Exit polls aren't perfect, but some of the exit polls showed that people liked Kamala Harris a smidge better, but thought that Trump would be significantly better on the economy. This "Republicans are better on the economy" is a tale as old as time, and seemed to break through despite Musk saying things like their plan is to crash the economy.
If Trump had won in 2020 and the economy was in the state it is now, I think it's very likely the democrat would have won. So much of our politics is circumstance, and if "Americans thought Democrats were worse" why did Biden get 7 million more votes than Trump in 2020. The #MeToo movement, BLM and most peak woke stuff happened during Trump's presidency and yet the country still chose the Democrats. Like most analysis of data, most of the takes over the next few weeks and months will be wrong.
I think in a sense a lot of what's happening is more of a spiritual argument than a political one. Who do people perceive will be more "normal" and "stable". Given the voices at the top of the Republican party, the next four years is bound for some overreactions, and Democrats will be perceived as the normal ones again.
This is not to say I don't think the Democrats have soul searching to do. I do think there are some gender alignments happening in Gen-Z an Gen-Alpha that need to be looked at, and the culture is constantly changing. The election of 2028 will be so much different than the election of 2024. But I think catastrophizing like this is also more click bait than anything tangible about "who is worse"
If Trump had won in 2020 and the economy was in the state it is now, I think it's very likely the democrat would have won. So much of our politics is circumstance, and if "Americans thought Democrats were worse" why did Biden get 7 million more votes than Trump in 2020. The #MeToo movement, BLM and most peak woke stuff happened during Trump's presidency and yet the country still chose the Democrats. Like most analysis of data, most of the takes over the next few weeks and months will be wrong.
I think in a sense a lot of what's happening is more of a spiritual argument than a political one. Who do people perceive will be more "normal" and "stable". Given the voices at the top of the Republican party, the next four years is bound for some overreactions, and Democrats will be perceived as the normal ones again.
This is not to say I don't think the Democrats have soul searching to do. I do think there are some gender alignments happening in Gen-Z an Gen-Alpha that need to be looked at, and the culture is constantly changing. The election of 2028 will be so much different than the election of 2024. But I think catastrophizing like this is also more click bait than anything tangible about "who is worse"