No matter how this apocalyptic election turns out, I think it’s important for all of us to recognize that Kamala Harris has been a magnificent candidate who ran a great campaign. If Donald Trump somehow manages to pull out a victory, that won’t be on Harris; rather, it will be on voters who’ve decided they’d like to give authoritarianism a try, decency and the rule of law be damned.
I hope that by tonight, or at least within a day or two, we can call her Madam President-elect. If that doesn’t happen, I fear for the future of our country. But we’ll also know that Harris did everything she possibly could. We owe her a debt of gratitude.
And if you haven’t voted yet, get out there.
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I agree with you about Harris stepping up and doing a great job. This was a difficult election for any Democratic given the state of the issues and the country. Of course there will be a single decision here or there that can be criticized (in any campaign). If Trump hadn’t gone full psycho (for instance if he had seized the moment of his shooting to reach out to people), I don’t see how he could have been beaten. She made it a truly competitive race and offered a positive contrast to his brand of politics. Whatever happens tonight, I think she deserves credit for staying focused and running smart and giving it her all.
I agree. No matter what happens today and going forward, we do need to figure out why, in a climate where the US economy is very strong both compared to other industry countries as well compared to recent history, a significant portion of the public is convinced the economy is terrible. Is this lingering memories of inflation, Democrats being bad at delivering good economic news, the news media wanted to always emphasize the negative, or a 50/50 nation where supporters of the party out of power refuses to give credit to the other party for things that are going well? Harris should not be struggling to convince voters that she would be better for the economy than Trump would, but here we are.
The economy is not good at all for people under 40. Restoring opportunity to younger Americans is going to be the great challenge of the next decade.
It’s the Percentage Change in Real Per Capita Disposable Income. Generally, if this number is < 1.5-2%, the incumbent party in the WH loses. Complicated by the fact that we were sending checks to everyone in 2021 and 2022. It's been lacking until recently.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0
I keep wondering if people are misremembering those stimulus checks as being “the Trump economy” they’re so eager to return to. The checks really were very helpful.
My view of the economy is distorted because in 2022, I moved to a very good job thanks to the Infrastructure Bill; my income increased 60%. So while my rent is $700 higher than it was in 2020, and I’m annoyed by expensive groceries as much as the next person, I’m mostly grateful to be able to afford my life thanks to Joe Biden getting that bill through. I don’t know what will happen now that those infrastructure jobs will likely disappear in the next two years; they covered a broad swath of Americans, from executives to concrete placers. Am I the only person in the country who thinks my current prosperity is connected to the Biden administration and Democratic priorities?
Oh good you allow comments here – odd that you don’t on X. Anyway…super duper spine you’re showing here. If someone loses a race it’s not their fault? I pray for the brains of the students at Northeastern. Of course if they had much for brains to begin with they likely would be attending elsewhere. Keep collecting that check!
Strong and Brave … and Anonymous. Shocker.
Well said, Dan.
Mostly agree. Good choice in Walz and smart to have Plouffe. One major annoyance was the wasted 7 -10 days with Liz Cheney. I understood the desire to reach non-MAGA Rs, but Liz Cheney is arch-conservative, that name triggers a negative reaction in most of us, and most people already knew she disliked Trump. I would have rather had ads and a shorter emphasis, but with a broad group of reasonable former R officials.
Harris is a good speaker and telegenic, which are things not often seen these days.
Watching for results in VA and exit polls there to see where things look headed. DJT stock is up 15% today, so some must think he will win.
DJT stock ended up closing down slightly. It plummeted at around 2:45; maybe some info came in that turnout was not going so well.
The old adage “If run a Republican against a Republican, the Republican will win.”. plays out here. I don’t know if the Cheneys, or the lurch to the right in general should take all the blame if Harris doesn’t win, but it’s something to consider.
I think Kamala Harris ran one of the best campaigns I’ve seen, and I’m 60. I’m really going to miss seeing her smiling countenance replaced with four years of glowering.
More reflection. She could have emphasized fairer income taxes more. Never heard anything about raising minimum wage. Gaza is a third rail, but a bold statement about Israel’s genocide might have encouraged some, without losing Jewish voters, who were already decided and only amount to 2% of voters. I still think Dems like to read polls on issues rather than move public opinion. Gay marriage going back 20 years ago is an example.
It turns out that although 65% of voters support abortion, 29% of them voted for Trump. Not the issue that voters will be as enthusiastic about as we once thought. It always comes down to home finances, and the Fed made sure we stopped inflation with high interest rates. The huge checks that we sent out in 2020 and 2021 got people hooked on ‘heroin’ and when that disappeared, they became angry.
Look at the change in disposable income in this chart. Insane how much it fell after we dropped money out of helicopters – but we had to. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0
Trump probably would have won in 2020 without COVID, which is really scary, but this is the country we live in. Keep cutting education funds!
Biden should not have run in 2020, and certainly not in 2024. But the largest problem is we have some lame major media and some VERY stupid people in this country.
thank you Bern
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/10/opinion/democratic-party-working-class-bernie-sanders