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I heard one journalist on tv say that when Trump was making fun of Biden as an old demented man and the other stuff he said, the seniors and suburban woman turned against him because they dont like people picking on an old demented man (Biden). so that may be it.
but people forgot Trump's good accomplishments when covid hit. Everything was fine till then. the Dems used the covid and the effects of the shut down as a weapon against him. If this is the case, then nothing he could have done would have prevented this.. I think covid massively went against him. this is not a conspiracy case, just read the news.
By having a filter on his mouth and Twitter fingers instead of blurting out every single internal dialog running through his head. That and a more focused approach dealing with a hostile opposition is really all it would have taken.
I think you are right about that. His words often got him in trouble. Even if they were truth, thats beside the point.
It got really bad toward the end when his frustration and anger (which a lot of us had too) permeated his speeches, and the constant re-litigation of all that went on in his last rally on the 6th.
However, some people listened to news that was always slanted with hate against Trump, and never good news. If you listen to those CNN, MSNBC, etc, you will automatically develop a whole different opinion of Trump than if you listed to Fox news. so with that, already it is biased against Trump. You will hate him if you listen to those. so already, thats going to work against him for 5 years. People loved him when he was the Apprentice.
His personality was his biggest problem. He's just a unpleasant man, his manner appealed to a certain demographic of angry white men who think they're being turned into a minority and not once did he try to appeal across divides.
So, in answer to your question, a personality transplant?
By taking Covid seriously from the very beginning and not f'ing up the response. That was all he had to do to get a second term and he blew it.
I like some of the OP's points, but $2000 stimulus and forgiving student loan debt would have turned Trump's base off.
Remember, you don't just win reelection by your base. Biden received something like 95% of all Democrats and Trump received votes from 94% of all Republicans.
Independents decide the election.
Trump double, triple, quadrupled down on COVID being a non-issue. And that cost him independents. I think if there is one single thing we can point to as to why Trump lost - it would be this issue. He didn't take it seriously - he lied to America about the severity of it. His base didn't seem to want to take actions to mitigate it, so maybe he was forced down this path in fear of losing his base.
Here's where Trump's leadership has got us:
25% of the world's cases in a country with just 4% of the world's population
19% of the world's deaths in a country with just 4% of the world's population
37% of the world's active cases in a country just 4% of the world's population
25% of the world's recent deaths in a country with just 4% of the world's population
Side note: this also means it is clearly getting WORSE rather than better: 19% overall deaths, but 25% recent deaths. 25% world's cases but 37% recent cases.
Trump threw in the towel a long time ago. But instead of just stepping back and letting the adults in the room handle it, he actively worked to undermine them by continually misinforming America about the severity of it. That's even worse than doing nothing.
Trump had a lot of faults and many reasons to not be re-elected. But his mismanagement of COVID would be greater than any other individual issue.
but people forgot Trump's good accomplishments when covid hit. Everything was fine till then. the Dems used the covid and the effects of the shut down as a weapon against him. If this is the case, then nothing he could have done would have prevented this.. I think covid massively went against him. this is not a conspiracy case, just read the news.
Trump had every opportunity to seize on the pandemic and make beating it about patriotism and American grit and tenacity--all themes that hit with his supporters. They would have eaten it up if he had modeled this type of behavior. Instead he pretended it wasn't happening, even as the numbers grew and grew and grew.
When you are the president you have the bully pulpit. You can set the tone for the country. Trump set the tone that the pandemic was no biggie, just ignore it and it will go away. People who could see what was happening in their communities, who watched friends and loved ones get sick and/or die, knew he was full of BS and didn't give a crap about the growing body count, only about his own political fortunes.
