I'm Still Angry...and Sad

 

I am still angry and sad about the 2024 elections. I haven't "gotten over it" and I haven't "moved on". I know there are a lot of people who feel the way I do, and I know that fear and dread have crept in as additional emotions--not ideal for being a functional optimist today!

I still feel this way even after reading so many "post-election breakdowns" of data, and the added opinion pieces of what the Democrats got "so wrong" this election.

Here's what I think--it's very simple. People DID NOT VOTE. 

If you voted...thank you. You don't have to keep reading.

If you are an adult citizen of the United States, and you did not vote then shame on you. Really....shame the fuck on you. And do NOT take comfort in this fact:  data shows that only about 64% of the voting-eligible population in the U.S. voted in the 2024 election. In my opinion, you and the other 36% can go to hell. 

Harsh words? Nope.

Not when elections can have extreme consequences. For minorities of every stripe; if you didn't vote, then you are responsible for making life much more difficult for people in your lives:  women, children, people who have a disability, people struggling with illness, people living at or below the poverty line, people in rural areas, public school students, anyone who is L, G, B, T, Q or + :   you have decided, by your laziness, to impact their lives in a negative way for at least the next two years. I see women and children being the most impacted--women will lose more of their right to health care and their own bodily autonomy, children will see their right to a free public education diminished, their food security dramatically shrinking. That's right--because you were too lazy to vote, kids will go hungry, and women will die. This is NOT hyperbole--it's already happening. 

Because here's the truth:  you don't NOT vote when things are going well for you. If you have a good job, if your family has adequate healthcare and nobody in your family has died (since 2020) of COVID, you don't decide, "I'll sit this election out. I'm too busy (i.e. selfish) to vote." You don't NOT vote for the office of the president because "they won't do [x or y or z] for me."

You think I'm "off the mark" on this?? Well then, here's a statistic for you:  "Harris had 6,285,500 fewer popular votes than Biden won in 2020, but 774,847 more than Trump won in 2020."  (From US News 11/15/2024)

Harris had 6 MILLION fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. And no, it's not "because the economy" (because the US economy has rebounded from the pandemic faster and better than any country in the world, wages are up, and unemployment is low). It's because we were facing the worst possible personal scenarios in 2020, and we were motivated to save ourselves--we are a selfish species. Probably the worst of all possible reasons people didn't vote?? "I think enough people are going to vote, so I don't need to."

But all in all, it's pure and simple--less people voted in 2024 than in 2020. 

I have a special message for those women who will be in their 30's and 40's in 2028 (see statistics below):  things will get worse for women in the future if you don't support each other NOW. I know you grew up with Roe v Wade "being the law of the land", and I know you grew up the beneficiaries of all the feminists fought for in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, and I know you grew up in a time it was "okay to be gay". But if you don't start taking politics seriously; if you don't start voting every. single. time. you will lose all of those privileges your grandmothers, mothers, and aunties fought for. And it will be worse for your daughters.

So, grow up and get ready to FIGHT.  And get involved in your country NOW.

Please? There are a lot of us who are getting too old to keep fighting for you.

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Young voters favored Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the 2024 election by 4 points: 51% to 47%. That was a much smaller margin than young voters gave President Biden over Trump in 2020 (+25), but still by far the strongest support for Harris of any age group in this election. Only 1% of young voters backed a third-party or independent candidate, slightly lower than the 3% who did so in 2020.

There was a notable difference by age within the 18-29 age group. Voters ages 18-24 supported Harris by 10 points, while their older peers (ages 25-29) supported Trump by 2 points. In the 2020 election, this group of young people were 21-25. That year, 18- to 24-year-olds supported Biden by 29 points, highlighting a major shift in vote choice for this segment of the youth electorate. 

There were major differences in youth support for both candidates by factors like race, gender, and education.

The Gender Gap: Young Women +17 for Harris, Young Men +14 for Trump

As many observers expected before the election, there was a significant gender gap among young voters. Young women preferred Harris to Trump by a 17-point margin: 58% to 41%. But young men preferred Trump by a 14-point margin: 56% to 42%.

Notably, that gender gap is larger than the gender gap for the electorate overall. Among voters of all ages, 52% of all female voters backed Harris, compared to 46% for Trump (+6). While among all male voters, Trump won 55% to 43% (+12). Young people who identify as nonbinary or in another way other than as a man or woman supported Harris by a 69-point margin.

Our Mothers and Grandmothers

 

It's worth hearing the words of President Obama and Michelle Obama again this weekend. I found their speeches at the DNC this summer to be so inspiring! Here are a couple of quotes:

 

"And then, in his praise for his grandmother, “a little old white lady born in a tiny town called Peru, Kansas,” and his mother-in-law, Marion Robinson, a Black woman from the South Side of Chicago, he brought a new emphasis on ordinary Americans, especially women, who work hard, sacrifice for their children, and value honesty, integrity, kindness, helping others, and hard work.

They wanted their children to “do things and go places that they would’ve never imagined for themselves.” 

“Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between,” he said, “we have all had people like that in our lives:... good hardworking people who weren’t famous or powerful but who managed in countless ways to leave this country just a little bit better than they found it.”

If President Obama emphasized tonight that the nation depends on the good will of ordinary people, it was his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, who spoke with the voice of those people and made it clear that only the American people can preserve democracy.

In a truly extraordinary speech, perfectly delivered, Mrs. Obama described her mother as someone who lived out the idea of hope for a better future, working for children and the community. “She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation,” Mrs. Obama said, “the belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.”

 

It's a good reminder of why we vote; we do not want the work of our mothers and grandmothers to be for naught. They sacrificed. they gave all they had to US--the future. I want to leave this world a better place for my children and grandchildren, but I cannot do it alone. I need you, all of you.