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In reply to the discussion: I think he stole it. [View all]onenote
(44,862 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 8, 2024, 07:44 AM - Edit history (1)
From 2023 to 2024, voter registrations increased by 495,504. Of that number, 313, 632 were Repub registrations, or 63%. Democratic registrations increased by only 38,000, or 7 percent of the total. The rest of the increase was in voters registering for a minor party or registering with no party affiliation. You want to compare 2020? In 2020, there were 100,000 more Democrats registered in Florida than Republicans. Four years later, the number of registered Republicans topped the number of registered Democrats in Florida by 1 million.
A lot of voters didn't like the choice they had this year. Sure, they should have recognized the clear superiority of Harris over Trump. But millions of voters are not like DUers -- they aren't politically aware, don't pay that much attention, don't read the newspapers or watch the news. They vote based on their perceptions and feelings. So when they feel the previous four years was bad, they look to switch. It's how Obama defeated McCain. It's how Biden defeated Trump. And now its how Trump defeated Harris.
I worked a small precinct in Virginia that is probably 90 percent immigrants -- mostly middle eastern and north Africa. They live in a large rental apartment complex. Four years ago, there were around 530 votes cast in this precinct -- around 400 for Biden, 100 for Trump and a handful for third party candidates. This year, nearly 700 votes were cast. Harris received 400 again, but Trump had more than 180 and third party candidates got 90, mostly Stein.
I knew we'd win the precinct and we did. But I also knew that Trump was doing much better than four years earlier. And when I spoke to voters it became clear that the Trump voters were voting based on how they felt the past four years had not gone well from their perspective -- higher prices, foreign conflicts, the departure from Afghanistan were among the things they mentioned. And while I could try to convince them that inflation was under control and not the Biden administration's fault, that foreign conflicts were not the administration's fault, that the Afghan withdrawal was set in motion by Trump not Biden, they didn't believe me or care. It was about how they felt about the past four years and they didn't feel that good about it. So they were voting for change.