Why many Democrats find this presidential campaign uniquely unsettling

[andym]

How does America move forward when so many of our fellow citizens embrace a candidate and a message so fundamentally un-American?
Oct. 19, 2024, 3:00 AM PDT
By Michael A. Cohen, MSNBC Columnist
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/democratic-panic-kamala-harris-donald-trump-polls-rcna176170

"There is one question that dominates every political conversation and every group chat in Democratic enclaves across America, and it’s not “Will Kamala Harris win the election?” It’s “How is Donald Trump this close to winning?”

--snip-- [section that states Democrats worry more than Republicans]

Emotionally, however, this is hardly a satisfactory answer. For many Democrats, Trump’s continued viability as a presidential candidate speaks to something more fundamental and concerning: How can someone as odious and malignant as Trump maintain so much popular support?

It’s not just that Trump’s four years in office were defined by unimaginable incompetence, venality, chaos and cruelty. It’s not just that he is a convicted felon who spurred an insurrection and still refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election. It’s not just that many Democrats can’t comprehend why anyone would want to return to those days. The larger and more disquieting issue is the campaign Trump is running right now: one that is as vile and as openly racist as any campaign in perhaps all of American history — and that includes his previous runs for the White House.

--snip-- [read more of Mr. Cohen's arguments talking about how Trump is demonizing immigrants, minorities and opponents using fascist and NAZI rhetoric]

Even if Trump loses, he will still likely get 45%-47% of the popular vote. How does America move forward when so many of our fellow citizens embrace a candidate and a message so fundamentally un-American? Defeating Trump is obviously essential, but as this presidential election, like the two before it, has made clear, America is a very different place than many of us imagined."
------
Trump's level of support to even 45% of the electorate is very bad news for the USA. How can this be rectified? A serious counter movement to MAGA is needed. Another question is how do some folks vote, based on very little actual information they possess, still able to disregard widespread knowledge of how vile Trump is as a person and how un-American are his proposals.

[cutroot]

1. The level of ignorance that he and his followers revel in is what's scary. They are proud of how stupid they are.

[TomCADem]

8. Algorithmic Bias: Reinforcing Prejudice on Social Media

Should we be surprised that hate has become normalized when even many progressives still believe that the Great Satan is major media, and they can't seemed to fathom how people are drawn to such a serial liar. The answer is that thanks to technology, you can get lost in your own little rabbit hole without any type of warning that the content that is ranked or recommended is complete BS.

https://dhananjaymittal.medium.com/algorithmic-bias-reinforcing-prejudice-on-social-media-46de22eef5dc

Social media platforms have become a ubiquitous part of our lives, offering personalized content that caters to our interests and preferences. Behind this personalization are complex AI algorithms that aim to enhance user experience. However, there’s a concerning downside to this technology — algorithmic bias. In this extensive blog, we will delve into the world of algorithmic bias on social media, exploring how these algorithms may unintentionally favor certain groups and viewpoints, ultimately contributing to discrimination and inequality.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have revolutionized the way we consume content. They employ sophisticated algorithms that take into account your past interactions, likes, shares, and comments to curate a feed that aligns with your interests. This personalization is designed to keep users engaged and active on the platform.

While personalization enhances the user experience, it brings forth a concerning phenomenon known as the “echo chamber effect.” This term refers to the way algorithms often feed users content that aligns with their existing beliefs and preferences. In other words, if you tend to engage with a particular political view or set of interests, the algorithm will continue to serve you content from that perspective.

[Xipe Totec]

36. Republicans have spent the last 40 years or more destroying the education system.

Since Reagan's "Reading, Writing, Rithmetic" push back to "fundementals", civics, history, and the arts have been abandoned as educational goals in public education.

No room for critical thinking,
No room for learning the constitution,
No room for learning the history of our great experiment.

And this is the result....

This is the result.

[lees1975]

2. It's a clear indicator of some real, major political, historical and social dysfunction if even 15% of the population

had embraced Trump and his perverted, destructive ideology. The fact that we are where we are is the result of a colossal failure of some social institutions we've depended on, but have not maintained, in order to preserve an educated electorate and a progressive society.

The influence of a brand of Christianity that depends heavily on mysticism, superstition, megaphysics and a large dose of ignorance is one factor. A failed public education system, especially when it comes to teaching critical thinking skills, history, civics and the relevance of all of those things to today, while most kids walk around with headphones on isolated from the real world is another. The demise of the middle class as 99% of the wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of 1% of the population.

[kelly1mm]

3. Unsettling is an understatement. I see President Trump wining MI NC GA NV and AZ and becoming

the next president with 283 EC votes.

[lees1975]

5. He's behind in MI, PA and WI, and if he doesn't win those, she gets 277. But she'll get all of them.

She's got a ground game, he doesn't.

[kelly1mm]

6. I only have him winning MI of the 'Blue Wall' states. Assuming he does win MI

along with NC, GA, NV. AZ then he is the next president. Frankly I am seeing PA slip away as well and in that case it is game over.

