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The Race For 2024


Michael Sandel, a (Marxist?) professor of political philosophy at Harvard, explains why Americans elected Trump.


Western European countries are more egalitarian than the U.S. and offer free education. Because of this, upward mobility is higher in those countries than in the U.S. Elites in the U.S. emphasize the need for a college degree, but for the many millions of Americans lacking such a degree this comes across as "blaming the victim." This elitist attitude seemed condescending; Democrats should have instead focused on the dignity of the common people. Trump tapped into these feelings, e.g. with his promise to bring working-class jobs back.

"The most corrosive effect of the widening inequalities has been the erosion of public places and common spaces." As an example of this, Sandel speaks of the "Skyboxification" of America during the 1990's. Sports stadia once had a class-mixing role, but are now segregated. The affluent live detached from the common people. The people need a sense of community and patriotism, but the Democrats have allowed the MAGA movement to provide that sense. Sandel goes into detail about the message Democrats should offer.

Perhaps Sandel just repeats what others have explained, but he articulates it well.
 
Did he predict the Trump win?

Trump just barely won (not even 50% of voters) and so I’m sure there would be articles explaining why Americans chose Kamala Harris, their first woman minority President had just a few thousand votes gone the other way.
 
Did he predict the Trump win?

Trump just barely won (not even 50% of voters) and so I’m sure there would be articles explaining why Americans chose Kamala Harris, their first woman minority President had just a few thousand votes gone the other way.
250,000 more votes or 125.000 switching their votes from Trump to Harris. Not quite as close as 2016. I'm still befuddled over that.

Trump is almost dead on balls even with his 2020 result in California.

2020 - 6,006,518
2024 - 6,000,377

That is 0.1% close, and as the final ballots are counted, it'll get smaller. But Harris, she lost nearly 2 million votes to Biden. Lowest turnout since about 2000 at 70%. Clinton won by 30 pts, Biden a tiny bit less. Harris won by 20 pts.

But then look at the southeast.
  • Georgia.
    • Harris outperformed Biden
    • Biden got 2.47 million, Harris 2.54 million
  • North Carolina
    • Harris outperformed Biden
    • Biden got 2.68 million, Harris 2.72 million
You look at Michigan and Wisconsin, and Harris lost ground but just tens of thousands fewer. WTF happened in California?
 
:confused2: Focusing on why somebody got 49% of the vote in one election but 51% of the vote in another election completely misses the point. The more pertinent question is why a sociopathic grifter got many tens of millions of votes at all, regardless of whether the count was slightly more than or slightly less than his opponent's count.

One possible explanation is that the American people needed a message of community and shared values, while the Democrats offered a less appealing, if more intellectual message. Blaming voters' stupidity for the 2024 debacle is not helpful.
 
:confused2: Focusing on why somebody got 49% of the vote in one election but 51% of the vote in another election completely misses the point.
I'm talking millions of votes. I get the minor shifts. But Texas and Florida were pretty big shifts, but non-historical outcomes. California, could be said to be the same, Kerry won by 5% or something in '04. But to see one candidate stay the same and the other candidate to plummet, that is weird.
 
Did he predict the Trump win?

Trump just barely won (not even 50% of voters) and so I’m sure there would be articles explaining why Americans chose Kamala Harris, their first woman minority President had just a few thousand votes gone the other way.
Yeah, I would give a lot more credence to these speculations about the reasons for the election result if they had been made in advance of the result.

In other news, I think that Knights Choice was inevitably going to win this year's Melbourne Cup, because I have analysed all the factors in the lead up to the race, and it was obvious that that horse was the most favoured by those factors. Sadly, I can't find any bookies who will let me place a bet anymore.
 
Many of us thought there would be much cheating by the Trumpo-Fascists in the election, but I've read almost no reports of that. They threatened to deploy many thousands of election monitors to intimidate bluish voters: Did that happen? Are the Blues so demoralized by the election result that they don't bother to report on the cheating?

I did just see one page ("Cyber-Security Experts Warn Election Was Hacked") that claims Musk et al hacked the election. I'll guess this is just a crazed conspiracy theory like the crazed Trumpo-Fascist babblings in 2020 that rational thinkers denigrated. But I cannot be sure. It seems almost impossible to imagine that the enemy did NOT cheat: That is their modus operandi.

The main reason I assume there was little or no cheating is this message from Peter G Neumann who operates the Forum on Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems. That forum/newsletter has been a leader in presenting credible allegations of election fraud, but shows no reports this cycle. (It's a great newsletter I used to read regularly, but haven't looked at for years.)

So the election was lost because Harris lacked the charisma and gravitas of Biden-2020, so blue voters preferred to stay home and watch reruns of As the World Turns rather than save the world from fascist take-over. Too bad.
 
Many of us thought there would be much cheating by the Trumpo-Fascists in the election, but I've read almost no reports of that. They threatened to deploy many thousands of election monitors to intimidate bluish voters: Did that happen? Are the Blues so demoralized by the election result that they don't bother to report on the cheating?
The cheating is by denying the ability to vote, not by messing with the ballots.
 
