There were certainly votes lost in Michigan over Gaza, but even if every single Jill Stein vote was a protest vote (they weren’t), it wouldn’t have been enough for Harris to carry the state.

The tougher thing to parse is the reason why so many voters seemingly stayed home this cycle. I think there is a very reasonable argument that not enough people were excited about her message, even the base.

It’s a lot easier for door knockers, phone bankers, and everyday democrats to talk proudly about their candidate if they can rattle off a list of great things their candidate will do. It’s even easier if those great things hit people where they’re hurting the hardest or is the moral thing to do (healthcare for the uninsured, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc.). It’s a lot tougher to get low propensity voters to show up on the harm reduction argument alone, especially if you brush past where they’re hurting or concede too much ground on your moral positions.

The biggest issue for most voters appears to have been inflation and the economy, and while democrats were technically correct to say the rate of inflation has come down and American economic indicators outperformed most other countries in this post-pandemic period, that’s all pretty meaningless to someone whose real wage growth didn’t keep up with inflation these past few years. The “opportunity economy” and targeted small business tax cuts is a much tougher sell to someone working two+ jobs to get by.

The other issue that dominated the media was immigration. Democrats forfeited their moral position when they offered the republican wishlist border bill earlier this year. The argument that republicans weren’t serious on the border because they didn’t support the bill fell flat, and instead democrats were (rightly) criticized for abandoning their framing of the issue as a choice between deportation and amnesty, and their previous claims the border wall was racist.

All of that to say, democrats failed to connect with their own base on the issues that make them the party’s best messengers. Add Gaza to the list of issues where Harris could have pivoted away from Biden, instead of running into the arms of the Cheneys to chase the mythical moderate republican voter.

Counting to five, too complicated for voters.

I don’t disagree, but you’ll have to take that up with the Pew Research Center. Unfortunately this is kinda their area of expertise, haha

As a high propensity voter, and former young person, I too remember being offended by this insinuation. However, the data on the 18-29 voting block shows generally lower turnout and has remained largely unchanged within my lifetime.

Pretty sure this post is a Nintendo Switch ad.

get away from the boring Jedi

Goddamn the Acolyte was rough

His motives are still “under investigation”.

His political activities include social media comments that “appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes” and “espouse political violence”. Pretty shit political beliefs, if you want to call them that.

That would require good governance, appropriate oversight, and consumer activism. Unfortunately Florida man has no interest in these things.

You forgot the part where they were literally given a pandemic playbook and they choose to actively ignore its existence, with some republicans even claiming it didn’t exist.

What, no mention of phrenology? I’ve lost touch with 4chan, too much grass touching for me.

nobody will enter on Israel’s side (no middle eastern despot would fight with Israel and survive the week) so yeah.

Perhaps not directly, but if America steps up it’s involvement, they will be relying on their relationships with allies in the region to do so.

I think the lens of a localized, regional war in the Middle East is becoming too narrow. If we’re escalating things to the point of America’s direct and significant involvement (beyond shooting missiles out of the sky, but rather conducting its own attacks on Iran), then I think Iran’s potential allies extend beyond the region as well.

Most likely Russia first, as it’s already in a proxy war with the US/West.

Potentially China, but not likely until it’s most advantageous for them to do so. Or perhaps they’ll enter opportunistically, such as attacking Taiwan if America’s Naval might is sent to the Gulf, opening a potential three front war.

The economic connection between these three has continued to grow in recent years, and may be reason enough.

No no no, you don’t understand. We’re just de-escalating through escalation.

I wish this was /s rather than a direct quote…

The British gave time, the Americans gave money, the Soviets gave blood.

The Russian capacity to throw seemly endless bodies toward a goal is virtually part of their mythos. The above quote is from Stalin in regards to defeating the Nazis. The situation couldn’t be more different, other than in the propaganda coming from Putin.

Forgot the part where management also says use it or lose it, your vacation no longer rolls over, and your vacation bank now has an expiry date. But thanks again for all your hard work.

The state was Utah, the governor quoted the following in his veto statement:

Here are the numbers that have most impacted my decision: 75,000, 4, 1, 86 and 56.

• 75,000 high school kids participating in high school sports in Utah.
• 4 transgender kids playing high school sports in Utah.
• 1 transgender student playing girls sports.
• 86% of trans youth reporting suicidality.
• 56% of trans youth having attempted suicide.

The veto was overridden.

Something Lucas did well in my eyes was world building. To me that’s the most redeeming part of the prequels, the universe felt vast yet connected. The sequels felt small in comparison and a little too familiar. The only place I wanted to see more of was Kijimi.

Why have you forsaken me?

Associated Press:

MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High

Thank you kind stranger!

edit: Wow, didn’t expect this to blow up!!!