Dear Harris Supporters,
I write to you because you should be applauded. I also write to provide genuine analysis before the narrative is taken over by other entities, especially the media.
I have crunched some of the numbers. Given top-line numbers, I can conclude that this was a vote against Biden’s foreign policy more so than a vote for Trump. Trump essentially got the same numbers of votes as he did in 2020 (it is a +0.1% change). Harris, at approximately 70 million votes, did not beat him or Biden’s numbers of 81 million votes. One held onto the base and the other did not. Trump’s base appears to be younger with some increase in POCs. It is still less female and less educated. Harris’ appears to have held onto the crossover votes of moderates and Republicans, who this time are more ideologically conservative and older. These mere shifts may not matter much since it is just a reshuffling as more people enter the registration pool.
And of course, other factors were at play. For some, voting for a white male is still preferable to voting for a female, never mind a biracial female. Even though Harris bested Clinton, I suspect some racial animus is alive and well. This would require more analysis, and I don’t know that I would do it or that it matters. It plays out every single day in this nation. Another factor at play was incumbency. Voter turnout was low in many states, and in general. Voting for a president’s second term is not as exciting, and with incumbency usually being beneficial, some may have taken it for granted. Again, needs more analysis but may not even be worth doing.
The more significant factor is the media. Not only did they fail to do their jobs, but this time they actively and unabashedly went for the ratings. There were few endorsements from major papers and a failure to call things out. The Philadelphia Inquirer was publishing stories that the New York Times refused to do. The WSJ made an endorsement while the Washington Post and LA Times stayed silent. All forms of media picked up the “Joe Biden is too old” narrative that the GOP had been peddling since 2023. They ran with it like a thief with money. Then the DNC did. They lost faith when they had no legitimate reason to do so. Lesson, never count Biden out. I knew Summer 2019 that he would win the primary and presidency, even though he was fourth on my list of preferences. Secretary Castro was first. Harris was near the bottom with Klobuchar and Buttigieig as they seemed the most conservative to me. I had more confidence in a second Biden win than in a first Harris win. Congratulations to the media for getting those ratings, and shame on you! A piece of advice, shut off the TV and subscribe to good local papers. Better yet, read a book on history or economics.
Regarding this loss of the base, Harris certainly lost Progressives, Union Members and the Anti-War Faction, in particular those who strongly opposed Biden’s policy in the Middle East. In March, a majority of Americans (52%) opposed this policy, and it crossed party lines. In the summer, it increased to 61%. This was reflected in the primaries with large numbers of uncommitted here and in other states (MI, WI, OH, etc). At the convention, it was not up for discussion. A failure to put this on the table to re-examine was a huge misstep. With this being Harris’ first campaign, there was probably fear at rocking the boat. A Biden campaign could have had other approaches as the author of the policy. For whom this was the fundamental issue, there was nothing. The reaction was a third party vote or no vote at all. Eleven million people did not vote for Trump or Harris. It had nothing to do with the red herrings of economy, crime or immigration.
There are some small silver lining(s). The boogeyman of voter fraud goes back into the closet. Is the GOP going to claim fraud after their wins? Many think thanks along the political spectrum have concluded it is negligible. When it does occur, the voter has multiple residencies. Another, we have been here before, and Governor Healey was battle tested during the 2016 administration as were other AGs and Governors. Another, we have and can take back the Congress to leverage it against the other two branches. Another, we can learn from our mistakes, and re-examine our foreign policy and reaction to the media so that we choose better next time.
It won’t be easy; 2016 to 2020 was a long haul! However, there are still more of us, and that means no honeymoon and no mandate. We resist. We fight. We boycott. We protest. We vote. We make allies. We stick together. We don’t give up. We move onward and forward.
Rita Colafella
Watertown Resident
Your observation about a protest vote against Biden’s Mideast policy is accurate. It’s ironic that it helped Trump, whose policy will be so much worse. Progressives make this mistake over and over again…witness Ralph Nader in 2000 and Jill Stein in 2016. Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result!
The ongoing conflict was on some voters’ minds as was prices and the feeling of leaving the working calss behind. See the update below.
I don’t understand why we Harris supporters should be applauded, and AFAIK there is approximately zero basis to conclude that this was a vote against Biden’s foreign policy, specifically. That theory would require the incumbent parties in almost every industrialized country all to have coincidentally lost for completely separate reasons (?!?). Seems likelier to me that people really hated inflation, which has come down a lot but people don’t experience memories of lower prices on convenient 12-month reporting cycles.
We should all avoid the temptation to conclude “if only Harris had agreed more with me personally, she obviously would have won.”
They should be applauded for trying. Pivoting when the race is more than half over, is hard. The protest against Biden’s foreign policy concerning the Israel-Gaza conflict was a salient point during the primary as 1/10 Democratic primary voters voted uncommitted, no preference or something to that effect, and then stated wanting an end to the conflict.
What percentage of the protest the conflict played in the general election, I don’t know yet. However, analysis coming out now is pointing to the Biden’s foreign policy being a top issue for the protest vote. Your are right that prices also were a top issue for the protest vote. However, I wouldn’t call it inflation, because inflation is caused by supply issues or too much demand. What many economists are noting over the past few months is that we are seeing is price gouging.
