Are You Outraged? Your Outrage is Justified.

[MineralMan]

However, it's too late for that. Beginning right now, you can safely prepare for a constant stream of outrage to fill your emotional shopping cart.

Yes, I know that everyone here voted for Kamala Harris. That's good. Sadly, it wasn't enough. I must have posted a dozen times about the need for each of us to individually convince other voters who might not vote at all to go to the polls and vote for Harris.

Each of those posts sank quickly off the front page of General Discussion. I wasn't surprised because GOTV is not a popular subject on DU. However, the fact remains that many voters who might have voted for Kamala simply did not show up and vote at all. They weren't excited about the election. They were either bored or somehow believed that the election didn't matter. Maybe they couldn't get excited about voting for a woman. A black woman, for that matter. So, they didn't. The effect is obvious.

And we didn't convince them to put that ennui aside and vote for Harris anyhow. I talked three or four people I know into voting, despite their lack of excitement. So, I tripled or quadrupled my own vote. Had everyone done that, across the board, we would not be listening to Trump celebrate or whine about the flags being at half mast for Jimmy Carter.

Am I angry? No. I'm not even surprised. We keep doing this again and again. People stayed home and Hillary Clinton lost, too. Then, it was Harris. Earlier, it has been other unexciting Democrats who lost to the likes of Nixon, Reagan and the Bush crowd. We just keep doing that.

Now, I'm pushing 80 years old, and may not ever get to vote for another President. I may, but I also may not. It makes me sad, not angry, that Donald J. Trump will sit again in the White House. How can that even be? Well, it can be. It is. As voters, we did it, whether we voted for him or not.

Maybe we'll figure this all out at some point, but I won't be here to cheer, I'm afraid.

It's all very disappointing, my friends.

[MineralMan]

1. One More Thought: Maybe We Shouldn't Be "Underground"

Maybe we should be "Out Front" instead.

[Tesha]

2. I agree

Too many on the left only spoke with the left, who were already voting left.
When what we needed was to speak to the folks on the right and in the middle and to those who just didn’t know anything.

Their media lied.
Their ads lied.
Their politicians lied.
Our media pretended that this was just a normal election and lied either by omission or right out loud.

And no one called them on it except the lefties to the lefties.

[Bluethroughu]

5. My husband and I talked to everyone, my kids got

New voters to register and vote...

The disinformation was unrelenting. We would talk to people they would agree, but then go back to their same misinfo. Sources and rehash the same issues, agree then start the process all over again.

Brainwashing is not easily undone, when the misinfo is antagonistic in the lives and algorithms from which they depend.

[yellow dahlia]

11. It is really difficult to talk to people who are brainwashed.

The propaganda from the right wing media and out of the mouths of Repugs (every time they open their mouth) is difficult to combat.

I don't have a lot of those people in my world, but I am stunned by their willingness to align with the radicalized authoritarian cult that is dressed up as the RepubliCON party.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Good points made, and of course, it was disappointing to me, that not enough voted for Kamala to cement

her victory. I assumed watching her at her huge rallies and seeing how tRUMP was whining about the attendance of her rallies vs. his (what doesn't he gripe about?), that she was going to be aok vote-wise.

Of course, after I voted and then went to bed that night and found out that she lost, I was disappointed. A lot of us were.

Huge amounts of money were raised too, so that's not the issue, I suspect. Pointing fingers isn't going to solve this, getting voters to the polls, perhaps it was a matter of voter fatigue, but I don't know, djt was running nonstop for president for four f**king years. You would think that that would alone, driven people away from tRUMP.

Maybe it was the endless election cycle this year? It seemed like it went on forever, and if tRUMP was trying to bore people to death (and he did), he succeeded. He may have won by boring voters to death, they voted for him to shut up. This is not the 100% of why he won, but I do wonder.

We have had two cycles that we've lost a presidential election. We also had a presidential candidate who was changed at the last minute due to age. How could we have let this get so far? How could a candidate get this far into the process and us not catch it? Do we need to buff up our primary processes and bring in more aggressive and youthful candidates from the very get go? Lots of questions but I fear no answers. I think we're all shell-shocked still, perhaps.

