Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Shrek

(4,406 posts)
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:32 AM Nov 2024

Given what you know now, would different candidates have made a difference?

I got to thinking about this after reading this poll and related thread.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=19723076

This is strictly about the candidates; assume nothing else about the election was any different.


42 votes, 4 passes | Time left: Unlimited
Trump was unbeatable no matter what
4 (10%)
Any Republican would have won no matter what
2 (5%)
VP Harris might have beaten a Republican other than Trump
2 (5%)
President Biden might have beaten a Republican other than Trump
0 (0%)
A different Democrat might have beaten a Republican other than Trump
0 (0%)
President Biden might have beaten Trump
3 (7%)
A different Democrat might have beaten Trump
24 (57%)
Something else
7 (17%)
Show usernames
Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll
46 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Given what you know now, would different candidates have made a difference? (Original Post) Shrek Nov 2024 OP
I could have picked DeepWinter Nov 2024 #1
Which 3? Tell me more n/t Shrek Nov 2024 #2
We need another choice: Kamala Harris won against trump and we need a forensic audit of all the swing states BComplex Nov 2024 #3
Agree! Hope22 Nov 2024 #6
For me it would have made no difference Meowmee Nov 2024 #4
President Biden might have won the Electoral College if he were four years younger. Hope22 Nov 2024 #5
I don't think more time would have helped Harris. LisaL Nov 2024 #8
There will be no enjoyment. Hope22 Nov 2024 #11
I feel like more time would have made the range of topics wider. Hope22 Nov 2024 #18
I think Harris ran one of the best political campaigns I've ever seen, but in the end we have to face Vinca Nov 2024 #7
I Don't Think 4 Years Will Change A Thing SoCalDavidS Nov 2024 #29
American voters are fascinated qazplm135 Nov 2024 #30
Trump would have lost if he was not a hetero white man JI7 Nov 2024 #9
I think Musk was a factor jfz9580m Nov 2024 #10
As others have said elsewhere Blue_Tires Nov 2024 #12
I felt like Biden had said he was in and the Dems forced him out saying.... Hope22 Nov 2024 #19
A different Male Democrat might have beaten Trump Beringia Nov 2024 #13
I wonder who? Hope22 Nov 2024 #20
I'm not saying they should have, only that a male could have won Beringia Nov 2024 #21
As long as we keep saying it it will be true. Hope22 Nov 2024 #23
Are you good with Pete then? Hope22 Nov 2024 #32
No way. And seems you are bringing in things that are even more far fetched Beringia Nov 2024 #35
Wow! Hope22 Nov 2024 #36
Since we never had a primary, I don't know who would have thrown their hat in the ring Beringia Nov 2024 #40
Harris might have beaten a Republican other than Trump. yardwork Nov 2024 #14
I don't have extrasensory powers SocialDemocrat61 Nov 2024 #15
Inflation would have destroyed anyone (nt) LostOne4Ever Nov 2024 #16
Given what I know now, I think Biden should have declined to run for a second term and we should have had a primary. Iggo Nov 2024 #17
I agree Kaleva Nov 2024 #43
We are a 50/50 Country forthemiddle Nov 2024 #22
a different Democrat Skittles Nov 2024 #24
They are saying it upstream... Hope22 Nov 2024 #37
well they are not wrong Skittles Nov 2024 #41
The likes of a Roy Cooper MAY have eeked it out. TheKentuckian Nov 2024 #25
NO, it's the PROPAGANDA! elleng Nov 2024 #26
Can't run establishment folks when there's high inflation, needed a governor, etc usregimechange Nov 2024 #27
After Biden dropped out we were stuck with Harris, there was no other plausible option tritsofme Nov 2024 #28
Funny! She was voted to represent the party in the presidential race! Hope22 Nov 2024 #38
That's just nonsense. Having an opinion that Harris wasn't a great candidate tritsofme Nov 2024 #42
Great! Another "everyone-shit-on-Harris" post, disguised as a poll. What fun! Oopsie Daisy Nov 2024 #31
All this magical hindsight Babajida Nov 2024 #33
reaping what you sow stillcool Nov 2024 #34
EarlG are we going to permit Dem bashing out here now! Hope22 Nov 2024 #39
IMO Kamala ran a flawless campaign with only one thing wrong: she lacked a penis Hekate Nov 2024 #44
Ugh. Quiet Em Nov 2024 #45
It still would have been moondust Nov 2024 #46

BComplex

(9,826 posts)
3. We need another choice: Kamala Harris won against trump and we need a forensic audit of all the swing states
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:42 AM
Nov 2024

and the software on the voting machines.

The republicans and trump had been telling us for years how they were going to do it...because it was what they were blaming democrats for doing.

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
6. Agree!
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:56 AM
Nov 2024

I don’t understand why this doesn’t happen. Count the paper ballots/ receipts!

Meowmee

(9,212 posts)
4. For me it would have made no difference
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:46 AM
Nov 2024

Because I always vote for the D candidate. Whether a different candidate would have made a difference I am not sure, possibly.

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
5. President Biden might have won the Electoral College if he were four years younger.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:54 AM
Nov 2024

He’s a fighter but relentless bashings from T really took a toll on him. T worked behind the scenes to undermine Biden’s international policy. But hey Harris is within 1.5 % of T and votes keep coming in. Considering voter rolls were purged and voting was made more difficult in some states the obstacles just added up against her. State SOS’s run by corrupt Republicans also factor in. Ohio certainly had problems. Unfortunately Biden’s health lead to Harris being thrown in at the last minute. She did a good job but needed more time.

