The 2024 Presidential Election: Who Showed Up and Upset the Status Quo's Applecart?

86.7% to 13.2%. That's the percentage Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris among early voters, In the end, the Electoral College total was 312 to 226 (popular vote percentages were 50.1% for Trump and 48.3% for Harris) It's not what the political Establishment expected. It's not what the not-so-subtle partisan news media predicted. It's not what the Left or limousine liberals hoped for either. Some of the celebrity types even threatened to leave the country if the results weren't to their liking. I guess that was supposed to be some sort of implied threat.

All the "big names" came out---Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopie Goldberg and the rest of the "The View", George Clooney---and even Taylor Swift to name a few. I guess their opinions weren't as important as they thought they were.

 Even the debates were a farce, at least as seen by the voters who bothered to turn in, further embarrassing the news media credibility and mocking its impartiality. Fact-checking one individual but not the other? Turning off the "mic" on just one in mid-sentence but not both? Giving extra camera to one candidate while the other is still speaking, plus the innuendos? Hardly "fair and balanced". I can see why some call it "soft propaganda". 

Some blamed President Joe Biden for waiting too long before withdrawing and thus giving Harris too brief a time to mount a properly organized campaign. But if so, then the blame needs to be shared by the Democrat Party for allowing an obviously ill Biden to be nominate in the first place, and then for encouraging him to stay the course. Biden has been in mental decline for much of his four years, becoming a running joke among foreign leaders, the international media, and a headshaking embarrassment to Americans of all political stripe.

A few have said that President Biden should have stepped down and allowed Harris to assume the mantle of President. It would have given her a certain clout to be running as the incumbent. It would have given her an opportunity to flex her presidential muscle, perhaps even getting some of ideas passed into law. 

At the very least, the Democrats could point to having America's first female president and Harris would have at least achieved something of note aside from having the worst consistent approval rating of any Vice President of either party in U.S. history.

Senator Bernie Sanders made a good point when he said "the Democratic Party left the working class. Now, the working class has left the Democratic Party". One voter in Pennsylvania who seemed to sum up much of the sentiment of Trump crossover voters when he quipped "It wasn't so much that I liked Trump more as it was that I liked Harris less". 

Many voters found her shallow, pandering, and basically unqualified to be president. Some remarked that they didn't like the fact that they didn't have a say in who the Democratic nominee was after President Biden withdrew under extreme pressure because of the decline in his cognitive health.

Maybe rather than being nominated as a "buy one get one free" ticket or allowing the presidential nominee (in truth, the party powerbrokers) choose the Vice Presidential nominee, the slot should be voted on separated by the party membership. But protest votes and finger pointing by disgruntled insiders and a partisan media aside, who upside their apple cart? Who peed in the Left's Cheerios? Let's find out.

 Early analysis of the race was a key factor in Trump's victory. Trump's advisors went back and reexamined who were their core supporters from his 2016 and 2020 races.  The majority are primarily  white male, mostly seniors, active duty military or retired veterans, law enforcement, business owners. Most are middle class with good representation among the working class and upper middle class.

They're strong advocates of the 2nd amendment. Dedicated nationalists ("America first"), and opposed to a open borders policy as well as to amnesty. They want a secure southern border, strict regulation on migration in general, and deportation of all illegal immigrants currently living in the United States (with some six to ten million embedded in the U.S., that would prove unlikely).

Trump supporters tend to be religious, mostly Christian fundamentalists. They oppose abortion, although they're split on whether the ban should across the board or allow for some exceptions such as rape or incest. They back legislation calling the adoption of English as the official national language.

Many advocate for the reduction of government bureaucracy and eliminating "red tape" which hinders business (especially small businesses).  Some want to do away with various government agencies like the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the IRS, Department of Energy, the EPA, and any other agency not specifically called for in the founding documents.

That's the core which has stayed loyal to Trump. That has been his base. But, would that hold true in 2024?  The 2024 election was a near record in voter turnout, with voters reportedly standing in lines for hours in some cases. According to pre-election polling, taken in late October by Gallup, 70% of voters said they were looking forward to casting their vote (70% of Republicans and conservative leaning voters and 67% of Democrat and liberal leaning voters). An estimated 54% said they intended to vote early.

