5 ms·
US politics isn't easy to understand as an outsider. It looks like Harris was was an ok candidate for the core democrat voter and a terrible candidate to win a
by shirro 2y ago
US politics isn't easy to understand as an outsider. It looks like Harris was was an ok candidate for the core democrat voter and a terrible candidate to win a populist election in what is essentially a deeply divided and mostly conservative country. She didn't address the swing voters greatest concerns which was their decline in real wealth due to inflation and fear of change. I am sure money and influence had a lot to do with it as well but still a colossal misreading of public sentiment and an inability to reach out to a broader audience.
- wustangdan 2y agoJust FYI based on your comment you might not be aware but just on ads D's outspent the R's 4.5 billion to 3.5 billion (https://www.axios.com/2024/10/31/democrats-republicans-ad-spending-election-day https://www.axios.com/2024/10/31/democrats-republicans-ad-sp...). In general D's always outspend and out raise R's.
- returningfory2 2y ago(Not the GP) I've been aware of this for a while but thank you for sharing a reference! It's sort of fascinating how so many Democrats think that money-in-politics rigs the system against them even though Democrats benefit more from it.
- paulryanrogers 2y agoMoney may influence certain blocks of voters more than others, and the parties may spend it differently. That still doesn't mean it's an unalloyed good that we pour so much money into it when it could be used on more productive efforts.
- hackernewds 2y agoit's prisoners dilemma. if another party is outspending you, what do you do?
- awb 2y agoI don’t think many in either party are worried about small donations. But the concern from Dems is usually the unlimited donations as one billionaire could match the financial influence of millions of non-billionaires. Kamala raised 2:1 from campaign contributions (limits: https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-announces-2023-2024-campaign-cycle-contribution-limits/ https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-announces-2023-2024-campaign...), while the inverse was true for Trump. Source: https://www.opensecrets.org/ https://www.opensecrets.org/ In politics what’s pretty consistent is it’s almost always a debate about what’s to my advantage or not, masquerading as a principled argument.
- shirro 2y agoI don't doubt it. Even to an outsider there is a obvious economic divide between blue and red states and I am sure both parties exploit that to some extent. Judging from what I have seen of the foreign reach of "US" politics I am certain there is a lot of dark money and influence going around beyond any official numbers. I have doubts if those sorts of operations have any influence on the swing voters that were required for a victory. It seems more likely their needs were simply ignored.
- plewd 2y agoI wonder if there is even that much dark money is circulating beyond official numbers. Why would they bother, given that they have the legal loophole of PACs, Super PACs, and 501(c) groups. It already seems so easy to throw money at a candidate if you wanted to, without even needing to do it behind closed doors.
- ImaCake 2y ago>there is a lot of dark money and influence going around I personally suspect, but can't really know, that this is what explains the dysfunctional state of US politics. It is simply too big a target for corruption for it to ever be able to operate effectively. You can see that many US states seem to have much more effective governance than the Feds despite having nominally the same two major parties. I also think this explains why Australia is better run than the USA, and why New Zealand and Norway are better run than Australia.
- hackernewds 2y agoare you seriously suggesting the parties bought a ridiculous $8B in ads?
- xp84 2y agoAre you saying they didn't? Why is that hard to believe?
- rKarpinski 2y ago> It looks like Harris was was an ok candidate for the core democrat voter Thats very questionable, she was forced to drop out before the first Democratic primary for the 2020' nomination.
- hackernewds 2y agoreceiving a measly 4% of votes. she was elevated to the VP position above merit worthy individuals solely to placate identity politics, as Biden did extensively with other appointments as well
- shirro 2y agoBiden won which makes the choice harder to criticize. People are often elevated without merit for a multitude of reasons including nepotism which don't benefit anyone but them. Trump will have to reward his supporters as well. It is the spoils system. It isn't unique to US politics but the cronyism is a bit more in your face than usual in regular democracies. If Biden's spoils went to a more diverse looking bunch then that probably says more about the diversity of his supporters than anything about his judgement. As far as I can see the criticism is unfounded. And when the democrats criticize the lack of diversity in the next administration it is a similar thing. The spoils don't go to randoms picked from a color swatch regardless of party.
- altpaddle 2y agoWas Mike Pence getting chosen for his Christian background not an example of identity politics? Was JD Vance being a younger politician to balance old Trump identity politics? Everything relates to identity politics
- rightbyte 2y agoMike Pence got chosen for being boring and establishment.
- Redoubts 2y agoI'm a Klobuchar truther. She could have pulled this off
- sixothree 2y ago[flagged]
- baggy_trough 2y ago[flagged]
- paulryanrogers 2y agoIME though it's accurate, both now with my family and when I was on the other side (with them) watching it voraciously. Thankfully the Internet and some very patient coworkers helped open my eyes to facts I was sweeping under the rug.
- unethical_ban 2y ago[flagged]
- baggy_trough 2y ago[flagged]
- philosopher1234 2y ago[flagged]
- tivert 2y agoAlso the Democrat's main strategy seems to have been yell "orange man bad," over and over, while catering to the concerns of their partisan core of well-off white liberals. I think they thought Trump was a wedge that would hand them a narrow victory without having to adapt very much.
- seanmcdirmid 2y agoThe Republicans yelled “black woman bad” over and over again and it seemed to work for them, but then they were always catering to mostly older white guys.
- Sabinus 2y agoThe way the Republicans all started to pronounce her name as Kuh-mul-ah instead of the correct Ka-ma-la was particularly grotesque to me.
- rightbyte 2y agoWhy? Is there a word play I don't understand? I pronounce Biden as bidet+n.
- Sabinus 2y agoIt's just a technique to make her sound more other and less likable. Same with Trump's habit of stressing "Barack Hussein Obama" and more broadly the insulting nicknames he had (has?) for people.
- rightbyte 2y ago"Sleepy Joe" and I think he had an epithet for Hillary too. Edit: Crooked? But ye, I think I agree, that pronouncing non WASP names wrong on purpose is kinda cheap.
- 2y ago