Q re: 90 days left
A's from Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals
Question
We’re about 90 days out from the general election in November 2024. What are your thoughts?
Answers
Carl (conservative): As we approach November, I am frustrated at how debased and anti-intellectual our entire political class has become. One candidate speaks too much and when he does, vomits out so many inanities that it’s hard to separate what little wheat there may be from the vast amount of chaff. The other candidate is doing her absolute best to hide her actual beliefs — the ones that got her exactly zero votes and drummed out of the 2020 primary before the Iowa caucuses — because she and her handlers know they are not what the majority of America wants. This effort, unsurprisingly, is assisted by a media that is completely and transparently complicit. It worked for her running mate in 2020, so I suspect it will work for her as well. And we will get what we deserve. And we’ll get it good and hard.
Scott in Rochester, Michigan (conservative)
Feeling positive in defeating MAGA. A whip-smart prosecutor combined with a moderate Midwestern governor. A great combination to get in front of the voters who have not decided.Liz in VA (moderate)
All systems are go. Do not slow down. We have so much to do!
1. Make sure everyone is registered, and I mean everyone who can legally vote is registered and prepared to vote
2. Everyone check their registration every week. We are seeing voter purges in Ohio and Georgia among others. We need to make sure voters confirm their registration
3. Deal with Mis/disinformation. Deal with them heads on. State the truth.
4. Value-added support. Where will the additional work make the the most difference?
5. Everyone has a role to play. Help others find the right role to play.Geoff Wise (centrist)
I am energized by the change in election dynamics with Harris replacing Biden. Although I would love the focus in November to be on Trump's unfitness for the job, it's looking more likely that policy differences on immigration, the economy and social issues will decide the result. It's going to be close, with even more scrutiny than in 2020 on how elections are executed in the swing states.Nina (moderate)
I am hopeful for a positive outcome in the general election, but not complacent. We now have two reasonable, impactful leaders on the Democratic ticket that appeal to a wide variety of voters. I think that there is still a lot of work to be done prior to November 5 and I think that it is critical that the work be done impeccably.Vice President Harris modeled some behavior that I hope we will see from the Lincoln Project and others, with her responses to hecklers shouting "lock him up" at a recent rally. She confirmed that she heard their message, reframed and corrected the framing as required ("that's for the courts to decide"), but then, when the participants would not stop, ended the chants with a firm "I'm speaking". It felt like the adult finally entered the room to stop the children's melee. And, like a child involved in a few melees in my life, my feeling changed from initial joy mixed with smugness mixed with a sense of wrongdoing (at the chants), to a snap to attention and a deep relief to have the ridiculous behavior stop and a chance to restart something more fun and important (like imagining a future without hateful junk chanted at every speech). I think this is the impression that voters need to internalize that will allow them to feel that they can vote for a Harris/Walz ticket even if they have a difference in political view or background.
I would like to see as many conservative or Republican issues as possible unwrapped from their partisan framing, acknowledged as heard, and corrected and reframed as needed, with any negative intent at the root of the framing called out clearly, similarly to how VP Harris handled her recent hecklers. One example that I think of frequently is the response of "well, we're a Republic" to concerns about our democracy. I have heard that from friends and from responses to this survey- and it has reminded me that we should pay more attention to the republic part of our democratic republic system of government. I now use both words when I describe our system. When this comment comes up in conversation, I also talk about why we should take better care of the republic part of our government, like not electing Senators who clearly don't have a platform (Hawley and others), ones who apply rules of logic inconsistently (ala McConnell needing different amounts of time to confirm a conservative vs more moderate Supreme Court justice- and laughing about it with his country club pals), as well as caring for the infrastructure needed to educate the populace to choose a more capable representative (why would you educate yourself with a "news channel" that lied about election results? Isn't that dangerous to the republican pillar of our government?). And finally, I compare the quick retort to the concern about our government to the innkeeper in the Pink Panther movie - even though "it's not my dog", it still bites, and you know it. Let's move forward and fix things.I know this type of work takes time but I'm confident that smart and creative people can do it. I believe it's necessary not only to win the election but also to fight against any outcry or illegal behavior for a "rigged" or "stolen" result.
Also-the couch jokes need to stop. Yes, I've laughed at them too, but this is the type of comment that has an air of superiority that has made many conservatives so mad at liberals, and it perpetuates a falsehood that then allows comments based on false equivalencies (or repetition of lies) to be propelled from the other side.
John from Michigan (independent)
With only about 90 days remaining before election day, it feels like a totally different race now that Joe Biden has dropped out. I have to give him a lot of credit. Not many politicians can set their ego aside. That said, he claimed to be running for only one term back in 2020, so I don’t think he should have run in 2024 to begin with. Hope has been hard to come by this election cycle, but I am starting to feel it.Big picture, I am still voting against Trump. I have no qualms about voting for Kamala Harris and I think that Tim Walz is a high-quality VP candidate. I can’t say the same for JD Vance. It is scary to think that Vance would be second in line if Trump were to be elected; almost as scary as a second Trump term.