[lees1975]

19. She is up by 8 points in Michigan.

https://www.masslive.com/politics/2024/10/harris-vs-trump-new-presidential-swing-state-poll-has-harris-up-8.html

[kelly1mm]

28. Here is a top rated poll that has her down 3 points in MI.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2024/Atlas-Poll-US-Swing-States-Oct-17-Michigan.pdf

[lees1975]

31. RCP is not a top rated poll.

[Scarlet Begalas]

20. Trump "winning"

Did MAGA send you over here to demoralize us?

[kelly1mm]

29. Darn it you caught me! Been on DU since 2009 and have 5000+ posts all leading up

to be able to demoralize you about the 2024 election. And I would have got away with it if not for those meddling kids and that stoopid Scoobie-Doo dog!

[PortTack]

24. Links please

Last edited Mon Oct 21, 2024, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)

On edit: MI, WI, PA the 3 states she needs to win have only voted for the gqp presidential candidate ONCE in the last 35+ yrs



History matters

[kelly1mm]

30. I am only predicting a MI win as of now but PA is slipping into a pure coin flip. Here is a recent poll

from MI that is one of the pieces of evidence I am taking into consideration about MI.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2024/Atlas-Poll-US-Swing-States-Oct-17-Michigan.pdf

[lees1975]

32. RCP is trash. Forget it. If she's down by an average of 3 that means she's winning by 4.

[kelly1mm]

35. RCP is just the server hosting the PDF from the polling company.

[lees1975]

38. Including all the right wing red flag polls which skews it.

It's trash.

[wryter2000]

15. He's not winning all those states. n/t

n/t

[kelly1mm]

16. I hope I am wrong. We will see in about 2 weeks. nt

[MFM008]

17. Really?

Can I vote first?

[J_William_Ryan]

4. 2016 and 2020 were just as unsettling.

Should Trump be defeated, it won’t bring an end to the Trump Cult.

Trump is a product of the GOP – a reactionary Republican party consumed by fear, ignorance, stupidity, racism, bigotry, misogyny, and hate; a party of white grievance politics and racist replacement theory, a nativist party hostile to immigrants and immigration, a party obsessed with compelling conformity and silencing dissent.

A Republican party that has embraced fascism, with Trump the fascist thug as its leader.

[callous taoboy]

7. And how many of us face this in our own families?

My parents, my brothers... all have gone ‘round the bend for the orange turd. It is very unsettling, especially since they used to be level-headed.

[maxsolomon]

12. This is the toughest part for me.

All of my siblings, all of our spouses, all of our kids hate his fucking guts.

My 88-year-old Dad won't budge. Voted for him in 2016, 2020, and he'll do it again this time. He's immune to facts, immune to pleading. Not exactly a MAGAt, but he told my brother that Harris is a Communist.

I'll put him in the Propaganda Victim category.

[Scarlet Begalas]

21. This the toughest part for me

FFS, they've been using "communist" as a slur since at least the end of WWII, and probably before that. Get some new material, MAGAts.

[maxsolomon]

23. This one is specifically linked to her Dad.

Because he's an Econ Prof who has incorporated Marx's theories into his work. Snopes says it's true; he's a Marxist:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harris-father-marxist-economist/

MFer says "he taught her well". Right, before or after her parents divorced? Pretty weak sauce IMHO.

My Dad isn't the 1st person I've heard that from, though. If you want to find reasons to vote for an Autocrat, that's as good as anything. It has the advantage of being unfalsifiable. How do you know she's not a SECRET Communist?

[PortTack]

27. Despite the stock market being at record highs....sounds like dad has a tough time facing the reality of things

VS the red party.

[maxsolomon]

33. He attends Mass weekly.

Hears absolutist anti-choice rhetoric from the priests, though he can't recall what the Homily was about if I ask him on Sunday evening.

Plus Fox/WLW/Sinclair. He's never listened to NPR.

[tinrobot]

9. What's unsettling is that he's not polling in single digits.

How a lot more than 10% the country supports this dangerous freak is beyond me.

[nvme]

10. Engage

Why are the MAGAs turning to the dumpster fire? I believe as Americans we need to really look for what has been driving them. What needs does the orange one fill? How can they be incorporated and made to feel empowered in a constructive way. When we objectify them, we only confirm their fears about us. When that happens the chasm remains.

[MFM008]

18. Because they are

Dumpster fires and obvious moral degenerates.

[k0rs]

11. Education

If the repugs are good at anything, it's the long game. Their effort to discredit, defund and demonize public education has been in works forever and is ongoing. Their plan is paying dividends for them.

"I love the uneducated." DJT

[Scarlet Begalas]

22. Education

They're good at the long game when it comes to getting and keeping power. They have no long game whatsoever when it comes to doing anything to help the average American.

[Initech]

13. Trump should have been jailed January 7th. No bail. Do not pass go.

Instead he's protected by an increasingly insane cabal of ultra corrupted news networks and right wing billionaires that got a bunch of his cronies and lackeys into positions of power that they don't belong in with the purpose of protecting him so he can turn America into a revolving door theocratic authoritarian state. All so 700 billionaires can get even richer. Fuck everyone in that damn party.

[wryter2000]

14. I wonder if that 45% hasn't always been there

And we still had a functioning government.

