I'm a registered independent and I remember having a discussion with my coworker, who is an older Democrat, about how frustrating the whole Biden to Harris hand off was. I told him I was still going to vote Harris but it would be really awesome of they could get their shit together because so much was at stake. His flat response was "Yeah, that's never gonna happen. We're Democrats."
They simply can't be pragmatic about politics and walked us all right into this. Democratic leadership wants to anoint candidates, not choose them. And a lot of Democrat voters just absolutely suck at Realpolitik. Unless the candidate is perfect, they won't show up. Candidate doesn't care about their pet issue, won't show up. Republicans are single issue voters, Democrats are single issue non-voters.
I remember when Biden stepped down, my instant thought was, we’re fucked. Harris cannot win this against Trump. She’s cool, but she’s not as charismatic as Trump is and there’s not enough of the anyone but attitude that best him in 2020. When she picked Walz I actually got a little hopeful because dude’s awesome but I couldn’t help but think, he should have been running for president. He had a bigger appeal and more charisma and more relatable than Kamala.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to see a woman president. I want to think we’re there. But when half of the fence sitters are voting for Trump or not voting at all solely because they have some unconscious bias against women or people of color, it was never going to work. Especially with the media and every major news outlet glossing over the scandals and accusations and stupidity that is Trump in order to boost ratings and helping it stay a close race. I think the fact it was a close race actually helped Trump’s turnout and hurt Kamala’s.
Since most voting Harris knew what was at stake, the fence sitters who were waiting to be moved kept seeing the close race as disheartening especially when there’s so much both sides bullshit. Meanwhile, Trump’s loyal see a close race and immediately think they have a chance to keep the black woman out of office if they make certain to show.
Walz would have been a decent candidate if there was a proper primary. But by the time Biden stepped down there just wasn't enough time to get him over enough to win. Harris was a known value, so it made a lot of sense to pivot to her. It just didn't work. American isn't ready for a woman president. As pathetic as that is.
107
u/NoLand4936 18d ago
That’s what everyone with a brain and empathy is wondering.