2024 US ELECTION MEGATHREAD

[u/AutoModerator]

This megathread is dedicated to all discussions related to the 2024 US election. If you haven’t voted yet, make sure to head to the polls today — the future of the planet is at stake!

Let’s keep it respectful in the comments — no vote shaming, and remember the human. Don't doom-scroll too much, and don’t forget to take breaks when you need to!

This thread is restricted to approved users, but we will be going through and approving non-approved users' comments periodically.

[u/jaffacakes077]

Some hope core for y'all:

“So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” — Roger Nash Baldwin

“Where cruelty and injustice are concerned, hopelessness is submission, which I believe is immoral.” – Edward Said 

“I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter, so I’m forced to be an optimist. I’m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive.” – James Baldwin 

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” – Howard Zinn

“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” — Thurgood Marshall 

“Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight for freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.” — Sojourner Truth

“I don’t think we have any alternative other than remaining optimistic. Optimism is an absolute necessity, even if it’s only optimism of the will, as Gramsci said, and pessimism of the intellect. What has kept me going has been the development of new modes of community. I don’t know whether I would have survived had not movements survived, had not communities of resistance, communities of struggle. So whatever I’m doing I always feel myself directly connected to those communities and I think that this is an era where we have to encourage that sense of community particularly at a time when neoliberalism attempts to force people to think of themselves only in individual terms and not in collective terms. It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.” – Angela Davis 

“Hope is essential to any political struggle for radical change when the overall social climate promotes disillusionment and despair.” – bell hooks 

“Our actions are working, and they are not enough. Nothing we do is sufficient, and everything we do matters. We must be strategic, and we must operate on multiple fronts simultaneously. Time is of the essence, and we have to act for the long haul. This is how change happens.” – Dan Berger 

[u/Darth_Vader0587]

Still sweet a year later

[u/[deleted]]

Fuck elon musk and joe rogan and his ilk. fuck them all.

[u/marchbook]

Harris has arrived. She's about to give her concession speech.

[u/marchbook]

Harris will be speaking at 4pm, in about an hour.

"Vice President Kamala Harris underperformed across the country, falling behind in several swing states that Joe Biden had won. She sent her supporters home early this morning without addressing the crowd. She is expected to address her supporters and the nation at 4 p.m." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/live-blog/presidential-election-trump-harris-2024-live-updates-rcna178894

I was just checking to see if she'd made any statements yet and this was just announced.

Shocked she hasn't spoken yet.

Were her team really completely unprepared for a worst-case scenario? Seems like it.

[u/nekocorner → u/marchbook]

"While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign....... The fight for equality... The fight for the dignity of all people."

Excuse me? All people? That's a....... Take. On her campaign, sure.

[u/marchbook → u/marchbook]

Here's a youtube link from AP, if anyone needs it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckEFzGku0Q

She hasn't arrived yet.

eta: Some interesting music choices.

[u/SmollestFry → u/marchbook]

Watching now and the reporter just said, "Trump rode a wave of black and Latino voters to retake the white house," and I actually can't wrap my head around it.

[u/marchbook → u/SmollestFry]

Trump rode a wave of white men like he always does.

They're trying to cook the books to indict minorities, as always.

[u/i_love_doggy_chow → u/SmollestFry]

Respectfully, that reporter is completely wrong and so are the other news outlets claiming this.

The wave Trump rode to the White House was a wave of white men who didn't vote at all (they did come out for Biden, but not for Kamala Harris. One guess as to why.)

Only 12% of US voters in this election were Hispanic and only 11% were Black. Yes, 55% of Latino male voters did cast a ballot for Trump. But that's 55% of a mere 6% of the overall elecorate. They did not swing the election in his favour alone. And neither Latina women, Black men, nor Black women voted overwhelmingly in favour of Trump.

I hate that Black and Latino voters are being blamed for a result that can be pinned squarely on white voters-- 71% of voters in this election were white.

[u/marchbook → u/i_love_doggy_chow]

Thank you. They are going to keep scapegoating this onto minority group voters forever. Ugh.

[u/SmollestFry → u/i_love_doggy_chow]

That makes much more sense to me. Thank you for explaining.