At least this time around, anything that tRUMP does will be done in broad daylight for the most part. We'll see how much he screws up.

[Kaleva]

8. I was expecting a Harris victory based on record donations,

large, enthusiastic crowds at her rallies and the number of people who volunteered to work on her campaign. This,despite the polls showing the race was tight, got me to thinking the Harris was on track to win. I also believed that women were going to turn out in force for Harris.

I believed what I wanted to believe and ignored evidence that Trump could very well win

[Elessar Zappa]

12. Same here.

I was in a “bubble” that I didn’t realize I was in until I evaluated things after Trump won. I believed things that went against the actual data being presented.

[Initech]

26. Bezos, Musk, and Soon-Singh helped flip the election. So did Jill Stein.

For that they must be made to suffer, but they won't. They are probably happy with their terrible decision to sell the US out to authoritarianism. In the long run, it will affect their bottom line as much as it will ours. Trump's shitty policies will come back to bite them in the ass too.

[SWBTATTReg]

30. I hope so. I hope everyone of these who voted for tRUMP and his idiotic ramblings, policies and worse, will

come to seriously regret their choices. Time will soon tell.

In the meantime, I plan on boycotting all things tRUMP, news articles, blogs, you name it, if the article or news mentions the POS, I'm gone in a flash. I want nothing to do w/ the POS.

[hunter]

4. Convincing potential Republican voters to sit out an election may work as well.

There are a lot of people who were never going to vote for Harris for religious, sexist, or racist reasons. I'm hopeful that I convinced a few "Conservative" Christians that Trump was the devil. I feel less successful with some self-proclaimed leftists who seem to think the world needs to burn before things get better.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Democrats need to lose the emotion and retain the steely hard focus on maintaining the rights of people. . . . . nt

[cadoman]

7. it is not safe to talk to MAGATS

Every eligible voter I know voted Harris. Everyone who didn't: I have CEASED ALL CONTACT with them.

That is the rational thing to do as it punishes them for their behavior.

It is the politically beneficial thing to do (MAGATISM is powered by attentive energy).

But most importantly, that is the safe thing to do. There is no telling when stating a single, simple fact will activate a MAGAT rage episode and leave everyone in the vicinity blown up to death with an assault weapon.

We have just safely migrated and begun real discourse again over on Bluesky. There is no sense in going back out into the information wilds until the government is willing to tame it again. Frankly, I'm not sure the average intellect can withstand the pressure of constant MAGATISM.

[barbtries]

9. i did make these efforts.

with neighbors, family, and friends. you were not the only one committed to seeing Kamala elected.

[MineralMan]

10. And I thank you for that.

Too few did so, though.

[Elessar Zappa]

13. Yes, I agree.

I always make it a goal to convince at least two non-voters to vote. I convinced only one this year, unfortunately. But yes, GOTV is so important. When people don’t vote, Democrats lose.

[MineralMan]

17. Thank you!

[orangecrush]

14. I hope the country survives orange Caligula again

If it doesn't, they brought it down on all of us.

[The Madcap]

15. I believe the outrage will continue

as long as people are told what they should have in life but are locked out from having it by the system. There's nothing like the combination of high expectations/desires and being permanently denied them to foster anger. Like we all should be in big houses and driving fancy cars, when in fact we are lucky to have a two-bedroom bungalow and a 1991 Ford Taurus with 250K on it.

That Taurus would make me bitter, too.

[young_at_heart]

16. It all "hit home" for me.....I'm 85!

I can't help being depressed because it makes me physically sick to know this creature will be my president during my "long goodbye".

[Bumbles]

18. I'm 82 and am sad as well that I may not be able to vote in another Presidential election.

When we learned Kamala had lost, my son's first reaction was sadness that what may end up being the last years of my life will be lived with that grotesque face and his dastardly deeds dominating the news. I told him that will be my inspiration to live long enough to see him gone.

[KS Toronado]

19. For 2026 we need a message/platform that will attract Rs to our side

I still believe a "war" of the poor vs the rich, a 99% vs the 1%, occupy wall street type plan is what we
should be aiming for. We need to make the greedy oligarchs look evil with Elon Musk as their poster
child caring more about their bank accounts than peoples lives (health insurance companies)

Love to see everybody on our side to end conversations with "but don't believe me, use that smart
phone you're holding". I've had a lot of success with "We all know the United States is #1 for _______
who's #2 & #3?" and out come the phones. With the world's largest economy we should be #1 in
a lot of categories and we're not.