The changing mid-stream to Harris put her in a position where rocking the boat would be problematic and distancing herself from Biden would not be enough. I think Biden could have gone more on the offensive. Also, changing more than half through doesn’t allow for another selection process. Some people who voted in protest mentioned her being selected instead of voted upon. The alternative would have been a contested convention which is hard to manage. Continuing with Biden would not have produced such a situation.
Then there is Harris’ policy. Harris is more conservative than Biden on certain items, in particular her economics. When I listened to her convention speech, for me, her economics policy did not do enough for the majority of Americans. Some protest voters have noted this move to the center or right. Some have even noted her not being as Pro Union as Biden. In my mind, pro union can be interchangeable with progressive. Regardless, I voted for her and would do so again.
In the end, I want Harris supporters to know that Trump won because he held onto his base. Our base is much wider and has more points on the political spectrum.
I agree with you Paul.
The key understanding is, “Eleven million people did not vote for Trump or Harris. It had nothing to do with the red herrings of economy, crime or immigration. ”
You have to look at why these people did not vote. Also, AOC asked why many of her supporters voted for both her and DJT. The feedback is telling. People don’t know how to make well reasoned decisions. This is the important work we need to focus on. I hope to see and hear about lessons on decision-making. How do we recognize truth from fiction. How to not vote on emotion. How to recognize when someone is playing us with the hate card. Doing research etc.
When people are being emotionally manipulated, they will make poor choices. It happens to all sides. We may lose democracy and the rue of law in the next few years. We may have lost it already.
I very much agree with your assessment. The disaffected, and in effect disenfranchised, are not voting for a party, they may not even be voting for a candidate. Education, I think is key, and that doesn’t start the year of the election but 4 years prior. And it’s an educaton not just rooted in the fundamentals of civics but belonging to something greater than one’s self.
UPDATE: More analysis has been performed by several papers/news sites (USA Today, WSJ, Newsweek, PBS, for example)
– Trump only got 1% above his 2020 numbers, Harris’ were about 11.5% less than those of Biden
– Both Trump and Harris got about 30% of eligible votes, in 2020 trump got about 35% while Biden captured about 40%
– Trump won by 2 points, not a landslide as LBJ, Nixon (72) and Reagan (84) won by 60, 60 and 58 points, respectively
– 1/6 registered Democrat did not vote
-1/10 ballota were split; voter voted Trump and then blue down the ballot or Harris and then red down the ballot or 3rd party/write-in and blue or red down the ballot (I have found info on the number of blanks for president)
– most common reasons for a protest vote the continuing Israel-Gaza conflict, not being Pro Union enough, ignoring the working class, being too woke, being too neo -liberal/appeals to the right, prices
May the excess 14 million voters who voted for Biden in 2020 come forward and explain why they stayed home in 2024?
I would also like to applaud Harris supporters for their valuable contribution without which Republicans could have not taken the White House, and the Senate, and the House. Thank you.
While Biden may be remembered as one of the worst Presidents we have had, Harris shall be remember as one of the least qualified presidential candidates put forth by Democrats. She was unable to articulate her ideas with a modicum of coherence even in friendly, pre-arranged, over-edited interviews with the sycophantic MSM and celebrities (Donna Brazile, where were you?).
Now about the threats: (“ We resist. We fight. We boycott…”) Sure. Go ahead. You still lost the election and that’s what really matters now.
I’m sure you can tell us why voters didn’t vote. I am focused on the ones who did, specifically the majority (to be determined actually) of those who voted who chose to elect an amoral criminal fascist demagogue as our leader. Why don’t you start?
I am not sure why you are “sure”. Care to explain?
I have no idea; they were Biden voters. That’s why I am asking.
Shouldn’t you know and respond instead of resorting to puerile ad hominem attacks?
Looking forward to the next, very happy four years of federal government.
Cheers!
“Looking forward to the next, very happy four years of federal government.”
Based on the quality of Trump’s Cabinet picks so far, I think we may be in for some really rough sailing.
To Joe Levendusky:
Yes, you are in “for some really rough sailing”. But I think you and I mean different things. Can’t wait for it.
Thanks for these stats. There’s little question in my mind why Harris lost. A large part of the population simply is not ready for a woman to be president. Hillary Clinton was arguably the best qualified, best prepared candidate ever and she lost. In addition to the misogynists, I believe there were a lot of voters who not only didn’t want a woman, but also didn’t want a woman who is half black and half Indian in the Oval Office. I doubt they’ll evolve much by the midterms so we have a lot of work to do! Pity the rose garden.
Arguendo: Was Ms. Harris the worst qualified, worst prepared candidate ever?
Playing the misogyny and race cards seems to be the default reaction when you want to ignore Ms. Harris lack of accomplishments during her tenure as Senator and Vice President, not to mention her inability to speak without a teleprompter.
There was a reason for the zero votes, first to drop out in the 2020 Democratic Primary. Oh, wait. That’s why there was no primary this time.
“Pity the rose garden (sic)”. Well, I doubt we will witness a trans topless woman at the White House during Mr. Trump’s administration.
Anne, I agree misogyny played its part and probably will to some degree. I am sorry to say when I heard Harris would replace Biden, I had a lot of doubt because of her being female and not white. We have never elected a woman to the office — Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Dole, Hillary Clinton, Nikki Halely and now Harris. While Harris broke the ceiling for VP, Ferraro and Palin did not. And we even elected a black man. While I would never vote for someone because of gender, I would value them as equal, regardless, as long as I agree with the policies they set forth. Unforunatley, many still don’t and never will. And a lot of work needs to be done now – 100%!
