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2024 United States presidential election

You really have to wonder why half the American population can support this man. Make America Stupid Again. He does love the uneducated.

In fairness to our southern cousins, Ontarians voted for Doug Ford, and with virtually no platform to boot, after a very controversial nomination process for leadership of the party. Meanwhile UK'ers elected Boris.

Yes, Trump is his own kind of 'special'......but we see this phenomenon in many places.

In the U.S. there is almost a unique level of partisanship/polarization that exaggerates things, particularly since its really an oligopoly of two parties for practical purposes.

That said, I think one can see, beyond the die-hard Republican set, a fairly clear audience for him, and its not simply the less educated, though yes, that overlaps his demo.

Its a large swath of people, generally blue-collar, sometimes, but not always rural, often, but not always white, and typically from what the Americans refer to as fly-over country (ie, not the east or west coast)

These are voters who feel disaffected on a number of levels, sometimes with good cause, others not so much; but there are two things they have generally disliked about Democrats at the Federal level (and some past Republicans), which is that they feel either ignored, or talked down to/hectored.

While some of that is self-indulgence and paranoia, there is a hint of truth in it too. The opioid epidemic is quite acute in many rural, lower-income areas, meanwhile rural hospitals in the U.S. are closing at a precipitous rate. Those issues, among others, seem to get less attention in Washington vs the latest greenwashing effort, corporate handouts, or something for some niche interest group or another (which might be fine btw).....but....

I get where folks like that feel, in part, that Trump seems plain spoken, his vulgarness, comes across as relatable in a way that a more polished political speaker may not. Many are smart enough to know he's full of it..........
But what they like is simply that he's talking to them, rather than past them.
 
You really have to wonder why half the American population can support this man. Make America Stupid Again. He does love the uneducated.
When I was in Greece earlier this summer, the couple at the next table (touristy area of Athens) were Midwesterners (around 60) now living in Florida. They were obviously well-off. The conversation quickly got to Biden letting in all the illegals. It was clear where their votes are going.

Obviously N=2 doesn't mean much, but there are likely many, many people that have drunk at least some of the koolaid.
 
When I was in Greece earlier this summer, the couple at the next table (touristy area of Athens) were Midwesterners (around 60) now living in Florida. They were obviously well-off. The conversation quickly got to Biden letting in all the illegals. It was clear where their votes are going.

Obviously N=2 doesn't mean much, but there are likely many, many people that have drunk at least some of the koolaid.

To this point, the 'Trump Wall' has so many large holes in it, it could be said to be several large doors.

But his rhetoric, conveyed "I get your issue/concern"

The large numbers of asylum seekers at the border, 'legally' going through the process, but swamping the system, really are a concern as well, and Trump's harsh treatment (detention centres, separating parents from kids etc.) was awful, but conveyed to a large number of a Americans, 'At least he's doing something'.

This has been an enormous mistake by Democrats to cede this issue by 'appearing' to do nothing or not caring. For further clarity, Biden continued the majority of Trump policies on the border, none of the wall has come down, just like he kept most of Trump's tariffs.

The distinction is that Biden was sheepish about the latter and didn't advertise that for fear of offending many in the Democratic Party base.

So he didn't 'appear' to care or 'appear' to be doing something.

***

Yes, Biden had a partial solution in the form of a bi-partisan bill in Congress which Trump spiked. But again, how many Americans knew that such a bill existed, or that Trump is the one who nixed it?

There's a real communication issue there, apart from the substance.

Let me add, on immigration, the U.S. has several relatively low-controversy tools it could use, but never does.........because monied interests spike those from either party.

One example, the U.S. has a system called E-Verify which employers can use to verify that a prospective employee has the legal right to work in the United States.

But its use, is voluntary. Making it mandatory would cause work for those in the U.S. illegally to be reduced significantly, which would in turn cause some to leave and many fewer to arrive. But that's unlikely to change, no matter who occupies the White House.
 
I hope you're right. The latest NYT polls have Harris on the backfoot.

