This post may be deleted, but

[H2O Man]

74. I agree.

I think the best campaign in recent times was run by then Senator Obama in 2008. Despite some "experts" being concerned that a black man couldn't win the presidency, obviously he did. Now, a big factor was his ability to communicate. He was a fresh face, charismatic and exciting. While he did get some republican support, that was largely due to McCain's choice for VP. More of a factor was Obama's reaching the independent voters and bringing in new voters.

Now, up until 2024, no other Democrat in the general election was charismatic in a sense that excited those independent voters or to get significant numbers of new voters. That in no way means they were not capable, qualified candidates. From Gore to Biden, our candidates were superior. And lord knows that Joe Biden did an outstanding job as president.

I can only speak for myself, of course, but I found VP Harris to be a perfect candidate. I thought then, as I do now, that she had the ability and talent to run as a much more Obama-like candidate. While sexism, racism, and Russian military intelligence would still be factors, there are ways to deal with these things and win.

If I were to highlight one factor that hurt her as our candidate, it would be bringing Dick Cheney on stage. Literally every independent voter I know found that to be repulsiver, and young voters know he is a unconvicted war criminal. The number of republicans who are fans of Dick who decided to vote for Harris due to his endorsement is tiny by definition. The number of potential voters offended by it who opted not to vote for Harris -- if they voted at all -- was significantly larger.

And that's a shame. Just my opinion, but the campaign can be as deciding a factor in the outcome as the candidate. Had Obama focused on winning republican votes in '08, I doubt he would have won. Speculation, I know. But I like winning.