According to Francis Ford Coppola, the framers of the US Constitution emphatically rejected the idea of modeling their new government on a monarchy, and instead used the democratic republic of early Rome as a model…
The framers apparently forgot that the Roman republic they admired was eventually captured by an oligarchy that rejected responsibility to serve the common good, and amassed more and more money and power unto themselves while the majority of Rome grew poorer and poorer. Eventually Rome decided to crown one of those oligarchs Emperor. And thus ended the Republic.
Coppola means his new Rome- and modern America-inspired movie “Megalopolis” to be a warning to us all.
How was the movie? It is on my list to watch when it streams. Great information about the framers and Rome. People don’t realize corruptible republics can become. Also, it’s no accident that Coppola had to fund this movie himself. Like many businesses, Hollywood has turned into Rentier – extracting more than profits without maintaining or improving capital. Producers, writers and the like are expected to have a hit and meet outrageous numbers constantly all without any support in terms of marketing and the like. It ‘s all suppose to just happen. Can’t wait to check it out.
Harris’s and the Democratic partys reason for losing went deeper than the situation in the Middle East, the economy and immigration. Being “woke” was just one more nail in her and her partys coffin.
People… moderates and even Dem’s, got sick and tired of having political correctness, acceptance (or else), twisting long held definitions around in order to suit an agenda constantly shoved in their faces and forced upon them against their will.
Trump didn’t start the anti-woke, politically incorrect backlash. It was brewing for years, he saw it, capitalized on it with voters and it worked for him.
Just look at what happened with Seth Moulton. His own party doubled down, threw him under the bus, demanded that he apologize, be recalled all because he didn’t pass the purity test.
Drag Queen story hour, biological males playing in biological female sports, DEI, Ze/Zir/Zem, “Chestfeeding”, “Birthing Parents”, sanctuary cities, changing the names of streets and buildings because the person they were named after had some connection to slavery 200 years ago, changing school mascots and names, “Indigenous Peoples Day”, reparations, using “Black” as opposed to black (while white remains uncapitalized), “Latinx” in place of Latino (even the Latinos were furious about that one), “houseless” in place of homeless, “undocumented” in place of illegal alien, cancel culture, etc and the list goes on.
There are those that will respond that the push back and resistance amounts to hateful divisive language, if that’s the case referring to those that object to the current Newspeak as Nazis, fascists and racists simply because they disagree and they’re not buying it is equally divisive.
The Democratic party has been disconnected with reality and living in an alternate universe for some time, and now that the chickens have come home to roost, they’re paying for it.
Republicans and Conservatives didn’t elect Donald Trump… Democrats, Liberals and Progressives did.
Well done, Alan. My thoughts, precisely.
Many of those you have described live in a bubble from which they will have to come out for air, eventually.
I can’t wait to see the military, as well as other entities, ending pronoun and DEI training.
To Alan Fortin –
Nazis, fascists and racists or not words used to be divisive.
They are used because they are accurate descriptions of what we all see and hear.
It would appear that you are what is called a gas-lighter because what you write is gaslighting.
Precisely. Trump is inheriting a strong economy which of course he will take full credit for improving while giving more tax cuts to the billionaires he has hired to “improve government efficiency”. MAGA will continue to scare people with the boogeymen described above. And worst of all, a majority (possibly) of those who voted this year chose him knowing all this. That is the tragedy.
Either you and David are right, Paul, or you’re not. According to AP, the economy, at 39%, was the biggest issue by far among voters (as compared to 2020). Bigger than immigration, abortion, and climate combined. If you are correct that “Trump is inheriting a strong economy”, perhaps it’s the intervening years of generationally high inflation, or the ballooning deficit—or the two combining to make interest payments on the debt No. 2 in the budget, bigger than defense, bigger than Medicare—that convinced people otherwise. Or maybe they’re stupid.
As I write, Trump has 1.85m more voters than he did in 2020; Harris has about 8m fewer than had Biden. As Biden and Harris drew from the same pool of voters, it follows that a good many of those people stayed home or voted for Trump. (Or that they never existed in 2020, which was a huge statistical outlier—but I don’t figure you as an election denier). This is an internal issue for the Democratic Party. Democrats delivered for Biden, but not for Harris. Why? Did they not hear the relentless messaging, or were they, again, stupid?
Trump won every so-called battleground state—31 states in all, in every region but New England and the West Coast. And it was still a squeaker (the popular vote margin is now below 3m, out of nearly 150m votes cast). Contrary to one of Rita’s original points, this was a high turnout, if not as high as last time (see missing Democrats above). As much as any election, it was a narrow mandate for a known commodity, Donald Trump. I think the people knew what they were doing, and voted accordingly.
The fundamentals of the economy are solid. Companies are raking it in.
Now, price gouging, which is what is occurring now in many sectors is not a market force phenomena. It a regulation problem. When producers are willing and able to increase prices because of monopoly or concentration, then no amount of free market forces can readily help, such as compettiton and innovation. I know that is small comfort to those actually suffering. When you feel it, the why doesn’t matter. I would have thought that most people know that tariffs are a bad idea, and the 2017 Trump tax cuts have to be paid for. I believe in 2027, individuals who make less than 75,000 will see a large tax hike. So it’s not about knowledge either but how it feels and when in that mode, most people are going to stick it to someone.