Voter outreach was far more extensive than in previous elections. 58% of Democrats said they were contacted by someone in Harris campaign and asked to support their candidate. That compares 40% of Trump supporters who were contacted by a representative of the Trump team. 25% of registered Republicans said they were contacted by the Harris camp while 31% of Democrats said they were contacted by Trump supporters (as an aside, the polls excluded Independent and third party voters).  

The majority of Trump supporters over the age of 45, were 57% of men and 48% of women. Harris received 51% of the 45+ women's vote and 42% of the over 45 men's vote. The big surprise was the voters age 18 to 44, which includes the Millennials and GenZ. 53% of the males went for Trump compared to 45% for Harris. On the women's side, 44% voted for Trump while 55% backed Kamala.

Historically, the 18 to 40 age bracket has been strongly liberal (or at least, anti-Republican). This group---male and female---is the one we've heard so much about advocating democratic socialism, Communism, or anarchy (although a large minority is said to support libertarianism). Although women turned out for Harris, their numbers were slightly lower than expected whereas the men were backing Trump in strong numbers. If we compare these with numbers with those of the 2020 Presidential election we see just how significant there are.

In 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden received 60% of the vote from those 18 to 29 and 52% of voters between ages 30 and 44. When broken down by gender, Biden got 57% of the women's vote and 45% of the men's. Trump, by contrast, got just 39% of the vote from those in the 18 to 29 bracket and but 50% of those 30 to 44. Trump also received 51% of the vote from those 45+. When it came to gender, 42% of women voted for Trump in 2020 while he got 53% of the men's vote.

When it came to race, Harris picked up 83% of the Black vote which tends to vote lockstep Democrat. Trump earned 16% of the Black vote. In 2020, 87% of the Black vote went to Biden while 12% voted for "The Donald". 55% of the Latino vote also went to Kamala along with 55% of mixed or other race. 43% of Latinos vote in favor of Trump along with 41% of mixed or other race. When it came to white voters, Harris garnered 43% of their vote while 56% went for Trump.

In looking at the 2020 race, 58% voted for Trump compared to 41% for Biden. For Latinos, it was 65% for Biden and just 32% for Trump. Among Black voters in 2020, 12% voted for Trump with Biden getting 87%. Asians, who tend to be traditional, gave Biden the thumbs up with 61% of their vote. 34% said "yes" to Trump. Lastly, among mixed race results, only 41% sided with "The Donald" and 55% went with Biden.

The next category we want to examine is education. Among those who graduated from college gave Kamala Harris 56% of their vote and Trump just 43%. Voters without a college degree (as well as those who didn't graduate from high school or may have a technical/trade education) voted for Trump 56% to 43%. This group tends to be blue collar or middle class, as well as some small business owners. In 2020 Trump won the same bracket.  

Another important demographic is location. Who did better in suburbs versus the city and the hinterlands of rural America? Kamala Harris pulled in the vote among city dwellers with 53% of the vote while 35% voted for Trump.  Out in the suburbs, 47% of voters got behind Trump. A majority of 52% cast their vote for Harris. What about in America's farmlands? A strong 63% stood with "The Donald" compared to 35% for the current Vice President, Kamala Harris.   

When it came to gender out in the suburbs (irrespective of race), we find that 57% went for Kamala Harris. Trump got only 42%. Among guys, the story was reversed. 46% supported Harris while 52% backed Trump. The results here shouldn't come as a big surprise.  Most of us know that the majority of liberals and those registered Democrat tend to live in cities while many conservatives and Republicans often live in the rural farmlands of America.

 The tossup was in suburbia. This is Middle America. It's where the "America Dream" lives, tucked away in working class and middle income neighborhoods while the well-to-do are secluded in their gated communities. By and large, Middle America is traditionalist and typically leans conservative, though it's not rock solid conservative. It has some liberal tendencies too. It's not particularly fond of extremes from either side.