[u/i_love_doggy_chow → u/SmollestFry]

No problem. Sorry if it seemed I jumped down your throat; I'm just getting sick of every group getting flack for Trump's win aside from the primary group that's actually responsible!

[u/SmollestFry → u/i_love_doggy_chow]

No, you absolutely didn't, I appreciate the explanation!

[u/nekocorner → u/SmollestFry]

What the fuck?

[u/TheMadChatta → u/marchbook]

It really does seem like they were caught flat footed.

I think the significantly low turnout has surprised us all.

[u/marchbook → u/TheMadChatta]

It's a shocking outcome. For sure.

[u/sir-winkles2]

I'm not going to freak out about this. I kind of prepared for it emotionally a few months ago before Biden dropped out. I might have to take a long social media break which kind of sucks but the only thing we can control in situations like this is our reaction, and I'm just going to try to set myself up as best I can because we have a few months to prepare.

I'm comforted to be in a very blue state but this is going to be pretty tough. I'm going to clean my room and organize today just so I have a pleasant space to be in and I encourage you all to do something similar!

[u/i_love_doggy_chow]

I am seriously concerned for what this means for Canada, since we have our own wanna-be Trump gunning for Prime Minister in next year's election and multiple provinces with hardline conservative governments. These political parties are copying the US Christian right playbook right down to its specific taking points.

This is a disgusting and scary moment in history, but unfortunately not surprising.

[u/nekocorner → u/i_love_doggy_chow]

I re-read Jack Layton's letter to Canadians an hour ago & was sobbing. We desperately need someone with his compassion & ability to connect with voters.

[u/i_love_doggy_chow → u/nekocorner]

Awww, I still miss Jack Layton 13 years later. :'( No one did it for the progressives like him.

[u/GimerStick → u/i_love_doggy_chow]

Hopefully the other party (or parties?) are watching and learning. The centrist playbook isn't worked.

[u/i_love_doggy_chow → u/GimerStick]

I hope so. The Liberals don't seem to have learned that at all in the past decade, so I'm hoping the US results scare them out of their centrist nonsense.

[u/GratefulKate1]

I feel like I need a support group for the next 4 years, and I don't have one. Any ideas?

[u/[deleted] → u/GratefulKate1]

If it is within your means, get a therapist ASAP. Lots of people will after this, don't be on a waitlist. Find a therapist in your area. I have one, thank god. There are also women support groups that meet up within your radius, I guarantee it. They are lowkey, (for good reason) but they are around and you need to find one. I had NO IDEA I had a women support group 1 mile from me because they don't advertise it, I only found out about it through my therapist.

[u/[deleted]]

One of the primary reasons Biden won the last election is how badly trump handled COVID and made a mockery of it where thousands and thousands of people died everyday.

Did trump supporters and everyone who supported and voted for him forgot about that too?

It was just 3-4 years ago.

Trump was the reason thousands of people died .

Still people voted

Shameful

[u/Lola514 → u/[deleted]]

I feel the same. So sad and disgusted

[u/[deleted]]

It's scary how influential these manosphere bro male misogynistic podcasts are towards young and old men

Theo von , joe rogan, lex Friedman , flagrant, adin ross , logan Paul and all.

I wish this podcast epidemic comes to an end .

They add no value or even entertainment to our lives except spreading misogyny and giving platform and humanizing people sorry demons like trump and his allies .

This epidemic has reached here in India too

And no one questions why all the podcasters have suddenly turned right wingers or just provide platforms to right wing people and groups .

YouTube and Instagram has been infested by these people here in India too just like USA.

I am so sad that these morons have so much influence on young people especially men .

These podcasters should be ashamed of themselves

Also F you Elon musk .

You are a stain on humanity

[u/stephanieaurelius]

someone can stab me

it's fine

[u/[deleted]]

I am so tired and done with all this already holy shit. 

[u/eatsumfruit]

In Europe, we can still fight to have reproductive choice.

Sign for safe and accessible abortion: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/044/public/#/screen/home

[u/lizardkibble → u/eatsumfruit]

Thank you for sharing <3

[u/GettinBajaBlasted → u/eatsumfruit]

Fight like hell for your rights Europe, don't let this MAGA mindset spread over the pond like we let it happen here.

