Fareed's Take : Democrats Blew it by Making Three Big Mistakes
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The first big error was the Biden administration's blindness to the collapse of the immigration system and the chaos at the border. An asylum system that was meant for a small number of persecuted individuals was being used by millions to gain legal entry. Instead of shutting it down, liberals branded anyone protesting as heartless and racist.
They missed a massive shift in American public opinion in just a few years. In 2020, the percentage of Americans who wanted to decrease immigration was just 28 percent. By this year, it was 55 percent.
When Kamala Harris went on "The View" and was asked how she would have differed from Biden, instead of basically saying nothing different, she should have said, I would have shut down the border early and hard.
The second error was an overzealous misuse of law to punish Trump. The most egregious of the cases pursued was Alvin Braggs one in New York, one that even he was once skeptical of, but was reportedly pressured by some on the left into pursuing. Some cases like the Georgia one were legitimate. But the host of them piled on in rapid succession, gave the impression that the legal system was being weaponized to get Trump. It confirmed to his base what it had always believed. That over-educated urban liberals were hypocrites, happy to bend rules and norms when it suited their purposes. It's worth noting that in this week's election, a CNN exit poll found that among those who believe that democracy in the U.S. is threatened, a majority supported Trump. Lawfare turned Trump from being a loser into a victor. And as his indictments grew, his campaign contributions surged and his poll numbers solidified.
The final error is a more diffuse one. The dominance of identity politics on the left, which made it push for all kinds of DEI policies that largely came out of the urban academic bubble, but alienated many mainstream voters. There's an irony in claiming to be pro-Latino by insisting that people use the term Latinx, only discovering that Latinos themselves think the word is weird.
This kind of obsession made Democrats view people too much through their ethnic or racial or gender identity and it made them miss, for example, that working class Latinos were moving toward Trump perhaps because they were socially conservative or liked his macho rhetoric, or even agreed with his hardline stance on immigration. ...
The problem is much deeper than simply one about nouns and pronouns. The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin, rather than the content of their character.
Tags
Who is online
263 visitors
Thinking rationally instead of whining. Just straight common sense from a liberal.
The second error was an overzealous misuse of law to punish Trump. The most egregious of the cases pursued was Alvin Braggs one in New York, one that even he was once skeptical of, but was reportedly pressured by some on the left into pursuing. Some cases like the Georgia one were legitimate. But the host of them piled on in rapid succession, gave the impression that the legal system was being weaponized to get Trump. It confirmed to his base what it had always believed. That over-educated urban liberals were hypocrites, happy to bend rules and norms when it suited their purposes. It's worth noting that in this week's election, a CNN exit poll found that among those who believe that democracy in the U.S. is threatened, a majority supported Trump. Lawfare turned Trump from being a loser into a victor. And as his indictments grew, his campaign contributions surged and his poll numbers solidified.
This gets ignored but it had a huge impact. Nothing could have been better for his brand than New York waging obviously partisan lawfare against him.
There was nothing wrong with any of the indictments of Trump. He is a completely corrupt person.
People believe there was "lawfare" because the media drilled it into their heads.
Didn't need to. We all have eyes and ears.......................
Yes. You SAW all those boxes of secret documents. You choose to ignore the evidence of your own eyes.
Loyal MAGA. Reality is whatever the Great Leader says.
Plus what happened on 1/6 that the traitor himself incited
So, what exactly happened on 1/6 then? That the traitor incited?
We saw boxes of documents period.
Remains to be seen.............
Sure JOhn.
Governors usually come out after a trial and reassure businesses that "don't worry, this law won't be applied against your business"
And it's a good sign of a legitimate conviction no one here, even the lawyers, could even accurately explain what he was convicted of days after the conviction. Remember those debates where the Trump haters kept making categorical errors about what the prosecution's theory actually was?
The proof is in the pudding. . "It's worth noting that in this week's election, a CNN exit poll found that among those who believe that democracy in the U.S. is threatened, a majority supported Trump"
The ones next to Biden's corvette in his garage? Or in his basement?
Oh. The love-fest. Yes I remember distinctly how charming those events were.
The media told you those were secret documents that Trump had illegally taken from the White House.
Trump told you that he had the right to take them.
You accepted Trump's word.
Indeed, "we saw boxes". What we made of what we saw depended on who told us what. You chose to believe Trump, who is so honest about everything.
You CHOSE...
Sorry but you made it sound as if they were ALL FULL of secret documents. And they weren't.
