Laying Blame Is Not the Answer

[MineralMan]

We lost the election. Why we lost it, exactly, isn't clear. What to do now is also unclear. So, many people are looking for things to blame for the loss. Some people are focused so hard on the individual or individuals they blame that they cannot think of anything else.

That's not productive. Not in any way. It will not change the results. Nor will it help in future elections, which are really the only way to fix the problem.

Who is to blame? Well, we all are in many ways. Not enough people voted for our Presidential candidate. And that led to fewer votes for members of Congress and Senators. We're stuck in a bad situation.

We will not solve that by blaming individuals from the Biden administration. The past is history. We can learn and not repeat, but we cannot change history.

How can we fix the primary problem? Not enough people voted for our candidates. That is why we lost. What can we do to make sure that doesn't happen in 2026 and 2028? That's what we need to be thinking about right now.

It might feel good to blame someone for our loss. But that is a false response that is always ineffective.

[gab13by13]

1. Democrats need to put fighters in positions of power

like AOC, and no, fighting has nothing to do with age.

We don't have a Lion of the Senate - Ted Kennedy

We had a fighter - Speaker Pelosi

We need a lot more.

[MineralMan]

3. Are you not a Democrat?

[ck4829]

2. I'll take blame when I call the shots

How stuck are we, really?

What am I doing to delay, challenge, and resist the authority, human resources, skills and knowledge, intangible factors, material resources, and sanctions of this regime?

If the answer is "nothing", then I will take blame.

[MineralMan]

4. What are you doing to enable candidates and office-holders?

[Bluethroughu]

5. Merrick Garland failed our country, and gave false optics of innocence

To a fascist. The SCOTUS failed our country, by ruling on what they want the Constitution to say, and not on the clear language.

This was all propagated to the public with billionaire owned media that failed to give facts over benefits for the candidate that would financially benefit themselves.

The masses were tired and worn down by the raging inequality growing in our country and ripe for radicalism.

Our institutions can only be fixed by policy of people wanting to pass such policies, so yes we need quality candidates that can raise their voices beyond this fascism, and regain our Democracy.

We loose this Democracy the day that insurrectionist takes office. This is fact. Now, let's deal with it, and work accordingly.

The Republican party hates this country's Constitution and the people in it, and they are about to prove I'm right.

If I am not, I will be thankful for some semblance of normalcy, but The smirks, laughter, and partying while California burns, the smug smirks tormenting the people reliant on benefits or assist being cut, and the vicious rhetoric against anyone NOT WHITE is not a good sign of elected government officials at the highest level. These people are sick in their minds and drunk on power.

[William769]

6. Thank you.

We only have 5 days until the horror show befalls America.

I am so fucking tired of "Democrats" beating up Democrats.

[MineralMan]

11. Maybe we could channel our energy into preventing

the damage that is likely to happen under Trump. Picking at scabs only leads to infected wounds that don't heal.

[Kid Berwyn]

7. "Keep doing the same thing over and over..."

“…and expect different results is the definition of insanity,” is how one former President from Arkansas put it.

Failing to assign responsibility for losing an election to a convicted fraud, sexual abuser, and agent of Putin is criminal political malpractice.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

8. This is true. But there are reasons....

And unfortunately those reasons are much more difficult to overcome. In fact, we really never do. The electorate simply bounces from party to party based on the inability of the "party in power" to overcome them. This is not a new problem limited to 21st century America. It is as old as civilization--or more accurately, wealth--itself. The broad scope of history is really a story of individuals and societies hoarding and leveraging resources for their own gain. Income inequality has been a major driver of social upheaval throughout history--especially when fragile ecosystems become stretched by population growth and environmental change or constraints. Both major parties are--it seems by their estimation anyway--beholden to the business interests that fund their campaigns, and as such they are equally unable to actually address the systemic inequality that makes the electorate swing back and forth between two relatively ineffective political parties. It really is the economy that drives voter sentiment more than anything else; and on a simple level--not a complex 'if we bring down the cost of healthcare it will save your family money and therefore make you wealthier' level. Voters apparently care how much they paid for gas, eggs and that appliance they bought last week and not much else. If the Biden administration failed at anything it was not addressing the day-to-day economic indicators that voters feel at a gut level. Telling people they should feel better about their finances than they really do is not a formula for political success. Actually finding ways to solve those problems with a laser focus is. In the end, Democrats were beaten by a party willing to lie to them about the economy and how they could 'fix' it. We see them backpedaling furiously on those promises now, but that's the nature of the grift--you say you never claimed the snake oil would do anything only after they bought it on a no-refund policy.... Inevitably, Republicans will not deliver on their false promises and the electorate will seek refuge in the Democratic party no matter what it changes internally--see the track record on mid-term elections since WWII. The very best thing we can do right now is focus on creating policies aimed squarely at what middle-class voters perceive as their biggest economic issues and counter the very effective social issues framing that has been done by the GOP against us. Everything else is really just noise--unless crime rates climb significantly. The biggest mistake is to compromise your values for an electorate that really doesn't vote because of them. Republicans certainly did not change their immigration stance after 2008--and look where they are now....

[MineralMan]

12. Thanks for your response.

Much of what you say rings true.

[Ocelot II]

9. Laying blame only causes division and infighting,

and does nothing to improve the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It's one thing to analyze, which will be an ongoing process; but pointing fingers just gives the finger-pointers easy excuses. "This wouldn't have happened if..."
(Choose one or more of the following):

*Biden had decided not to run for a second term a year ago.
*The candidate had been someone other than Harris.
*Biden had not withdrawn and stayed in the race.
*Harris had chosen a different running mate.
*Garland had started the Trump prosecutions sooner.
*Democrats had focused the campaign more on white blue-collar voters.
*Democrats had focused the campaign more on minority concerns.
*Democrats had focused the campaign less on minority concerns.
*Democrats had focused the campaign less on abortion.
*Democrats hadn't sought the support of Liz Cheney and other anti-Trump GOPers.
*Harris/Walz had campaigned in more or different states.
*Etc.

But none of those things happened and we are where we are now. So what are we going to about it? Do a post-mortem, fine; but sitting around the morgue staring at the remains, trying to resurrect a zombie and getting mad at each other when the corpse doesn't get up from the table won't get us a real live campaign next time.

[MineralMan]

10. Exactly. Just blaming someone or something does nothing.

It is important to analyze the reasons people didn't turn out and vote in 2024. More important, though, is what we do after that to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again.

We can't redo the past. We can only plan for the future. We need to start doing that now.