And then there are others who are just not going to bother, which is what happened with the youth vote. I know so many people under 30 who said they were not voting. For them the economy did not present in terms of the cost to borrow for capital, a raise or the prices for groceries, as the media loved to echo. Student loan forgiveness, viable pay and the ability to save up to buy a home are also economic issues that tend to impact younger people. Lack of supply due to restrictive zoning, the government exiting the student loan sector in the late 90s and receiving minimum wage for a college degree does not produce interest in voting or politicians, especially when the goal is to maintain the status quo. It’s no accident that young people have stayed involved locally, revived unionization, and in general, not participated heavily in the economy. A lot have done without or made use of communal/sharing economies. Neither party and few very politicians had a message for them, while the media berated them for basically being born too late. Regardless, the economy is pretty healthy even though aren’t experiencing it.
Paul, part of the problem is that the economy is not uniformly strong. There are many pockets of American society that have been passed over. The rising tide has not lifted all boats. It is not surprising that folks who have been cut out of the American Dream have gotten angry and mean.
There are some places in this richest country in the history of mankind where folks’ choices are limited to a job at Walmart, supplemented by public assistance, or fentanyl. This is what happens when we fail to take care of our fellow Americans. We are in for a rough ride in the next four years and maybe longer.
This needs to be printed on a t-shirt – the economy is not uniformly strong. Some economists have been brave enough to clap back at all the people screaming about the cost of eggs and gas. On a podcast that I recently heard, a RI economist, was fed up with this kvetching about eggs and gas. Paraphrasing here, “why are people who drive F-150s which cost upward of 100K, who have homes and go on vacation once a year screaming about eggs and gas? What about the people with no transportation, who rent and never go on vacation? Wouldn’t Tim Walz’s policy of free school lunch have help a board of swath of Americans with or without trucks?” And to him, I say you are right. And those screaming should buy a chicken and a small vehicle.
1) Ford F-150 2025 model has a MSRP of 40k, so off by 2.5x.
2) Egg inflation is predominantly due to bird flu, so nobody’s fault.
3) Biden notoriously manipulated gas prices in 2022 by draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the midterm elections. And boasted about it. Two years later, it’s still near historic lows. It’s a strategic reserve, not a political reserve. Disgraceful.
4) Is there something wrong with owning a home, taking a vacation, AND eating eggs? There didn’t use to be. For decades and decades.
5) Is there something wrong with renting? It’s a great choice for many not ready for or interested in taking on debt.
6) Don’t many schools already offer free breakfast, lunch, and snacks to students—all students, so as not to stigmatize the poor? Even during school vacation periods? And wouldn’t those families also qualify for SNAP benefits?
7) People tend to buy the vehicle they need for the life they lead. Their truck is often an extension of their job.
8) I looked into keeping chickens. The regulations were self-defeating. Too bad. I would have liked the eggs. And I would have loved the chickens.
I’d like to add part of a recent column by Heather Cox Richardson for those of you who doubt Biden’s presidential chops. I think he has achieved a lot. I wish more, but Congress refused. This has been an administration the most friendly to labor in a very long time. I wish DACA had been approved and more financial aid forgiven. I wish Biden did not continue to support Israel in it’s unbridled horror. I wish there had been more regulation, and the programs for rent and children had not ended, but you need Congress for that. And I wish he and others had publicized these achievements as they were going on so the smears against him hadn’t been so easy to promulgate and would not continue, even in Watertown.
November 14, 2024
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
NOV 15
Two snapshots today illustrate the difference between the economic—and therefore the societal—visions of the Biden-Harris administration and of the incoming Trump administration. [Only the first part of Richardson’s article appears here.]
The Biden-Harris administration today released numbers revealing that over the past four years, their policies have kick-started a boom in the creation of small businesses across the country. Since the administration took office, entrepreneurs have filed more than 20 million applications for new businesses, the most of any presidential term in history. This averages to more than 440,000 applications a month, a rate more than 90% faster than averages before the pandemic. Black business ownership has doubled, and Hispanic business ownership is up by 40% since before the pandemic.
The administration encouraged that growth with targeted loans, tax credits, federal contracts, and support services. Small businesses are major job creators and employ about 47% of all private sector employees.
President Joe Biden rejected the “neoliberalism” of the previous 40 years that had moved about $50 trillion dollars from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Those embracing that theory maintain that the government should let markets operate without regulation, concentrating wealth among a few people who will invest it more efficiently than they can if the government intervenes with regulations or taxes that hamper the ability of investors to amass wealth.
Biden and Harris returned the U.S. to the model that both parties had embraced until 1981: the idea that the government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, promote infrastructure, and protect civil rights. That system had reduced extremes of wealth in the U.S. after the Great Depression and given most Americans a path to prosperity.
Biden’s policies worked, enabling the U.S. to recover from the pandemic more quickly than any other country with a modern economy, sending unemployment to historic lows, and raising wages faster than inflation for the bottom 80% of Americans.
It has also had social effects, most notably today with the announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the U.S. is seeing a historic drop in deaths from the street drug fentanyl. From June 2023 to June 2024, deaths dropped by roughly 14.5%, translating into more than 16,000 lives saved. Experts say the drop is due to better addiction healthcare, the widespread availability of the opioid reversal drug naloxone, and lower potency of street fentanyl.
…. the largest program currently operating under expired authorization is veterans’ medical care.
–These are all achievements that should have been proudly told and should continue. I hope they do.
