[lotsofpulp]

I don’t buy that. People might like to claim it was the economy, but it’s about making themselves feel like they’re not being passed up on the socioeconomic ladder, especially by a black woman.

It’s better for their won ego to vote to keep a white man at the top, even if he committed treason, than to see someone they perceive as below them go past them. For many, it even works to keep their same group down, because it can feel like a personal failure to not achieve more (such as women who would rather vote for a man).

This is one of the truest quotes there is, and it can be generalized to all people, not just white men:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-convince-the-lowest-wh...

[somenameforme]

Think about the implications of your argument. Trump didn't win because of some tremendous upsurge in voters - his increase in votes was no more than proportional to the increase in eligible voters. He won because some odd 6 million+ mystery voters that voted for Biden, didn't vote for Harris. And that's more like 10 million if we assume that the DNC baseline turnout was proportional to the increase in eligible voters.

[lotsofpulp]

I classify not voting as a vote for the winning candidate.

Dems lost twice with a highly qualified woman candidate, against a highly unqualified man candidate.

[somenameforme]

"Qualified" for political office means, essentially by definition, the ability to garner votes. Clinton is one of the most unlikeable people imaginable who is almost certainly also a literal sociopath. [1] Harris started out by being the VP in a Presidency that, at its 'peak' was literally the most unpopular Presidency of all time, or at least since approval ratings began being tracked. And she has a habits such as cackling when caught lying, struggling to avoid becoming completely and literally incoherent in any conversation that last more than a few moments, and so on.

Obama? Coherent, intelligent, charismatic, and not only won by 10million+ votes, but also received more votes than any President at that point to date. I'm not fond of the guy (even if I voted for him, once) yet his speeches still literally give me goose bumps. He has an amazing rhetorical ability, which is the money shot in politics. By contrast, if he had the same traits/skillset as Harris or Clinton, he would have also been stomped and you would have been here arguing that people didn't vote for him because he was black.

People, in general, just don't really care about identity. Run particularly bad candidates and you're going to lose. Run particularly bad candidates while repeatedly claiming the sky is falling, and you're going to lose and imperil your ability to succeed in the future.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlz3-OzcExI