Summary
Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign failed to connect with low-income workers due to a perceived lack of listening, according to AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US.
While union members largely supported Harris, many low-income voters backed Trump, swayed by his messaging on economic insecurity.
Despite Biden’s pro-labor policies, including infrastructure investments, the AFL-CIO now faces challenges under a likely Trump presidency.
AFL-CIO emphasized labor unions’ resilience and commitment to fighting rollbacks while advancing organizing efforts.
With public approval for unions at a near 60-year high, the labor movement plans both defensive and offensive strategies to protect workers.
Trump told people they were struggling and only he could fix it.
Kamala told people the economy was rebounding and they were gonna create more opportunities for the middle class.
People didn’t give a shit about what opportunities they were given. They also didn’t give a shit about a rebounding economy because none of them were feeling things getting better. Media kept saying real wages beat inflation finally. Only after 3 years of insane inflation where wages in no way kept up.
So sure, the economy is better than it was, and better than the rest of the world. But the shock happened and nothing was done to actually help the people that were suffering. Instead they were told by Democrats that ‘it could have been worse! And it will be worse under Trump’ basically admitting they weren’t really interested in helping.
So Trump, despite him not actually caring or really planning to do anything about it, stayed on message with something that resonated to voters. While Kamala assumed people wanted to start businesses? People can’t afford food but sure, let’s talk about how they have some opportunity to open a mom and pop shop across from Walmart.
I wouldn’t say Trump stayed on message, but he included it enough in the insane rambling.
The problem is that Harris was from the incumbent party and administration at a time of deep dissatisfaction with the economy. That’s an extremely difficult position to be in, and it’s made all the worse for her because as VP she gets all the blame by association but can’t really do much personally to adjust policy. She’s handcuffed to the status quo at a time when the vast majority want change.
Biden and Harris both chose to try to defend the status quo and spin things as more positive. This waa a mistake. I don’t know if they would have won by acknowledging the problems and portraying this as them leading through a time of crisis, and how they have plans to get us through, but it probably would have had a much better chance.
It also didn’t help that most of the things they did to address the economic woes were either indirect or only narrowly targeted (or canceled out by courts). News that a factory will eventually open and add jobs in one area doesn’t alleviate the concerns of the vast majority of voters, nor does processing student loan forgiveness for a few thousand people at a time under very specific programs. These things are good, but they don’t make most people feel better the way a more broadly applicable benefit would.
The campaign connected just fine with the college educated working class. It didn’t connect with the highschool or less education working class. IMO it seems the big party divide today is higher education.
Working class should refer to people whose income is primarily derived from selling their labor vs the value of their assets.
We need to start using the term working class correctly.
The main problem, IMHO, has two facets: (1) the Dems seem unable to muster the courage, will, self-sacrifice, or what-have-you, to rebalance wealth in this country such that Joe Average has a fighting chance at the same life Gramps had (a car, a house, sending the kids to college, etc.); (2) the American voter tends to be dumber than dogshit, and the dems refuse to see it. Therefore, they can’t develop a message that is digestible by the masses, nor a messenger who is enough the showman to entertain the crowd. I think we’re fucked until the Dems can address these issues. My confidence is quite low. What I see coming down the pike is ever increasing socioeconomic stratification, the logical endpoint of which is some break-point event that leads to societal upheaval and a restructuring of the American system. We are headed for crisis. When exactly we’ll get there, I don’t know. It took roughly my lifetime so far for shit to get this fucked (I’m mid 40s), I don’t give us another 40 years before some bad shit happens.
Harris did not even need a plan the way she started
all she had to do was acknowledge that yes there are issues and talk about them publicly
just like at the DNC instead of taking the win she was given others were let on the stage to talk that put a lot of fire out of her campaign
Harris could have won by a landslide with all that she was given and the people that initially supported her, but she fumbled so bad it feels intentional
It’s so great, after a couple of months, I’ll never have to see that losers face again. The memory of her name will also fade quickly.
It’s the small things. God surely blesses us.
First of all, fuck the Guardian; the best thing they ever did was leave X. They’ve been carrying water for the center-right as much as the left for a long time (American Granuiad that is, I dunno about the other one)
Secondly - BULLSHIT. YOU FUCKERS HAD THE CHANCE TO SAVE EARTH AND YOU DIDN’T. Don’t give me that “ignored the working poor” bullshit. FUCK OFF. Just because you see an opening to jam your moral high horse up the asshole of the election conversation YET AGAIN doesn’t mean you’re right any more than it ever did. We lost the chance to help the working poor. The working poor chose that? Fuck. They’re as evenly split as you arrogant bastards that had college paid for.
THE STAKES WERE THUS: SURVIVAL OR EXTINCTION. If you’re arguing that the Harris campaign insufficiently convinced enough mouth-breathing fucksticks not to vote for extinction, you’re wasting your time.
You non-republiQan fuckers didn’t show up. Plain and simple. So shut the fuck up about it. You suck, we’re all gonna die, the end.
