Yes, exactly. Women still vote Democratic in higher numbers and more women vote. Which is why the misogynistic GOP is trying to roll back women's suffrage. It's not simply the amendment. It's trad wives and obey your husband Christian hierarchy. Women easily won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The men who would not vote for a woman are already lost to Trump and MAGA. That's not going to change.
I live in California, so I don't get to choose the candidate in a primary. I voted for Warren in every presidential primary she's run in.
I do, however, tend to think there is more misogyny in America that we men realize. To what degree that plays a role in Harris and Clinton's losses is up for debate because there is a media ecosystem that constantly puts out hatred of liberal democracy, liberalism, diversity, and equality and constantly blood libels good people as Satanic baby-killing pedophiles and groomers.
But I don't think the misogyny factor in those losses was zero.
Now, whether that means we ought to respond with cynical misogyny and give the misogynists what they want is a question every person has to ask themselves.
I can't imagine what Democrat right now would have a decent shot in 2028. Newsom is from California and Americans have been trained to hate California... he's also too slick... too triangulated... too much a politician who chooses his principles daily after he reads the poll data. Pritzker? Maybe... Whitman? She seems to have burned her chances by playing nice with Trump. Warren is going to be a perennial protest candidate. Harris seems unlikely to try again. Clinton has probably entered the "fuck you all, you had your chance" stage of caring.
Anyway... I don't know. Like I said, I won't get a chance to choose them. I'll just have to hope that whomever other states pick is good enough to convince ignorant and hateful fools that it will be in their best interest to maybe try to build a better country instead of burn it all down to spite women, minorities, educated people, and immigrants.
EDIT: For the record, I thought we should have all rallied around Biden since our voters picked him instead of spending three weeks deliberately undermining our candidate and reinforcing the media spin on him. But we didn't. I voted Harris. Seventy-seven million other Americans chose this instead. Fuck them forever.
I totally agree, Stephen. The important thing is to nominate a candidate with some CHARISMA (male or female) who can motivate voters to get to the polls. And secondly, a candidate who will confidently and proudly articulate big-D democratic principles, who will rebuild our standing in the world again, and who will defend the role of government in making our lives better. And lastly, a candidate who will protect our natural resources, and finally at long last, advocate proudly for what the rest of the developed world has already accepted, that solar and wind power is practical now and will free us from the destruction caused by our dependence on fossil fuels.
It is also easy to be skeptical of Democrats when 300,000 voices are telling you that Democrats are child groomers that want to outlaw meat and pickups and will let teachers trans your little boy in one afternoon and make Sharia Law immigrants take over the USA.
Alternately it can even be that people know Democrats = government spending which = government giving "hard earned money" to Black people so we can live in luxury.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which these "serious" Dems ignore. Yes, she lost, because of the undemocratic Electoral Collage, but a woman can win the popular vote in this country. As Late Blooming pointed out, women have won, even in red states. They also ignore what you pointed out - Biden's own numbers were awful, but VP Harris improved on them so much, that down ballot Dems did much better than expected. trump barely beat a Black woman who only campaigned for 107 days, whereas he had been running since he lost (and he knew it) in 2020. "Serious" Dems need to get out of their bubble, ditch their consultants and focus groups, so that they can interact with struggling Americans. Be bold, Dems! You used to be - back in FDR's time, which is before most of us were born.
The states Clinton lost have become a fetish for certain pundits in my estimation, because they contain a lot of the only "working class" that counts. Especially as the party as a whole has moved leftward since even then.
This type of thinking ignores the fact that smart, capable women and nonwhite/nonChristian candidates of all stripes win elections every day, and for chief executive positions, even in red states. It's flatly nonsense. Nikki Haley would have wiped the floor with Joe Biden in a normal year. Stop fretting about what your candidate looks like and concentrate on putting forth the candidate who best represents the party and articulates the message. If that's a white Christian man, perfect! Also perfect if it's a Native American lesbian. It will matter to a small amount of voters in the country, but those people weren't going to vote for you regardless.
I know old habits of the mind die hard, but it's been three decades since the Mark Penns of the world held significant sway over the party. Time to move on.
