Your summary of what went wrong for democrats was succinct and on point.I wish they had had the same insight. Thank you for working to give us even coverage.
In other words we are doomed to be in an autocratic dictatorship. Vaccines will become unavailable, the DOJ will become just a tool and not serve the American people. It needs to be said that America will be more like Russia and it may have been the last election we will ever see again.
Such hyperbole! You know Trump is bombastic to the extreme. The country under Trump wasn’t like that in the first term. Won’t be like that in the second.
Remember the insurrection? Where people died because he instigated it. Hundreds of thousands of people died because of his slow response to Covid. Suggested injecting people with disinfectants and exposing patients' bodies to UV light could help treat the coronavirus. Created one of the highest national debt in recent history. Gave the wealthiest people tax breaks. Took classified documents home with him! The list can go on and on! So don’t tell educated people what he was like in his first term!
The Democrats called 60,000,000+ American voters “garbage, a basket of deplorables, Nazis, fascists”, etc. To you, we’re all uneducated. Despite everything the Democrats threw at him during 1st term and the 4 years since - 2 impeachments, multiple civil and criminal indictments, years-long investigations, and 2 assassination attempts - a majority of the country weighed what the Democrats had to offer the next 4 years and replied No Thank You!!
Have you forgotten what Trump has called people? Why is it ok for him to bully and call everyone names, but if one democrat says it then you all react like how deplorable it is? Democrats didn’t have anything to do with assassination attempts. 5 people died during his insurrection! You forget that?? That’s ok with you? You really believe he is a decent person? A convicted felon, and rapist, an adulterer, who slept with a porn star while his wife was pregnant. Brags about grasping unwilling females by their genitalia? Democrats didn’t make him do that. Declared several bankruptcies, stole money from organizations! Walked into a teenage beauty pageant where the girls were naked!! Hung out and was great friends with the pedophile Epstein!! What a wonderful example to children he is. So go ahead and say whatever you want to support him, but he is and always has been in it for himself. He even admires Putin! You should be so proud. What a man to admire. I’m done responding to you. Just wait and see what happens. Come back here 4 years from now and tell me what a wonderful job he has done.
Especially after the cuts to social security (which by the way is in his project 2025) and the recession we will be in when there won’t be enough people to do the jobs of those he deports. Having Kennedy eliminate vaccines. Let’s bring back polio! Eliminate the all climate change initiatives so that today’s children will grow up in a world with more deadly consequences!
More mothers will die because they can’t seek medical treatment. Cutting health insurance so those with pre existing conditions won’t be able to get health insurance. I guess you and your family must be in perfect health. Wake up and smell the roses. You don’t have to be educated, just have some decency and common sense. So long and good riddance. I wish you well.
Hard to say what Trump will really try to do. Throughout his campaign he spewed “lies” after “lies”. I put those in quotes because I read an article the other day that I think more accurately describes Trump. Rather than saying he is a lier, which he is, he more so the ultimate bullshit artist. He spews more bullshit than lies. To lie means you have to know it’s not the truth, which in many cases is accurate (i.e., not losing in 2020). But what he talks about doing in the future is frankly a lot of bullshit. He has no clue what he is going to do. Please excuse my use of “bullshit”. I don’t usually use those types of words, but I call a spade a spade.
Humans are pack animals. Pack animals seek strong leadership. This instinct evolved for protection and survival of the pack. In the pack most are born to be followers, not leaders.
Many voters are inadequately informed and poorly educated followers. Complex economic and international issues are beyond interest and grasp. They will adapt to and adopt proclamations from a strong leader even when contrary to their self interest. Last night we saw this (again).
When Biden chose Harris as his running mate my immediate thought was that he had handed the 2024 election to the Republicans because Harris, for all her intelligence and ambition, does not have leadership character, yet was anointed his next in line successor. Her goals are too much to please, but not enough to command and convince the vast masses of born followers.
What could have been done differently? Biden accomplished a lot with legislation but failed to communicate this from a bully pulpit; speech impediment plus advanced age. Could he have made Harris his communicator, with frequent press conferences and public appearances? Would she have been able to grow in this? We'll never know.
When will a charismatic and competent leader appear, from either major party? Trump has filled the void, despite manifest incompetence.
Gabe … you are the best!! Rational, concise and focused on what is actually happening!! That is why we are delighted to be subscribers and to recommend you to all our friends that want a reality check. Keep it up … PLEASE!!
"None of the attendees interviewed looked inward". Bingo. The Democrats brought this on themselves. I was surprised by the magnitude of the win, but not by the win. You can't hold half the country in contempt (garbage, fascists, white supremicists--tell that one to the blacks who pushed Trump up by going for him +7% compared to 2020), defy common sense (men in women's sports), etc. etc. A county in Texas, which has not voted Republican since 1892 and has the highest proportion of Hispanics compared to any other county in the country, voted for Trump this time.