Trump bungled the bulk of his handling of the pandemic (and subsequent economic losses) and that resonated, but I think he could have still won. The economic component was particularly bad. Trump has a tough time letting go, and prior to COVID, he had centered his campaign around the economy. When it tanked due to COVID, he couldn't seem to shift gears. He constantly reminded people how good the economy was prior to COVID and chest thumped each time there was a report that indicated we were putting a dent in the horrific job losses and unemployment figures in spite of the fact that they were still terrible. It was an out of touch approach and didn't resonate with anyone impacted by the crippled economy. Trump struggles with long-term planning and I think that killed him here. He told people they'll be in church for Easter and that the job numbers are "great" in spite of the fact that they're down by millions from mere months ago. It was a wishful thinking approach and people saw through it. It certainly didn't help him.
I think he misfired with his rhetoric and attacks as well. It plays for his base, so he leaned into it and it cost him the election. My family and friends who love Trump have long complained about his tendency to attack political rivals or anyone that disagrees with him ("I just wish he'd stay off Twitter" is the common refrain). They all wished he would dial down the rants and focus on the job. He couldn't do it and Biden's campaign recognized the Trump fatigue and latched onto it. I think this was what killed Trump in the 'burbs. Trumps message still carried him in rural America where his America First, and economic messaging resonated strongly, but in the affluent 'burbs, people saw an angry, ranting old man and voted instead for the pleasant old man.
Trump had every opportunity to seize on the pandemic and make beating it about patriotism and American grit and tenacity--all themes that hit with his supporters. They would have eaten it up if he had modeled this type of behavior. Instead he pretended it wasn't happening, even as the numbers grew and grew and grew.
When you are the president you have the bully pulpit. You can set the tone for the country. Trump set the tone that the pandemic was no biggie, just ignore it and it will go away. People who could see what was happening in their communities, who watched friends and loved ones get sick and/or die, knew he was full of BS and didn't give a crap about the growing body count, only about his own political fortunes.
Trump brought this all on himself.
You are right about tone. Definitely. Trump voters loved his tone, i.e. the bravado etc. sometimes even he made us laugh. however, the same words - others perceived it as hostile. Its all in one's perception. Haters of Trump perceived the exact same thing in a negative way. its all tone and how one perceives it based on their love or dislike of him. Weird but true.
Yet it's also what won him the election in the first place. None of the other milquetoast GOP candidates were likely to make it through the scorched-earth election season intact. Heck, none of them could even beat a complete political novice for the nomination, never mind survive the general election cycle.
The guy was a walking sledgehammer who sometimes hit a giant railroad spike right on the head and sometimes hit a basket of fuzzy kittens. If he had learned when to swing and when not to swing, he could have won 40 states this time.
I think this election was baked in 2-3 years ago. I am coming to realize that Covid probably helped Trump. It gave his supporters a line in the sand and huge numbers of small business owners/contract workers/people who were not declared essential went for him in droves because of shut downs. I'm not sure those folks would be activated otherwise. It also helped him because Ds scaled back campaigns while Rs went balls to the wall. I think the rioting that followed some of the social unrest helped Trump. I think he fanned those flames because he knew the predictable outcome and how that helped his cause. Without those two simultaneous crisis, I think Biden could have eked out another two points.
I really think the failure of passing the $2k stimulus plan helped sink his re-election.
But he could have catered to the Bernie Sanders crowd, who reluctantly voted for Biden, by slashing or eliminating Student debt (providing a big boost to the economy) which he could have done without the consent of Congress or the Senate. Cancelling of student debt, along with free college, is big on the agenda of the Sanders followers. How many votes would that have translated to? 5 million?
Before the Bernie crowd storms the Capital, they're going to wait and see what gifts Biden is going to give them in return for their votes. I hear the $10k figure of slashing student debt, with restrictions. I don't think this is going to sail with the Bernie crowd, which are going to be even powerful in the next election as they're not going away anytime soon.
So what do you think? Canceling/Slashing Student Debt would have helped save him?
And please, let's leave conspiracy theories and voter fraud out of this thread!
Putin couldn't hack mail in ballots and early voting, that's how Trump lost!
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