What the hell happened?

[malaise]

Seriously

[Xoan]

1. PUTIN

[cilla4progress]

2. Definitely, Putin got his toehold here through tsf

And now we are stuck with both of them

[Eliot Rosewater]

38. Yep this is what happened, the bomb threats etc.

[valleyrogue]

3. Not enough people bothered to vote. n/t

[obnoxiousdrunk]

76. This .

[Turbineguy]

79. Looks like 15 million Democrats

said fuck it, I'll stay home.

[unblock]

4. Propaganda. Once again, we underestimated how thorough and effective the propaganda has been.

A lot of it we don't see. At least, I don't see much of it being in Connecticut. I'm aware of right-wing podcasters and tiktokers and whatnot, and I'll watch a clip every now and then in a "know your enemy" mode, but I don't immerse myself in that swamp.

But there are huge portions of the country where people live and/or work in a place where foxnews is on tv all day long, or spend hours getting brainwashed through their social media fix.

The right wing has invested billions into this propaganda infrastructure over the course of decades and it finally paid off for them big time with Donnie.

[Ocelot II]

5. A perfect storm of shit.

A big pile of bad fell on us all at once and we didn’t see it coming.

[TwilightZone]

13. Just like 2016.

In 2016, Trump needed about a hundred things to go exactly right, and every one did.

This appears to have never been that dicey, but everything went his way again.

[Lulu KC]

46. But so much worse

We were dreading that it would be like 2016. So much worse than 2016.

[Emile]

6. Stupidity

[shanti]

7. Dunno

But I feel that I've aged 10 years overnight. All future plans are kaput. Trying to figure out if I should pay off my mortgage now rather than later. A shitload of feelings.

[MustLoveBeagles]

8. I wish I knew

I was so sure she would prevail in a close election.

[kerouac2]

9. Ignorant and misinformed people plus terrible people equals over 50%

and the ignorant ones aren't even paying attention today, just like they weren't before they voted. But hey their guy won so they have that.

[ananda]

20. Yes, for sure. I just thought there were more of us than them.

This is a very hard pill to swallow.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. They convinced millions of Biden voters to not vote

Many factors that played into this.

Trump didn’t expand his appeal or base. He got less votes this time around.

[ananda]

22. Do you think some Dems were still pissed that Biden was forced to step down?

I wonder if that could be a factor.

[MustLoveBeagles]

40. God I hope not

I didn't like what happened but that didn't stop me from supporting her.

[Lulu KC]

47. That would be idiotic

I doubt that on any level of significance.

[Johnny2X2X]

57. Doubt it was that at all.

Maybe a sliver. I think some don’t vote because she’s a woman. Some a woman of color. Some because the Trump trans and border ads had an effect. Some maybe blamed her for inflation. Some just not happy with the country so they weren’t voting. A combo of things.

But now that I think about those Trump ads against her, it was obvious a lot of them weren’t trying to get people to flip to Trump. They were just trying to get people not to vote at all.

[milestogo]

78. If men are racist and misogynist it doesnt take much to convince them

not to vote for a woman of color.

And yes, there are Democratic men who are racist and misogynist.

[TwilightZone]

11. The talk of 10 million vote landslides was a bit premature.

This loss will take a lot of time to deconstruct, but a 12 million vote shift to the right from 2020 is substantial and likely has many causes.

Harris was linked to Biden's low approval ratings.

Voters inexplicably thought Trump was better on the economy for most of the race.

Harris is a woman, and a black one, at that.

Perhaps too much emphasis on Trump and not enough on issues, though that's debatable.

Unrealistic expectations brought on by claims like Taylor Swift changing the election, Trump's alleged "weak" (and meaningless) primary performances carrying over to the GE, Nikki Haley voters for Harris, the 47% myth, and 10% crossover from the GOP. All just wishful thinking.

And probably lots of other things.

[malaise]

21. Thanks

I am still in a state of stunned incredulity

[TwilightZone]

27. I am, as well.

I never bought into the landslide talk and thought this was always going to be close, but I figured if we lost, it would be by very thin margins like 2016 or like our win in 2020. I definitely didn't see this coming and am still trying to come to terms with it.

[cilla4progress]

45. 24 hours ago Plouffe was saying

she could win all the battlegrounds!!!!!

[TwilightZone]

53. The overreaction to the Iowa poll was a problem.

That seemed to convince many that the floodgates were open. Best pollster ever.