I disagree that the country has moved right. I think it has moved slowly leftward. But the harder the left pushed the country left, the harder everyone else resisted. You're not seeing a move to the right; you're seeing the resistance becoming an immovable force.
As a conservative Republican who faithfully reads your daily Democrat-leaning publication, I believe you, nevertheless, try to be fair in your analysis of the issues. I wish many of the veteran pundits had your sense of maturity and your grasp of what’s important. Thank you for your insightful presentation of the reasons for Trump’s victory and the self-introspection that requiried.
Interesting that a couple of commenters have called your commentary left or democrat leaning. I would have called it right leaning. You see folks, we consume through our own lens, perspective, bias (yes, I believe those are close to synonyms) then the slightest bit that is noted outside of that lens appears to us to lean ‘the other way.’ I am literally mourning today, not necessarily for Harris loss, but for Trump’s win. Through my lens he is a despicable human. My hope is that the next 4 years are not as bad as he says they will be. My only hope is in God, because Americans have surely dashed my hopes in them. p.s. Please don’t call me ‘emotional’ or a snowflake… just think human decency is something to strive for.
The Democratic party has blamed all challengers and outside thinkers for every loss when in fact listening to their voters would have allowed them the KEEP them.
Excellent analysis Gabe. I appreciate the listing of the failures of the Democrats. I would go back further, to when Pelosi & the DNC, etc picked Biden to run in 2020. We needed someone much younger, a whole new generation, someone who fully understood the threats we were facing from trump and the fascist leaning Republican Party, someone who had the fire to take all of that on, someone who wouldn’t have made a trump supporter our AG.
Harris really hurt herself when she said she couldn’t think of thing she would have done differently than Biden. I felt all hope fall away when I saw that clip. I knew she’d severely damaged herself. She made herself Biden 2.0 with that comment.
She also injured herself with how the press was set up at the convention AND the massive mistake of not inviting a Palestinian speaker there, even after the speech the speaker was going to say was given to the Harris campaign ahead of time and there was nothing wrong with it.
Her flip flopping on fracking hurt her. Especially with the reports of all the health problems people in PA are having from fracking. I read a few interviews with them after she said she supported fracking and thought “she’s lost Pennsylvania”.
After assessing the above and then seeing people 30 deep in line the 2nd hour of the first day of voting here in Central IN I knew trump was going to win. In the 20 years I’ve lived here I have never seen that kind of steady turnout that early in any election. Outside the building I heard people laughing about “sticking it to the libs” and “protecting our boy”. Both badly misguided takes on why to put a fascist into office but takes they believed in fully.
It all makes me grieve deeply for what we have lost. I did not serve my country for ten years for it to willingly choose to become a fascist theocracy but here we are.
I believe it was Sarah Kendzior who wrote that we should each write down who we think we are, what kind of character we think we have and what our red lines are for our behavior and for what the behavior we witness out of trump’s Brownshirts and goons. Write it down and date it. Then, when the situations arise where we have to decide whether to intervene to help someone being targeted, will we? Or will we turn away and say “it wasn’t that bad” or “they must have done something wrong”. We will all face this situation sometime in the next four years. What will we do?
Once again all the major polls seemed to have it all wrong…at least based on results to now. The race was nowhere as close as they indicated either nationally or in the swing states. The normally reliable Iowa poll even had it wrong. Would appreciate your analysis of this phenomenon. Or do you think the polls still have anything to say?
Thank you Gabe, as usual you’ve quickly laid out both a clear analysis and an opportunity for democrats to learn from these results. Looking forward to next installments in this dystopian novel 😬
I am an Independent and voted for Harris despite her not being clear on what she would do in her presidency. However, I was hoping for an unbiased view on the election of both parties…just the facts. I will not be subscribing to you in the future because of this Democratic bias.
One quibble: lose the “battle lines” language and maybe deplorable, garbage and elite will follow. Immigration is a mess. As long as it is characterized as a “battle” between empathy and border security, any reform will fail. We need to come up with a number and then sort who comes according to agreed upon priorities and values. Both parties have an opportunity to reach out to citizens who have lost their confidence. We will not have a strong country until we move toward the middle and to try to reach consensus in lieu of winner. My hope has been realized—that there was a clear win and that the electoral college and the popular vote were in agreement. With that proviso, I would have gladly accepted either candidate though I was pretty disappointed in both of them.
Your summary of what went wrong for democrats was succinct and on point.I wish they had had the same insight. Thank you for working to give us even coverage.
You’ve pulled off a lucid summary in a remarkably short time. I wish I felt solace.
