What did Republicans do wrong?

[SpuriusMaximus]

Jesus ◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊ this is about ranking issues in terms of impact.

Because I didn't see specifically fuel price in the list of options. So I wrote it in a message instead.

 

[arthwollipot]

Okay, so why didn't you vote for it?

I did, but I couldn't because I could only select up to three options.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Trump.

"T.rump", as I've said before.

 

[d4m10n]

"T.rump", as I've said before.

I should perhaps have included "failing to impeach and remove the winner of the 2024 popular vote" in the list.

 

[d4m10n]

I did, but I couldn't because I could only select up to three options.

Your off-the-cuff source puts it in the top two.

Shooting from the hip is fine, but it's a bit weird to complain that 3 < 2 . . .

 

[arthwollipot]

There are other sources. See if you can find a better one. The number that was going around right after the election was that 90% of voters said that corruption was their number one concern.

 

[d4m10n]

The number that was going around right after the election was that 90% of voters said that corruption was their number one concern.

I am highly skeptical of this unsourced claim, but that doesn't begin to explain why you didn't vote for it if you really believed it to be that central.

 

[arthwollipot]

I am highly skeptical of this unsourced claim, but that doesn't begin to explain why you didn't vote for it if you really believed it to be that central.

Again, I did. But the poll wouldn't let me select more than three options.

 

[Norman Alexander]

I do, in fact, want that discussion, and I get the sense you are hoping to derail it.

Have the discussion, forget the poll.

 

[johnny karate]

Obviously, the correct answer is "Not enough transgender stuff".

If Democrats lost because of "Too much transgender stuff" and two years later stomped the Republicans into the ground, it's clear that Republicans went too far the other way.

The American people clearly want some transgender stuff and the political party or candidate who figures out where the sweet spot is will be unbeatable in any election.

 

[johnny karate]

I am highly skeptical of this unsourced claim, but that doesn't begin to explain why you didn't vote for it if you really believed it to be that central.

Be skeptical no more:

Nearly 90 percent of 1,202 respondents to the Fox News poll said they were either extremely or very concerned about government corruption, putting the issue just ahead of inflation and high prices as the top area of concern.

Other polls confirm that corruption was the top concern for voters:

Corruption is voters’ top issue ahead of midterm election

Government corruption a top issue for US midterm voters

US voters worried about corruption under Trump
So if you're looking for a simple answer, it's pretty clear that answer is corruption.

However, I think the answer is more complex.

Two years ago the Republicans ran a propaganda campaign with the help of a captured media that took advantage of a general discontentment a large portion of Americans were experiencing in the post-pandemic malaise and it put them over the edge for a narrow victory. But the moment that propaganda made contact with actual Republican governance, it all fell apart.

America got drunk on Trump's lies and bull ◊◊◊◊ and the last two years have been a very nasty hangover. The midterms are a couple of Advil and a nice long shower.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

DOGE.

Not for anything they specifically did or didn't accomplish, but because that was the first time it became obvious to everyone (even their own echo chamber) that the GOP did not have any plan other than stealing what they could and breaking the rest. The first instance where absolutely no one bought the BS about it. Once that copium bladder sprung a leak, it was downhill from there for most people.

 

[Thermal]

Jesus ◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊ this is about ranking issues in terms of impact.

I'd say it was because they embraced the wish list of the Depolorables too intensely.

And that's not meant snidely- following the President's lead was the mistake that brought them down. Even though he was elected fair and square, the majority of voters don't like him or anything he does. If Republicans don't turn against their alt-right contingent, they will continue to lose ground.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

not come up with something new to be scared of.
None of the actually bad thing they have done would have been dealbreakers if they had found a narrative and ran local, targeted influence campaigns and have their media spoke-pieces hammer them home 24/7.
They thought that the Oldies of Trans Athletes, Muslims and Migrants would work their magic again, but they failed to connect them to the bad real economy.
They should also have tried to gerrymander defensively, ring-fencing their strongholds instead of trying a big takeover of purple States.

The sane expectation is that the governing Party will lose seats in the Midterms no matter what, and Republicans should have run their campaign and shenanigans accordingly.
They bet big and lost big.

 

[d4m10n]

Even though he was elected fair and square, the majority of voters don't like him or anything he does.

They must've liked (past tense) something about his platform and promises in order to vote him in two years ago. One way to frame the OP question is to ask which of those promises and priorities have Trump voters going through buyer's remorse only two years later.

 

[Thermal]

They must've liked (past tense) something about his platform and promises in order to vote him in two years ago. One way to frame the OP question is to ask which of those promises and priorities have Trump voters going through buyer's remorse only two years later.

They did. They liked their odds against President Biden, and polling showed a substantial amount of Republican voters that didn't learn their lesson from Trump's first term.

I don't think it was Buyers Remorse at all. I think the power players will move towards whatever they think will secure them power, and I expect them to turncoat on Trump and anyone who looks like him after these midterms. They won't likely abandon the Trumpanzees wholesale (they are still a voting bloc), but the focus will shift to more mainstream palatable positions, with a subtle 'dont worry, we still gotchu' wink to those they are betraying.

Eta: if I read the news right (coin flip odds at best), the number of Republican voters was fairly consistent, while vast numbers of people pulling D crawled out of the woodwork and gave a brief ◊◊◊◊? In which case, it wasn't the Republican supporters to blame.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Trump might not have won Republicans everything they want, but they got a Supreme court for presidential terms to come, a highly partisan judiciary and trillions for their donors.
Backing Trump absolutely paid off

 

[d4m10n]

if I read the news right (coin flip odds at best), the number of Republican voters was fairly consistent

Some fraction of 2024 GOP supporters flipped and I'd wager that an even larger fraction stayed home.

New election survey reveals what went ‘so disastrously wrong’ for Trump and GOP

The poll also outlined what Republican voters want to see next.

www.mlive.com

Their reasons for flipping or staying home would probably be in the OP list, but are probably a bit different than the reasons driving new voter turnout.

 

[Thermal]

Some fraction of 2024 GOP supporters flipped and I'd wager that an even larger fraction stayed home.

New election survey reveals what went ‘so disastrously wrong’ for Trump and GOP

The poll also outlined what Republican voters want to see next.

www.mlive.com

Their reasons for flipping or staying home would probably be in the OP list, but are probably a bit different than the reasons driving new voter turnout.

Possible, I guess. I'd speculate that 1 in 12 Democrat President voters also don't show up for midterms, though? Midterms have a historically lower turnout, IIRC.

Eta: In a normal/ non-Trump political environment, I mean

Mo Eta: although since finding out my last midterm vote was thrown in the trash (as was my wife's), I have less faith in voting results

 

[ahhell]

Trump.

That. The problem is that what Dems did wrong is just more interesting. The Reps nominated and clung to the Tasmanian Devil. Everything else stems from that.

Iran, that's all Trump.
The immigration debacle, all Miller but Miller is a nut that only Trump would nominate.
Other Foreign Policy, almost the opposite of what Reps other than Trump would have done, but voters mostly don't care about foreign policy.
Corruption, he dialed that up to 11 110.
Authoritarianism and lawlessness, I don't actually think people care much about that except when its authoritarian lawlessness for things they don't otherwise want and he also dialed that up to...11.

But in reality, if folks felt like the economy was in good shape, none of that would probably have mattered. Even then, if Trump had sad anything other than, "What, the economy is great" and "Its Ukraine's fault for not capitulating" maybe the wave wouldn't have been as blue.

Any rate, it's all Trump. They only made one mistake; it was a huge mistake but just the one.