Most of the kids attend public schools while both parents work full time (some have to hold down multiple jobs just to make ends meet). In the 1980's we'd call them "latch key kids".  Much our country's veterans live in Middle America too. This is where you'll tend to find small business owners and factory workers. Many of whom are either members of unions or come from historically union families, which begs the question---who did best among union households?

According to a 2023 survey, 59% of union members were registered Democrat, and yet 39% intended to vote Republican. A October 14, 2024 poll by Pew revealed that 50% of union households surveyed said they would vote for Kamala Harris. 43% intended to vote for Trump while 6% planned to vote for a third party candidate. These are numbers which would have been unheard of just a few years ago.

So, what happened? The reasons Donald Trump won are varied. He was better at identifying his core base and better at persuading those who leaned in his direction. He delivered a more clear and articulate message. Vice President Harris was seen as not being a legitimate candidate. No one voted for her to be the Democratic nominee for President. She wasn't "their" choice.

 Harris was seen as a stop gap because President Joe Biden was falling apart and everyone on the Left failed to act in time. She offered platitudes instead of realistic goals that differed from Biden's failed policies. She appeared at times confused as she tried to appease everyone, and was often caught talking out both sides of her mouth. Her campaign was unorganized and unsure of its candidate or direction.

Another factor, which will undoubtedly be ignored is the news media. The news media's role is provide unbiased and objective news. Over the past decade (or longer), the news media has devolved into a partisan propaganda machine devoid of credibility. They've spent years doing everything possible to discredit Trump and aiding the Status Quo in its quest of character assassination (which likely contributed to the two attempts at the real thing). Their partisan bias was all too obvious. Too bad for them that the American Public isn't as ignorant or naive as they think we are. 

Lastly, American voters are tired of the same old bait and switch political game that's played every election cycle. They are tired of broken promises, condescending platitudes, and seeing the can kicked down the road and into their children's and grandchildren's laps rather solving the problem now. We've had enough of their bipartisan lies.

 We want our country back from the neo-fascist corporate elite who've hijacked our Republic. Trump, like him or despised him, represents the "outsider"; someone willing and able to challenge the corrupt Status quo for the soul of America, and it seems that most Americans are with him.   

 

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How 5 key demographic groups voted in 2024: AP VoteCast

 

Gallup: More Than Half of U.S. Votes Likely Cast BeforeElection Day

Roper/Cornell: How Groups Voted in 2020

Key facts about union members and the 2024 election

Who Really Controls Our Lives? It May Not Be Who You Think

 

America isn't a democratic republic any longer. It's a corporatocracy. I think we all understand that by now. Most studies now list us as a "flawed democracy". We've devolved into a neo-fascist state which in many ways resembles the feudalism with its two tier legal, political, and economic systems. In lieu of feudal lords and ladies, we have the super wealthy who own the two main political parties as much as they do the government, legal system, and the media.

They control the economy, set domestic and foreign policy, while their lobbyists write legislation which become laws and you can bet they don't benefit us. They've become our overlords, whether we call them oligarchs, kleptocrats or plutocrats, their goal is all the same---control, be it assets, resources, or us.   

Collectively they've stripped us of many of our freedoms, and continue to do so. They've turned us against each other because divided we can be easily manipulated and pose no threat to them. They've turned our nation into a surveillance state where we're perpetually watched, tracked, and monitored. We're so frustrated and confused we don't know who or what to believe.    

While researching my next article, I came across the video below entitled " The Illusion of Democracy: Who Really Controls Our Lives". The video, which runs 1:18.13  was posted by Best Documentary. It was originally put out under the title "Freedom of Choice" in 2014, includes the following description:

" Life is about choice. What we eat, what we read, who we elect; every day we make choices that determine how we want to live. But what if these choices are just an illusion? In an era where regulations and red tape rule every industry, where lobby groups and big business wield more influence than ever before, our daily choices have become increasingly limited. Focusing on key areas such as food, medicine, finance, and media, Freedom From Choice provides viewers with a glimpse at the myriad of ways their lives are being dictated, and tells us who stands to gain."