Yes, exactly. Women still vote Democratic in higher numbers and more women vote. Which is why the misogynistic GOP is trying to roll back women's suffrage. It's not simply the amendment. It's trad wives and obey your husband Christian hierarchy. Women easily won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The men who would not vote for a woman are already lost to Trump and MAGA. That's not going to change.
I live in California, so I don't get to choose the candidate in a primary. I voted for Warren in every presidential primary she's run in.
I do, however, tend to think there is more misogyny in America that we men realize. To what degree that plays a role in Harris and Clinton's losses is up for debate because there is a media ecosystem that constantly puts out hatred of liberal democracy, liberalism, diversity, and equality and constantly blood libels good people as Satanic baby-killing pedophiles and groomers.
But I don't think the misogyny factor in those losses was zero.
Now, whether that means we ought to respond with cynical misogyny and give the misogynists what they want is a question every person has to ask themselves.
I can't imagine what Democrat right now would have a decent shot in 2028. Newsom is from California and Americans have been trained to hate California... he's also too slick... too triangulated... too much a politician who chooses his principles daily after he reads the poll data. Pritzker? Maybe... Whitman? She seems to have burned her chances by playing nice with Trump. Warren is going to be a perennial protest candidate. Harris seems unlikely to try again. Clinton has probably entered the "fuck you all, you had your chance" stage of caring.
Anyway... I don't know. Like I said, I won't get a chance to choose them. I'll just have to hope that whomever other states pick is good enough to convince ignorant and hateful fools that it will be in their best interest to maybe try to build a better country instead of burn it all down to spite women, minorities, educated people, and immigrants.
EDIT: For the record, I thought we should have all rallied around Biden since our voters picked him instead of spending three weeks deliberately undermining our candidate and reinforcing the media spin on him. But we didn't. I voted Harris. Seventy-seven million other Americans chose this instead. Fuck them forever.
I totally agree, Stephen. The important thing is to nominate a candidate with some CHARISMA (male or female) who can motivate voters to get to the polls. And secondly, a candidate who will confidently and proudly articulate big-D democratic principles, who will rebuild our standing in the world again, and who will defend the role of government in making our lives better. And lastly, a candidate who will protect our natural resources, and finally at long last, advocate proudly for what the rest of the developed world has already accepted, that solar and wind power is practical now and will free us from the destruction caused by our dependence on fossil fuels.
It is also easy to be skeptical of Democrats when 300,000 voices are telling you that Democrats are child groomers that want to outlaw meat and pickups and will let teachers trans your little boy in one afternoon and make Sharia Law immigrants take over the USA.
Alternately it can even be that people know Democrats = government spending which = government giving "hard earned money" to Black people so we can live in luxury.
Excellent post.
YES
THANK YOU
put up the best candidate, period. stop overthinking and trying to game voters
Ignore the gotdamned "consultants" and TALK TO YOUR VOTERS!
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which these "serious" Dems ignore. Yes, she lost, because of the undemocratic Electoral Collage, but a woman can win the popular vote in this country. As Late Blooming pointed out, women have won, even in red states. They also ignore what you pointed out - Biden's own numbers were awful, but VP Harris improved on them so much, that down ballot Dems did much better than expected. trump barely beat a Black woman who only campaigned for 107 days, whereas he had been running since he lost (and he knew it) in 2020. "Serious" Dems need to get out of their bubble, ditch their consultants and focus groups, so that they can interact with struggling Americans. Be bold, Dems! You used to be - back in FDR's time, which is before most of us were born.
The states Clinton lost have become a fetish for certain pundits in my estimation, because they contain a lot of the only "working class" that counts. Especially as the party as a whole has moved leftward since even then.
This type of thinking ignores the fact that smart, capable women and nonwhite/nonChristian candidates of all stripes win elections every day, and for chief executive positions, even in red states. It's flatly nonsense. Nikki Haley would have wiped the floor with Joe Biden in a normal year. Stop fretting about what your candidate looks like and concentrate on putting forth the candidate who best represents the party and articulates the message. If that's a white Christian man, perfect! Also perfect if it's a Native American lesbian. It will matter to a small amount of voters in the country, but those people weren't going to vote for you regardless.
This is why we have primaries and debates. Let's find the best person with the best ideas and not who will appeal to the morons on the right.
I know old habits of the mind die hard, but it's been three decades since the Mark Penns of the world held significant sway over the party. Time to move on.
Bravo! Well said.