Zorn: Wednesday morning quarterbacking

Readers weigh in on the source of Harris' defeat and Trump's victory

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Eric Zorn is a former opinion columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Find a longer bio and contact information here. This issue exceeds in size the maximum length for a standard email. To read the entire issue in your browser, click on the headline link above. Paid subscribers receive each Picayune Plus in their email inbox each Tuesday, are part of our civil and productive commenting community and enjoy the sublime satisfaction of supporting this enterprise.

Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. I talk with WGN-AM 720 host John Williams about what’s making news and likely to be grist for the PS mill. The WGN listen-live link is here.

Let’s get right to the comments and letters, shall we?

Nearly all my communications (and conversations) in the past week have dealt with speculation about the reason that, according to the latest results Monday afternoon, Republican Donald Trump beat Democrat Kamala Harris by 2.3 percentage points (3.5 million votes) in the popular vote and 312-226 in the Electoral College.

For comparison purposes, Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump by 4.5 percentage points (7.1 million votes) in the popular vote and 306-232 in the Electoral College. Here are some lightly edited reactions from my readers discussing the possible reasons why.

Harris ran a bad campaign

Bob E. -- Harris, multiple times, could not identify what she would have done differently from Biden had she been president these last four years, and what she would do differently from Biden if she were elected.

Daniel Bruetman —Democrats still think that voting is a rational, thoughtful decision when in fact it’s visceral and driven by needs, not ideals. It’s all about messaging, and Harris is not a good messenger.

Zorn — I cringed at how unprepared Harris seemed to be for the obvious questions about how she’d be different from Biden on key issues that had driven Biden’s poll numbers down. But compared to Trump she ran an energetic, disciplined, enthusiastic and positive campaign and ramped up very well in 100 days.

She offered far more specific policy proposals than her scattershot, vague opponent and had a lot less personal baggage. Her campaign team did seem to miscalculate in thinking that the visceral feeling among voters would be “Lord God, not four more years of Donald Trump!”

Democrats have an overall unpopular message

Ted B. — Progressives have doubled down on unpopular policy. A few years ago, Paul Begala quipped on Bill Maher, that "Democrats have secret labs coming up with ideas to piss off the working class." If a party believes in open borders, identity politics, reparations, defund the police, the green new deal, higher taxes, student loan forgiveness, etc., they better be able to sell them. Otherwise, support politically unpopular policies at your own peril. Dems realized this in recent months, but it was just too late. See “How Progressives Blew It” and “‘We Blew It, Joe!’” in the Free Press.

Zorn — Begala — the political consultant who was the chief strategist for the successful 1992 Bill Clinton-Al Gore campaign — isn’t necessarily wrong in his diagnosis. On some issues, the Democrats are to the left of where the working class is, though I take issue with the shorthand of “open borders,” which is far from where Harris, Biden or the vast majority of elected Democrats are.

But on many other issues, the Democratic position reflects the majority of voters — abortion rights, gun control, paid medical and family leave, expanding Medicare drug price negotiations and increasing the minimum wage, for example. And Democratic pro-union policies tend to reflect working-class needs.

Sexism doomed Harris from the start

Diane Sammarco — Can we talk about the fact that Trump has now beaten two women to win the Presidency? Her loss had little to do with how Harris ran her campaign, or the short amount of time she had to introduce herself to voters. It has everything to do with how many men and, sadly, women as well, who won’t consider voting for a woman for the highest office in the land. Add that she’s a woman of color and the odds of her winning were further reduced. If Biden hadn’t declined to run for reelection, a Democratic man would have run and beaten the hell out of Trump. A guy like Trump will forever be seen as a “strong man” because of his vulgarity and misogynistic rhetoric. A woman who dares to think she can lead will always be a bitch or worse, in the eyes of far too many.

Zorn — I hope you’re wrong. Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes in 2016 and this election was fairly close. I’m not sure any Democrat could have stopped Trump’s momentum this cycle.

Harris was too weak on the issue of the southern border

Jeff Biss — I’m a progressive, liberal independent but was dismayed that the Democrats didn’t offer better solutions on the border issue. Do they have a real plan to cut down on the number of undocumented people in the country? I never heard it. What about actually reminding voters that the Biden administration is actively deporting criminals? Why not discuss the history of American foreign policy, including our failed war on drugs. that helped create the dysfunction in Central America that people are fleeing? There's far, far more, but I will leave it at that.

The GOP would talk, talk, talk all day about the problem but the Democrats didn't talk, talk, talk about their plan. Harris could have spoken continually about it, but she didn't. The Republicans will not shut their whining mouths while the Democrats refuse to open theirs. In context of this issue, the Democrats should have given better than they got.