I encourage you to set aside some time to watch this highly informative video even if you have to do so in short 15 minute segments. I think it will help to you to understand what has been going on and continues to be going on. You may find that your suspicions have been correct all along.

Video: The Illusion of Democracy: Who ReallyControls Our Lives

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Has Mainstream Media Become a Threat to Democracy?

 

We all know that American has transformed from a Constitutional Republic into a surveillance state under run by an oligarchy or kleptocracy. Corporations literally own both major parties. Their lobbyists write legislation which is beneficial to them.  So, what to the greatest threat to the remnant of our democracy?

According to a Gallup poll taken in late October 2022, the biggest threat is the mainstream media. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising. After all, everything we watch, read, or listen to is owned by just five corporations. Our impressions or opinions are largely determined by the spin they put on any given topic. We dance to their tune.

According to the poll, just 34% of the public trust the media. That's a far cry from the days of Walter Cronkite, Chad Huntley and David Brinkley, Roger Mudd, Frank Reynolds, or Howard K. Smith when the overwhelming majority of public hung on every word they said.

We literally put our trust in individuals like these to tell us the truth about what was happening at home and around the world without any political spin or bias, and rarely was our trust misplaced. We could depend on radio show hosts like Paul Harvey or talk show hosts like Merv Griffith and Dick Cavett.  

But those days are long gone. We've gone from journalists and reporters who were interested in uncovering the truth of what was happening and giving it to us unfiltered. They had the conviction of their morals and integrity as media professionals to do no less.

Today, we live in a world of media celebrities posing as "journalists". The news isn't about facts as much as it about their version of the "facts". It's about manufacturing stories for the sole purpose of garnering higher ratings, which translates into advertising dollars, and manipulating or manufacturing opinions.

The Gallup poll goes on to say that 37% of those surveyed had absolutely no trust whatsoever in mainstream media. That's the highest percentage ever recorded by Gallup. 28% of the responded reported having very little trust in what the mainstream media tells them while just 27% said they had a "fair amount" of trust in what they were being told. 

When broken down by political ideology, we find that on 27% of Independents (the nation's largest political bloc) have any trust in the media. Republicans show the least amount of confidence in the media at just 14% while Democrats have the highest with 70%. Perhaps that's not surprising since studies have shown that mainstream or "establishment" media tends to have a liberal or left leaning bias.

Social media has followed suit with its increasing tendency toward censorship under the false guise of "community standards". Most media sites employ the use of bots looking for trigger words or phrases which is a not-so-subtle means of censorship.  Most of the time these bots will block a posting based simply on the words picked up without any understanding of the context.

When broken down by age and education, the level of confidence in being provided with a accurate and balanced account of a given story varies greatly. For instance, among Democrats those in the 35 to 55+ age bracket strongly trust the mainstream media with a 71% to 79% range. Those under 35 years of age have a slight majority---51%---level of trust.

Now compare that to Republicans in the same age brackets that just 6% to 15% have confidence in what the media reports. Among the pre-35 age bracket, its 16%. As for Independents, the younger groups has a 26% level of confidence while the older age brackets run from 32% to 40% which is still significantly less than Democrats.

When it comes to education, those Republicans who graduated from college with a four year degree had a 11% level of confidence in the media. Those without a college degree had a slightly higher level of trust---12%. For Independents, non-college graduates had a 28% level of confidence while graduates had a 40% trust in the information they were receiving.

However, when it came to Democrats the results were dramatically different. Both college graduates and non-college graduates were virtually the same with 71% and 70% respectively. This seems to reflect a preconceived notion that the information they were taking it was accurate and their level of education (which presumably included honing their critical thinking skills) were unaffected.

Of course one could argue that institutions of higher learning were already geared to pushing a liberal or Left leaning agenda. According to one study, 72% of college students believe that their professors have  political agenda or has sought to influence their student's political ideology.

In another study which looked at all faculty  members regardless of their specialty, 72% self-identified as liberal while just 15% said they were conservative. It's worth noting that conservatives failed to have a majority in any major, including business.  

