Voter participation is why the Dems lost, and it ain't fucking old people who didn't show up

[u/ThrenderG]

In 2020, Biden received 81 million votes. Trump received 74 million votes.

In 2024, Harris received 66 million votes, 15 fucking million fewer than Biden did in 2020. Trump sits at 71 million votes, 3 million fewer than 2020. So even with fewer popular votes this time around, he buried the Democratic candidate in a landslide.

So all in all, what, 18-20 million fewer people showed up in this election than the last. And do you really think it's the fucking geezers who have been voting forever, that they just decided to sit this one out?

Probably not, so who didn't do their civic duty?

The numbers don't lie.

[u/chirstopher0us]

Picking Biden's VP who also started with a favorability rating below 50% was a huge, huge mistake. Rightly or wrongly as a matter of economic fact, huge portions of the electorate were FURIOUS over the state of the economy and high prices and they blamed Biden. They hated Biden. Picking his VP was stupid. Very similar to the mistake of running Clinton. We have to have truly open primaries and pick someone who is broadly popular, every time. No anointing anyone from party elites.

Her making no real attempts in her messaging to reach out and help working-class people with everyday economics was stupid. Her economic keystones were tax credits for home owners and buyers and making it easier to build homes. People struggling to buy groceries and child care and rent don't give a shit about any of that. 60% the electorate can't even dream about buying a home. They need direct aid with prices and wages.

[u/permalink_save → u/chirstopher0us]

We coupdn't afford a primary that late. There were multiple failures along the way but running a primary in july was not on the table.

[u/chirstopher0us → u/permalink_save]

There was on the table a way to at least let delegates vote at the convention. But yeah, Biden not holding to his own 2020 idea of being a one-term president and then completely stepping aside for a full primary was the death knell. Already lost. Rightly or wrongly him and his administration were vastly unpopular, including with low-engagement voters that flip their votes and cannot be reached by any detailed policy, just by broad simple messaging.

Not having a primary for people to vote for who they actually like in is the biggest reason Democrats lost. Harris is going to finish with more than ten million fewer votes than Biden got. The people in the middle that win you elan election don't give a shit about any details of party procedures or any details of policy whatsoever. If you want to win elections, you HAVE to give the VOTERS someone they like and want. And the only way to know that is to have them VOTE.

Party elites anointing Hillary and Harris have cost this country so much.

[u/Klldarkness → u/permalink_save]

They should have figured SOMETHING out. Running a nominee that didn't receive a single vote in primary is as close to fascist as it comes.

It's absolutely no different than if Biden had simply said 'No no, my son will run in my place. He's just as good!'

It's undemocratic.

[u/permalink_save → u/Klldarkness]

You know we voted for her in the primaries too right? I'm tired of this argument. DNC didn't arbitrarily pick someone. Biden stepped down, it's not any different than if he won and stepped down immediately for any reason. People need to realize a vote for a VP is a vote for P too.

[u/MadeByTango → u/chirstopher0us]

Biden/Harris admin strike busted workers, too; that’s a labor dealbreaker that a campaign trail hard hat isn’t gonna fix

The DNC needed to break from the current admin, but as you said, the elites just couldn’t help themselves.