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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Actually feeling annoyed at the democrats

133 replies

Newsenmum · 06/11/2024 19:45

AIBU to just feel annoyed at them this time? I feel like they went about this election in completely the wrong way and like most politicians, really have no idea about the country they’re trying to unite.

  • Biden. What a joke. I do actually feel sorry for him (for his aging and the way it was portrayed) but how on earth was he allowed to be reelected? It was so embarrassing and made them look so vulnerable as a party, And it took them far too long. And he was also accused of rape in his early days which the Trump-ists think makes him even worse as no one really talks about this.
  • Kamala as a candidate. No way in hell was she going to be accepted. The state the country is in where someone like Trump was another option - she wasn’t a great choice (which is a sad thing as she is a very competent woman). She’s a women without children, alien in how educated she is.
  • their campaign - felt quite wishy washy and focussing a lot on abortion rights. I feel like they were completely preaching to the wrong audience about this. People who were worried about abortion rights were already never going to vote Trump. So this was t a way to win people. The focus seemed very pro abortion which is too pro choice for most Americans (even a lot of people who think they are pro choice only like it in certain circumstances).
  • Trump is seen as sone anti establishment hero. He’s ‘different’ whereas democrats are ‘one of the same’. They are ‘them’.

I don’t know, I think I’m just frustrated this time.

OP posts:
FancyBiscuitsLevel · 07/11/2024 07:36

Sheri99 · 06/11/2024 21:39

It is because we can do so, not because of her gender or her skin color! No one has to vote STRAIGHT party lines; all state governors elected on the same year calendar, just as the House and Senate are timed.

Part of the problem may have been that there are some in the US who feel "Affirmative Action" went way too far, especially in CA. Harris didn't get there on her intelligence, her capability,...but because she got college funding, placement, etc due to her being a woman and of color. It can hurt someone if they check the box to climb to the top; just like it hurt Obama. Affirmative action went on so LONG some Americans began to RESENT and wonder just when it would be seen as discrimination. That happened this year: it is no longer allowed by schools, etc to use the fact a person is white as a reason to NOT offer equal treatment on admissions. To use QUALIFICATIONS, test scores, etc.

Show quote history

Sorry you seem to miss the point - in many countries a similar things happens, that more than one election happens on the same day (because running elections are expensive, so it’s cost efficient. Turn out tends to be higher for the “big” elections so you get a bigger turn out for your “lesser” important elections if you hold them at the same time).

what’s normal is for people to vote on party lines, they decide they are supporting party X not Y or Z at the main election, then the other votes go the same way. To have picked Trump for president but not the republican candidate for governor by a large group interesting wrinkle.

it suggests the problem is either the democrat candidate for president, or there was an amazing democrat candidate for governor, or the governor candidate for the Republican Party was an issue.

Both parties have to nail down exactly what was going on before their next election.

KimberleyClark · 07/11/2024 07:43

Talulahalula · 06/11/2024 19:56

So wait a minute, part of your issue is that Kamala is too much of an educated women and doesn’t have children?
I am sure that many words will be spent analysing why the Republicans won and the Democrats did not, but I really hope that history does not come down on the side of well, the Democrats had the temerity to have an educated woman without children as their presidential candidate.
What counts as too educated? Let’s say she was not educated beyond high school, then it would be, well, how does she know x, y or z.
And what if she had children, then it would be why is she not focusing on her children?
If you mean, the issue was the Democrats fielded a woman, then state that and call out the sexism. But let’s be honest about that. It’s nothing to do with her level of education or whether she has children or not.

Very depressing that there is still so much prejudice against childless female politicians. It doesn’t seem to matter so much with male ones does it.

Original poster
Newsenmum · 07/11/2024 07:43

Propertyshmoperty · 06/11/2024 21:36

I don't actually think it's that much of a problem that Kamala was a WOC, the problem was that the Democrats position themselves as the lesser of two evils and don't offer any bloody change! The working class are on their knees in the US with cost of living, especially housing costs. She needed to desperately address that stuff.