And this from Politico about Ms. Richard’s. Her views may be highly partisan…
“Heather Cox Richardson’s To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party actually posits that the current GOP upholds the racist and elitist principles of the pre-Civil War slaveholding class. Richardson’s account is a mélange of liberal errors regarding conservative history. Like Robin, she dismisses Reagan’s populism as a screen for rapacious business interests. She contends that racism was the essence of Buckley’s New Right, and further that the Birch Society spread his ideas to ordinary voters.”
One can’t dismiss the role of racism in the current Republican Party as it is plainly evident if one cares to look.
I remember Reagan and also remember that he kicked off his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi with a speech about states rights.
Neoliberal economics, the formal name for Reaganomics, has produced inequality on a level that haven’t been seen in the United States since before the Great Depression. Indeed this school of economic thought IS a excusatory rationale for rapacious and anti-social business behavior.
The deregulation of the financial industry, one of the main goals of neoliberalism, brought us such wonderful results as the Savings and Loan Crisis and the Recession/Depression of 2008.
The inequality in our society has resulted in social instability and one symptom of such is the political polarization that we experience as well as some of the wackier thought on the right and the left.
Perhaps the most destructive tenet of the the neoliberal “Chicago School” is the insistence that a corporate executive’s only legitimate concern is shareholder value. Not the environment, not community, not stakeholders such as workers and families. And indeed, many executives compensation is based on this dictum. This accounts for many of the deep problems we face as a nation. The Jack Welch approach has been thoroughly discredited in most circles.
I embraced capitalism early on, and it was (is) extremely rewarding – as I realized in my younger years that I did not want others to run out of my money. And to quote Mark Perry: “ The main difference between capitalism and socialism is this: Capitalism works.”
A quick search will give you a list of countries providing the conditions to which you seem to aspire. While I would not want to live there, you may.
Wow, a new low. Everyone who disagrees with you is a Socialist? Are you telling me to leave because I believe in more equitable distribution of compensation and wealth? Yikes!
To Mr. Levendusky:
A new low? Compared to what?
No. You are wrong. I have sporadic disagreements with wealthy conservatives as well. I must confess that their level of discourse and rationale is far superior than the one at hand, presumably because it is not clouded by anger, flawed principles, and an uncomfortable sense of inadequacies.
Of course you believe in equity. I don’t when it is part of DEI. Equal outcomes regardless of input or ability? Nah. I’ll take meritocracy any time.
I’m done here.
“. . .clouded by anger, flawed principles, and an uncomfortable sense of inadequacies.”
Sir, you have completely mischaracterized your opposition. At least with regard to myself. I would further advise you to examine your own anger. It is pretty plain. Your are no apostle of rationality.
This is not to say that there are not ill-conceived ideas both on the left and the right.
“A new low. . .”
Implying that someone should leave the country because of their political beliefs, especially ones that are held in good faith, is indeed low.
Did you really mean to bring up racism and the national parties? Well, as you did bring it up…
From the 1850s, through FDR, all the way to the 1960s, the Democrats were the party of slaveholders, Jim Crow, and Dixiecrats. Even the landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-60s passed in Congress with a higher percentage of GOP votes than Democrat. There is no home in either party for such a malign ideology in America today, thank goodness. As for President Reagan, they didn’t call him The Great Communicator for nothing. I suggest we let him speak for himself, on welfare reform and states’ rights, August 3rd, 1980, Philadelphia, MS:
“I don’t believe the stereotype, after what we did, of people in need who are there simply because they prefer to be there. We found the overwhelming majority would like nothing better than to be out, with jobs for the future, and out here in the society with the rest of us. The trouble is, again, that bureaucracy has them so economically trapped that there is no way they can get away. And they’re trapped because that bureaucracy needs them as a clientele to preserve the jobs of the bureaucrats themselves.
“I believe that there are programs like that, programs like education and others, that should be turned back to the states and the local communities with the tax sources to fund them, and let the people [applause drowns out end of statement].”
“I believe in state’s rights; I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level. And I believe that we’ve distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended in the constitution to that federal establishment.”
There, now was that so bad?
In my lifetime the Republican party has been the party of racism from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich and on down to Donald Trump.
Reagan was definitely sending a dog whistle to southern racists in his speech in Mississippi.
Sorry Josh, your argument doesn’t hold water. It’s not that easy to scrape the (bleep) off your shoes.
100%, and even some at the Chicago School are starting to come around to the idea of how bad economic disparity can be for society and the like, to the point in which some are arguing for more regulation. Even Paul Volker, the architect of Reagan’s economic policy, has said he regrets dismantling what was in place . Bush 1 called it voodoo economics! Don’t even get me started on Welch. It is because of him we no longer build, research & develop or innovate. All we do now is sell, sell, and cut, cut. If you look at all technologies right now, the last big innovation, was the iPhone/smartphone in 2007. Everything else is derivative. Welch is also responsible for the rapid increase of mergers and acquisitions, 75% of which fail if I remember correctly from my business case courses, as well as ranking people to create a pseudo scale for good work and reward. If 20 employees do an excellent job than all 20 should be rewarded equally not 4 or 5. That’s not merit. That’s politics. That’s a key reason people bounce and there is no “good help.” Companies owners and employees in the 1950s would have been embarrassed at earning beyond a reasonable profit and at any cost, according to a biographer on Welch.
Thanks Barbara. She is an astute follower of history, and appreciates the dynamics in a way that should have more people listening to her. And if she’s partisan, then it is for democracy. It better than all the other options as Churchill advised.
