Yeah, for example it was a major mistake to try to reach across the aisle to…the Cheneys? Actual war criminals? That was a bad choice. I think the main deciding factor is the economy. So much of this was down to bad timing - the Biden years coincided with the worst of the Covid economic fallout. I also think (cue the downvotes!) that sexism played a role here. But you’re absolutely right - the Dems have a big problem with elitism and not connecting to everyday people. Also, more and more they are playing into Trump’s narrative by constantly comparing themselves to him. When you compare, you give that person more power. Basically, in the Fox interview, Kamala gave Trump airtime rather than defining herself/her policies more on her own terms.

So right now Trump is at about 72M votes, Harris is at 67M. They probably end up around 75M/71M, give or take a couple million. So Trump will be around or a little above what he got in 2020, Harris will be 7-10M behind what Biden got. Kind of makes you wonder.

It was too big to rig this time even if they tried. There were lawyers everywhere in the swing states for sure, and they had to extend voting times where machines quit working, etc.

I'm an old school leftist - anti-war, anti-establishment. I lost friends over this election, unfortunately, because I sided with Trump (even though I voted RFK). What was made apparent last night was the rejection of identity politics and elitism. We've forgotten about the middle class in this country and Trump was able to reach these people in a way a republican hasn't really done since Reagan. Latinos shattered the narrative that "minorities vote in a block..and always vote democrat". Black voters to a lesser extent did as well. This is the big story of last night's election and a shift not likely to change going forward. That said, Trump has to deliver. Voters will hold him accountable. We'll see.

I’m not seeing much in the way of blue voters distrusting the results, tbh. That might be the one silver lining of this landslide. Oh - and downtown Portland is peaceful today. I wouldn’t know it from any other Wednesday morning.