I agree with a PP that quite frankly the pro/anti abortion stuff is a given with those 2 parties so it almost becomes a non issue because people already know that stance. People need to bloody house and feed themselves and wanted someone who said they would make sure that would happen and how they would do it. Basically "yes Harris I realise I can have marginally easier access to an abortion under the Dems but Trump is suggesting I'll have more money in my pocket and I am living in abject poverty even though I work".... that's what gets swing voters.

Incredibly frustrating and predictable. The reason Obama won was because he promised change (and under delivered, his healthcare reform was massively watered down in the end) and quite frankly Biden rode his coattails.

Absolutely this. There was a BBC report this morning about how Kamala said she wouldn’t change anything Biden had done. She gave very little ‘hope’. It felt like a wasted opportunity.

OP posts:
Original poster
Newsenmum · 07/11/2024 07:44

KimberleyClark · 07/11/2024 07:43

Very depressing that there is still so much prejudice against childless female politicians. It doesn’t seem to matter so much with male ones does it.

Show quote history

A lot of Americans are very family centred, especially those who are already voting republican and needed to be swayed. A childless woman who was pro abortion wasn’t ever going to work was it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Newsenmum · 07/11/2024 07:47

I agree. They seem completely removed from normal American people who are clearly very unhappy.

OP posts:
SayDoWhatNow · 07/11/2024 09:53

Newsenmum · 07/11/2024 07:43

Absolutely this. There was a BBC report this morning about how Kamala said she wouldn’t change anything Biden had done. She gave very little ‘hope’. It felt like a wasted opportunity.

Show quote history

I think that's a really key point. Trump says he will "Make America great again" and it sounds good to people. It's positive and says that something will change for the better. It's based on lies and misunderstandings, but it's motivating for people.

Harris had a big focus on protecting abortion rights. No snappy slogans, but the premise is "if you don't vote for us, things will get even worse than they already are." It's a demoralizing message, so something that is designed as a motivator to get people out to vote is simultaneously demotivating because of how it makes people feel. That drives turnout down, because some people are so demotivated by the message (from an incumbent government that they see as creating some of the economic problems) that they don't vote at all.

A root cause analysis would definitely point to the initial Biden-Harris ticket as an issue too. Biden was clearly not competent to complete a second term. A decision should have been made much earlier that he wasn't going to run again, because replacing him with Harris mid-way through the campaign was a huge mess - and probably very demotivating for canvassers too.

Original poster
Newsenmum · 07/11/2024 15:09

SayDoWhatNow · 07/11/2024 09:53

I think that's a really key point. Trump says he will "Make America great again" and it sounds good to people. It's positive and says that something will change for the better. It's based on lies and misunderstandings, but it's motivating for people.

Harris had a big focus on protecting abortion rights. No snappy slogans, but the premise is "if you don't vote for us, things will get even worse than they already are." It's a demoralizing message, so something that is designed as a motivator to get people out to vote is simultaneously demotivating because of how it makes people feel. That drives turnout down, because some people are so demotivated by the message (from an incumbent government that they see as creating some of the economic problems) that they don't vote at all.

A root cause analysis would definitely point to the initial Biden-Harris ticket as an issue too. Biden was clearly not competent to complete a second term. A decision should have been made much earlier that he wasn't going to run again, because replacing him with Harris mid-way through the campaign was a huge mess - and probably very demotivating for canvassers too.

Show quote history

And with your final point, it looks like either Biden refused to stand down and therefore wanted power more than what is good for the country and therefore corrupt or just very incompetent. Neither is a good option. Whereas Trump was like “im baaaad but I own it yeah! Let’s make changes!”

OP posts:
Puzzledandpissedoff · 07/11/2024 15:34

Kamala as a candidate. No way in hell was she going to be accepted

Thing is the party knew this - or should have done - after the debacle of her 2020 candidacy when she had to step down, but Biden made it clear he wanted a black female running mate and by the time he stepped aside they had to nominate Kamala because the campaign funds couldn't be used for anyone else

So yes the Democrats have brought this entirely on themselves; trouble is they've brought Trump on the rest of us too

Edited to add CNN's pretty good piece about that 2020 campaign: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/03/politics/kamala-harris-2020-campaign/index.html

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