In other words we are doomed to be in an autocratic dictatorship. Vaccines will become unavailable, the DOJ will become just a tool and not serve the American people. It needs to be said that America will be more like Russia and it may have been the last election we will ever see again.
Such hyperbole! You know Trump is bombastic to the extreme. The country under Trump wasn’t like that in the first term. Won’t be like that in the second.
Remember the insurrection? Where people died because he instigated it. Hundreds of thousands of people died because of his slow response to Covid. Suggested injecting people with disinfectants and exposing patients' bodies to UV light could help treat the coronavirus. Created one of the highest national debt in recent history. Gave the wealthiest people tax breaks. Took classified documents home with him! The list can go on and on! So don’t tell educated people what he was like in his first term!
The Democrats called 60,000,000+ American voters “garbage, a basket of deplorables, Nazis, fascists”, etc. To you, we’re all uneducated. Despite everything the Democrats threw at him during 1st term and the 4 years since - 2 impeachments, multiple civil and criminal indictments, years-long investigations, and 2 assassination attempts - a majority of the country weighed what the Democrats had to offer the next 4 years and replied No Thank You!!
Have you forgotten what Trump has called people? Why is it ok for him to bully and call everyone names, but if one democrat says it then you all react like how deplorable it is? Democrats didn’t have anything to do with assassination attempts. 5 people died during his insurrection! You forget that?? That’s ok with you? You really believe he is a decent person? A convicted felon, and rapist, an adulterer, who slept with a porn star while his wife was pregnant. Brags about grasping unwilling females by their genitalia? Democrats didn’t make him do that. Declared several bankruptcies, stole money from organizations! Walked into a teenage beauty pageant where the girls were naked!! Hung out and was great friends with the pedophile Epstein!! What a wonderful example to children he is. So go ahead and say whatever you want to support him, but he is and always has been in it for himself. He even admires Putin! You should be so proud. What a man to admire. I’m done responding to you. Just wait and see what happens. Come back here 4 years from now and tell me what a wonderful job he has done.
Especially after the cuts to social security (which by the way is in his project 2025) and the recession we will be in when there won’t be enough people to do the jobs of those he deports. Having Kennedy eliminate vaccines. Let’s bring back polio! Eliminate the all climate change initiatives so that today’s children will grow up in a world with more deadly consequences!
More mothers will die because they can’t seek medical treatment. Cutting health insurance so those with pre existing conditions won’t be able to get health insurance. I guess you and your family must be in perfect health. Wake up and smell the roses. You don’t have to be educated, just have some decency and common sense. So long and good riddance. I wish you well.
Hard to say what Trump will really try to do. Throughout his campaign he spewed “lies” after “lies”. I put those in quotes because I read an article the other day that I think more accurately describes Trump. Rather than saying he is a lier, which he is, he more so the ultimate bullshit artist. He spews more bullshit than lies. To lie means you have to know it’s not the truth, which in many cases is accurate (i.e., not losing in 2020). But what he talks about doing in the future is frankly a lot of bullshit. He has no clue what he is going to do. Please excuse my use of “bullshit”. I don’t usually use those types of words, but I call a spade a spade.
All true, but there is more.
Humans are pack animals. Pack animals seek strong leadership. This instinct evolved for protection and survival of the pack. In the pack most are born to be followers, not leaders.
Many voters are inadequately informed and poorly educated followers. Complex economic and international issues are beyond interest and grasp. They will adapt to and adopt proclamations from a strong leader even when contrary to their self interest. Last night we saw this (again).
When Biden chose Harris as his running mate my immediate thought was that he had handed the 2024 election to the Republicans because Harris, for all her intelligence and ambition, does not have leadership character, yet was anointed his next in line successor. Her goals are too much to please, but not enough to command and convince the vast masses of born followers.
What could have been done differently? Biden accomplished a lot with legislation but failed to communicate this from a bully pulpit; speech impediment plus advanced age. Could he have made Harris his communicator, with frequent press conferences and public appearances? Would she have been able to grow in this? We'll never know.
When will a charismatic and competent leader appear, from either major party? Trump has filled the void, despite manifest incompetence.
Thanks for the insight Gabe. I wish I wasn’t so discouraged today. 😓
Gabe … you are the best!! Rational, concise and focused on what is actually happening!! That is why we are delighted to be subscribers and to recommend you to all our friends that want a reality check. Keep it up … PLEASE!!
"None of the attendees interviewed looked inward". Bingo. The Democrats brought this on themselves. I was surprised by the magnitude of the win, but not by the win. You can't hold half the country in contempt (garbage, fascists, white supremicists--tell that one to the blacks who pushed Trump up by going for him +7% compared to 2020), defy common sense (men in women's sports), etc. etc. A county in Texas, which has not voted Republican since 1892 and has the highest proportion of Hispanics compared to any other county in the country, voted for Trump this time.