Zorn — The bi-partisan border bill that Trump torpedoed was a good talking point for the Democrats, but the Republican response — that it came very late in the game — was also a good response. She was never “the border czar,” but that label stuck.

Harris didn’t adequately parry the pro-Trump ads that ended “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”

Jake H. — The stance the ad pounces on — government-funded trans care for unauthorized immigrants in prison — is so over the top that it sounds like an Onion headline. It sounds like Trump just made it up, and Harris treated it that way at the debate. But that was one of the things he didn't make up. Never mind that it applies to, like, two people; it has symbolic meaning. It confirmed every fear about Harris on crime, immigration, and woke in one fell swoop. 

“Taxpayer-financed sex-change operations for criminals" is not exactly a winning message, not exactly meeting the voters where they're at just now?

I don't think it's a betrayal for politicians to tailor their message and appeals to what will win them elections, to reach out to the widest possible audience while remaining committed to their general principles, goals, and priorities. You might even imagine that that's just what politicians should do in a democracy —- listen to the people. Not to slavishly do whatever they say, of course, but to speak effectively to them and their concerns. Otherwise you lose, you're kicked off the island in the first episode, and you can't do shit about it.

Martin Luther King was far more progressive, more socialist leaning even, than his modern reputation as an advocate for the universal principle of individual rights would suggest. Yet his messaging along the latter lines is what won the day. The purer radicals — the Black Panthers, Stokley Carmichael, Malcolm X and so on ultimately just got in the damn way.

 I have no patience with the view that a moderate stance is as bad as the worst stance. It just isn't. It's called making the perfect the enemy of the good. There's just no getting around it

Joseph ODonnell — Blaming Harris’s loss, on racism, sexism and stupidity is not the way forward for Democrats. Insanely progressive policies are the downfall of the Democrats.

In the multicultural locker room I frequent after my workouts, the talk from men of color was about “men in women’s bathrooms” and “boys competing with girls” in school sports.

Hispanic, Arab, and Black men are much more socially conservative than the legacy media gives them credit for in this election. Want to elect more Democrats? Look to those policies.

C. Pittman — Not all people who question the need to choose gender affirming pronouns, or who question gender surgery on minors (something that has only been recently possible medically) are total bigots. Yes, most straight people need more education about this subject. But sadly the result is now we have Trump, with his minions and judicial choices for at least 4 years, and the results will be even worse for the LGBTQ+ community than not being able to choose pronouns, bathrooms, or sports teams. The reality is that more than $200 million in anti-trans ads registered with many voters, especially men. Gay marriage has been widely accepted but the further push for trans kids in school bathrooms, drag shows in public libraries, trans kids on girls sports teams, discussion of gender affirming surgery on minors and the now widely pushed practiced of declaring how you want to be identified has pushed many men and more culturally conservative women of all races to vote for Trump. Are we really happy with that trade off?

Joanie Wimmer (a trans woman) — I want to be treated equally as a citizen of this country. And that means that I should be allowed to use the women’s bathroom like any other woman. And transgender kids should be allowed to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity—with who they are. The idea that the movement for transgender equality is pushing people to vote for Trump is like saying that the movement for civil rights for Blacks in the 1960s was pushing people to vote for the populist racist George Corley Wallace, and that the movement for gay rights pushed people to vote for the supporters of Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign.

The solution, however, is not to indulge in hate and bigotry in order to win elections. We need to call out the hate and bigotry. And, in this regard, I think Kamala Harris failed, in part, in that she did not really explain that providing transgender people medical care is a good thing. She didn’t really highlight the humanity of the people that Trump was demonizing and marginalizing.

Why is government funded transgender health care for people our government has incarcerated “over the top”? If your child were incarcerated so that you couldn’t take him to the doctor, wouldn’t you insist that the government provide him with necessary health care?

The solution is to embrace transgender rights and to illustrate the beauty and humanity in everything that MAGA is demonizing. To show people that the people Trump is demonizing are their neighbors, friends, and co-workers, and family members.

Zorn — This is a tough issue politically. As a columnist I was way out in front on supporting gay marriage, but I certainly understood why politicians — Barack Obama comes to mind — at least feigned opposition when the electorate wasn’t there with them yet. Advocates like Joanie Wimmer demand that we examine our preconceptions and our prejudices, but she doesn’t have to win elections that will put her in a place where she can begin to gradually, deliberately make inroads in public opinion.

Today, an ad accusing a candidate of wanting to take away the rights of same-sex couples to marry would certainly cost them support, to judge by this Gallup report:

Was it the economy, stupid?

