What did Democrats do wrong?

[Emily's Cat]

Obviously not billionaires, grifters, and pedophiles

No, I'm taking the view that anyone who thinks Trump's tenure was anywhere near as good as Biden's needs to lay off the lead paint cocktails. Biden/Harris aren't above criticism, but don't try gaslighting us with that "both sides" ◊◊◊◊.

I think you're failing to consider other perspectives than your own. For all intents, you're taking the position that the only people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term are bad people. I think that's short sighted, and inaccurate.

 

[dirtywick]

Obviously not billionaires, grifters, and pedophiles

it’s been extra good for them. for a cut of what you’ve defrauded people out of you can either be pardoned and not have to pay back your victims if you’ve been convicted, or drop the investigation before you get in any trouble.

unless you’re heavy into insider trading, whatever benefit these stupid people thought they were going to get from electing trump has likely already been offset by inflation and decline of the dollar.

there’s no really a reasonable case for trump to be made even before the election, and obviously today that’s been proven out. it’s disastrous. they just don’t want you to be so mean about it. or they’ll vote for him a third time and blame you for it again.

 

[The Atheist]

I think you're failing to consider other perspectives than your own. For all intents, you're taking the position that the only people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term are bad people. I think that's short sighted, and inaccurate.

Quite right.

Remind us of that time Biden tried to foment a coup d'etat to retain power, when he tried to nuke a hurricane and that time he thought you can kill coronavirus with bleach, shove his way to the front of G20 photos and abuse reporters who asked questions he didn't like

 

[Susheel]

Obviously not billionaires, grifters, and pedophiles

No, I'm taking the view that anyone who thinks Trump's tenure was anywhere near as good as Biden's needs to lay off the lead paint cocktails. Biden/Harris aren't above criticism, but don't try gaslighting us with that "both sides" ◊◊◊◊.

I think our interlocutors know this...but how else can they validate their arguments without gaslighting. Just look at the ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ about masculinity a few posts up.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Yes, people who think Biden was worse than Trump 1.0 or 2.0 are bad people - they are objectively bad for the Country.

Give me one redeeming feature of Trump or MAGA.

Just one, please.

 

[dann]

Yes, people who think Biden was worse than Trump 1.0 or 2.0 are bad people - they are objectively bad for the Country.
Give me one redeeming feature of Trump or MAGA.
Just one, please.

Give me one redeeming feature of 'We-can-do-both' Biden, just one, but one that really matters, not mere window dressing – something other than, 'Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Trump.'

I think you're failing to consider other perspectives than your own. For all intents, you're taking the position that the only people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term are bad people. I think that's short sighted, and inaccurate.

I have upset many people here by saying that it's important to distinguish between different categories of people who voted for Trump.
Some of you are racist bigots who got more or less what you hoped for, i.e. the crumbling minority who still stick with Trump.
Others are dumb and ignorant, the ones who FAFOed.
Some didn't approve of the way Democratic alternatives to first Hillary Clinton and then Kamala Harris were sidelined by the DNC, so they made the mistake to fall for Trump's apparent populism. Another FAFO category.
Some didn't approve of the leading Democrats and their support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
There are no doubt other categories with other motivations for voting MAGA.

And they have to be approached differently.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Anti trust.

 

[dann]

Unfortunately, Emily's Cat is right about this:

Nearly 5000 posts in, over a year of discussion, and no consensus.

How about this? In the run-up to the 2020 election, the cornerstone of the Democratic campaign pretty much boiled down to "We're not Trump". Trump is dislikeable enough that this was persuasive for the election. Unfortunately, between 2020 and 2024, it turned out that Biden wasn't materially better than Trump as far as a whole lot of people were concerned. But for the 2024 election... the Dem campaign still sounded mostly like "We're not Trump", and that simply was no longer an effective selling point.

And what is even more unfortunate is that ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ like James Carville and many other Democratic strategists still thought so even after Trump got elected the second time. And people are fed up with this attitude. Carville explicitly recommended the roll-over-and-play-dead-and-wait-for-people-to-tire-of-Trump strategy. I.e. 'We have nothing to offer, no resistance, only token opposition, deal with it because we're the only alternative.'
It's not a winning strategy, so don't blame Emily's Cat for pointing that out.

Even at this point, i.e. when people, including many Trump voters, actually have tired of him, it is not as if mainstream Democrats can muster anything remotely similar to the enthusiasm of Trump voters before the 2024 election. They were enthusiastic for entirely wrong reasons, and there's not much left of that enthusiasm, but that's what you're up against.
The Democrats who do get a response somewhat similar to Trump from his MAGA base in ¨24 are people like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mamdani and apparently Talarico, i.e. the kind of Democrats that the DNC are trying to figure out a way to screw over in the midterms.


ETA:

Many Democrats are still down on the Democratic Party, a new AP-NORC poll finds (AP, Feb 18, 2026)
Democratic candidates have notched a series of wins in recent special elections — but a new AP-NORC poll finds views of the Democratic Party among rank-and-file Democrats have not bounced back since President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024.
Only about 7 in 10 Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party, according to new polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While the overwhelming majority of Democrats still feel good about their party, they’re much less positive than they’ve been in the past.

 

[dann]

Anti trust.

Was it anything other than window dressing? A declaration of good intentions? Was it anything more than signing an international climate agreement while drilling, drilling, drilling?

