In the wake of the 2024 election, there was no escaping negative punditry. “Expert” political analysts declared the effective end of Democratic election victories, dubbed Trump’s slight incursions into minority voting blocs a “re-alignment,” and issued scathing criticisms of the Democratic Party.
Most of this was click-bait hogwash, and a “Never Trump” Republican recently cited data demonstrating just how far afield these “analyses” were. In a recent essay, Stuart Stevens has done just that. (After quoting some of those pontificating headlines, Stevens snarkily writes “This is how societies end up worshipping volcanoes. There’s a drought, the volcano belches, and it rains. Next thing you know, you’re sacrificing virgins to honor the Volcano God.”)
Donald Trump won the 2024 election by one of the smallest margins in modern history– a cumulative 230,000 votes, or 0.15% of the total. Furthermore, in polling right before the election, when Americans were asked whether they thought America was heading in the right direction” only 27% said yes. Stevens notes that no incumbent party has won a presidential race when the number choosing “right track” was below 45%.
2024 was a great year for a challenger to run against an incumbent president. It is entirely delusional to interpret Trump’s narrow victory as an endorsement of Trumpism. Any credible challenger would have done considerably better than Trump. Polls showed that Nikki Haley overperformed Trump by five to seven points.
The less-reported results of recent elections confirm Stevens’ thesis. In addition to Democrats winning statewide offices in Georgia, Republicans in Mississippi losing their legislative super-majority, Moms for Liberty losing every single one of their 31 contests– Republican margins dropped by 50% in Florida’s Congressional races, and Wisconsin saw a 12-point shift toward Democrats.
And when it comes to policy?
Turns out, Americans actually like the constellation of basic social net programs that ketamine-fueled weirdo Elon Musk is trying to slash. Nearly four in five Americans (79%) oppose any reductions to Social Security benefits. For all the hate MAGA piles on the Americans who depend on SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance, 41% say that the government should do more to help those in need; 27% say the government does too much.
How about those tax cuts? Guess what? Cut taxes for billionaires sucks as a political rallying cry. This isn’t some Bernie Sanders niche “eat the rich” issue. In 2020, only a quarter of voters thought the Trump tax cuts were positive. A recent Navigator survey found that by a 10-point margin, Americans believe that Trump’s tax plan will “hurt people like me.”
Not only is the Trump administration on the wrong side of major policy positions, the utter ineptitude of the clowns in the administration is enraging Americans daily. As Stevens writes,
Does anybody other than the MAGA faithful believe that gutting the Centers for Disease Control make their lives better? Or that a former heroin addict nutcase should be in charge of America’s public health?
Stevens calls the 2024 election the “Pickett’s Charge of MAGA. They were given the keys to the kingdom, controlling three branches of government. They squandered the opportunity with a train wreck of nutty policies implemented by a Star Wars bar of unlikeable freaks.”
Trump’s “policy” announcements, like making Canada the 51st state, or invading Greenland, certainly didn’t help. Neither did his far more serious efforts to weaken the West in favor of Putin, like pulling the US out of NATO and betraying Ukraine. Granted, MAGA folks aren’t typically interested in policy unless those policies are intended to marginalize those they consider “Other,” but the rest of us know stupidity (and graft) when we see it. As Stevens writes, the numbers don’t lie.
In 2020, Trump’s coalition was 85% white. Sure, he did better with the non-white vote in 2024. This time, only 84% of his vote was white. In a country that is 59% white. Republicans are celebrating that only 86% of African Americans voted against them and that only 63% of Asians and 54% of Hispanics voted Democratic. The base of Trump’s support is still non-college-educated whites. In 2000, that was 60% of the electorate. Now it’s 38% and is America’s fastest declining large demographic.
None of this should make us complacent. Americans appalled by the chaos and destruction, the overt criminality, the effort to turn America into a semi-fascist autocracy still have a ton of work to do. If nothing else, we need to motivate a significant faction of those who stayed home in November of 2024 to do their civic duty by pointing out how their lives have been worsened by the gang of incompetent grifters who–by a very slim margin–gained control of our government.
