I Have Questions

Simon Rosenberg
Nov 12, 2024
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As we begin our series of discussions about what happened in the 2024 election and what comes next, there are some questions we plan on exploring:

  • Why didn’t fear and opposition to MAGA drive this election as it did the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023 elections, particularly when MAGA 2024 was far more dangerous, criminal and extreme?

  • How can Dems tell better stories about themselves, who we are and what we want to do, particularly on the economy and getting ahead/opportunity?

  • Could we have handled the story telling around the pandemic and inflation differently? Didn’t we fulfill the core Biden-Harris campaign promise which was to get us to the other side of COVID, successfully? Should we have talked about that more? Was it wise to end the election telling voters prices were too high, which was one of the core arguments being made by Trump?

  • Why did we win down ballot races in the battleground states in 2022 and 2024 but did not win at the Presidential level? In the last 4 elections - 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 - we had great success in the battleground states except this time for Harris. What happened?

  • How much of what happened was due to Harris being a bi-racial woman, particularly given that Trump’s central closing message was the demonization of otherness?

  • What in the world happened with Latino voters and young people, and what do we do about it?

  • What’s the future of the fight for reproductive freedom?

  • Did the late break of the polling averages and forecasters to Trump contribute to his late deciding voters breaking to him?

  • Did Republicans cross over to vote Dem, and what happens next with Liz Cheney and the NeverTrumpers? Do they become part of a new Democratic Party, make peace with Trump or stake out some other path?

  • How do we keep the millions of Americans who left it all out there on the playing field in 2024 engaged and prevent them from losing heart?

  • Trump had fewer ads and less field than us, and still won. What does this mean? We need more answers on why our SuperPAC, Future Forward, failed to successfully disqualify Trump with their $700,000,000+.

  • How can Dems get louder and more effectively counter the right’s information superiority?

  • How should we be thinking about countering Trump’s agenda and building an effective opposition?

From the 2024 Exit Polls:

Updated November 23, 2024