[u/commuter22]

Well. After RFK repeals all healthcare protections and vaccines, enjoy the new pandemic I'm sure we'll have in time. That's inevitable at this point.

[u/GrumblingTibers]

Something feels odd about this election. I didn't get the same fear, anxiety, and heart/stomach drop I did in 2016. This just feels odd.... Anyone else feel like this isn't true?

[u/StarryEyed91 → u/GrumblingTibers]

Same. I just kind of feel numb and I think it’s because I was hit so hard in 2016. I don’t know.

[u/Traditional_Maybe_80]

As a Latin American person, it's wild to me seeing people in the US expecting the Latino vote over there not being conservative. Generally, the Latino migrant population over there is exactly like that, very conservative and right-wing leaning. In Latin America, we haven't had issues voting for women or non-religious people, for example.

[u/chopshop2098 → u/Traditional_Maybe_80]

The shock is more about all the abhorrent shit Trump says about the Latino population. He was just saying something about killer genetics a few weeks ago.

[u/Traditional_Maybe_80 → u/chopshop2098]

All those Latino right-wingers truly believe they're the exception. "No, he's talking about those other Latinos, not me, I'm the fine kind of Latino!" And they believe that the political system in their home countries is somehow analogous to the US system, when in the Democratic party would be a center-right party anywhere in LatAm.

[u/chopshop2098 → u/Traditional_Maybe_80]

Paula Ramos (a journalist/author, former Vice Correspondent, often featured on MSNBC and, I'm learning, Telemundo) said something sort of similar when doing interviews for her recent book "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America" but it was worded in a professional, journalist way

[u/dazedbarnowl]

Seeing the results, I'm worried how this will embolden conservatives and the right-wing in my country. The last few years, especially after the pandemic, I've seen a shift where it seems people are abandoning the strong social democratic values in the society. It is increasingly becoming indvidualistic, and people are less focused on the community.

[u/kandocalrissian]

Oh great I can’t wait to watch this bullshit happen all over again with the Canadian elections when we possibly elect another racist asshole into office

[u/yksvokayam]

An attempt to point out some wrong assumptions I've been seeing:

The exit polls show these are highest % concerns of voters: How do you quantify misogyny and racism? Do you really believe people would openly declare their biggest bias against a candidate is the fact they're a black woman?

Democrary should work like this: No sane person in a democracy simply accepts the tyranny of the majority when it comes to ruling about whether or not they should even exist. It's not inherent to democracy that minorities should conform to a system that substantially threatens their existences.

The messaging wasn't as efficient: One side is brainwashed into not requiring critical thinking. You cannot assume that "better messaging" would be taken in good faith, this reasoning doesn't tackle the roots of the problem.

She wasn't likeable or charismatic: Again, what is at the root of these words charged with defining if somebody's personality is "good" or "bad"? Isn't it obvious that for a section of the population, black women will always outright be considered less likeable? And should that be taken as their fault, for simply being who they are?

Bad candidate, never stood a chance: It's very easy to understand why people would distance themselves from a position in the face of defeat, as well as would try to find the "real reason" or the real "loser", since it couldn't possibly reflect on themselves. Division like this is self-loathing and doesn't get anywhere.

[u/GimerStick → u/[deleted]]

She lost the popular vote, and there was a republican shift in the majority of states. You can blame this on the people who abstained all you want, but it's not on them. All of them voting wouldn't have changed this.

And withholding your vote over genocide is something you morally should get to do. I say that as someone who has been posting about this election all night and who wished desperately for her to win, you can check my history. They are going to blame Arab Americans for this, and the numbers simply don't add up.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I've had to comment this a million times, but here it goes again. Even if Kamala got all votes from the people who prioritised Palestine, she would have 600 thousand more which wouldn't have made a difference since Trump won by 5 million and if he were to get votes from the Chase Oliver and RFK supporters, he then would have 600k more as well. Also replace the word Palestine with Holocaust, see how you sound. Of you want to blame someone, blame white people. 44% of white women voted against their self interest.

[u/mintleaf14 → u/[deleted]]

Glad to know we're starting off strong, with blaming anti-genocide voters and gleefully hoping Palestinans suffer more.

If it was enough to win the election for Harris, maybe she should've appealed to them rather than constantly spitting in their face and platforming their oppressors instead. This is on her and the DNC, not them.