I am hoping that the next 90 days has more focus on issues and policy (but I would not bet money on it) rather than name calling and lies, and I am looking forward to the polls actually meaning something. I am attracted to numbers and patterns, and will be following the modeling predictions of Nate Silver as well as 538 (Nate’s old crew).
I still believe that the election structure is messed up, because of the electoral college, because only about 10 states are really in play and will get all the attention. We need the National Popular Vote to pass a few more states to eliminate the electoral college so that all people have an equal vote. It is too late for this election.I am also starting to think about after November, hoping that Trump becomes irrelevant politically, so that the damage he has caused to the GOP can begin to heal. Until that happens, we are likely to have highly-polarized politics, and lower chances of cooperation and compromise in Washington.
Maggie Smith (liberal)
I can summarize my feelings about the 2024 presidential election in two words- hopefully energized. I believe the Democratic party has chosen their presidential choices with pragmatism and cohesity. VP Harris has a no nonsense approach to governing and she will bring her skills as that no nonsense prosecutor that she developed during her time as attorney general. I also like her VP pick Governor Walz. I loved his response to Jake Tapper on July 28 when he was asked about some of Walz’s policies and asked if they made Walz vulnerable to Trump calling him a “big government liberal.” Walz joked that he was, indeed, a “monster.”“Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions, and we’re a top five business state, and we also rank in the top three of happiness …. The fact of the matter is,” where Democratic policies are implemented, “quality of life is higher, the economies are better … educational attainment is better. So yeah, my kids are going to eat here, and you’re going to have a chance to go to college, and you’re going to have an opportunity to live where we're working on reducing carbon emissions. Oh, and by the way, you’re going to have personal incomes that are higher, and you’re going to have health insurance. So if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label".
It is time for a Madame President and if anyone can energize the vote to make that happen, Kamala Harris is the right choice. This will be the year of "electing women" and they will cast their votes to make Madame President a reality.
Dan Mariano (progressive-leaning liberal)
In short: more anxious than ever before.
We have already had an unprecedented, historic, and intense election up to now, and I think that this election is just getting started. While there are many, and arguably more impactful elections from the Congress to state governments on the ballot in 90 days, I want to focus on the top of the ticket for my response as I think more is going to trickle out of that than we have seen in a long time.
With the Democratic party making a generational shift and pivoting to a ticket that looks more like America today, and the America of tomorrow, there is definitely a swell of enthusiasm amongst the Democratic base that it had been missing for some time. And while this may be reassuring and a fountain of new optimism for the party, I do not think that it changes the challenges and realities of this race. An enthusiastic Democratic voter, and an apathetic Democratic voter, count the same at the ballot box. There is a lot to be excited about with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the ticket: continued bolstering and expansion of the middle class, wider healthcare affordability, protections of reproductive rights, and a commitment to democracy with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, to name a few. I know that I, for one, am both thrilled and driven to win more than ever before. But I think we need to be clear about the challenges, at many levels, that we face in the next 90 days and even beyond.
The Democratic Party is on the backfoot as it embarks on the shortest presidential campaign in modern history, facing a Republican nominee who previously received the most votes in his party's history and the second most votes in American history. Not to mention, they face an opponent who has a foothold in the Supreme Court and a personal political following not seen in this country before, with a penchant for tribalism, escalation and political violence. We are not going into this election like we were in 2020. Right now, there are tens of millions of Americans who continue to refuse to accept the legitimacy of the sitting President and Vice President. That is a scale we have not seen since the Civil War. They view their candidate as a fighter for the People, a wounded assassination survivor, and a persecuted revolutionary of their cause by the President the Democratic nominee serves. A victim, and a savior. A candidate who has already demonstrated what he is willing to do when he has nothing left to lose, but will now show us what he is willing to do when he is faced with losing everything.
This race is, as it has always been, 50/50 for either party. It is an election that will ultimately be won by less than 100,000 votes just as the last several elections have been. But even if Harris & Walz were to win both the electoral college and the popular vote, I fear there is a significant chance that they will not be inaugurated on January 20th. Across swing states in red counties, election deniers are already affirming that they will not certify their state's elections should the Democrats win and it remains to be seen how that could change or be challenged.
Additionally, the legal challenges of this election, from either party that appears to have lost, but especially now that Harris has replaced Biden on the ticket, will likely dwarf those we saw in 2020 and may prolong the certification of the election (no matter who wins). All this may be set against a backdrop of broader conflict, that we were able to largely avoid in 2020, as one party's base was largely not out on the streets due to lockdowns.
So, it is incumbent upon all of us to not only drive awareness of every candidate's platforms, positions, and to get out the vote, but also inform people about what is going on in Boards of Elections across the country as well as Project 2025, the Supreme Court, and even draw attention to what influential political extremists are saying on social media when possible. And, above all else, we must focus every day to cool our passions and temper down on rhetoric wherever we can as this election continues to heat up. As the greatest Republican of all, and the first Republican President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln said. we must face the task ahead "with malice toward none, with charity for all."We can do this, as we always have, peaceably, legally and smoothly. But that is our responsibility, for the next 90 days and beyond.
This post is part of a Q&A series with voters who have volunteered
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