Having previously tried a fact-and-figure-based response to this thread, without any thoughtful response, let me put it another way: having called your ideological opponents racists, misogynists, fascists, Nazis, Hitler, garbage, and simultaneously stupid and evil (even feces in an earlier comment)—and lost—perhaps another strategy is called for. What won in Massachusetts, Watertown most of all, lost 31 other states, and earned President Trump 2.2m more votes than in 2020. Of course, in that election, the left called Trump’s supporters dregs and chumps—and won—and before that they called them deplorables and irredeemables—and lost. Even before Trump, they labeled his potential supporters bitter clingers and tea-baggers—and won. So the record on slandering fellow citizens as a campaign strategy is .500.
But Trump’s vote totals have gone up every election: from 62m to 74m to 76m, more than a 20% increase over eight years. Why, do you think? But there I go again (as another President said), citing facts, which are irrelevant to partisan bickering. In addition to my suggestion to nix the smearing of your countrymen and women, I would also counsel against deposing the candidate selected by the party’s primary voters in favor of a candidate who has never won an election outside her home state—rather, in the 2020 primaries she failed spectacularly. To say nothing of Harris’s qualities as a candidate, the coup did her a disservice; as well as to the D/democratic processes. Follow this advice, and you might win three out of five. Our country would certainly win. Or take your chances on childish insults and rigged elections and see how that goes.
Josh:
Unfortunately, your well-reasoned, articulate responses and arguments will be not be heard by those who can only respond with insults. I have concluded that the time to engage at that low level of discourse is just not worth it.
As the apocryphal quote goes: “Let the dogs bark, it’s a sign that we are on track”. It may not be Cervantes, but it suits me just fine now.
I would rather we treat each other with respect, but that’s not on offer. I think even groupthink in Watertown would benefit from differing points of view. But the group begs to differ. That might be the tyranny of the majority our founders also warned us about.
Perhaps it is. Fortunately, after reading Howard Zinn, I am somewhat inoculated from further fallacies and inaccuracies here and elsewhere.
You promote ideas like “States’s Rights” (a historic euphemism for denial of Civil Rights) and you complain you get no respect?
You write about rigged elections and complain that no one is listening to you?
Watertown might be better for competing ideas but they must be well thought and address our current problems rather than simply be reactionary talking points.
There is no intellectual foundation for MAGA except “I am pissed off and I want to burn down the house.” Perhaps a renovation would be a better strategy than arson.
You can make all the Orwellian arguments you want but it doesn’t change one fact: This election was ugly and ugly won.
What happened last week sullies America’s reputation around the world. What happened this week, in terms of Cabinet picks, makes clear the intention to run a lawless, destructive and corrupt regime.
John Kelly, who was Trump’s Chief of Staff, called Trump a fascist. Kelly is no liberal snowflake and he has seen the man in close up action.
Are you okay with inciting a crowd to call your opponent a “ho”? Okay with calling Puerto Rico an island of garbage? All the racist talk about immigrants? January 6 was a day of love? The level of discourse was right out of the sewer.
No sir, your facts are in service of an ugly and duplicitous narrative. Up is down, down is up. White is black. Black is white. Truth are lies. Lies are truth.
The Founders were rightly concerned that someday a demagogue like Trump would be elected. It has come to pass.
“The Founders were rightly concerned that someday a demagogue like Trump would be elected. It has come to pass.”
And this is why people are so utterly dismayed with the result. If Trump is a genuine Republican, then Pluto is a planet. Demagoguery is very dangerous, regardless of what the leaders says he ascribes to.
Only TDS sufferers are extremely disappointed. President-elect Trump won fair and square, and many, many people are very happy about it.
Pluto is a fictional dog. But no one knows what really Goofy is.
P. S. I was about to turn 21 on August 3, 1980, so I clearly remember that speech and that campaign. It was well understood at the time that Reagan was appealing to southern bigots who had had enough of the Civil Rights movement.
“States’ Rights” has been an excusatory rationale for the subjugation of black Americans by white Americans since the run up to the Civil War. And it was certainly that in 1980. States’ Rights has been a bulwark of arguments made to obfuscate the causes of the Civil War and support the claim that it was not fought over slavery.
Yes, there were “blue dog Democrats” who were segregationists. They were Democrats only because Republicans had been the party of abolition. The Republican party underwent a transformation, shedding its past and aligning itself with the industrial elite with the election of McKinley.
During the Civil Rights movement, it became clear that the Federal government was the only power that could defend the rights of black Americans. When George Wallace, a blue dog Democrat, blocked door at the University of Alabama, it was a Deputy US Attorney and federalized National Guard who moved him aside. This was on the orders of President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat.
BTW, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were pushed through Congress by President Lyndon Johnson, a southern Democrat.
“States’ Rights” is an ugly, ugly euphemism. I would think twice before associating myself with it.
What ideology? Looking at previous GOP candidates, I see one. I don’t agree with it, but there was one. For all previous GOP candidates did and said, I could clearly see McCain was a very honorable man, Romney when pushed could come to his senses, and GWB’s guest program policy, while not perfect actually could have provided a path to citizenship for Mexicans, which still does not exist. Who will do that important and necessary labor when they are deported? Even Reagan, who got so much wrong, was right about something — Russia being an evil empire.