IDK what's wrong with Americans that they seriously want Trump back. If he wins, I'm done with the USA.
I don't know that they want Trump back, they just don't want Harris. I know a number of people who disagree with all of Trump's "policies", but they just can't bring themselves to vote for Harris (despite agreeing with her policies). It's ludicrous, but there you have it.
 
I don't know that they want Trump back, they just don't want Harris. I know a number of people who disagree with all of Trump's "policies", but they just can't bring themselves to vote for Harris (despite agreeing with her policies). It's ludicrous, but there you have it.
Let’s hope then that they stay home and thus cancel out any impact they may have.
 
I don't know that they want Trump back, they just don't want Harris. I know a number of people who disagree with all of Trump's "policies", but they just can't bring themselves to vote for Harris (despite agreeing with her policies). It's ludicrous, but there you have it.
It's part of a strong party affiliation, in cases and areas, going back generations. We have party loyalty here as well but it's not as strong or extensive. Some people have been Republican/Democrat all their lives and simply couldn't fathom voting opposite. The worst they could bring themselves to do is not vote.
 
Some people have been Republican/Democrat all their lives and simply couldn't fathom voting opposite. The worst they could bring themselves to do is not vote.
It's too bad, as every state should be a battleground state, where their vote should not be taken for granted. That's only because residents in other states are sheeple, never changing their party no matter who's running, and thus refuse to put their votes in play. If Californians refused to be default Democrats or West Virginians default Republicans, their votes would matter just as much as Pennsylvanians. Every state should be a battleground state, and the residents of those states are the only reason they're not. Albertans do the same here in Canada, the Cons don't even bother to campaign there as they know Albertans won't vote federally any other way but Con.
 
If they replaced the electoral college with direct voting, then every state would be a battleground state. Every vote would be a battleground vote.
True, but then the elections would be decided by the ten most populated states making up over 50% of the US population: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. Of course if one considered themselves a universal American rather than a resident of a individual state, then you may not care that your state's voting power is diluted due to its lower population. Either way, a Constitutional Amendment would be needed, with forty of the underpopulated states needing to agree to lose their political leverage.
 
It's too bad, as every state should be a battleground state, where their vote should not be taken for granted. That's only because residents in other states are sheeple, never changing their party no matter who's running, and thus refuse to put their votes in play. If Californians refused to be default Democrats or West Virginians default Republicans, their votes would matter just as much as Pennsylvanians. Every state should be a battleground state, and the residents of those states are the only reason they're not. Albertans do the same here in Canada, the Cons don't even bother to campaign there as they know Albertans won't vote federally any other way but Con.

Didn't this happen in 1984 with Mondale and Reagan?

If I recall, Reagan won 49 states and Mondale only won Minnesota and DC.
 
I don't know that they want Trump back, they just don't want Harris. I know a number of people who disagree with all of Trump's "policies", but they just can't bring themselves to vote for Harris (despite agreeing with her policies). It's ludicrous, but there you have it.
Another factor is, there might still be a bias against a woman who also is not white becoming the president . It used to be that gravitas was important, but this appears to be unimportant now with the ascendant buffoonery of Trump. I remember when he was first elected, some people said give him a chance to become presidential. I think it's fair to say it was never in the playbook for Trump, and now it's 2024.
 
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True, but then the elections would be decided by the ten most populated states making up over 50% of the US population: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. Of course if one considered themselves a universal American rather than a resident of a individual state, then you may not care that your state's voting power is diluted due to its lower population. Either way, a Constitutional Amendment would be needed, with forty of the underpopulated states needing to agree to lose their political leverage.
"If elections were decided by popular vote, the majority would decide the election." Oh no, spare me the horror.

States do not vote singularly for one party; it was something like 65/35 in California for the Democrats in 2020; by the same measure, Texas was 45/55 for the Republicans. California had more Republican voters than any other state. Of course, tyranny of the majority, blah blah blah, but tyranny of the minority doesn't seem to be working better.

Anyways, the political challenge of implementing such a system would probably preclude any change for a generation.
 

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