I don't know if that was part of his reasoning, but it set up some seriously unrealistic expectations.

[bluescribbler]

12. I don't know about you, but

I seriously underestimated the level of racism and misogyny in the USA.

[malaise]

19. Ditto

Rec

[Phoenix61]

30. Me too. nt

[Lonestarblue]

37. It's obvious that Jim Crow never went away. It was just dormant for a bit.

IF Republicans did not manipulate votes in enough mostly black areas, then we need to learn the reasons why so many black and Latino men voted for Trump. Was it solely machismo, or was something else going on? We assume misogyny but was it also something else?

Does anyone monitor Latino radio, for example? When I had work done on my house, all the workers were Latino, and talk radio was on most of the time. I have no clue what was being said, but it would seem important for us to learn.

[Lulu KC]

48. Sums it up

Everything else was just a detail, IMO.

[Orrex]

49. As a middle aged white man in a blue collar job, I hear a lot of it

They seem to assume that I must be on the same page, but whatever the reason I hear ugly and undisguised bigotry, racism and misogyny daily.

I was foolish enough to assume that this was a local phenomenon, but it’s clearly more widespread.

Harris was the far superior candidate in every way except the brutish ignorance and hatred of the electorate, and I. The end that’s all that mattered.

[liberaldiva]

56. Sadly, I didn't.

I'm a black woman. It's still devastating, nonetheless.

[IbogaProject]

14. They ran a simple social media focused campaign

And kept us distracted with his antics. I saw simple minded posts of basically along the lines of "I don't know but I think things were better during the T administration", in more simple minded language put on top of an image. Then they simply mocked things like tampons in every school restroom.

[Colgate 64]

54. I think you hit the nail on the head.

The low-information voters have been fed a 24/7 diet of bad information, misinformation and just plain lies since January 7, 2021. On top of that, we can't ignore the attractiveness Trump has by "permitting" them to say the same things he says and hate the same people that he hates. What's not to like for Joe Sixpack? As you note, "things were definitely better under Trump" (nausea/vomit moji omitted).

[Cattledog]

15. Racism, sexism, Biden should have announced in 2022 he was not going to run in 2024

and then have a full open primary.

[ananda]

23. That would have helped I think.

I guess it really needed to be his idea.

[jalan48]

72. Yep. Had he said in 2020 he was going to be a one term President we could have had an orderly transfer within our Party.

We were stuck rushing around at the last minute, trying to fix things.

[uponit7771]

16. ***MAIL IN BALLOTS ARE EASY WHILE STANDING IN LINE FOR 3 HRS ON A WORK DAY IS FOR THE PRIVILLEGED*** Also white ...

... women didn't move from Trump any from 2020, Harris campaign was counting on a 3% minimum move and didn't get it

There was NO DOUBT something going wrong with Harris data team

[Quiet Em]

17. Anger, hatred and bigotry

seems to sell in this country.

[malaise]

25. Here's JL

Link to tweet

[Quiet Em]

29. Every word he said

was spot on.

[MustLoveBeagles]

50. This needs to be it's own post

[malaise]

61. Go ahead and post it

😀

[MustLoveBeagles]

66. I can't

I'm not an X member.

[malaise]

67. Neither am I

😀

[Hotler]

74. +1 ... nt

[doublethink]

18. We have ...

A racist and misogynist nation.
Under educated populace lacking critical thinking skills.
Propagandist Media owned by Billionaires.
National mental health crisis.
Lack of empathy is rampant from the me me me me crowd.
I could go on .... guess it all ads up, but yeah ... I too
am still stunned. What happened? Don't know?
Onward. And Peace.

[malaise]

26. Have to agree

But how were so many of us fooled?

[Yorkie Mom]

36. Du is a bubble.

I love this place, but it doesn't show/reflect what is actually happening. I think it used to more, but now I'm even questioning that.

There used to be posters who would post articles that would not be considered controversial because they didn't buy into the hope that there would be a blue wave. They would post things that would make us think and question. What happened to those posters?

There were signs of what was coming, but I didn't dare post them here because I would get alerted on and the post removed.

[Polybius]

43. I guess I'm like the old DU, like Brooklynite was when he was here

I'm called negative all the time here, just for being realistic. The fact that DU blasted close polls but praised one stupid Iowa poll as truth is mind-boggling.

[Yorkie Mom]

63. Yes!

Some posters didn't like Brooklynite, but his voice is desperately needed here.