In a 2022 study, more than 80% of Harvard's faculty self-identified as being liberal (37% said they were "very liberal"). That trend is fairly consistent through these Ivy League institutions which traditionally has turned out many of our political and business leaders. Princeton University is considered the most conservative of the ivy League colleges followed by the University of Pennsylvania  (Trump attended their Wharton School of Business). 

In the area of Communications, Political Science, and English, which produces the majority of media personalities, those who identify as liberal are among the highest. 75% of Communications professors identify as liberal compared to 14% who claim to be conservative. 81% of those who teach Political Science say they're liberal as opposed to just 2% who admit to being conservative. Among English professors, 81% are liberal while only 3% are conservative.

It's worth noting that 55% of Economic professors and 49% of Business professors reported being liberal as were 84% of teaching Performing Arts and Psychology. Conservatives reported their highest percentage---49%---in the area of Nursing along with 39% of those who teach Economics.

It should also be pointed out that one third of students have said their professors have ridiculed them because of their political beliefs and of this one third, 48% believe they've received a lower grade because of their political opinions.

So, if you're like most college students who are focused on maintaining a high GPA, you keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself in the hopes of getting a good grade and perhaps a recommendation from your professor to a potential employer.

What this all comes down to is freedom of speech and expression be it verbally or in print. Our Founding Fathers made free speech and expression first when it came to the Bill of Rights along with the freedom to practice whatever faith we wanted, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government to address our grievances. So, is this right under threat by the ruling oligarchy?

In a poll conducted on behalf of Times Opinion and Siena College, some 84% of those surveyed said that our freedom of speech is seriously under threat. Some of the respondents---46%--- admitted that they have had to monitor what they say out of fear of some sort of reprisal. Many claim that cancel culture is largely to blame for this. Only 21% said they felt comfortable with speaking their mind.

Proponents of cancel culture claim that its purpose is to hold individuals and groups accountable for their actions or words, while those opposed say that's its nothing more than intimidation and an attempt to force people or groups to self-censor out of fear of verbal or physical attack.  As an aside, 40% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed expressed the opinion that the First Amendment was "dangerous" and should be changed  to prevent "offensive" speech.

According to a poll by Pew, 58% of those surveyed said that calling people out on social media was justified while 38% said it typically resulted in harsh and often unjustified punishment. a majority of Democrats and liberals---75%----are fine with calling people out while 56% of Republicans and conservatives disagree. They believe that individuals are unfairly being punished or bullied for expressing an opinion, albeit an unpopular one.

So, where does that leave us? It appears that the majority of Americans believe that freedom of speech and expression are under attack. In fact, 59% of Americans who feel we have a serious issued with the First Amendment being undermined. The majority want a media which provides them with the basic facts in which to make their own decision instead of pundits trying to make our decisions for us.

I couldn't agree more. I don't want to listen to a bunch of talking heads trying to talk over one another in what amounts to nothing more than confusing verbal cacophony of noise in an attempt to score more personal rating points which is why I tend to avoid so-called "political talk shows".

At the same time, I don't want some well manicured puppet spin the day's news in a not-so-subtle effort to manipulate my opinion on some issue. They try to talk and act as if they're our most trusted friend, so I for one know I'm being conned right off the bat. It's not so much that I care that they are liberal or whatever. It's the fact that they pretend I'm not intelligent enough to notice!

What Americans want is a media that's honest. Just tell the facts--both sides---and allow us the common  respect to make up our own minds. The same goes for social media which tries to hide its private agenda behind rules and regulations designed to suppress differing opinions. And to borrow from the great broadcaster, Walter Cronkite, "that's the way it is" or, at least the way it should be again.  

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Who is the biggest threat to democracy? Most people say themedia

72% of College Students Believe Professors InfluencePolitical Views

ResearchGate: Political Identification of College Professorsby Field

 

More than 80 Percent of Surveyed Harvard Faculty Identifiedas Liberal

Americans and 'Cancel Culture': Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship,Punishment