Current “Republicans” have no shame over calling people of opposing ideologies libtards, the enemy within, a threat to be met with violence and all kinds of animal names; making fun of a journalist with CP; ending the career of football player for taking a stand on the lived experience of people of color in the country; calling Jews against Trump or Netanyahu fake Jews; trying to reduce 52% of the population to second class citizenship for the lack of a Y gene (per some scientists, an accidentally phenomena that’s dying out), and dictating what consenting adults can do in private. Never mind the threatening of VP Pence or any adversary with physical violence — for discharging their duty? After January 6th, even Mitch McConnell was heard saying something to the effect of stand down, and let the Democrats take care of that son of a b****. Is this the GOP?
Roosevelt will roll over in his grave after the national parks are dismantled. He certainly is about the oligarchy we have become. Nixon and Ford, who supported the ERA, would think those supporting the winner as uneducated and uncouth. The cognitive dissonance in those who always demand liberty at slightest regulation not understanding that lack of bodily autonomy could also impact right to die or whether you get a company chip implanted for better efficiency is mind-boggling. And why does this “ideology” remind me of Mussolini’s corporatist doctrine? Mussolini often harkened back to the good old days while getting the trains to run on time, but he was a bad guy.
The outcome is that he did win but it was a close one. While his number have increased so have the numbers of the Democratic candidates. Biden blew Obama out of the water and Harris beat Clinton’s numbers. We are now 345 million in the U.S., we were at 323 million in 2016. More analysis from actual numbers people has in fact, stated the margins were very slim in MI, WI and PA, and had less than 100,00 decided to vote that day, Harris would have pulled off a 2016 – won the electoral college but not the popular vote.
I wrote the letter because I want people to stop with the conspiracy theories, and listen to scientists, mathematicians and humanitarians. I want them to turn off the media apparatus producing nothing but bread and circus, and get up to do something to affect the system. I want people who were “unfortunate” enough to be born a certain way to not be treated less than, and for the “fortunate” to realize they are and that they are more than the preferred circumstances of birth. And, I always want people to fight back when bullied or threatened, and for the bully to remember one’s actions don’t exist in a vacuum. If you want to say something about a group of people, then go for it. But do not cry when I say something back about you. Unfortunately now, there will be more of this dehumanization. There are reports that people can look up. Fighting back while fighting for is not an unreasonable response. Those saying relax are either ignorant or want to control the narrative to their benefit. The Democratic Party made a big mistake switching players, but the Republican Party made a bigger mistake in not stopping Trump from becoming their leader. I suspect, even McConnell, would have preferred a Harris presidency. I wanted people to know that all is not what it appears to be, even though it feels otherwise.
1. I am not talking about the little pick ups. The big ones like the Raptor are 100K plus. I see a lot of those at the supermarket.
2. Egg inflation is also related to a small number of corporates entities owning much of the production. Cal-Maine owns, 75% of the egg production. There’s no competition. So when a bird flu occurs, the price impact is more acute. Do you think prices will precipitously drop once the flu is over?
3. I need to look more into it to see if this is accurate. If it is, I don’t know that I would arrive at the same judgment as political expediency isn’t necessary something I categorize as disgraceful. And if Biden can do this, then any president can avail himself of this option, and likely has or would. I also have to wonder, if this would not move us to a more hybrid model. It is too soon to get off fossil fuels completely, but it’s already too late to not incorporate other resources such as air, water and solar.
4,5,6. Nothing wrong with any of these lifestyles but for the ones who have such assets to be bemoaning the price of eggs as if the sky is falling, while telling others to buck up or bashing free school lunch programs, and not taking their own advice is crying wolf. To me it’s very odd when I interact with someone who earns the median income walking around with a real large Louis Vuitton ($2100.00) and no roots in their bottle blond hair complaining about egg prices. I have to roll eyes my because at the same time, I am interacting with others earning the same and even less, and they are having to decide if they pay rent on time and delay an important medical appointment or do the opposite. Funny, they never go on about egg prices, or even gas.
7. If it is an extension of their job, then it’s tax write-off, and more reason to complain less.
8. Want to keep chickens, then work to remove the superfluous regulation.
Discussing recent “eggflation” without mentioning MA’s recent cage-free law (2023)? Sure, market forces… But many certainly forewarned that an increase in cost would result.
Yes, 100%! The cage-free law is a regulations protect but in doing temp down market forces for good or ill. Look at the prices of cigarettes’!
I accidently backspaced. *is a regulation. Regulations protect but in doing so…”
I didn’t want to reply to the letter anymore, but this was a very good point!
A commenter noted that the Wall Street Journal has not made and endorsement for president since 1928.
Reminder that comments must be signed with your full name.
Ok, my mistake. There have been several opinion pieces, negative and positive, by those who write for the paper. If the editor wasn’t one of them, then it’s not an endorsement.
I am moving on from replying to this because at some point all it does is feed the very media apparatus that no longer wants to educate and inform. This letter was for supporters and for those who may not have been supporters but are open-minded enough and less transaction-oriented to understand that there are real threats to democracy. There are numerous conservatives, libertarians, Republicans and moderates who do. It was to let them know that there is no mandate, and that work can be done to change things. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being partisan, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with fight for a future. Create a plan for the next 12 months and next 4 years, find others who want the same end goals, join organizations that strengthen democracy, ignore the talking heads, and especially don’t give your power away. If it wasn’t important, then people wouldn’t be jockeying so hard for a primary narrative. Always ask, “qui bono?”