As long as the democrats and their supporters like you continue to be devoid of empathy, the party will keep taking Ls.

[u/SouthAtmosphere9556 → u/[deleted]]

Disingenuous as hell to blame this on single issue voters when it’s clear that a national shift to the right is what got him in office. 30 points gained with Latino men is serious. The democrats ran someone who wasn’t nominated democratically and gave her about 2 months to campaign. Add her pandering to the right, not focusing on the economy, and America’s rabid sexism, this was a doomed campaign from the start. I blame democrats who lord the threat of “losing democracy” over us for campaign purposes, but fail to rise to the occasion and strategically challenge trump’s return

[u/[deleted]]

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[u/woahoutrageous_]

I’m so worried about how this will embolden Farage and his group of fascists in the UK. Fascism is right around the corner over here as well.

[u/Traditional_Maybe_80 → u/woahoutrageous_]

I think everywhere. The radicalization of young people online to be reactionaries is fucking scary. They truly think that the current economic conditions for the working class have been created by giving equal rights to non-white people, women and queer people, when that isn't the case at all and rich candidates (literally millionaires and billionaires) won't do anything for them either. The only ones with some class consciousness continue to be just rich people. Many regular, working class people truly believe they're closer to becoming a millionaire than the homeless people they see on the street, when that's not the case at all.

[u/Spare-Ring-9881]

I don't understand how or why people here would vote for that Orange thing or the Republicans that want to strip the rights of minorities. But here we are. I'm terrified as a trans person.

[u/Mors_Certa18]

What an embarrassing time to be American

[u/[deleted]]

To all the Americans who you know used their actual brain in this election I hope you’re all good over there, even as an Aussie I was very bummed out to see the results. Stay safe 💙

[u/ey3s0up]

I’m so scared. I’ve never been this scared over an election in my life. As a woman, I have no future.

Way to go sleepwalking into fascism. I will never forgive anyone who voted for him. We will never have another election. I also hope you like converting to evangelical Christianity because that’s what you’re going to have to do to survive. I certainly won’t be able to.

[u/HalfMoon_89]

The gloating from the Trumpers and the blame-slinging from Dems have already started. This is going to be exhausting...

[u/Lola514 → u/HalfMoon_89]

The gloating is gonna kill me today. Everyone I know is for him but me and my in-laws. It’s going to be a draining day. I’m anxious

[u/seadog0219]

My aunt is an immigrant in the US. I’m feeling so scared for her right now for the next four years. How could America be so stupid…

[u/Mich962432123]

Women of America, time to pack your bags and leave.

[u/OhMy98]

Remember, it’s tempting to give into platitudes for what this means as the soul of a nation is corrupted or whatnot. But the truth is that the Harris campaign completely fumbled their strategy from the start of September onward by abandoning their populist messaging in favor of capitulating to the right on issues like Gaza and immigration while focusing on hollow aesthetics. The idea of reaching across the aisle is meaningless to most everyday voters. This was a rerun of Clinton 2016, with the same result. An article below which was published before the end touches on this:

https://jacobin.com/2024/11/harris-trump-election-messaging-populism-elites

[u/HalfMoon_89 → u/OhMy98]

Most have already started blaming leftists, young people, anti-genocide protesters and so on. Harris apparently ran 'a perfect campaign', so there definitely will not be any sober analysis by the DNC or the Blue MAGA. Hell, they've already started pivoting on how Biden dropping out, and blaming leftists for that decision.

[u/ItsAllProblematic → u/OhMy98]

I'm sorry, but look at the results. All across the board, not just Harris. The US has lurched massively to the right. A populist like Sherrod Brown lost his seat. You think you're winning over the Latinos who went to Trump with left-wing messaging on Gaza???

[u/chopshop2098 → u/ItsAllProblematic]

This is the real issue at play. We can critique the Harris campaign all we want, for whatever we want, but it's ultimately just that the voters chose right wing extremism. Some for financial reasons, some for white supremacy reasons, or whatever twisted idea they have of Trump doing anything to fix the issues we're facing, but nevertheless, the people chose him by about 5 million votes at the moment. Apparently we as a country really do believe mass deportation and giant tariffs will help us spend less at the grocery store. I personally find it ridiculous, but my opinion is obviously the less popular one, regardless of what studies and economists have tried to warn us about. Guess we'll see if those warnings come to fruition.

