Was the 2024 election the last bona fide US election?

[UniqueUserName]

I'm not wanting to "gloom and doom" anyone. There have been several DU posts intimating that US democracy is over. There have been other posts that say, "let all the bad happen and then people will vote more reasonably."

The question is, "Will people be allowed to have a relatively free and fair election in the future?"

My caveat: I'm willing to concede there may have been election shenanigans. There may have been voter suppression, vote flipping, etc. But even so, 45 - 48% of actual voters voted for Trump. Even if Harris squeaked a win, the vote was too close that Trumpers would not have accepted a loss peacefully. If Trump is able to confirm his cabinet without any real Senate oversight, it's all over.

That is, I think the last election was fair "enough". Fair in that a large enough swath, in my opinion, the majority, voted for Trump that it was a fair election. If there are no checks and balances, I see no reason to expect that there will be another fair election. A good indicator will be the push-back R senators give to rubberstamping the incoming presidential cabinet.

I hope that everyone who has the energy and resources will continue to work for decency and the common good. Being either a very late Boomer or early Gen-Xer, my fight days are over. Physical ailments mean that I will ride out my time here on Earth. I'm not giving up. I'm concentrating on my own situation.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. 51% of the electorate don't know anything but Fox Newz

It was the last competitive election. They won't make that mistake again. Everything going forward is a sham because they own 3 branches of government including the courts where it counts. The remnants of the Roman Empire will endure in certain cities for perhaps as long as 20 years.

The hardest task for Republicans going forward will be to maintain the vast distribution system of this economy. Once you start jerking around parts of the system it can unravel fast. There are consequences to not knowing what you're doing, and not caring.

[UniqueUserName]

2. I agree with you. Even to the 20-year estimate. /nt

[Silent Type]

3. I'm ordering my ballot for 2026 at earliest opportunity.

[DeepWinter]

4. No

The political pendulum always swings.

Democracy isn't pretty and your side WILL lose time to time. That is actually proof positive Democracy is working and not dying, as much as you don't like it.

I don't buy into the rampant hyperbole. Never have and that's served me well. Very well.

[Johnny2X2X]

5. the truth is we don't know for sure

Last edited Tue Nov 12, 2024, 12:12 PM - Edit history (2)

A couple points I am wrestling with are:

First, will Republcians pass an election reform bill that dramatically curtails the ability of a lot of people (mostly minorities) to vote?

Second, have they already taken over the media sufficiently enough that they can sell enough people on what they're doing no matter what it is. This was a huge factor in 2024, people thought the economy was better under Trump than right now when it isn't. People don't have a clue about the basic facts around illegal immigration or crime. People don't understand how Trump's foreign policy encouraged the conflicts we are currently seeing. Heck, a bunch of Muslims don't know that Trump's basic policy on Gaza is to give Bibi the green light to kill em all. So we could already be gone.

We won't know until 2026 one way or another.

[Doodley]

13. Correct! We are in a post-fact society where what is considered a news source is social media entertainment, created

for clickbait or propaganda purposes by unknown people or other nations and reduced to memes and viral videos filled with lies.

[Johnny2X2X]

15. I don't think people get the full power of propaganda

And they don't get that it works both ways. The country is objectively in the best shape it has been in in generations, but they convinced 75 million people everything is falling apart. We have the lowest crime rates since the 1950s. UE is at full employment and we have the best real wage growth in generations. The economy is growing. Net worth of the bottom 50% is growing faster than it has in 50 years. The US is not involved in any foreign wars right now, no US troops are in harms way. Immigration is not the crisis they would have you believe and they literally made up numbers even some Dems believed.

But the both ways part comes in now, Trump's policies will absolutely decimate the middle class, cause massive inflation, and spike crime. When this occurs, will their new found social media power get those same people to believe everything is great? My bet is it will.

[Doodley]

18. Agreed. The best propaganda is propaganda people want to see and want to share. That's happening on the Trump side.

[Progressive dog]

6. I don't think democracy is over

but a lot of damage can be done by MAGA in the next few years.

[Initech]

7. As long as Fox News is the dominant cable news feed, yes.

We have to cut them down to size. The government is not Rupert Murdoch's personal property. Our representatives do not work for him, they work for us.

[Doodley]

11. Social media influence is greater than Fox, and that is a monster that cannot be killed.

[Initech]

14. If we can't kill it, we have to fight it then.

I think the only way to fight propaganda is with propaganda. That's the only way we'll change things.

[LexVegas]

8. No. nt

[EdmondDantes_]

9. The same question was asked multiple times before

It wasn't true with George W Bush, Obama, Trump or Biden.

[Doodley]

10. Is it a fair election when most voters never see any honest reporting to form their opinions? The Trump propaganda

machine will move into overdrive. Anything even moderately good in America during Trump's second term will be "the best the world has ever known." Anything bad will be hidden or blamed on a crisis the Democrats caused that was "the worst the world has ever seen." Yes, there will be some reporting to represent the left, but the percentage of the electorate listening or reading to actual fact-based journalism will be dwindling. We will see an acceleration of people receiving "news" from social media, where it is reduced to misleading memes and short propaganda clips.

So, with that backdrop, here is the doomsday scenario for the election in 2028. I think it might be fair as far as counting votes, but if the right loses, it will labeled be a stolen election. This time, given the control of "news" information by Republicans, a lot more people will believe it, even Trump-appointed military leaders, and this time the state electors will be MAGA infiltrated enough to pull off a coup. Failing that, the Trump military will step in. So, yes, democracy dies by the next election.

[Zeitghost]

12. The pendulum will continue to swing

As it always has. Progress in America has always taken two steps forward and one step back. That is a feature, not a glitch. That which prevents runaway progress also prevents runaway regression. The minority checks on power are frustrating when you are the majority and trying to make things better and they are godsends when you are in the minority and trying to stop things from getting worse.

[GoreWon2000]

16. American democracy died on 12/12/00

when 5 unelected repug SCOTUS judges threw out the votes of we the people by stopping the legal Florida vote count in order to install their personally referred candidate in the White House. This blatant attack on American democracy has caused millions of Americans to give up on democracy and be ripe for the picking by a dictator. Here we now are.

[mathematic]

17. Yes, of course. Next regular federal election's in 2 years. Mark your calendar! nt

[Emile]

19. I'm not sure 2024 was a bonafide election.