The biggest hot-topic issue this election should have been abortion (and by extension, SCOTUS). But the discussion got side-tracked by all this talk of old age. The debate just reinforced the narrative and concern with Biden. They would have hammered him over and over, with Trump bragging about how quickly he recovered from an injury.
Now, we have:
A sittingVP with actual Whitehouse experience, who can take credit for all the economic policies under Biden. Also, a former Senator.
A prosecutor and former Attorney General vs a convicted felon.
The age issue disappears (in fact, it now becomes a liability against Trump).
A woman vs the guy who bragged about killing Roe v. Wade.
Future of SCOTUS.
If she just keeps talking about those topics non-stop, she’ll do fine.
The only thing better would have been if Biden had resigned to let people see her in the actual role, but this works. She picks a mid-westerner as VP who can stand up to Vance and it’s a whole new ballgame.
The only thing better would have been if Biden had resigned to let people see her in the actual role, but this works.
I used to be an advocate for this, until I realized that in this political environment, whoever President Harris picks for VP would need both House and Senate approval, and this House will take a page from Mitch’s book and simply not bother. So you would have your first female and mixed-race President, in a country full of armed bigots, and if they get to her, Mike Johnson becomes President and can start Project 2025 early.
Fortunately she could just order his assassination, call it an official act (“he was obstructing the confirmation of my vice president”), and get off scot-free.
Yes I realize this would never work because
Harris would never do that, and democrats would never allow it, and
the Supreme Court would immediately rule this is not an official act for “reasons”.
I would love for Kamala Harris to be more charismatic and less ineffectual than she currently is, I’ll vote for whoever is not Trump. Now is the perfect opportunity to reinvigorate the campaign and turn everything upside down, but I’m not optimistic. They’ll probably trot out Hillary Clinton again if it’s not Harris, and it’ll be a replay of 2016.
Now you have someone who has not been seen since she was elected VP with no time at all to prepare her for a presedential run. You will get Trump again because the dems are so fucking stupid and stabbed Biden in the back this late.
Biden and Pence still had public showing and were talked about sometimes. Harris was completely invisible. And most dont randomly jump in less than 4 month before the election.
A very sexist and racist electorate, who basically voted Trump in because they were so upset by the election of Barack Hussein Obama
It remains to be seen if the racists and sexists will prevail.
Having said that, this might energize women who are on the fence and want to see the first female president. It might energize black voters. It will almost certainly energize Indian voters, possibly even all South-Asian voters. It will definitely energize voters who were worried about the age of the candidates. And now, suddenly, Trump has to go on the defensive about his age.
As long as all the democrats fall in line and push for Kamala, it might go really well. If Hillary Clinton goes out and works for Kamala, it could energize the people who are still angry about her loss, and can now channel that into the new option for a first female president. If Biden campaigns for her, it could reassure all the people who just wanted some stability.
OTOH, if there is infighting, and people trying to take her down so that they can become the nominee, then that could be trouble too.
Not at all. The Nazis would have voted for Trump regardless. But, there are a lot of biased people out there who wouldn’t even think of themselves as racist or sexist, they’ll just “have doubts”.
Unconscious bias is a major issue.
Anybody right now who is undecided is not moderate. The moderates are all already voting against Trump. Anybody undecided is either a very-low-information voter, who mostly gets their news from TikTok or conspiracy forums, or they’re a very right-wing voter who hates the democrats with a passion, but are having trouble getting over their dislike of Trump too.
I don’t disagree with you, but let’s not forget apathetic voters… people that were just disenchanted with both of the old guys and wouldn’t vote for either.
How many people, realistically, would vote for a white male Democrat but NOT a non-white female?
People are talking about this, but I don’t know who this voter is. The hard line racists and sexists were not moderates, they’re all already Republican.
There are far more democrats that were against Biden because of his age than would be against Harris as a woman. This is a net gain. Fuck the people who won’t vote for her along gender or racial lines. I don’t want to try and appease them.
Give people something to vote FOR rather than vote against.
How many people, realistically, would vote for a white male Democrat but NOT a non-white female?
Far too many. It doesn’t mean they’re going to admit, even to themselves, that the reason they’re making that choice is that they hate women. But, unconscious bias is a helluva thing.
Appeasing them is dangerous. I see this line of thinking a lot, but it has never led the dems to victory and it has repeatedly compromised our own values and degraded trust in the party. We cannot and should not cater to the worst people in the room at the expense of our own morals. It is wrong, but it is also a losing strategy.
I think you skipped part of the argument. I’m sure those people exist, but what about the number of disengaged voters who were over Joe Biden or disagreed with him on various issues? I think the number of votes lost because of race or gender is not 0, but the gains through reinvigoration are far, far higher.
I think the number of votes lost because of race or gender is not 0, but the gains through reinvigoration are far, far higher.