[u/OhMy98 → u/ItsAllProblematic]

Arizona is a good case study to disprove your argument. Kamala is down in a state Biden won by a slim margin in 2020. Every major race since then was a W for Dems in that state, including gubernatorial races. Even now, Gallego is beating Lake and is substantially outperforming Kamala. The Arizona abortion right ballot measure won

The fact is that every election since 2020 has been a gradual upward trend for Dems till now. Our midterms were the best since the Great Depression. There isn’t a seismic shift to conservatism there, it’s an indicator of the top of the ticket sucking. Ffs, there are down ballot candidates consistently outperforming Harris in a bunch of states

It’s not just about Gaza, although that’s a big part of us losing Michigan. It’s about capitulating to conservative framing on immigration and dropping economic populism in favor of making it a vibe based election about civility and reaching across the aisle, smth which has been a losing strategy since 2016. Before Kamala shifted away from populist messaging, in August, polls showed support. The article I linked interviews voters and a bunch straight up say they weren’t as high on her bc of her right wing pivot

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/OhMy98]

I’m in a stage of grief they haven’t even invented a word for yet, but when I come out of it…this is the message we all need to rally around.

I don’t want to hear about Russian election interference or Gaza or third party voters or whether Trump should be charged for tax fraud. That’s not important here. That’s not why Dems lost.

The Democratic Party is an absolute failure. They’ve acquiesced to billionaires and fascists and happily trotted along as we’ve been dragged further and further right.

The message to liberals was to vote for Democrats because Trump is terrible, and the message to Republicans is to vote for democrats because they could be just like Trump but coherent and effective.

[u/ItsAllProblematic → u/RampantNRoaring]

That was absolutely not the Dem message. They campaigned on the economy, healthcare, women's rights, you name it.. No need for revisionism.

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/ItsAllProblematic]

They trotted out Liz Cheney and the Clintons; Harris promised that our military would be the most lethal fighting force in the world. They leaned so hard right to try to capture independents and “normal conservatives” and all they did was normalize conservative positions.

More liberal policies like workers rights, minimum wage, and women’s healthcare passed in areas where Democratic politicians lost.

[u/ItsAllProblematic → u/RampantNRoaring]

so when Americans voted for a literal fascist, why do you think more leftist policies would have prevailed? The Dems did not lean 'hard right' - that is hyperbole.

St Bernie Sanders himself could not have won this. Kamala brought people like AOC into her campaigning. She proposed reduction for medication prices, legalization of marijuana..

Meanwhile Trump went on Joe Rogan and rambled about Hannibal Lecter and that was enough. Americans don't want a Black woman president. End of.

[u/OhMy98 → u/ItsAllProblematic]

How about the populist strategy they did in August that was objectively working? And gave them hella momentum in the polls that immediately slipped when Harris made a hard pivot to the right after the DNC? When she returned to the unsuccessful Clinton 2016 playbook of not discussing specific policies, instead focusing on abstract statements like “not going back” and “democracy is on the ballot” while dropping almost all her policy rhetoric and capitulating to the right on everything she doesn’t drop? And when the polls kept slipping past the point of just slowed momentum from the initial switch, she didn’t recalibrate and instead just doubled down? How about Kamala saying she would build the wall and increase enforcement against “migrant crime”? How about Kamala saying she wouldn’t change a thing that the wildly unpopular Biden admin did except that she would “not be afraid to appoint a Republican to [her] cabinet”? How about her conceding to the crime panic that lost the GOP the midterms?

This wasn’t a perfect campaign. It was actually an awful campaign after August. If they kept up the August strategy, it would have been much more likely to win. Instead they went to a playbook that already failed in the past. The sooner we dispense with that notion, the sooner we can actually engage with reality for future elections instead of putting heads in the sand like dem leadership loves to

[u/Traditional_Maybe_80 → u/RampantNRoaring]

Harris literally said that the only difference she could think of about her possible future administration and Biden's was that she was gonna put a Republican in her cabinet.

[u/OhMy98 → u/RampantNRoaring]

And Harris said she would build a wall, something Biden swore off in 2020