I think more than one thing can be true at the same time. This was a backlash election, even though the culprit was misidentified. Many social policies espoused by some Democrats (although not Harris) are broadly unpopular, eg , DEI, "open borders" (Biden did too little too late on immigration), affirmative action, defunding the police, almost anything to do with transgender/LGBTQ rights (there must be a way to guarantee everyone's rights without provoking a backlash), vaccine mandates, and so on. Don't ignore also the effectiveness of the right-wing disinformation machine. I remain shocked that such an objectively dreadful human being got elected despite all the above and I also expect Democrats to do better at least in 2026. In the meantime we're in for some very bad times. I mean, can you imagine a president-elect demonizing people after the LA fires instead of asking first "How can I help?" Of course we don't have to imagine it.
I think more than one thing can be true at the same time. This was a backlash election, even though the culprit was misidentified. Many social policies espoused by some Democrats (although not Harris) are broadly unpopular, eg , DEI, "open borders" (Biden did too little too late on immigration), affirmative action, defunding the police, almost anything to do with transgender/LGBTQ rights (there must be a way to guarantee everyone's rights without provoking a backlash), vaccine mandates, and so on. Don't ignore also the effectiveness of the right-wing disinformation machine. I remain shocked that such an objectively dreadful human being got elected despite all the above and I also expect Democrats to do better at least in 2026. In the meantime we're in for some very bad times. I mean, can you imagine a president-elect demonizing people after the LA fires instead of asking first "How can I help?" Of course we don't have to imagine it.