I disagree that the country has moved right. I think it has moved slowly leftward. But the harder the left pushed the country left, the harder everyone else resisted. You're not seeing a move to the right; you're seeing the resistance becoming an immovable force.
Thank You, Gabe, for sharing this morning ☕💔
As a conservative Republican who faithfully reads your daily Democrat-leaning publication, I believe you, nevertheless, try to be fair in your analysis of the issues. I wish many of the veteran pundits had your sense of maturity and your grasp of what’s important. Thank you for your insightful presentation of the reasons for Trump’s victory and the self-introspection that requiried.
Interesting that a couple of commenters have called your commentary left or democrat leaning. I would have called it right leaning. You see folks, we consume through our own lens, perspective, bias (yes, I believe those are close to synonyms) then the slightest bit that is noted outside of that lens appears to us to lean ‘the other way.’ I am literally mourning today, not necessarily for Harris loss, but for Trump’s win. Through my lens he is a despicable human. My hope is that the next 4 years are not as bad as he says they will be. My only hope is in God, because Americans have surely dashed my hopes in them. p.s. Please don’t call me ‘emotional’ or a snowflake… just think human decency is something to strive for.
Gabe posted a cogent piece, but I am waiting to see data on a lower (?) voter turnout than 2020 or 2016 as a reason why Donald Trump won in 2024.
The Democratic party has blamed all challengers and outside thinkers for every loss when in fact listening to their voters would have allowed them the KEEP them.
Excellent analysis Gabe. I appreciate the listing of the failures of the Democrats. I would go back further, to when Pelosi & the DNC, etc picked Biden to run in 2020. We needed someone much younger, a whole new generation, someone who fully understood the threats we were facing from trump and the fascist leaning Republican Party, someone who had the fire to take all of that on, someone who wouldn’t have made a trump supporter our AG.
Harris really hurt herself when she said she couldn’t think of thing she would have done differently than Biden. I felt all hope fall away when I saw that clip. I knew she’d severely damaged herself. She made herself Biden 2.0 with that comment.
She also injured herself with how the press was set up at the convention AND the massive mistake of not inviting a Palestinian speaker there, even after the speech the speaker was going to say was given to the Harris campaign ahead of time and there was nothing wrong with it.
Her flip flopping on fracking hurt her. Especially with the reports of all the health problems people in PA are having from fracking. I read a few interviews with them after she said she supported fracking and thought “she’s lost Pennsylvania”.
After assessing the above and then seeing people 30 deep in line the 2nd hour of the first day of voting here in Central IN I knew trump was going to win. In the 20 years I’ve lived here I have never seen that kind of steady turnout that early in any election. Outside the building I heard people laughing about “sticking it to the libs” and “protecting our boy”. Both badly misguided takes on why to put a fascist into office but takes they believed in fully.
It all makes me grieve deeply for what we have lost. I did not serve my country for ten years for it to willingly choose to become a fascist theocracy but here we are.
I believe it was Sarah Kendzior who wrote that we should each write down who we think we are, what kind of character we think we have and what our red lines are for our behavior and for what the behavior we witness out of trump’s Brownshirts and goons. Write it down and date it. Then, when the situations arise where we have to decide whether to intervene to help someone being targeted, will we? Or will we turn away and say “it wasn’t that bad” or “they must have done something wrong”. We will all face this situation sometime in the next four years. What will we do?
Once again all the major polls seemed to have it all wrong…at least based on results to now. The race was nowhere as close as they indicated either nationally or in the swing states. The normally reliable Iowa poll even had it wrong. Would appreciate your analysis of this phenomenon. Or do you think the polls still have anything to say?
Thank you Gabe, as usual you’ve quickly laid out both a clear analysis and an opportunity for democrats to learn from these results. Looking forward to next installments in this dystopian novel 😬
I am an Independent and voted for Harris despite her not being clear on what she would do in her presidency. However, I was hoping for an unbiased view on the election of both parties…just the facts. I will not be subscribing to you in the future because of this Democratic bias.
One quibble: lose the “battle lines” language and maybe deplorable, garbage and elite will follow. Immigration is a mess. As long as it is characterized as a “battle” between empathy and border security, any reform will fail. We need to come up with a number and then sort who comes according to agreed upon priorities and values. Both parties have an opportunity to reach out to citizens who have lost their confidence. We will not have a strong country until we move toward the middle and to try to reach consensus in lieu of winner. My hope has been realized—that there was a clear win and that the electoral college and the popular vote were in agreement. With that proviso, I would have gladly accepted either candidate though I was pretty disappointed in both of them.
Yes. Now we can focus on the what happens next bit instead of wasting cycles on a contested outcome.