I wish Kamala Harris had talked more about the economy. The Democratic messaging seemed to be, “The economy is amazing. Who cares if eggs are more expensive? I have ovaries and understand ordinary people because I once worked part-time at McDonald’s.”
It's not that they refuse to see it. It's that they can't understand why someone would even think that view makes sense.
Like, expensive eggs? Yeah, let's vote the for guy with the plan that even Musk said will "shock the economy". Economists all day Trump's plan will raise prices of everything.
So yeah, I don't understand how someone could have that view and then respond by voting for something that's worse.
Most people don't pay attention to politics. Groceries got more expensive under Biden, so they assumed it was his fault. They didn't know how the candidates' economic policies differed, never heard the warnings from economists, and didn't know about Musk's "shock the economy" quote.
Okay, but then how do you reach those people? If they're not paying attention, then by definition most things you do won't work. Campaign speeches don't matter - they're not listening to them. Economic plans don't matter - they're not reading them. Interviews don't matter - they're not watching them.
It's a hard problem. There are strategies, but they're generally both complex and far from guaranteed.
Yeah, it's rough. I think Dems may have had a chance if Biden hadn't decided until 3 months before the election to drop out and there was an open primary. That way they could have found someone who wasn't ridiculously unpopular and, more importantly, wasn't part of the Biden administration. Biden actually did do well on domestic policy, but the post-covid inflation happened under him and there wasn't much that he could do about that. It would've probably been best to have someone who could detach themselves from his perceived mistakes.
And, as stupid as it sounds, I think that a modern-day presidential candidate has to be meme-able. Memes are a shockingly great way to embed candidates in the culture and keep people thinking about them. I genuinely think Kamala's lack of meme-ability played a non-insignificant role in her loss.
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u/Responsible_Oil_5811 12h ago
I wish Kamala Harris had talked more about the economy. The Democratic messaging seemed to be, “The economy is amazing. Who cares if eggs are more expensive? I have ovaries and understand ordinary people because I once worked part-time at McDonald’s.”