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Zero Cool's avatar

Ezra Klein Talks With David Shor about the 2024 Presidential Election

I don’t think this has been shared here but Ezra Klein recently had a conversation with political data scientist David Shor, who has previously worked for David Plouffe, on uncovering findings about the 2024 presidential election.

Among one of the findings is showing how two Harris campaign ads in the beginning of her campaign were effective but that her campaign transitioned to being more about preserving democracy later.

Shor also says that “wokeness” really didn’t impact the 2024 presidential election as much as inflation, cost of living and crime did.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx0J7dIlL7c&pp=ygUVZXpyYSBrbGVpbiBkYXZpZCBzaG9y

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Brad Warren's avatar

With the benefit of hindsight, I really don't think that 2024 was winnable against Trump. America wanted a return to 2019 and got the opportunity to return 2019's president to power.

Harris excited the base enough to fight the House to a draw and keep at least four Senate seats in the blue column (MI, WI, NV, and AZ). I shudder to think of what might have happened if Biden had stayed in to the end (and I like Biden!).

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Zero Cool's avatar

I think it’s psychologically driven more than it is simply about the economy. Pre-pandemic, it was just a much better and less chaotic economy. You didn’t hear many people dread inflation and talk about it a lot.

Of course, this came before the infrastructure bills President Biden signed into law.

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Brad Warren's avatar

It certainly didn't help that certain moneyed interests spent the entire Biden presidency trying to talk a recession into existence. (Never underestimate the number of people who were BIG MAD that labor made some incremental gains in the aftermath of the pandemic.)

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Zero Cool's avatar

The endless chatter about a recession being on the horizons. Every damn quarter of Biden’s presidency during when the economy was growing. Predictions that never materialized as true.

As far as I’m concerned, I listen to economists like Joseph Stiglitz, Robert Shiller and others who know a lot about severe downturns, depressions and the real nuts and bolts of the economy. Hard facts please!

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Henrik's avatar

And Trump’s rapidly deteriorating approvals are a function of the realization that he’s not actually bringing 2019 back and never will

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michaelflutist's avatar

To which I say "Duh!"

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Brad Warren's avatar

Sadly, it appears that America had to FA&FO.

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michaelflutist's avatar

Like Germany in 1933, but only -32% of their electorate.

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sacman701's avatar

I don't think it was ever winnable for Biden, even against Trump who was probably the weakest of the plausible GOP candidates. I think Trump would have been beatable if Biden had announced after the midterm that he wouldn't seek a second term, but even the strongest possible Dem probably would have been about 50-50.

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