Q re: Election Results
A's from Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals
This post is part of a Q&A series with voters who have volunteered to share their perspectives leading up to the November 2024 election.
QUESTIONS
Now that the election is over, what are you thinking and feeling?
Have you learned anything from the election?
ANSWERS
Scott from Rochester, Michigan (conservative): Frankly speaking, now that the election is over, I'm still processing the results and honestly, just trying to take a break on politics for a week or two. The biggest thing I learned is that I need to learn more about what others want / need.
Geoff Wise (centrist): I'm thinking that I want to understand better why Trump was the clear winner on Tuesday. Some friends are despondent, believing that he won because more Americans now accept a leader who feeds the dark side -- hate, fear, power, and self-interest over the qualities that make America a great nation right now. In other words, Tuesday was a dark step backward for America. I've also heard the theory that it was a policy victory; the headwinds of inflation and immigration were simply too much for Harris to overcome. I am worried, but not despondent. A second Trump term means he is less beholden to the unholy alliance that propelled him to power.
The most eye-opening thing for me is how the organizers of the 2024 Ohio redistricting reform effort reacted to their loss. They attributed it to the slanted ballot language. But when you look at the county-by-county data, it's clear that people voted along party lines, recognizing that the reform was quite generous to the minority party.
Nina (moderate): I’m disappointed in the election results, but not regretting my efforts to encourage people to vote and to keep lines of communication open with people with whom I disagree at times. There are a lot of thoughts racing through my head but here are a few:
— As a voter, If you can’t afford a decent standard of living, not much else matters. And the sense of betrayal is much stronger and long-lasting from someone who tries to be your friend than someone who was always a jerk.As a person trying to influence, introspection is important. I rewatched the 2016 “Election Night” SNL skit and realized that it has not aged. Our outrage is privileged and real progress happens over decades.
— I’m determined to work locally with legislators I trust to try to move the needle on issues I care about. And I want to continue my support of voting rights/access.As much as I am buoyed by continuing the work, the circle of individuals and organizations I trust is shrinking. Denial of the basic facts and lingering issues from January 6, 2021 is an automatic disqualifying factor for my ability to work with you. So is cherry picking ballots to cure and claiming that anyone wanting to cure all ballots is not pro-democracy. These examples reinforce my belief that both of the current political parties need to be replaced- but that will take time.
John from Michigan (independent): I have drawn my own conclusions, but I suppose it is debatable whether I learned anything. I have concluded that most Americans have a short memory and do not understand macroeconomics. I am feeling pretty frustrated. I believe that most people will regret this moment, eventually.
People said they voted for Trump because of the economy. Which means that Harris lost because of the inflation that followed the COVID pandemic. That was largely unavoidable because it was primarily related to the disruption of global supply chains. Both Trump and Biden gave money to taxpayers in 2020 & 2021, which prevented the worse possibility of a recession, and may also have contributed to the inflation. But people seem to want prices to fall back to pre-COVID levels which would have required a severe recession, and that would have been even far less popular. Inflation is now solved, but if Trump follows through on tariffs, it will bring inflation back, so why again did people vote for Trump?
Trump gave a big tax cut both to businesses and individuals back in 2017, and he will have the opportunity to extend that soon. This is an area where I have some expertise having studied this topic. In my opinion, the correct answer is to cut taxes for business, and keep tax rates high for individuals. That is the only way that a business tax cut pays for itself in terms of government revenue. That spurs economic growth, doesn’t blow a hole in the national debt and everyone is better off. Unfortunately, neither party gets this right because Republicans want to cut taxes in both categories and Democrats want to raise taxes in both. Like his first term, Trump is likely to run up the national debt to give tax cuts to wealthy people.
I am also concerned that Trump now has few obstacles to causing serious long-term harm to some critical functions of the government. That is a big topic by itself.
Even though people said they voted based on the economy, I suspect that a large percentage of our population could not imagine a woman as president, certainly not one of color. Regardless of her qualifications. Which is a sad statement for the 21st century.
Maggie Smith (liberal): I was surprised about the emphasis the "economy" had on this outcome. Our economy is strong, unemployment remains low, and inflation is on the wane. Yet, voters still believe commodity prices are still high (gas, groceries, housing costs). Trump campaigned on lowering prices- I am very interested in how he plans to do that. I plan to start tracking bellwether comodity prices on his first day in office and on the last day of the year to see if he will truly impact these prices. I am already thinking about the 2026 midterms and how we can completely flip the house to the Democratic party - just for the guardrails that it provides. It was a no good very bad day for me on Wednesday, but the populace spoke, and it spoke Trump. May he deliver on his promises.
This post is part of a Q&A series with voters who have volunteered
to share their perspectives leading up to the November 2024 election.
Back to INDEX of Questions and Answers
About the VOTERS we interviewed
Note: The views and opinions expressed by volunteer contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Union, a single-issue organization that welcomes all and is dedicated to protecting democracy.
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Very enlightening comments. Thanks!