[markodochartaigh]

26. I grew up in Amarillo Texas a half century ago.

I'm struck by how much that Trump and his associates say that I heard growing up. Of course many of the people back then were closer to Steve Bannon, Steven Miller, and the various pastors who call for the execution of lgbtq+ people and doctors who perform abortions than they were to Trump's mealymouthed wobbly stances on almost anything.
But the hard reich-wing were the "Southern Democrats" that held the Democratic party back in so many ways until the 1960's when they migrated en masse to the Republican party which was a far better fit for their authoritarianism. (Of course there certainly were many actual liberal members of the Democratic party in the South as well.)

Another big component of that 45% which seemed to be hidden were the Southern Baptists, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, etc. who were very reich-wing but were told not to vote since voting was a worldly thing and Bible-believing Christians should not support any worldly leader.
That 45% has always been there, I think, but it is only in the last half century that they have been pulled together and activated. And only in the last couple of decades with the influx of billionaire money (foreign and domestic) that they have been able to buy enough politicians and judges to become a clear and present danger to democracy.

[lees1975]

34. The Christian nationalism that is becoming a bigger issue was buried in the votes of those

Southern Baptists, Pentecostals and Church of Christ fundamentalists and conservative Evangelicals. But, their numbers are lower than they were, even a decade ago. The Southern Baptists have actually admitted to a 20% drop in membership and attendance, it's hard to ignore when the churches report their membership annually, since 2015. In terms of numbers, that's a drop of 3.2 million out of what was once a total membership of 16.2 million. Now its 12.8. It's harder to track the Pentecostals and Church of Christ, since they have no formal denominations to report to, but their numbers are down comparatively to the Southern Baptists. And one thing those Southern Baptists don't want you to know, is that their real numerical strength, which is measured by the actual weekly church attendance, is less than 6 million. Whether those that left did so because of the support of many churches and pastors for Trump, or whether there were other reasons, there will be fewer of them voting in 2024.

[PortTack]

25. No, this mess is not going away with a Harris victory on 11/5...which is going to happen...but

We have always had the maga element here, for decades and decades, maybe called by other names, tea party, kkk and it will continue. We can’t let this stop our forward progress. Look at all we have accomplished in spite of their hate and bigotry. They can’t stop our forward progress and they know it.

[FakeNoose]

37. What's puzzling to me is

... Why is Chump even considered a candidate? Even the Repukes already know what a terrible, awful president he was, and would be again. It just proves how morally bankrupt their Party really is.

[andym]

39. Michelle Obama agrees: "Michelle Obama blasts Trump in battleground Michigan: 'Why on earth is this race even close?'"

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4955483-michelle-obama-blasts-donald-trump-michigan/
by Julia Mueller - 10/26/24 6:30 PM ET

"Former First Lady Michelle Obama hit the campaign trail for Vice President Harris in battleground Michigan on Saturday, blasting former President Trump and railing against what she cast as a double standard in the high-stakes presidential race.

“I gotta ask myself: why on earth is this race even close? I lay awake at night wondering: what in the world is going on?” Obama told a raucous rally crowd in Kalamazoo, Mich.
--snip--
“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” Obama said.

“I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse, all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, y’all,” she added. "

[LymphocyteLover]

40. 100% THIS PIECE

[andym]

41. Low information voters blaming the party in charge for high cost-of-living is one reason-- Reuters article today

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/many-us-voters-economy-is-personal-they-blame-democrats-2024-10-28/
For many US voters, the economy is personal and they blame the Democrats
By Andrea Shalal
October 28, 20246:16 AM PDT

Summary:
* Voters in battleground states view economy negatively, 61% say it's on the wrong track
* Trump leads Harris on economic issues, 46% to 38%, Reuters poll shows
* Michigan's unemployment rate higher than US average, despite job growth

DETROIT, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Tiesha Blackwell, 24, voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but says she is casting her ballot for Republican former President Donald Trump this year, and high food and housing prices are a chief reason.

Blackwell, who lives southwest of Detroit in the battleground state of Michigan, says she has a better job now, but her rent has since doubled after she was forced to move, and her grocery and utility bills have soared. "I'm not worse off than I was four years ago," Blackwell said on the sidelines of a rally featuring Trump's running mate JD Vance in Detroit this month.

"But compared to then, things are really, really high out here. I went from paying $575 to now I pay $1,100 just for rent. I remember ground chuck was $2.99 a pound. Now it's $4.99. Everything is higher."

The United States' post COVID-19 economic recovery has been the envy of the developed
world, with strong consumer spending and business and federal investment helping the economy dodge a predicted recession. Stock markets are at record highs, jobs and wages are growing fast, unemployment is low and inflation is now below January 2020 levels after a spike in 2022."
----
Note that the interviewee, Ms Blackwell is a 24-year old woman of color, but she only cares about blaming the party in charge for her higher cost-of-living. She practically defines the low-information voter.

The article continues that Harris has a reasonable economic plan and Trump's plan will raise prices according to economists, but voters are not able to overcome the simple-minded tendency to blame the party in charge.

To the extent the election is close this is why-- voters acting out of annoyance about high-prices in swing states -- even though they are often better off!!!