We don’t know, that’s what makes this scary. I’m more pessimistic. IMO the whole reason Trump got elected in the first place was backlash over the first black president. I think the US is a lot more sexist and racist than people want to admit. Even people who don’t think they’re racist or sexist will still show huge cognitive biases in an unconscious bias test. So, they’re not going to say “I’m not voting for Kamala because she’s a non-white woman”, they’ll say “I’m not voting for her because she’s underqualified” or “I don’t like her record as a prosecutor” or “she doesn’t seem like someone I’d want to have a beer with”.
Don’t also forget the liability Biden had with Arab-Americans over Gaza. Kamala is not Commander-in-Chief, so even though she’s part of the administration she carries none of that baggage.
Can’t wait to see what the disinformation brigade cooks up for Lemmy now that they can’t keep complaining about Gaza.
I get the issue over Gaza, and I guess that could make some people stay home. But, can anybody honestly think that the guy whose signature policy was a ban on muslims entering the US was going to be better on Gaza than Biden?
Anyhow, you’re right that a change in leader offers an opportunity for a new policy on Gaza. I’m sure Netanyahu will redouble his efforts to get Trump elected. OTOH, I’m not convinced Kamala will necessarily be any better than Biden. The US has been backing Israel for decades, vetoing any UN security council resolution that touches Israel, etc. I’d love it if Harris cut ties to Israel, but I can’t see it happening.
Oh, of course U.S. policy at large won’t change. It hasn’t for decades. The difference here, for the election at least, is that Kamala doesn’t have to balance words vs actions. Biden and Trump have both lost Arab-Americans. Kamala doesn’t have that challenge.
Pro-choice is poison at the General election. It does well as a ballot initiative, but the reality is that very few pro-choice moderates and right-leaning people will change their vote over the issue, whereas pro-lifers are far and away the strongest single-issue voting group.
If Harris and Trump were identical in every way except their stance on abortion, how many Dem voters would flip for Trump in order to vote pro-choice? Would you?
Because millions of people who are otherwise liberal-leaning vote based on their pro-lifer position.
The biggest reason Dems got a Roe boost in 2022 was pro-lifer voters who didn’t feel the need to vote Republican because they’d won and could focus on other issues. But running a campaign based on restoring Roe undoes that bump.
That’s not what the data tells us. If that was the case the abortion referendums would have failed while Democrats got a push. But they didn’t. They consistently succeeded in even the reddest areas. Abortion protections gets people out to vote.
nothing got sidetracked it just was never dealt with or talked about in a meaningful discussion or in any way in the last fifty years of Biden’s career
just like the minimum wage is not enough to cover the astronomical costs of food and housing and was not even brought up during the debate
yes lets support a prosecutor that represents the police who want their boots shined with our tongues
The biggest hot-topic issue this election should have been abortion (and by extension, SCOTUS). But the discussion got side-tracked by all this talk of old age. The debate just reinforced the narrative and concern with Biden. They would have hammered him over and over, with Trump bragging about how quickly he recovered from an injury.
Now, we have:
If she just keeps talking about those topics non-stop, she’ll do fine.
The only thing better would have been if Biden had resigned to let people see her in the actual role, but this works. She picks a mid-westerner as VP who can stand up to Vance and it’s a whole new ballgame.
I’m actually stoked about this race again.
I used to be an advocate for this, until I realized that in this political environment, whoever President Harris picks for VP would need both House and Senate approval, and this House will take a page from Mitch’s book and simply not bother. So you would have your first female and mixed-race President, in a country full of armed bigots, and if they get to her, Mike Johnson becomes President and can start Project 2025 early.
Fortunately she could just order his assassination, call it an official act (“he was obstructing the confirmation of my vice president”), and get off scot-free.
Yes I realize this would never work because
I would love for Kamala Harris to be more charismatic and less ineffectual than she currently is, I’ll vote for whoever is not Trump. Now is the perfect opportunity to reinvigorate the campaign and turn everything upside down, but I’m not optimistic. They’ll probably trot out Hillary Clinton again if it’s not Harris, and it’ll be a replay of 2016.
Now you have someone who has not been seen since she was elected VP with no time at all to prepare her for a presedential run. You will get Trump again because the dems are so fucking stupid and stabbed Biden in the back this late.
You think she hasn’t been preparing for 2028?
She hasnt been doing anything since becoming VP. Biden could have had a sack of rice as VP and the result would be the same.
That’s how most VPs act.
Biden and Pence still had public showing and were talked about sometimes. Harris was completely invisible. And most dont randomly jump in less than 4 month before the election.
Unfortunately we also have:
It remains to be seen if the racists and sexists will prevail.
Having said that, this might energize women who are on the fence and want to see the first female president. It might energize black voters. It will almost certainly energize Indian voters, possibly even all South-Asian voters. It will definitely energize voters who were worried about the age of the candidates. And now, suddenly, Trump has to go on the defensive about his age.
As long as all the democrats fall in line and push for Kamala, it might go really well. If Hillary Clinton goes out and works for Kamala, it could energize the people who are still angry about her loss, and can now channel that into the new option for a first female president. If Biden campaigns for her, it could reassure all the people who just wanted some stability.