If we could only get people to look up knowledge for themselves instead of just accepting as truth
what MSM owned by the greedy oligarchs want them to hear.

[ecstatic]

20. I'm just so disappointed in so many people

We were let down by a lot of people, between republican senators, the Supreme Court, the media, ignorant voters and spiteful voters.

I feel sooooo betrayed and heartbroken by Garland/Barr and the DOJ. The way things were handled... the slow walking of everything until just before the election... Was that part of the plan too? To put on a farce of pursuing trump but time things in a way where trump would be pitied, just in time for the gop primaries? And spare me the bullshit about the time it takes to investigate things. Our country was attacked. trump should have been arrested that same fucking night on January 6th. Nobody would have been surprised and nobody would have questioned it. In fact, trump's entire staff was expecting it.

By the way, I don't blame Jack Smith for this debacle--contrary to what Garland was expecting, Smith did everything he could in what little time he was given. So many individuals did the right thing and attempted to hold trump accountable but they were not supported in their attempts, and now those heroes will be at risk come January 20th.

As far as outrage, yes I'm also outraged, but this time I won't be seated on trump's neverending emotional roller coaster. I'm not going to follow or engage in it. Anyone whose life is fucked up as a result of this election, before I waste an ounce of sympathy, my very first question will always be: did you vote and who did you vote for?

And yes, you'll be around post-trump because you have the right attitude. I'm now in my 40s and I question whether I'll be around much longer. Writing this post has made it clear to me that I am still extremely angry and that might be toxic for my own longevity.

[B.See]

21. My sentiments Exactly, MM.

It was as if all the warnings, all the revelations about Project 2025, the right wing undermining of the vote, the heightened lies, misinformation, hate speech and supremacist demagoguery,

all the concern and alarm over polling indicators and potential outcomes of a Trump MAGA victory - went for naught - either ignored or dismissed.

I'd written in several pieces how Americans interested in PRESERVING democracy needed to be at least as dedicated and MOTIVATED, as Trump and his MAGAS were (ARE) about destroying it.

Apparently, too many either underestimated the nature of who/WHAT MAGA IS, what drives them, or simply weren't interested enough to recognize the threat and RISE TO THE OCCASION.

Weren't willing to wake the fuck up, as I'd often written.

And sadly to say, I wasn't surprised either. Disappointed, angry, and outraged as all HELL, yes.

But not surprised.

[question everything]

22. The other side raised valid points that were ignored

Yes, it is easy to claim racism and misogyny. It is easy to talk about "the media" "corporate" and others.

As I have posted here several times: the economy has improved, inflation went down, many more jobs... these were published in the WSJ, but comments always were: but grocery prices are high. No one had a reply to this.

A friend in Chicago last summer was dismayed about all the migrants on the streets; "60 Minutes" showed migrants easily entering through a tear in the fence with no one stopping them. (Oh, wait, is "60 minutes" a corporate enemy now?)

And an interesting opinion in the WaPo (oh, wait, is the WaPo now the enemy too?)

Why did Bidenomics fail to deliver at the polls? - WaPo

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016393111

Manufacturing employs only about 13 million of the nearly 160 million workers toiling outside of farms. Fewer than 1.4 million of those are represented by unions. The industrial policies and the trade barriers, speeches at the picket line and talk of factories returning to left-behind rural areas, were all aimed at a small corner of American society.

“A policy that promises to restore the middle class by bringing manufacturing back is not only unrealistic,” Rodrik wrote for Project Syndicate. “It also rings hollow, because it does not align with workers’ aspirations and everyday experiences.”

There are nearly 16 million workers in retail trade, 17 million in leisure and hospitality, almost 18 million in health care. For sure, they benefited from some of Biden’s policies. But incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act for contractors to work with union labor did nothing for them. So perhaps the lesson for some future Democratic administration hoping to assist the working class is not necessarily that populist policies don’t work. It is that these policies need to be aimed at what America has become, not what it was a bunch of decades ago.

