American voters treated the 2024 election as a referendum on the governing Democratic Party's leftist economic and cultural policies, and voted a resounding no to them.
What Democrats must learn from Trump’s victory | MSNBC | Brendan Buck:
November 6, 2024 - "[F]ormer President Donald Trump is returning to power riding a wave of discontent with the political left in America. Many find themselves stunned, wondering how this could have happened, but no one should be surprised.... While the polls showed the race a dead heat, something else was going on just below the surface: For the first time in decades, more Americans were identifying as Republicans than as Democrats....
"It’s hard to argue that the GOP has suddenly become more appealing. Indeed, the favorability levels for both parties remain relatively low. And Trump did not offer the country a compelling or serious plan to address his party’s problems. Instead, he offered them an opportunity to reject the perceived leftward shift of progressivism and to stake a claim for conservative culture....
"The defeated Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, ran a traditional politics playbook: shore up the base and then appeal to the swing voters.... Her debut provided a jolt of energy. The campaign orchestrated a flawless convention. She slayed her opponent in their only debate. And she tacked to the center long abandoned by Trump. It wasn’t good enough.... Though much improved since her short-lived 2019 run for president, Harris is still not an extraordinary political talent, and her interviews and the unscripted moments left something to be desired. And perhaps voters didn’t buy her appeal to the political middle after years of standing as an unapologetic progressive....
"By contrast, there was no question of who Trump is and where he stands. He once again rejected our conventions of how to assemble a majority coalition and created a new one by turning out new voters, often young and male, who find him entertaining and Democrats to be a nagging bore. His campaign was a rejection of the traditional playbook, run instead on grievance and cultural appeals....
"Trump’s win should not be viewed as a broad affirmation of him or his platform.... Trump has his adoring fans, to be sure, but a vote for Trump was as much a message rejecting the perceived leftward shift across American institutions — not just our politics, but media, entertainment and universities.
"A vote for Trump was not just one for border security, but also a vote against limitless multiculturalism. It was a vote against journalists furious that their paper didn’t endorse Harris. It was a vote against encampments on college campuses. It was a vote against what they see as boys in girls sports.... It was a vote against anti-Trump Republicans who[m] they see as enabling the left....
"Democrats charged Trump with being a fascist. To little surprise, after nearly a decade of similar charges, this rhetoric failed to move persuadable voters. Warnings against authoritarianism and speaking in defense of democracy are noble, but they were not a winning message. Voters care more about how your plans will tangibly improve their lives. They also care about their way of life, as Trump understood.... I loathe culture war politics. But particularly in times of national division and turmoil, it’s a formula that works — and Trump has proved it yet again."
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