Minime. Qui Non Obstat Quod Obstare Potest, Facere Videtur (est melior).
Well clearly there must have been a long list of accomplishments of the former president that sway democrats in his favor as some tRump fans have said in the discussion.
A present an abbreviated list here. I’m sure there will be some who can add to it.
Fomented a violent coup attempt after a months long campaign to overturn the 2020 election,
undercut the nation’s response to a deadly pandemic that spiraled out of control because he tried to cover it up,
lied about its severity, promoted sham treatments for it, said we could cure it by injecting disinfectant and shining powerful lights inside the body
became the first president since Herbert Hoover to oversee a net job loss.
Couldn’t figure out how to close an umbrella,
cos-played as a sanitation worker, even though he almost fell while getting into the truck
Pretended to work at McDonald’s, even though he couldn’t remember what the fryer was called.
Laughed about firing striking workers with the richest man alive,
bragged about refusing to pay overtime and said I don’t want a poor person running the economy.
Oversaw an increase in corporate profits while manufacturing jobs declined,
presided over an unprecedented spike in crime while home prices rose by 30%,
the national debt rose by $8 trillion and the number of Americans without health insurance rose by 3 million.
Tried to rip healthcare away from over 20 million Americans, but reassured everyone by saying he had concepts of a plan,
told a story about the size of a dead golfer’s penis, and regaled Boy Scouts with stories of sexy yacht parties,
Humped the American flag not once but multiple times,
told women he would protect them whether they liked it or not,
Would put a man who was investigated for cutting the head off a whale with a chainsaw in charge of vaccines and women’s health,
insulted service members, feuded with Gold Star families violated federal law by staging a campaign event at a hallowed military cemetery.
Doctored a weather map with a Sharpie to lie about the path of a hurricane,
threw paper towels at hurricane victims,
hosted a speaker at a rally who called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,
claimed windmills, cause cancer and kill whales,
said you have to flush toilets 15 times.
Called Hannibal Lecter a lovely man,
his National Security Adviser called him a dope,
his Secretary of State called him a moron,
his Chief of Staff called him an idiot and a fascist who said nice things about Hitler and Hitler’s generals.
He suggested shooting protesters in the legs to his Secretary of Defense.
He reportedly suggested executing rivals and staffers for leaking information.
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called him a fascist to the core.
He took millions from foreign officials, including a possible $10 million bribe from Egypt.
His lawyers gave a press conference at a landscaping company.
He lost the popular vote twice, got impeached twice, got indicted four times and was found guilty of 34 felony counts, falsifying business records to pay hush money to a porn star.
He asked a crowd whether they’d rather be electrocuted or eaten by a shark,
he possibly farted and definitely fell asleep in court.
Bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade,
called himself the father of IVF while admitting he didn’t know what IVF was,
called the CEO of Apple Tim Apple,
misspelled his wife’s name and his own name,
said Nikki Haley was the Speaker of the House on January 6th.
Claimed the price of bacon goes up because the wind doesn’t blow.
Got on Air Force One with toilet paper stuck to his shoe,
became the first president in history to stare directly at an eclipse,
melted down in a presidential debate where he claimed migrants were eating dogs,
spread lies about the federal government’s response to a hurricane that caused FEMA workers to relocate due to threats.
Dances like he’s punching a ghost,
held a hate-filled rally at Madison Square Garden,
stole classified documents,
obstructed attempts to get them back,
called climate change a hoax,
proposed tariffs that economists say would increase prices and crater the economy,
halted an equal pay rule for women,
curtailed access to birth control,
picked a running mate who mocked childless cat ladies,
creeped out everyone when he tried to order donuts and was accused of having sex with a couch, which he did not do even though he might have. But he didn’t, but maybe he did. But he definitely did not. Said Kamala Harris happened to turn Black,
claim his crowd on January 6th was bigger than Martin Luther King’s Have a Dream speech,
was banned from doing business in the state of New York for three years,
Posed for the single worst photo of any human being [Airport security photo] that has ever been taken on the face of the planet.
Oh and suggested to NUKE Hurricanes!
It is Mr. President-elect Trump to you. What’s with the childish “tRump” bit?
Allow me to suggest a title to your long list : “While heads are exploding” may be appropriate.
All that matters now is that he won the 2024 Presidential Election. Bigly.
“Bitter and unhappy people will never trust or see good in anyone, because they don’t see good or trust in themselves.” – Unknown.
Some of us are extremely happy and hopeful right now, and wish the best for our Country. Coming soon.
Thank you Erik. Well said. The others seem to want to speak for the rest of us.
It’s gonna be a long 4 years of constant whining but maybe, just maybe they will see the light and come to their senses.
Or maybe not
Thank you, Tom. As you can see below and around, whining is the default mode for some. TDS is real, but I am afraid there is no treatment for it yet, as the patients defy recovery.
Wait a minute! Are you suggesting that Trump’s behavior is that of a grown adult? That perhaps he is a role model for our children? Talk about turning reality on its head.
Are you kidding? Calling Trump tRump is childish? But all his name calling is okay? Pot to kettle. . .come in kettle.
You can’t argue with the cult. Reason doesn’t ever come into play. They will never admit the mistake they have made. Ever.
Yes, it’s all about anger, vitriol and misanthropy. There is no ground for reasoned political debate when you subscribe to a politics based on hatred and fear. It’s the politics of destruction.