====

I am glad you are holding a mirror because, sadly, on these pages, it is always blaming others. Many electoral votes come from rural areas so I don't understand why there is so much hatred and contempt to rural voters.

Here, in Minnesota, the governor and the senators won thanks to rural voters, though the percentage has been shrinking.

Rural Montana had a Democratic Senator - Jon Tester - and a Governor - Steve Bullock (who also entered the 2020 primaries) as was Ohio - Sherrod Brown, all won in rural areas and all lost.

Yes, racism and misogyny played a role. There are too many voters who think that a man should be a President and perhaps we should not try to force the issue to "stand on principle." I also think that not many voters would trust a Californian.

It still bothers me that four governor participated in the 2020 primaries and did not make a dent. Instead, the ones who promised freebies made it to the final stage. (And Kudos to my candidate until she withdrew, Klobucher, for opposing this).

And, you ignored the elephant in the room: the uncertainty about Biden. I will always be grateful to Biden for concluding every single speech, including the last State of the Union, the same, positive way:

“We are the United States of America. And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.”

As opposed to the anger of Sanders - who is not even a Democrat but apparently does not bother many - and Warren.

I think that it was assumed that he would be a one term president to bring us to normalcy. And perhaps some day he will be recognize as one of the best with all the bills that he signed. But last year, even before that fateful debate, he was perceived as too old for this demanding job. Again, not on these pages but..

Sadly. Trump managed to generate enthusiasm and we did not. We did not have the answers to issues that they raised and, yes, our "identity politics." I can see a rural, white person thinking: the Democrats care about blacks, and Latinos (who, BTW, voted in large numbers for Trump), women, Asians, gay (and lets forget for now the trans ad which caused so much damage) where do I fit?

I hope that we will do better in the midterm as we should. And I think that we have identified great candidate for 2028 and we should work with them and encourage them and donate to them. And I hope that we can follow Biden positive approach.

OK, start shooting. Still, thank you for the comments.

[La Coliniere]

25. Your post is incredibly valid.

The points you make should be front and center in how Democrats proceed.

[EYESORE 9001]

23. Outrage as a way of life has been on my mind a lot lately

I’m pushing hard against 70 myself - a mere matter of days, matter of fact. A mere pup in comparison. Still, I’ve been honing my wisdom-distillation skills since the election on any number of topics, and outrage had remained near the top of emotional responses.

Until it occurred to me that indulging my outrage released endorphins, that is. Had I become an outrage junkie? What number of people throughout society get a little thrill from feeling moral superiority followed by another shot of endorphins when they elicit a similar response from someone else? As good as sharing a juicy piece of gossip. Is it wrong to view outrage as anger where the skids are greased with self-righteousness?

[Blue_Tires]

24. Oh, I know my outrage is justified

[cliffside]

27. Hang in there, my 97+ Aunt in her over 55 community led the charge to GOTV ...

and the asshole will most likely be her last vote.

Keep moving

[Bread and Circuses]

28. Disagree! I've tried over the years

Some of these acquaintances keep saying that it doesn’t matter , that all politicians are crooks,

Some are just lazy and will not inform themselves. It’s better if they don’t vote . Quite frankly, they would vote for the circus.

And these are middle class people who should be concerned.

Some people choose ignorance over responsibility. And there’s nothing to be done.

I did write letters, postcards and phone banked for Harris because I will continue to do the work.

But, I know that each person needs to have a moral compass to be compassionate. And,we now nw that at least 1/3 of adults have none.

So, we make plans without them. Put the effort into the people who show up, we can depend upon ourselves.

[betsuni]

29. I don't get the "people stayed home" thing.

2012's 65,915,795 votes for Obama, Hillary's 65, 853,514 in 2016. What's the big difference that meant people stayed home in 2016? 2024's 75,019,257 was higher than every election including 2008 except 2020's big 81 million. I didn't see any enormous "excitement" or "inspiration" about Biden, more voting against Trump.

Why blame Kamala for not being exciting as if that must be the reason? Doesn't even mean anything. Rallies, how much money a candidate has -- no guarantees there. Also, the thing about "staying home" -- nobody's "staying home" like if they go out they might forget they're not excited and accidentally vote.