it to the bank" claims this cycle

but there is still some complacency. At this time there is a thread about how we "intuitively" know Trump has lost many votes and cannot possibly get as many votes as he did in 2020.

[tinrobot]

28. In 2016, I was arguing with my Bernie supporting friends...

...to actually vote. Many stayed home.

Those same people are volunteering for Harris this time out. Big difference.

[Sky Jewels]

29. I'm in a blue state, but

my friends and I (women) are the opposite of complacent. Almost all the women I know been writing postcards and such. We're all terrified (that's the word that keeps popping up), anxious, and sleepless. (I got about two hours last night.) We're trying to support each other's mental health (and I'm trying to take walks, breathe, be present, etc.) but Trump is looming in our minds almost 24/7, like Freddie Krueger. The liberal men I know are concerned too, but they don't seem to be carrying the same level of primal fear that we women are. We see how the toxic, violent Christofascist white patriarchy is waiting in the wings with its knives drawn for us.

Well, in summary, no Democrats/progressives I know are complacent.

[Ping Tung]

30. Everybody thought that HIllary couldn't lose and many didn't bother to vote.

Which is what I think was the cause of her loss. "How could any sentient being vote for an openly racist, misogynous, and downright crazy blockhead like Trump?"

After 4 years of seeing how truly grotesque he is people came to their senses and voted him out in '20 and will vote to keep him out in '24.

THE issue this time is Trump himself and Kamala is doing a helluva good job in keeping it the issue.

[BannonsLiver]

31. I don't see any inside the DU Doom Loop or outside in the real world.

[Socal31]

33. A healthy mix.

To me, I see a healthy mix. The healthiest in my many election cycles on DU.

There are some that appear more confident than data suggests they should be.

There are some that are far more worried than data suggests they should be.

And albeit unscientific of an observation, it appears most are aware of the mission to get everyones ass to the polls or otherwise vote, knowing that as long as we do that, we pop champagne in a weeks time.