Many of us thought there would be much cheating by the Trumpo-Fascists in the election, but I've read almost no reports of that. They threatened to deploy many thousands of election monitors to intimidate bluish voters: Did that happen? Are the Blues so demoralized by the election result that they don't bother to report on the cheating?
The cheating is by denying the ability to vote, not by messing with the ballots.

I believe you. But I've noticed no specific reports of such denial on Election Day. (Then again I've not attempted Googling.)
 
Many of us thought there would be much cheating by the Trumpo-Fascists in the election, but I've read almost no reports of that. They threatened to deploy many thousands of election monitors to intimidate bluish voters: Did that happen? Are the Blues so demoralized by the election result that they don't bother to report on the cheating?
The cheating is by denying the ability to vote, not by messing with the ballots.

I believe you. But I've noticed no specific reports of such denial on Election Day. (Then again I've not attempted Googling.)
The denial can be measured by the number of no-shows who previously voted blue.
Republicans have raised discouragement to an art form.
 
Many of us thought there would be much cheating by the Trumpo-Fascists in the election, but I've read almost no reports of that. They threatened to deploy many thousands of election monitors to intimidate bluish voters: Did that happen? Are the Blues so demoralized by the election result that they don't bother to report on the cheating?
The cheating is by denying the ability to vote, not by messing with the ballots.

I believe you. But I've noticed no specific reports of such denial on Election Day. (Then again I've not attempted Googling.)
The denial can be measured by the number of no-shows who previously voted blue.
Republicans have raised discouragement to an art form.
Huh? So Republicans have some sort of mind control power over weak minded Democrats?

Isn't it possible that there were a lot of no-shows because, well, Kamala was just kind of a shitty candidate who ran a shitty campaign and they just didn't feel inspired to pull the lever for her?
 
Republicans have some sort of mind control power over weak minded Democrats?
Everyone has “some sort of mind control” over anyone who listens to them.
Isn't it possible that there were a lot of no-shows because, well, Kamala was just kind of a shitty candidate who ran a shitty campaign
Yes. The shitty thing about the Harris campaign was that it failed address or employ the kind of “mind control” (aka fear tactic) the Repugs wielded so expertly.
 
Republicans have some sort of mind control power over weak minded Democrats?
Everyone has “some sort of mind control” over anyone who listens to them.
Isn't it possible that there were a lot of no-shows because, well, Kamala was just kind of a shitty candidate who ran a shitty campaign
Yes. The shitty thing about the Harris campaign was that it failed address or employ the kind of “mind control” (aka fear tactic) the Repugs wielded so expertly.
Fear was one of Kamala's main tactics, more so towards the end. Exagerrated claims of Trump being a Nazi, Hitler, etc and that it will be the end of democracy if he is elected, etc, etc.
 
Fear was one of Kamala's main tactics, more so towards the end.
Right. She realized that "YOU WON'T HAVE A COUNTRY ANY MORE" and "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS!" were better motivators than "let's forge a better way forward". So way too late she tried to press the fear button. By then, Trumpsuckers were already panicked and ready to vote in droves.
Exagerrated claims of Trump being a Nazi, Hitler, etc and that it will be the end of democracy if he is elected, etc, etc.
We have yet to see if there was any exaggeration about those things; I sure as hell WISH there had been. A lot more of it, earlier and more often.
When the US military starts killing Americans on American soil, will that allay your misgivings about "exaggeration"? When inflation hits double digits (est mid 2026) and wages stagnate again, will that do it? Regardless, Trump will once again claim the best economy ever, and suckers will once again believe him.
 
Fear was one of Kamala's main tactics, more so towards the end.
Right. She realized that "YOU WON'T HAVE A COUNTRY ANY MORE" and "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS!" were better motivators than "let's forge a better way forward". So way too late she tried to press the fear button. By then, Trumpsuckers were already panicked and ready to vote in droves.
Exagerrated claims of Trump being a Nazi, Hitler, etc and that it will be the end of democracy if he is elected, etc, etc.
We have yet to see if there was any exaggeration about those things; I sure as hell WISH there had been. A lot more of it, earlier and more often.
When the US military starts killing Americans on American soil, will that allay your misgivings about "exaggeration"? When inflation hits double digits (est mid 2026) and wages stagnate again, will that do it? Regardless, Trump will once again claim the best economy ever, and suckers will once again believe him.
Well, as you said first thing, we will just have to wait and see. No one has a crystal ball. But, no I don't think the military will start killing Americans on American soil and Trump never said they would.
 
Republicans have some sort of mind control power over weak minded Democrats?
Everyone has “some sort of mind control” over anyone who listens to them.
Isn't it possible that there were a lot of no-shows because, well, Kamala was just kind of a shitty candidate who ran a shitty campaign
Yes. The shitty thing about the Harris campaign was that it failed address or employ the kind of “mind control” (aka fear tactic) the Repugs wielded so expertly.
Fear was one of Kamala's main tactics, more so towards the end. Exagerrated claims of Trump being a Nazi, Hitler, etc and that it will be the end of democracy if he is elected, etc, etc.
I agree. I think that she used to rile up the base. I think that she lost because she didn't focus on the economy.
 
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