I didn't count. Maybe twenty boxes? And of course if they were "storing" secret documents in the jakes, one might assume that they were also "storing" some elsewhere.
Once the traitor calls off all trials against him. Above the law. [deleted][✘]
Who was charged with treason?
lol
Some people are like a broken record around here
That's a touch ironic don't you think?
PD and D
That's all you have
So when was he charged for treason and "incitement"?
"The problem is much deeper than simply one about nouns and pronouns. The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin, rather than the content of their character."
You would think from their actions that the progressive left hates minorities.
And yet, some continue to spout nonsense that it is deep seated and pervasively racism on the part of White people that is the ultimate problem.
Zakaria seems to think that it might have been possible to explain to Americans that the economy was doing well. No. Not possible. That information was widely and constantly available, but the American people wasn't having it. The fascists, from Trump down to... well... Kari Lake, maybe, kept telling MAGA how bad things were, and MAGA just nodded dumbly as always.
Zakaria makes the same fundamental mistake as all the pundits: he looks for errors on the Dem side. Surely the Dems weren't perfect, but basically, they did not lose this election.
The fascists WON this election. They appealed to all the basest instincts... and to the profoundest ignorance... and found their electorate.
The fascists bet that a majority of Americans is racist and misogynist (or at the very least foolish enough to not mind cohabiting with racists and misogynists) and the American people proved them right.
I think Zakaria is trying to pre-empt Trump coming after him at some point in the future. Either that or he wants to be a good both-sideser.
That fits him.
Did you not understand his three points?
Yes it would.
He made some good points. Obviously he will be chastised and largely ignored by many of those on the left even though he is a liberal (I think) as many on the left are stuck on "ignorant fascist right wing".
There was no collapse or chaos except in republican propaganda. Yes, once COVID was over there was a large increase in the number of border crossings, but it was dealt with.
So Trump, a 34 count felon and sexual predator, should have been allowed to get away with all the crimes he has committed both before and after his administration?
So they shouldn't have striven for politeness. Other than that the entire quoted paragraph is meaningless.
Perfect response. 150 billion a year in costs to take care of illegals, but "it was dealt with"
, a 34 count felon
The same felony Hillary Clinton committed and was not indicted for? Yes.
her than that the entire quoted paragraph is meaningless.
"The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin, rather than the content of their character."
Of course you believe that's meaningless.
Thank you for perfectly encapsulating why Harris lost. A normal liberal explains why democrats lost and the far left doubles down on the insanity and refuses to even consider they made mistakes. By all means, double down on opposing immigration restrictions, find some really obscure law that no one has ever been charged with and charge Trump with it in the most left wing jurisdiction you can find, and then double down on identity politics. I'm sure it will work next time.
For pity's sake, Sean...
The horse is DEAD. You don't have to flog it any more.
Old news. What is the current cost? And provide the link to where you got the cost from.
Not according to republican FBI head James Comey. But you keep quoting your propaganda over the facts. Or are these your "alternate" facts?
It is meaningless, despite you trying to define it in your own personal partisan way.
Old news.
Lol. Again, the perfect encapsulation of progressive politics. It shows exactly how you manage to lose to one of the most unpopular candidates ever despite outspending him 2 to one and having almost every major press outlet and popular culture figure doing everything they could to elect Harris.
Just to recap:
Democrats lose.
A reasonable democrat says "this is why we lost"
Progressive: It's all fake. We are perfect and we did everything perfectly.
It's that sort of inability to deal with reality that caused Harris to freeze up and not be able to say what she'd do differently from Biden. They can, never, ever, admit they made a mistake (unless the mistake was not being even more woke).
Don't forget....
All Trump supporters are still racist, fascist, white supremacists and Hitler
An intelligent Democrat / progressive (or any intelligent person) doesn't ask whodunnit. Rather "what happened?"
"What did the Dems do wrong?" Is a closed question. Closed questions are a standard tool for intellectual dishonesty.
Right, Sean?
DId the Democrats lose? Was it impossible for them to win?
Good question.
It looks to me like the voters wanted Trump. Period. It didn't matter what anyone said. They wanted Trump.
Yet you still refuse to back up your claim.
Answered this in a different comment string.
Republicans lied over the state of the nation, they made it a big lie and kept repeating it. SOP
Here's another chance for you to prove a claim. Links to any democrat claiming it was perfect. I'll wait, but we both know you will never provide any link.
Ahhhh, dealing with reality..... Who won the 2020 election???
Not all. Some are just millionaires and billionaires wanting more tax cuts.
Muskkk fits them all
There is a Kamala joke in there somewhere.