Past Voting Practices and People Wonder Why?
Reading way too many comments about not voting or not voting for Biden. We backed away from Clinton in 2016 and we got a morally defunct almost a fascist or maybe a want-a-be as the president. In 2020, Biden was not my first choice either. I had seen too many times the impact of his programs coming out of the Senate. However, he did carry us through a pandemic with various positive economic programs. He was the right man for the job and the issues.
The alternative today is trump again. People tend to call him a fascist. Others say differently. Roger Griffin, emeritus professor in modern history, Oxford Brookes University. “I don’t even think that (fascist) is in his mind. He is an exploiter, he’s a freeloader. He’s a wheeler and dealer. And that is not the same as an ideologue.”
I tire of having to deal with an HOA who is just in it for the money as sponsored by the Declarant and the developers. Our HOA Representative is tethered to her job with the Declarant. She says in every message to the homeowners, “I am excited and thrilled” to discuss the fixing of the aeration of the ponds (which they call lakes), etc. It has been only two years in the making and a bunch of story telling by the former HOA Representative. She wonders why no one takes her seriously.
I tire of listening to the whining and complaining about 2016 and the complaints about the Electoral College. Yes, the EC has its issues and no we can not fix them completely. We do more whoa’s-me than dealing with the issues at hand. Win. I did an analysis of what took place as I tired of listening to the supposition and conjecture dialogue. It is pretty -simple.
Three states did the 2016 election in for Democrats. It was not because Trump had voting landsides. It was because people decided not to vote or to vote for other things besides Democrats. Why is this any different than a HOA Representative who offers up silly platitudes? We spend large amounts of time trying to justify our actions rather than dealing with the Electoral College. Rather than trying to fix an unfixable issue in the short term. The real issue is getting people out to vote for our candidate Biden. What really happened in 2016?
Here are the voting numbers from 2012, 2016, and 2020.
The numbers in red are those who voted for “others” in three states in 2012, 2016, and 2020. As you can see 2016 was a big year for voting for “others.” As you can also see, the turnout was less in 2016 than in 2012 for Democrats. Not surprised . . . also only in Michigan did more Repubs turn out for trump. What a surprise there!
Here is a different look at it.
Some, much, all the time I hear about the Electoral College this or that and how unfair it is. So what would have happened if people had voted Democrat in 2016 rather than for “others.” Dem voting was down in 2016 as compared to 2012. Only in Pennsylvania and Michigan did Repubs turn out biggly. Dems were down in 2016. The Others vote for Mickey Mouse, your dog, etc. were up. I am assuming much of the others vote was disgruntled Democrats who did not want a woman as president or did not like the Clintons.
The Electoral College had nothing to do with trump being elected. And yes, the popular vote was greater for Dems. So what, that is not our system today.
Way to go Democrats!
This is a really interesting post. But run I think it goes a little off the rails when you speculate about “not wanting a woman as president or didn’t like the Clintons.” Do you really think that is what led to 2016? I can assure you those two issues are not in play in 2024 yet we still have a significant portion of the electorate leaning toward unconventional candidates. So, is it just the messenger, or is it something deeper in the message? I tend to think it’s just a weak messenger.
And that’s not even contemplating No Labels/Manchin. Replay of 1992. Bush/Clinton/Perot.
little john:
Not speculation in Michigan where I lived for 27 years and listened to the BS and threats of physical violence. Having also lived in Wisconsin, I experienced similar silliness. I post numbers not theory and speculation. The actions of what people did are there. And the whining afterwards was shrill. Dems fault in Michigan, Four weeks before the election we were warning the Dem base things were not looking good and more effort was needed.
The numbers bear it out.
Manchin is an idiot and playing both sides. WV will go from being 50% Repub to 100% Repub. in 2024. “But in the current Congressional session, FiveThirtyEight found that Manchin has voted with Biden’s position on 21.4% of bills, a change of -66.5 points.”
Wealthy politician voting with Repubs?
Oh and thank you for your opinion.
Interesting and helpful post; thank you.
I am struck by the distinctly poor ratings of the Administration, even though the economy is healthy and workers faring generally well. People are obviously troubled and possibly unwilling to explain why. A reason for the unease may rest in a distinctly troubled foreign policy.
ltr:
People do not know what they really experienced this go around. This could have been another 2008. It wasn’t. Congress went with Biden. People do not realize how much his actions saved them from a 2008 disaster.
i think this is relatively easy to explain. people are upset with the cost of living. they don’t want inflation to go back down to 2%; they want prices to return to the level of 2019. most people don’t know macroeconomics well enough to realize that 20% deflation would be detrimental to the economy.
the political ramifications here are a function of who got hit by inflation. the 2020-2022 period was great for homeowners, who either have no mortgages or who refinanced. personally, my total expenses in 2023 are lower than in 2019, because the reduction in my mortgage payments outpaced the inflation in everything else. meanwhile, my income is 25% higher. homeowners tend to be older and more likely to be republican. biden isn’t going to get much of a lift from them.
renters tend to be younger and live in urban areas, both of which are democratic constituencies. any wage gains they did receive were consumed by increased rents. this has soured them on biden. they don’t like trump at all, but a small decrease in turnout among democratic constituencies can swing the election result.
“People do not know what they really experienced this go around…”
This makes perfect sense, but I do wonder about a concern with international relations that strike me as more than just dangerous.
I believe the GOP intends for 2024 to be much like 2016.
They probably believe that with a little bit of luck, if necessary they can move the presidential succession to the House of Reps. But why take chances, if you can swing the votes in about 5 ‘swing’ states.
After all, 2016 was a classic example of how poorly served the US is served by the Electoral College, when the winner of the popular vote loses the elecoral vote. But very much like 2000 when the same thing happened. The difference being that in 2000 only one state was involved, along with shady dealing in the Supreme Court.
And not entirely unlike 2020, when we the US managed to get through an unsurrection and a scheme involving fake electoral votes. Having three tainted elections in 20 years ought to tell us something pretty disturbing. Shall we go for 4 in 24?
I think the most disturbing thing about the ‘fake electors’ scheme was it that it was sold as an ‘only if needed’ deal. To be used if courts decided there had been election irregularities, ‘alternate slates’ of electors had already done their ‘duty’. Rather than do a re-vote, just use them!
But then, when the court decision part didn’t work out the way the GOP wanted to, just use the alternate slates instead of the ‘contested’ ones instead anyway. Yuck.
This is a political party on its last legs, no longer legitimate.