Summary

Gender bias played a significant role in Kamala Harris’s defeat, with many voters—often women—expressing doubts about whether “America is ready for a female president.”

Some said they “couldn’t see her in the chair,” or questioned if a woman could lead, with one even remarking, “you don’t see women building skyscrapers.” Though some voters were open to persuasion, this often became a red line.

Oliver Hall, a Harris campaign volunteer, found that economic concerns, particularly inflation, also drove voters to Donald Trump, despite low unemployment and wage growth touted by Democrats.

Harris was viewed in conflicting ways, seen as both too tough and too lenient on crime, as well as ineffective yet overly tied to Biden’s administration.

Ultimately, Hall believes that Trump’s unique appeal and influence overshadowed Harris’s campaign efforts.

  • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    That’s a generous way of saying “Most Americans are overly sexist and/or racist and are willing to make up any reason to not vote for a woman of color despite any evidence to the contrary”

    • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Just at the shop work at most citizens make below $15 an hour even trades jobs

      Not just any fucking reason

      Most US citizens are struggling with overpriced housing, sky high taxes, ginourmous energy costs, inflatated food costs, and all on below living wages

      Fuck the Democrats and the Republicans both for exploiting the citizens

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I’m glad the enlightened centrist take is always here to offer the right answers.

        • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          Just see the US underneath on the daily when on the job

          The real US that is hidden beneath all the media sprinkles and the propaganda icing

          Gets worse every election no matter which “party” “wins”

  • Zak@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Persuadable voters seemed really focused on prices. It’s hard not to be condescending here. Eggs are expensive because of bird flu. Rent is high because not enough housing is being built, mostly limited by local issues. Gas is high because of Putin’s war. Anyone who thinks electing Trump will bring those prices down because they were lower last time he was president is fucking clueless.

    I’m interested to see how much of a factor unenthusiastic Democrats were. Trump got about the same number of votes he did in 2020, but Harris got far fewer than Biden. It looks like a bunch of people who voted last time didn’t vote this time. For them, the concerns the author dismisses might have been more important.

    • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I’ve talked to a lot of people, and I never once heard anyone complain about her gender. In fact, I was rather surprised that I didn’t hear anything about that. It was 100% complaints about the economy, and no matter how I tried my best to explain how not only are the price of things not by his fault, but we would have been much worse withoutBiden, it was like talking to a brick wall.

      • dhork@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I believe that there were a fair number of people who just couldn’t check the box for any woman, but we’re too afraid to admit it publically (or even to themselves). While their complaints about the economy were legit, they might have also been a convenient excuse to hide the misogyny.

        And didn’t Obama confront this head-on? He told Black men “Look, you may not be inclined to back the woman here, but backing that man in particular would be a disaster”. And he was dismissed by many as lecturing too much.

    • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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      8 days ago

      I’m fortunate to be well off, but I used to be below the poverty line in my city and qualified for social assistance (which I didn’t know about until a coworker told me). Having been in most of these voters shoes a little over a decade ago, I can tell you that don’t care about trumps rhetoric, he can stand there for an hour blathering non sense, but at the end of it he will say “I love you, I know you are hurting and I’m going to fix that”.

      Then a long come the democrats telling these people who are living paycheck to paycheck or still in their parents house that they are privileged racist ass holes who could never understand what is like to struggle as a rich minority woman from California. Then the most unrelatable person in the world gets chosen to replace Joe Biden and rich democrats and dumb ass celebrities like Cardi “I brag about how I used to drug, rape, and Rob men” B start telling working class men that they are stupid and racist if they don’t vote for Kamala.

      A lot of people couldn’t vote for a wannabe dictator, but they also couldn’t vote for someone who despises their very being.

      • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        That is a completely accurate depiction of what every member and supporter of the Democratic party has said, which has certainly been much more hurtful than Republicans’ repeated threats to rape and kill us /s

        • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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          8 days ago

          I haven’t heard of any republican threat to raise and kill everyone, but a lot are unhinged and I’m sure it happens. But it’s not a central platform of the Republicans, while being condescending of working class men is a central campaign point of the democrats, in fact it was so bad that black and Hispanic men showed up in record numbers to vote for Trump

      • Nougat@fedia.io
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        8 days ago

        You’re right. Americans as a whole are more stupid and racist than was previously thought.

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    Sucks man. I was really hoping to get to the Grand Canyon before they start strip mining it for uranium, but I might be fleeing with my family before we become the rape capital of the globe. India is still king, but judging from the chuds who vote for him, it won’t be long before we surpass them. I won’t have that for my wife and daughter. They deserve better.

    • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Look at a population density map of the US and India and take comfort in the fact that we do not live in close enough proximity to each other to ever take the title of world’s rape capital. MURICA, BITCH!!!

  • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    Is this low unemployment and wage growth in the room with us?

    Unemployment is “low” because shitty gig economy jobs are counted as employment. And wages might be growing, but are lagging far behind inflation.

    The majority of Americans aren’t sexist and racist, they are living paycheck to paycheck and some unlikable rich black woman from San Francisco isn’t going to be able to relate to a poor white man from Nebraska or even a Hispanic dude from El Paso. And you would think “neither should a rich ass hole from NYC”, but he at least pretends to care about them. Democrats have been demonizing the working class for over a decade and they are starting to reap what they sow.

    I voted for Kamala, but she was a terrible candidate. She made no attempt to empathize with the plight of the majority of the working class voting base and instead was more worried about capturing the vote of rich trust fund babies that are being misgendered.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      8 days ago

      And wages might be growing, but are lagging far behind inflation.

      To be very fair real wages grew during Biden’s administration, but probably not enough and definitely not for everyone.

  • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    She was a lackluster candidate, yet clearly the only reasonable choice. The problem is that the electorate is full of fuckbrains. Any fucking excuse would do - black, woman, price of eggs, whatever. Everything’s about to spiral the fuck outta control (let’s see what egg prices are gonna be like after tariffs n shit). Bitches wanted this in place of having a lackluster, mediocre, caretaker president. Alright. Play ball, bitches.

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Harris lost because she thought ultra restrictive border policies and handing out home mortgages was going to persuade voterers

    • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I think both things play a factor, but ditching shitty policies and messaging would be a lot more straightforward process than reducing the number of raging misogynists in America

  • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 days ago

    I really don’t think that sexism was the leading cause of her loss, or even one of the top causes.

    She alienated a sizable voter group in a swing state, and people who are struggling to buy groceries are not going to vote for a person who is literally in the second highest executive position in the ruling party, unless they make changes people can see, and have a good campaign on change. When I heard harris give speeches I always thought “well, you have a direct ear to the president and are one of the highest ranking democrats in the US. Why don’t you use this to make change now?

  • kn0wmad1c@programming.dev
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    8 days ago

    “I know why she lost”

    She lost because 11 million people sat out this election. That’s it, that’s all there is.

    The fact is that most of this country leans blue, and when voters turn out, blue typically wins. This is why the GOP is doing everything they can to make sure people don’t vote.

    Trump has a vote ceiling of around 74, maybe 75 million. In 2020, 81 million people voted for Biden.