OTOH, if there is infighting, and people trying to take her down so that they can become the nominee, then that could be trouble too.
The racists, as OP mentioned, would have voted for Trump regardless. The Dems need to convince the moderate, undecided voters
Not at all. The Nazis would have voted for Trump regardless. But, there are a lot of biased people out there who wouldn’t even think of themselves as racist or sexist, they’ll just “have doubts”.
Unconscious bias is a major issue.
Anybody right now who is undecided is not moderate. The moderates are all already voting against Trump. Anybody undecided is either a very-low-information voter, who mostly gets their news from TikTok or conspiracy forums, or they’re a very right-wing voter who hates the democrats with a passion, but are having trouble getting over their dislike of Trump too.
I don’t disagree with you, but let’s not forget apathetic voters… people that were just disenchanted with both of the old guys and wouldn’t vote for either.
Surely Kamala will get some traction with women.
Definitely, I just wonder how that will compare with the sexist vote (both men and women (but mostly men)).
How many people, realistically, would vote for a white male Democrat but NOT a non-white female?
People are talking about this, but I don’t know who this voter is. The hard line racists and sexists were not moderates, they’re all already Republican.
There are far more democrats that were against Biden because of his age than would be against Harris as a woman. This is a net gain. Fuck the people who won’t vote for her along gender or racial lines. I don’t want to try and appease them.
Give people something to vote FOR rather than vote against.
Far too many. It doesn’t mean they’re going to admit, even to themselves, that the reason they’re making that choice is that they hate women. But, unconscious bias is a helluva thing.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/hidden-sexism/
Would you rather appease them and win, or not appease them and lose?
Appeasing them is dangerous. I see this line of thinking a lot, but it has never led the dems to victory and it has repeatedly compromised our own values and degraded trust in the party. We cannot and should not cater to the worst people in the room at the expense of our own morals. It is wrong, but it is also a losing strategy.
I think you skipped part of the argument. I’m sure those people exist, but what about the number of disengaged voters who were over Joe Biden or disagreed with him on various issues? I think the number of votes lost because of race or gender is not 0, but the gains through reinvigoration are far, far higher.
We don’t know, that’s what makes this scary. I’m more pessimistic. IMO the whole reason Trump got elected in the first place was backlash over the first black president. I think the US is a lot more sexist and racist than people want to admit. Even people who don’t think they’re racist or sexist will still show huge cognitive biases in an unconscious bias test. So, they’re not going to say “I’m not voting for Kamala because she’s a non-white woman”, they’ll say “I’m not voting for her because she’s underqualified” or “I don’t like her record as a prosecutor” or “she doesn’t seem like someone I’d want to have a beer with”.
Don’t also forget the liability Biden had with Arab-Americans over Gaza. Kamala is not Commander-in-Chief, so even though she’s part of the administration she carries none of that baggage.
Can’t wait to see what the disinformation brigade cooks up for Lemmy now that they can’t keep complaining about Gaza.
I get the issue over Gaza, and I guess that could make some people stay home. But, can anybody honestly think that the guy whose signature policy was a ban on muslims entering the US was going to be better on Gaza than Biden?
Anyhow, you’re right that a change in leader offers an opportunity for a new policy on Gaza. I’m sure Netanyahu will redouble his efforts to get Trump elected. OTOH, I’m not convinced Kamala will necessarily be any better than Biden. The US has been backing Israel for decades, vetoing any UN security council resolution that touches Israel, etc. I’d love it if Harris cut ties to Israel, but I can’t see it happening.
Oh, of course U.S. policy at large won’t change. It hasn’t for decades. The difference here, for the election at least, is that Kamala doesn’t have to balance words vs actions. Biden and Trump have both lost Arab-Americans. Kamala doesn’t have that challenge.
Pro-choice is poison at the General election. It does well as a ballot initiative, but the reality is that very few pro-choice moderates and right-leaning people will change their vote over the issue, whereas pro-lifers are far and away the strongest single-issue voting group.
If Harris and Trump were identical in every way except their stance on abortion, how many Dem voters would flip for Trump in order to vote pro-choice? Would you?
Because millions of people who are otherwise liberal-leaning vote based on their pro-lifer position.
The biggest reason Dems got a Roe boost in 2022 was pro-lifer voters who didn’t feel the need to vote Republican because they’d won and could focus on other issues. But running a campaign based on restoring Roe undoes that bump.
That’s not what the data tells us. If that was the case the abortion referendums would have failed while Democrats got a push. But they didn’t. They consistently succeeded in even the reddest areas. Abortion protections gets people out to vote.
nothing got sidetracked it just was never dealt with or talked about in a meaningful discussion or in any way in the last fifty years of Biden’s career
just like the minimum wage is not enough to cover the astronomical costs of food and housing and was not even brought up during the debate
yes lets support a prosecutor that represents the police who want their boots shined with our tongues