this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
42 points (93.8% liked)

politics

19221 readers
2545 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

This would be a valid argument for Trump 2016, when people had little to no clue what we were all in for.

People believe, first and foremost, the evidence of their own lived experiences. This isn't rational but it is how we're programmed to operate. And the lived experience of most voters is that, financially, they're doing worse under Biden than they were under Trump. They don't care that most of that was because of factors that weren't really directly connected to White House policy decisions (in the same way that the President doesn't control the price of gas); they just see that they are suffering, and feel that the people in charge must be responsible. It doesn't matter how terrible you tell them Trump's policies were compared to Bidens (and in case I somehow have to spell out my position here, yes, of course Trump's policies were terrible compared to Biden's) because they know how much money is in their bank account and that's really all that matters. Telling these people how much better off the country is doesn't mean shit if they're struggling to pay rent and buy groceries.

But in 2024, Trump wasn't saying "I'll help you". Trump was actively campaigning on grabbing you by the legs and pulling you deeper underwater.

Let's not be asinine. Of course Trump was saying "I'll help you." Yes, you and I have the context to examine his proposed solutions and immediately conclude that they will make things worse, but that's not a context that everyone shares. Like I already said, these people are drowning. Most people don't have enough understanding of policy to really judge the details of Trump's plans, and they don't have the time or attention to gain that understanding of policy. They're not interested in arguing over the details of how someone plans to save them, they just want to be saved. And they don't even have to be 100% convinced that Trump will be the better choice. Not even 50%, or 30%. What they are 100% convinced of, because it is the unquestionable evidence sitting right in front of them, is that they're poorer now than they were at the start of Biden's term, and that Harris, when asked what she would have done different, said "Not a thing." If there's even a 10% chance, in their eyes, that Trump's bullshit turns out to work, he's the better option, because it's obvious to them that there's a 0% chance that things will get better with the Dems. You can tell them all you like that Trump's policies are awful, but when the thing you propose instead is voting for the people who - as they see it - made things so much worse for them over the last four years, they're going to look at you like you're crazy.