Mark K. — The lesson from this election is that it's not the economy, but the perception of the economy. The Economist had the cover story and headline calling American economy "the envy of the world." The stock market was at record highs, wages were up, inflation was way down. But the constant drone of disinformation bled into unsophisticated ears, convincing them that their lives are terrible. And here we are. If we're willing to trade freedoms for cheap eggs, we deserve and will get neither.

Ted B. — Agreed, the economic numbers were good, but the trouble spot was real wages adjusted for inflation. For the working class, that "trumped" everything else. They needed a better explanation on the causes of inflation (which included Trump), along with highlighting what dems have been doing on healthcare and housing costs vs. Trump (zilch).

A decent answer for Harris to the question, "Would you have done anything different than Biden?" might have been something like: "Inflation, which is a lagging economic indicator, was growing post-pandemic due to supply chains and pent up demand. By the end of Trump's final fiscal budget (Sept 2021) it had already grown 6%. We put together The Inflation Reduction Act to help the American people with this, but during inflationary times, the bill should have been more downsized and targeted. It has been a complex, world-wide problem to solve since the pandemic. See “Is inflation Biden’s or Trump’s fault? The answer isn’t so simple, economists say” at CNBC.

Melinda A. K. — The economy was an important issue, but many voters have no concept of how the global economy works and so just chose "different than we have now." The entire world economy was affected by COVID-19 but the U.S. is bouncing back faster than others. Wages are up, unemployment is down. Yes, groceries cost more — which is a choice by suppliers/manufacturers. They raised prices during supply difficulties but have not brought them back down now that the supply issues are largely resolved. If Trump's tariff proposals are adopted, prices will keep going up. The American people will pay those tariffs, not the countries and manufacturers on which they are levied.

Marc Martinez — The economy is good, and unemployment is low. But there are an estimated 5 to 7 million people that want to work but have stopped looking and so are not counted in unemployment. Trade unions and manufacturing workers are also concerned about continued job loss due to offshoring, technology (robots/AI), and shifts to EV's autos.

It may be that Democrats are viewed as pro-union, but have failed in protecting U.S. manufacturing employment or in delivering on effective retraining/transition support. Many of these voters may see tariffs and trade restrictions as more directly and immediately beneficial. They may also see the Biden Administration as late to the game in new tariffs, in addition to the party being harshly critical of tariffs

Both sides love to use stats that start with Day 1 of the presidency, if it fits their narrative. The final Trump fiscal budget didn't end until September 2021 (inflation had risen 6% by then), yet credit / blame starts on Day 1.

Alan Riggs — U.S. manufacturing jobs hit a peak in June 1979, accounting for nearly one out of every five American workers. The Democratic Party had a majority of these voters in their pocket (though inflation was causing a lot of consternation at the time). By and large, these workers only wanted a decent living, and some discretionary cash for their families, hobbies, etc.

But from 1980 on, the number of manufacturing and associated skill jobs went down while the wage gap consistently grew due to various Republican tax law changes benefiting the wealthy every time they were in the majority. The Democrats blue collar base started losing their comfortable lives and reliable jobs.

The Democratic Party accepted no longer updating the minimum wage to inflation every few years. They made no meaningful attempts to address the loss of union jobs. They occasionally mentioned the growing wage gap but did nothing to address it. And in the roaring 90s, still thinking they had the blue collar families in their pocket, they bought fully into the globalization of all things American and gave tacit approval to trickle down economics. The blue-collar former middle class was forgotten .

 Democrats offered no solutions to the crisis and the incredibly important lost dignity of the desperate former middle class not able to make it on their own.

Trump happened because the desperate will always vote for change, and, Trump was unequivocally a dramatic change.

Democrats finally got it right with Joe Biden and he rammed through some needed legislation to put people to work post-pandemic and to incentivize modern, expanding industries to start building again in the USA for the first time in decades. But plants take years to become operational and the decades-late refocus on infrastructure was not enough to turn lives of enough desperate people around.

 Kamala Harris’ campaign was wonderful in attitude, patriotism, and some proposals, but too little too late. The 40-plus years of Republican lies and Democratic lack of action was too pervasive.

Zorn — I doubt any of this on-point messaging would have moved voters who were dismayed by stubbornly high prices and believed that a change — even a change to an ignorant, oft-bankrupted buffoon like Trump back in the White House— would bring those prices down again.

The week’s best visual jokes

Here are some funny visual images I've come across recently on social media. Enjoy, then evaluate:

I recognize that the license plate joke is somewhat niche and its victory would be inconceivable. But if you know you know, right?

There’s still time to vote in the conventional Quip of the Week poll!

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