But the data should definitely encourage us. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanks for this. It’s a great boost for sanity.
Americans are increasingly becoming aware of the inequities and control of legislation in favor of the wealthy. They’re thankfully not buying the trickle down theory any more. That’s what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving!
I hope you’re right, Mary Kay!
I’ve noticed independent journalists using the word oligarchy a lot more this year. Since I don’t watch TV, I’m not sure if our oligarchs’ propaganda outlets are starting to hold themselves accountable.
I did see where David Ellison’s pawn, Bari Weiss at CBS News, will be using her Zionist clout to make their news “more balanced.” That means eliminating or preventing anything that resembles Israeli accountability from their newsroom. I don’t think the Ellisons are paying attention to what’s happening to MAGA. Or, maybe they think we need a little more pro-Israeli propaganda. LOL
The once great right-wing media outfit called X is now a splintering MAGA cesspool. I go there to steal memes and read about all the conspiracies. Candace Owens believes that Emmanuel Macron has ordered a hit on her and was likely involved in Charlie Kirk’s murder. Supposedly, the French Intel wrote the text messages between the shooter and his gay boyfriend (trans). LOL
That’s what I’m thankful for this 2025 Thanksgiving! Will MAGA make it intact to the 2026 Midterms? At this rate, they may lose their majority long before the ’26 election. 😉
What cannot be downplayed is the incredible, lasting damage already wrought by the Rump’s administration, on federal agencies, foreign relations, integrity of the post-WWII Western Alliance, our national security and leadership in science and technology, DEI, and above all the rule of law and norms of our governance. Our nation has been forever changed. If the 20th was America’s century, the 21st will be another nation’s. China is in the lead.
NO to everything MAGA but is this really enough? Are the many who did not vote in 2024 because they were so disgusted between the wretched choice of Trump vs supporters of Israel’s genocide and pro-corporate neoliberalism any more motivated to give the hapless Democrats yet another chance?
Until we can get a political realignment and formation of a new party that stands for truly progressive social and economic change, our power lies in mass marches and demonstrations against the policies of both parties, otherwise the Dems will win big in 2026 and fail to oppose Trumpism at its roots, leading to more demoralization and refusal to vote in 2028, paving the way for Trump’s successor!
Thanks Sheila. Some hopeful news for sure. I think Hunter is also on target.
Like Lincoln in 1864, I believe that the elections of 2025 demonstrated that the tide has turned in favor of OUR side (i.e. the believers in the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence on which it is based). We will not win every battle, but we will win most of them, and certainly the ones that count the most.
Let us, therefore, celebrate Thanksgiving 2025 with sincere gratitude to whichever deity that we acknowledge.
I thank Sheila for bringing use the fruits of her relentless research every day. It is inspiring.
And I thank PBS News and Judy Woodruff for a most inspiring report on the excellent work of the Braver Angels movement, which is attempting to build bridges of understanding between the red and blue factions of our country. At some point we will all have to acknowledge that there is no Planet B. We are going to live and let live right here; or we are all going to die right here. The choice is ours!
Convincing those who chose not to vote in 2024 shouldn’t hard, since there is ample evidence that Orange Jesus is doing exactly what they feared Kamala would do.
I’m thankful that he and his gang of misfit toys are so incompetent. I’m also thankful for this blog, where one can go and get some semblance of sanity.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL.
Not mentioned are the truly evil, fascist operatives of the Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society and Project 2025 that these intellectual dwarfs have foisted upon us.
This summary paragraph is most telling: “None of this should make us complacent. Americans appalled by the chaos and destruction, the overt criminality, the effort to turn America into a semi-fascist autocracy still have a ton of work to do. If nothing else, we need to motivate a significant faction of those who stayed home in November of 2024 to do their civic duty by pointing out how their lives have been worsened by the gang of incompetent grifters who–by a very slim margin–gained control of our government.”
For some sick humor, how about Secretary Brylcreem’s misunderstanding of Mark Kelly’s uniform selfie. Anybody but this drunken doofus knows that selfies are mirror images. Yeah… Secretary of War. What could go wrong?