The article makes a fair point (see below), but to me, it's all about policy. Stupid policy. Unbelievably stupid policy which evidently people like @fbh1 ignore because they think it is a popularity contest.
At heart, Democrats’ biggest problem is that their insularity is much worse than that of their Republican counterparts. Yes, both parties are living in their own ideological media bubbles. But it’s worse for the Democrats. Within their bubble, denial has reigned supreme as they have pursued their own hobbyhorses.
Instead of addressing voters’ concerns, the Democratic political class and their friends in the establishment media continue to focus on Trump’s threat to democracy, his odd behavior and their own supposed victim status. In short, the Democrats are running on issues they care about, not issues that voters care about. The Harris campaign has become comfort food for an anxious, bewildered political class.
None of this is news. The public is well aware of Trump’s strangeness and decline. The public knows what happened on January 6 and does not approve. Trump being Trump has held him back. But that only goes so far.
For the last two years, voters have been telling Democrats that inflation is their top concern. President Biden and the Democratic political class have conspicuously ignored them. In the most recent YouGov poll, 96 percent of respondents called inflation “very” or “somewhat” important. In October 2023 it was 95 percent, and in October 2022 it was 95 percent. In each survey, inflation was the top issue by a very long way.
Nor did voters want Biden to run again. In October 2022, only 21 percent of voters and just 10 percent of independents wanted Biden back on the ballot. A year later, those figures were 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively. By April 2024, about when YouGov stopped asking the question, Democrats had rallied somewhat to Biden, lifting him to 30 percent. But independents were still opposed to a Biden run, at 70 percent against to 16 percent in favor.
At heart, Democrats’ biggest problem is that their insularity is much worse than that of their Republican counterparts. Yes, both parties are living in their own ideological media bubbles. But it’s worse for the Democrats. Within their bubble, denial has reigned supreme as they have pursued their own hobbyhorses.
Instead of addressing voters’ concerns, the Democratic political class and their friends in the establishment media continue to focus on Trump’s threat to democracy, his odd behavior and their own supposed victim status. In short, the Democrats are running on issues they care about, not issues that voters care about. The Harris campaign has become comfort food for an anxious, bewildered political class.
None of this is news. The public is well aware of Trump’s strangeness and decline. The public knows what happened on January 6 and does not approve. Trump being Trump has held him back. But that only goes so far.
For the last two years, voters have been telling Democrats that inflation is their top concern. President Biden and the Democratic political class have conspicuously ignored them. In the most recent YouGov poll, 96 percent of respondents called inflation “very” or “somewhat” important. In October 2023 it was 95 percent, and in October 2022 it was 95 percent. In each survey, inflation was the top issue by a very long way.
Nor did voters want Biden to run again. In October 2022, only 21 percent of voters and just 10 percent of independents wanted Biden back on the ballot. A year later, those figures were 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively. By April 2024, about when YouGov stopped asking the question, Democrats had rallied somewhat to Biden, lifting him to 30 percent. But independents were still opposed to a Biden run, at 70 percent against to 16 percent in favor.