Executive Order 14036 (Wikipedia)
Signed on July 9, 2021, the order served to establish a "whole-of-government effort to promote competition in the American economy" by encouraging stronger enforcement of antitrust law.
(...)
The order was revoked by President Donald Trump on August 13, 2025.

Much like the climate agreement. The only thing left is all the CO₂ that Big Oil managed to pump into the atmosphere during Biden's presidency. That's the Biden-Harris ticket's lasting legacy – for all of us.

Why do you guys keep defending it?


ETA:

The Great Zaganza, do you understand what happened here?
Do you understand the trick ahhell was playing on you?

 

[Donal]

I think you're failing to consider other perspectives than your own.

No, you people don't shut up about your "perspective". You're neither clever nor subtle. There's no mysterious code or undiscovered viewpoint.

For all intents, you're taking the position that the only people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term are bad people.

I'm speaking my mind and telling it like it is. That's what you people like, right?

I think that's short sighted, and inaccurate.

Because everyone's the hero of their own story. Nobody wants to consider that they are the villain.

 

[W.D.Clinger]

I think you're failing to consider other perspectives than your own.

We often see people making that mistake.

For all intents, you're taking the position that the only people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term are bad people. I think that's short sighted, and inaccurate.

That appears to be your perspective.

In my opinion, people who could view Biden's term as worse than Trump's first term aren't necessarily bad people. After all, history records a few not-terribly-bad persons who held short sighted and inaccurate views.

 

[dirtywick]

undeniably some of them are bad people. at a minimum, trump was heavily and blatantly pandering to racists. in fact, if trump had rebuked the white nationalists and pissed them off he would have lost. isn’t that a little concerning?

 

[Tero]

There is really no point in generating political agendas at this stage. I made a meme:

Tero Gervais (@tero55gervais) on Threads

For the candidates for president, there are two steps. The primary and the campaign. For each, my tip is the saeme.

www.threads.com

For the candidates for president, there are two steps. The primary and the campaign. For each, my tip is the same.

 

[d4m10n]

there’s no really a reasonable case for trump to be made even before the election, and obviously today that’s been proven out

If there were some reasonable case to be made (e.g. voters who only care about lowering immigration rates) how would that link back to the OP topic?

 

[Donal]

If there were some reasonable case to be made (e.g. voters who only care about lowering immigration rates) how would that link back to the OP topic?

Because, while the reason they want to get rid of immigrants is racism, their stated reason to is "bring back jobs for Americans". The problem is, not only have jobs failed to return, but we've lost even more, partially due to losing out on those immigrants.

 

[Emily's Cat]

Give me one redeeming feature of 'We-can-do-both' Biden, just one, but one that really matters, not mere window dressing – something other than, 'Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Trump.'


I have upset many people here by saying that it's important to distinguish between different categories of people who voted for Trump.
Some of you are racist bigots who got more or less what you hoped for, i.e. the crumbling minority who still stick with Trump.
Others are dumb and ignorant, the ones who FAFOed.
Some didn't approve of the way Democratic alternatives to first Hillary Clinton and then Kamala Harris were sidelined by the DNC, so they made the mistake to fall for Trump's apparent populism. Another FAFO category.
Some didn't approve of the leading Democrats and their support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
There are no doubt other categories with other motivations for voting MAGA.

And they have to be approached differently.

I didn't vote for Trump, and it's entirely inappropriate and inaccurate to use such a means to call me a racist bigot. Please retract.

I'm disheartened that so many people here can't seem to understand the distinction between {supporting Trump} and {declining to engage in vitriol and hatred toward Trump}. I don't like Trump as a person, and they're not my preference for president. But if you actually look at my posting history... that's about the most vehement thing I say about ANY president, or indeed any congresscritter. I simply don't spew contempt toward the offices, regardless of who is in them. When I do express disagreement, it's that - disagreement. I disagreed with Clinton's "deplorables" comment, because it was a poor choice that most definitely did harm to the Dem campaign.

Just because I don't engage in the two minutes of hate toward Trump that many others do doesn't in any fashion imply that I support Trump.

 

[Emily's Cat]

No, you people don't shut up about your "perspective". You're neither clever nor subtle. There's no mysterious code or undiscovered viewpoint.

I'm speaking my mind and telling it like it is. That's what you people like, right?

Because everyone's the hero of their own story. Nobody wants to consider that they are the villain.

Yeah bud... who you calling "you people"? Your hate of whatever group of people you're so invested in excluding and othering and persecuting doesn't actually include me.

Well... unless that group is "anyone who isn't progressive". Which would track.

 

[Emily's Cat]

Because, while the reason they want to get rid of immigrants is racism, their stated reason to is "bring back jobs for Americans".

Why do you think this is true, rather than a self-comforting adage that excuses you from actually having to consider the challenges that people who aren't you might face?

 

[Donal]

Yeah bud... who you calling "you people"?

The common clay of the new west

Your hate of whatever group of people you're so invested in excluding and othering and persecuting doesn't actually include me.

I don't hate anyone. I'm a Christian. I do, however, hold people accountable for their words and actions.

Well... unless that group is "anyone who isn't progressive". Which would track.

This isn't about being progressive. It's about being honest.

 

[Donal]

Why do you think this is true,

Because I listen to their words and observe their actions

rather than a self-comforting adage

Nothing is comforting about how much racism drives our national policies.

that excuses you from actually having to consider the challenges that people who aren't you might face?

I never said people don't face real challenges. What I'm saying is they often let racism blind them to what they really are and how to address them.