I brought my husband to DU years ago and he has read here religiously for many, many years. He really struggled this election cycle because he has been in the blue bubble and was shocked at what happened last night. He was totally unprepared, and it wasn't pretty even though I tried to prepare him. He just couldn't wrap his head around it.

People have to make choices to step outside of the bubble, and it isn't easy. Ask me how I know... It was ugly and uncomfortable for me.

[beaglelover]

44. YES! When people post those types of articles now they are cosidered a troll and are told their concern is noted.

The talk recently of Harris winning in a landslide....over 300 electoral college votes, etc. were eaten up here like it was the gospel of truth. It is embarrassing. And then you have posters posting with absolute certainty that Harris will win and be the first woman POTUS. All with nothing to back it up.

[Yorkie Mom]

60. Which is why I didn't post a single article.

I knew exactly what would happen. I tried posting months ago and got the comments mentioned above and threads hidden.

This place desperately needs those old posters back or someone to take their place. I just don't know that it can/will happen.

[beaglelover]

64. The poster Self Esteem is really great. Reminds me of Brooklynite. I miss him as well.

[Nanjeanne]

42. I wasn't. I didn't think Republican white men and women were going to vote in droves for the

black woman. And courting the Rs thinking Cheney was going to convince them was typical D blunder. I never agreed with Schumer in 2016 when he said for every blue progressive lost in PA we’d pick up two Rs. And I definitely didn’t believe it now.

Rs play to their base. Ds run away from them and just expect they’ll show up anyway. Saying we would have a the most lethal military isn’t exciting to young people. Telling Dems that a R will be in her cabinet and Trump voters will have a seat at the table isn’t what gets Dems out to vote. Not understanding the depth of despair Palestinian Americans feel when their family is being murdered doesn’t make people rush out to vote. Walking away from Medicare 4 All and anti fracking isn’t going to inspire excitement and none of those things secure R votes either.

Sexism, misogyny, racism are real in this country. And thinking there are millions of kind, humane Rs is a fallacy the Ds need to learn. But they won’t I fear. And this post will probably be removed!

And I say that as I die hard Democrat of fifty years who has never voted other than Dem.

[malaise]

69. Well said

Still hard to process

[doublethink]

68. Just looking at my own family ....

small case study the last few years ha. My sis and nephew (ages 69 and 40) both went all Maga and Q anon. I'm guessing my sis because she got bored in covid lock-down, too much time online, always failed at whatever business she tried to start, mental issues, geesh critical thinking skills lacked, lost empathy for anything the last few years except for her cats. Guess she needed to belong to 'something' has a lot of 'hate' in her heart now after being a true die-hard liberal for 65 years of her life. Social Media f'd he up.

My Neph .... just picked up after her after he lost a job, I got him hired where I work .... but too lost confidence in himself. Too much of a mama's boy. Whatever ....

Think it was "Brave New World" a book read in like Jr. HIgh level that people were too distracted, comfy, drugged out and kept ignorant etc ... by the powers that be to really care about anything but self.

Now our dept of Education will be gutted even more except for the rich. We have reached the servile state of society. Haven't been to school in years but it was different back then, critical thinking skills was a priority, Not now I would assume. Thanks for the thread Malaise. Power to the People.

[patricia92243]

24. Hate won.

[malaise]

59. Sure did

Still. I did not expect these results

[orangecrush]

28. From "Wonkette"...

"founding
Ambiance Chaser
Ambiance Chaser
8 mins ago
It appears the prevailing mindset is people are voting in favor of everyone at the table having cat shit sandwiches lest the minorities over there ever get something better.

Everyone having say a nice chicken dinner would mean those minorities over there would get some too, and that just can't be countenanced.

Answer, therefore, to the question "why can't we have nice things ?" is because half of America does not want EVERONE to have nice things if THOSE PEOPLE get to have nice things too.

(Of course, the privileged will always have nice things . . . because . . . privilege.)"

[malaise]

32. Indeed

Rec

[Generic Other]

31. For once

I have no answer or any idea. Just needed to hug a friend.

[malaise]

34. Backatvyah

[bucolic_frolic]

33. This is as good a place as any for bloodletting

I had my doubts all along. From the convention speech. I don't want to air them, but I will say while Democrats understood her earnestness, wit, brains, drive, desire, it didn't play with non-Democrats. The debate was Trump vivisected. It came off as up-ity.

Also the party didn't diss Trump enough, the way Trump did to VP Harris. My mailbox was full of anti-Harris stuff for weeks. Some people believed it.

