Oliver Hall writes that the obvious cause of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump was not poor message quality (I think it was difficult to convince American voters to choose Harris over Trump) I spent hours trying to figure out why she lost (November 9th). In fact, the Democratic Party’s message is not that bold. But this is to be expected from a party that is not taking bold action on the economy, which is the biggest issue for voters.
I come from a low income Mexican American family and community in San Diego. Voters in my community who don’t have a college education are very dissatisfied with the economic situation under President Joe Biden. Most of them don’t follow the news or are fully aware of President Trump’s past words and actions. I also heard voters repeating right-wing arguments they had seen on YouTube. There is little that can counter this propaganda.
Rather than reacting to Project 2025 reactively, where is the Democratic Party’s own Project 2025? Rather than defensively claiming he is not a socialist, President Trump points out that his popular coronavirus stimulus payments are socialist and that we can provide more than that. What about that? The phrase “There’s nothing we can do” is hardly new to Democrats, used to mock Democratic campaign slogans online.
As a college-educated voter, I did not vote for either candidate. That’s because the left has repeatedly called on Democratic governments to abolish student loans, support universal health care, abolish the filibuster, and expand the courts. The status quo tells me they won’t respond to anything but the rudest of wake-up calls. I hope this is the case.
Vanessa Torres
San Diego, California, USA
Although I appreciated many of Oliver Hall’s points, I disagreed with his conclusions. I agree that Donald Trump is a unique character who has been almost counterintuitively effective at rallying support among Americans. But Hall fails to identify what Michael Tomasky successfully describes in his recent op-ed for the New Republic. Tomasky wrote that the billionaire-backed conservative information establishment led by Fox News and X now enjoys a larger audience than mainstream media.
It is well documented that totalitarian states control the distribution of information. In our uniquely American democratic way, we have voluntarily created such a climate. Business people fund and set up so-called news sources that heavily censor information. They oppose, belittle, silence dissent, and choose which politicians to support. As long as we have such a divided “news” environment, where journalistic principles are rarely upheld, and from which our citizens form their beliefs, opinions, and actions, we will see little change.
david howsam
Eugene, Oregon, USA
The reasons why Donald Trump won are far more fundamental, and in fact far more primitive, than anything I’ve ever read. It’s not the economy, it’s not borders, it’s not guns, it’s not God. It’s all that, but none of it. It’s simply this. He works with people on a pre-rational level and makes them feel good about themselves. He justifies their anger and fear. God eases their anxiety and eases their worries. Truth, lies, facts, and “alternative facts” don’t matter. They are just rationalizations based on emotions. Democrats don’t understand this.
Joan Resendez
Bristol, Rhode Island, USA
Like Oliver Hall, I have repeatedly called out voters in battleground states for Kamala Harris. No one mentioned her gender. I’ve talked to many people who voted for Donald Trump the first time and Joe Biden the second time, but were so disillusioned with both parties that they couldn’t vote for anyone this time. Those people often cited inflation and immigration as reasons why they couldn’t vote for Harris. Perhaps that’s why Harris underperformed Biden nationally.
Stuart Bauchner
new york city usa
Oliver Hall’s article was a detailed and comprehensive explanation of why he will not vote for Kamala Harris. To me, the obvious conclusion is that ordinary voters (including myself) simply don’t have enough information to vote. We are asking voters to vote on issues we have little understanding of. The economy and abortion were the two main issues in this election. Despite my keen interest in politics, I confess to knowing little to nothing about these issues. Certainly not enough to have an informed opinion to vote. What do you know about the causes of inflation and the rising prices of gasoline, food, and medicine?
Currently, voters receive “information” from the mass media and are offered “bribes” by elected representatives (politicians) who appeal to the voters’ self-interest. All those seeking power need is money and media to manipulate voters. That’s exactly what Trump did. So it’s no surprise to me that he was re-elected.
We need to change the system so voters can get information from experts on a variety of issues. Surely, on a particular issue, a randomly selected “jury” of voters could come to a more reliable and representative decision after being informed by experts for several days?
The problem is “infotainment.” The role of media today is less to inform and more to entertain in order to attract clicks and make money. “News” has thus become a poisonous diet of crime, conflict, scandal, violence, disaster, etc. The presentation is sensational and hyperbolic. The media should stick to what it does best: entertainment. News and information for voters should be provided by experts in the field, free from commercial pressure.
Don Nixon
Aberfoyle Park, South Australia
