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Democrats conducting post-mortems on their sweeping losses in 2024 are
finding more reason for alarm. And the problem isnÆt just Kamala Harris or
Joe Biden.
In a trio of focus groups, even voters who previously backed Democrats
cast the party as weak and overly focused on diversity and elites,
according to research by the progressive group Navigator Research.
When asked to compare the Democratic Party to an animal, one participant compared the party to an ostrich because ôtheyÆve got their heads in the
sand and are absolutely committed to their own ideas, even when theyÆre failing.ö Another likened them to koalas, who ôare complacent and lazy
about getting policy wins that we really need.ö Democrats, another said,
are ônot a friend of the working class anymore.ö
The focus group research, shared first with POLITICO, represents the
latest troubling pulse check for a party still sorting through the
wreckage of its November losses and looking for a path to rebuild. Without
a clear party leader and with losses across nearly every demographic in November, Democrats are walking into a second Trump presidency without a unified strategy to improve their electoral prospects. And while some
Democrats blame Biden, others blame inflation and still others blame
ôlosing hold of culture,ö the feedback from the focus groups found
DemocratsÆ problems are even more widespread and potentially long-lasting
than a single election cycle.
The focus groups offer ôa pretty scathing rebukeö of the Democratic Party brand, said Rachael Russell, director of polling and analytics at
Navigator Research, a project within the Hub Project, which is a
Democratic nonprofit group.
ôThis weakness they see, [Democrats] not getting things done, not being
able to actually fight for people ù is something that needs to be figured
out,ö Russell said. ôIt might not be the message, it might be the policy.
It might be something a little bit deeper that has to be addressed by the party.ö
The focus groups ù held immediately after the 2024 election and conducted
by GBAO, a Democratic polling firm ù featured three kinds of voters: young
men in battleground states who voted for Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024; voters in battleground states who voted for Biden in 2020 but didnÆt vote
at all in 2024; and voters in blue states who had previously voted for Democrats, a third party candidate or didnÆt vote in 2020 but voted for
Trump in 2024.
ôI think what the Democratic elites and their politicians believe is often
very different from what the average Democratic voter is,ö said a Georgia
man who voted for Biden in 2020 but Trump in 2024. ôThe elites that run
the Democratic Party ù I think theyÆre way too obsessed with appealing to
these very far-left social progressivism thatÆs very popular on college campuses.ö
These voters voiced cautious optimism about TrumpÆs second term, both in
the focus groups and a post-election poll that found TrumpÆs highest
approval rating since 2020 in a GBAO survey. The national poll, which
surveyed 1,000 people, found 47 percent viewed Trump favorably, while 50 percent disapproved of him ù the highest marks heÆs received since he left office.
Russell argued that TrumpÆs high marks reflect a ôhoneymoonö period, which
she predicted will fade once he takes office: ôOnce things start
happening, itÆs going to take a turn, and so itÆs going to rely really
heavily on the actions in the first 100 days to see how we go from here.ö
She also noted that the polling suggests openings for Democrats on issues
like abortion, health care and taxing the rich, as well as a fear that
Trump may go too far on tariffs. Their survey also showed that two-thirds
of voters said inflation should be the incoming presidentÆs top issue, but
only a third of voters believed it was TrumpÆs or RepublicansÆ top issue.
When the focus group participants were asked about inflation and tariffs,
many of them said they didnÆt fully understand the policy, while others acknowledged they expected prices to go up.
ôObviously I wouldnÆt want stuff to go up, but at the same time, in the
long run, would it be better off for America and maybe having more stuff
made here?ö said one man from Wisconsin.
Even though the focus group voters did not solely blame Harris for their distaste of the Democratic Party, they also werenÆt happy about her
candidacy. Participants described her as ôinauthentic,ö ôvery dishonestö
and ôdid not seem competent.ö
An Arizona man, citing the time Harris said, ôyou better thank a union
member,ö during a speech in Detroit, said ôthat was very disingenuous to
me because I didnÆt see an honest person that could be president.ö
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ôIt seemed like a lot of what she came out and said wasnÆt really off-the- cuff, wasnÆt coming from her,ö said another man who voted for Biden in
2020 and Trump in 2024. ôSeemed like every interview, every time she came
out and talked about something, it was planned out and never her thoughts, didnÆt seem genuine to her thoughts, whereas, Trump, even though you never really knew what he was going to say, when he was going to say it, it was always him and genuine to what he thought, so thatÆs what swayed me.ö
The feedback on Harris comes as the vice president mulls her own future, weighing a third presidential run against a bid for California governor in 2026. Some party loyalists have said theyÆd back another presidential run, arguing that BidenÆs late exit from the race burdened the vice presidentÆs three-month sprint. But others are not ready to get on board for it.
Several participants also raised the transgender attack ad that the Trump campaign deployed against Harris, which showed a 2019 clip of her
expressing support for gender affirming surgery for state prison inmates.
The adÆs tagline included: ôKamala is for they/them. President Trump is
for you.ö
Democrats disagree on the potency of the attack ad, but several
participants raised it unprompted in the focus groups.
Lagging turnout was a major problem for Democrats in November. One woman
from Georgia who didnÆt vote in 2024 said that she didnÆt agree with
HarrisÆ ôthinking that itÆs okay for children to change their body parts.ö
ôI think that there needs to be some parameters on whatÆs accepted in
society and what isnÆt. Some of the societal norms, and I think that the Democrats have tried to open that up a little too much,ö said a woman from Wisconsin who also didnÆt vote in 2024.
When asked by the moderator if she was referring to the ôtrans issue,ö the woman said, ôprimarily that.ö
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/22/democrats-2024-election-problem- focus-group-00195806
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November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
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