She had to diss Trump, sell her own creds to the public, and sell her platform.

I think it all would have been different if Joe Biden had stepped down in January, to open the playing field to primaries. Where were the marketing geniuses back then? Oh, they were waiting for the pollsters.

The Democratic Party doesn't connect with rural red territory. All they heard was student loads were forgiven for bright educated people, and they got nothing.

Trump played the fear card well. Democrats are coming for your guns and kids for Frankenstein sex changes.

That's all I got.

[underpants]

35. People couldn't vote for a woman of color and didn't like either candidate

There’s no other way to explain the 17M less votes in total. He’s at almost 72M (74 in 2020) and she’s at 67M (Biden in 2020 had 81M)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219669066

[murielm99]

39. Misogyny.

I have worked with and for local and state Democrats for a long time. Even the best of our leadership is anti-women. Never mind that women, especially black women, are the backbone of the party and do most of the work. This country is not mature enough to elect a woman President. And a gay President, no matter how qualified? Fuggitaboutit!

[alarimer]

41. Those ads were pretty powerful, I guess.

They were all lies, but propaganda works.

Men hate women, as if we needed any more proof. I don't necessarily blame Harris; I don't think she did anything wrong. I thought that Trump's rally attendance was dismal because he was going to lose; no, it was because they already supported him and didn't need to see him.

People really wanted a fascist dictator. They WANT government dismantled. They do not want what the Democrats are selling. Maybe they never have. We have to face the fact that we Democrats might as well be aliens from another planet. We are not welcome.

On second thought, I do believe there were mistakes by the campaign. Trotting out all those Republicans was a huge mistake. Liz Cheney does not move the needle for anyone. People who voted for Trump do not like all those old "regular" Republicans and it was off-putting for me and probably other Democrats (I still voted for her and I would again), but I do think trying to be "bipartisan" was a mistake. All those disaffected Republicans who allegedly hated Trump probably all still voted for him. So what was the point of trotting out those people? I don't really know.

[Ping Tung]

51. Trump won because he told us that we should be afraid.

Afreaid of:
Women who don't obey
Not being thought "Manly"
Haitians eating your poodle or hamster
"Illegal" immigrants stealing your paycheck and selling your daughters to cartels
being thought of as not "Patriotic"
having your sacred guns taken away or registered

Feel free to add to the above list it's bottomless.

[Clouds Passing]

52. Mass delusion

[Pisces]

55. With 20/20 hindsight, I think the obvious answer is that Biden should not have run for reelection and

Let the primaries happen. Once people vote for a candidate they are invested. Kamala only had 2 months and no one had voted for her. I think she would not have won a primary. Brutal but honest.

2. We had to acknowledge that groceries and rent were killing the majority of people. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t Biden’s fault, it happened under him. Doesn’t matter that it was due to Covid etc.
Groceries were probably the number 1 issue in most women’s mind who shop regularly. It didn’t help that people kept saying it’s getting better and raised prices are in your mind.

3. Unfortunately Trump lambasted the airwaves with the trans issue. Whether we like it or not this is a scary issue for the majority of the populace. Even Dems who support trans rights are worried about the skyrocketing numbers of kids that identify as trans. Nobody wants to talk about it because they are afraid of being cancelled. Trump identified this fear and hammered it home, the ad with Kamala saying prisoners under her would be allowed to get surgeries was on ad nauseum in my area.

4. Sexism and Racism

These are the main issues I think happened.

[Shermann]

58. Trump had one advantage never utilized before

He was an ex-president who broke with tradition and counter-messaged and denigrated the succeeding administration for an entire term. I hope this isn't the new tradition, it's very ugly.

[malaise]

65. But he is a CONvicted felon

A rapist, a fraudster, a woman-hating racist

[LeftInTX]

70. And someone who has wiggled his way out of

many criminal charges. Look at his documents case.

[malaise]

75. Agree

I don’t get it

[Different Drummer]

80. And yet, that didn't seem to matter.

[Zeitghost]

62. We Ran

The unpopular VP of an unpopular administration who wasn't selected through a democratic primary.

[LisaM]

71. It's really hard to eradicate cockroaches.

People probably thought we got rid of him in 2020, but he won't go away. He just won't. It's like trying to get cockroaches out of an apartment.

People will learn their mistake - again.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

73. Hate won.

[Quakerfriend]

77. Putin + Elon. n/t