It's the economy, stupid
2024-Nov-20, Wednesday 13:13![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
I keep seeing people on the left talk about how incredibly damaging Biden's policy on Israel was, how it kept him from getting votes, etc. And sure, in Dearborn it made a big difference, but if you look at the poll results before the election, only 3% of respondents said that Foreign Policy was their most important issue.
And of course, that lumps everyone together--people who think that Gaza should be flattened and turned into a parking lot and all Palestinians expelled, and people who think Kfir Bibas was a settler-colonist and thus a legitimate target of resistance, are both in that 3%. And so are people who have strong opinions on Ukraine! Meanwhile, the economy ("inflation" + "economy" together) is 39% and immigration is 13%. Abortion is 12%...but again, both sides are in that 12%. Exit polls are similar. Here's one showing 4% of people voted on foreign policy--and crucially, that poll shows that foreign policy was more important for Republicans than Democrats.
If we want to actually be the Reality-Based Community as we claimed to be during the Bush years, we have to actually accept the reality that the average person really, really, really hates inflation, blames the people in charge when it happens, and votes for the other guy. The Democrats actually lost by less than most incumbent parties that were turfed out did!
And of course, that lumps everyone together--people who think that Gaza should be flattened and turned into a parking lot and all Palestinians expelled, and people who think Kfir Bibas was a settler-colonist and thus a legitimate target of resistance, are both in that 3%. And so are people who have strong opinions on Ukraine! Meanwhile, the economy ("inflation" + "economy" together) is 39% and immigration is 13%. Abortion is 12%...but again, both sides are in that 12%. Exit polls are similar. Here's one showing 4% of people voted on foreign policy--and crucially, that poll shows that foreign policy was more important for Republicans than Democrats.
If we want to actually be the Reality-Based Community as we claimed to be during the Bush years, we have to actually accept the reality that the average person really, really, really hates inflation, blames the people in charge when it happens, and votes for the other guy. The Democrats actually lost by less than most incumbent parties that were turfed out did!
