As a phone bank volunteer, I hoped to counter the Republican attacks and half-truths, but people really believed them, says journalist and podcaster Oliver Hall

Summary

Gender bias played a significant role in Kamala Harrisā€™s defeat, with many votersā€”often womenā€”expressing doubts about whether ā€œAmerica is ready for a female president.ā€

Some said they ā€œcouldnā€™t see her in the chair,ā€ or questioned if a woman could lead, with one even remarking, ā€œyou donā€™t see women building skyscrapers.ā€ Though some voters were open to persuasion, this often became a red line.

Oliver Hall, a Harris campaign volunteer, found that economic concerns, particularly inflation, also drove voters to Donald Trump, despite low unemployment and wage growth touted by Democrats.

Harris was viewed in conflicting ways, seen as both too tough and too lenient on crime, as well as ineffective yet overly tied to Bidenā€™s administration.

Ultimately, Hall believes that Trumpā€™s unique appeal and influence overshadowed Harrisā€™s campaign efforts.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    215Ā·
    1 month ago

    Youā€™re right. Americans as a whole are more stupid and racist than was previously thought.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
      11Ā·
      1 month ago

      Itā€™s true but not for the reasons we may default to believing. That theyā€™re just stupid, bad people who hate because they donā€™t know better.

      Multiple times, I was told that Harris was a ā€œcommunistā€, ā€œcluelessā€ and that she had ā€œthrown black men in jail for carrying one bluntā€. One Latin American voter told me at length that she had ā€œseen it all before in South Americaā€.

      Those are all verbatim quotes from Fox News, redstate, talk radio, the massive ocean of right-wing bullshit that these fuckers dunk themselves in daily.

      Weā€™re losing to this garbage propaganda because we donā€™t invest in and understand media. As a nation, we donā€™t understand it at all.

      Itā€™s really that simple.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        7Ā·
        1 month ago

        Resisting garbage propaganda requires effort, and when that garbage propaganda is being sprayed at you through a firehose, not everyone has the resolve required to resist it.

        Lies and liars donā€™t have to defend themselves, because the message they send does not depend on being true.

    • Wes4Humanity@lemm.ee
      5Ā·
      1 month ago

      No, Trump voters are EXACTLY as stupid and racist as was previously thoughtā€¦ The mistake was thinking anyone was going to change their minds by meeting them in the middle, and thinking they could do so in a short amount of time without understanding how to really use social media propaganda (just bullying everyone while ignoring their legitimate demands was not a good strategy) shows how stupid the Dems are as a party