LisaL

(47,370 posts)
8. I don't think more time would have helped Harris.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 08:03 AM
Nov 2024

For one, if Biden was blamed for price of eggs (supposedly bad economy) so was Harris.
Looks like voters wanted "change" from Biden's administration, and boy did they get it.
Now we all get to "enjoy."

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
18. I feel like more time would have made the range of topics wider.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 03:31 PM
Nov 2024

We definitely left something on the table in Detroit and the separate topic of immigration was really never clarified. Trumpets have been fed a steady Fox diet of Dems being awful on Immigration when every solution presented over the last four years was ignored or voted down by the R’s. In fact Border officials were in favor of Biden’s plan. Immigration issues aren’t new by any stretch of the imagination but T played it to the hilt. Despite these issues not being clearly addressed by the campaign Harris did better than the press let on and insinuated that the counting was over on Wednesday and that did not help. On Wednesday the talking heads immediately turned the page and began bashing Harris and Dem voters. By design……..and so the Dems sit defeated and admonished for poor……turnout!

Vinca

(53,636 posts)
7. I think Harris ran one of the best political campaigns I've ever seen, but in the end we have to face
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 08:01 AM
Nov 2024

the fact that peoples' noses are embedded in their cellphones, they get their news from dubious sources on social media, are generally not interested until something they need is gone and that a large chunk only get engaged when there's a presidential election and that's just for the show. I don't know what might have beaten the carnival and at this point figure it's going to take the destruction of the next 4 years to change things. It's wash, rinse, repeat.

 

SoCalDavidS

(10,599 posts)
29. I Don't Think 4 Years Will Change A Thing
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:56 PM
Nov 2024

Voters want a right wing agenda. Democrats will get blame for anything bad, even if they had nothing to do with it.

qazplm135

(7,654 posts)
30. American voters are fascinated
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 05:05 PM
Nov 2024

With what Republicans sell. They've been fascinated with it for three generations now

Then Republicans ruin things and Americans are forced to vote for Democrats, who then make things right, only for Americans to run right back to Republicans.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

We never learn the obvious lesson.

 

Blue_Tires

(57,596 posts)
12. As others have said elsewhere
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 09:16 AM
Nov 2024

I really didn't want Biden to quit the race, but his hand was forced when famous donors publicly said they wouldn't hold any more fundraisers... Not because I doubted Harris' abilities and qualifications, but because deep down I feared too many Americans of all races and political stripes would never in a million years vote for the best qualified black woman over the absolutely worst qualified white man...

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
19. I felt like Biden had said he was in and the Dems forced him out saying....
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 03:38 PM
Nov 2024

…he just needs to make up his mind. He did make up his mind …they should have done the intervention in private not through the television! It was disrespectful in my opinion. But…I came to see that she was strong and had more energy to get us through the next four years which will not be a walk in the park with or without her leading the way! I do think she worked harder than any candidate I have ever seen!

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
20. I wonder who?
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 03:46 PM
Nov 2024

Harris was on the primary ballot. I would have been irate if the Dems had scratched the entire ticket to put their new boy in. Women would have been irate. I would have considered it obstruction of the election process if they had done anything other than what they did. And by the way the only male Dem worthy, qualified and ready to lead is Pete Buttigieg!

Beringia

(5,433 posts)
21. I'm not saying they should have, only that a male could have won
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:15 PM
Nov 2024

I have no idea when a woman can win in the future

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
23. As long as we keep saying it it will be true.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:43 PM
Nov 2024

Harris was closer than you think in vote counts. Women need to not be pushed back with every excuse! Soooo over it. Men need To evolve.

Beringia

(5,433 posts)
35. No way. And seems you are bringing in things that are even more far fetched
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 05:53 PM
Nov 2024


And it is not that I am okay with something, we are talking about who can win

Beringia

(5,433 posts)
40. Since we never had a primary, I don't know who would have thrown their hat in the ring
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 06:06 PM
Nov 2024

yardwork

(69,136 posts)
14. Harris might have beaten a Republican other than Trump.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 09:45 AM
Nov 2024

I also could have picked "Trump was unbeatable" because I'm certain that the fix was in.

Billions of dollars from across the world poured into Trump's campaign, most of it hidden and unreported. Musk and the Saudis and who knows who else bought Twitter to push disinformation. Data gleaned from social media was used to target different messages to different voters. Despite Trump being a demonstrably horrible person, he could not lose.

SocialDemocrat61

(7,271 posts)
15. I don't have extrasensory powers
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 09:48 AM
Nov 2024

to see into alternate timelines. If anyone has actual data in regard to the issue, I would love to see it.

Iggo

(49,794 posts)
17. Given what I know now, I think Biden should have declined to run for a second term and we should have had a primary.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 10:44 AM
Nov 2024

I’ll still never know if that would’ve made a difference.

forthemiddle

(1,459 posts)
22. We are a 50/50 Country
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:30 PM
Nov 2024

And although 8 year same party rule isn’t unusual, switching of parties is the norm.
I honestly think that if Covid wasn’t a factor, Trump would have won in 2020, then 2024 would have been our year. It wouldn’t have been Biden or Harris, but it would have been a Democrat.
Every election, I feel, the losing party over analyzes the results, but when you honestly look at history change is the norm.

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
37. They are saying it upstream...
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 05:58 PM
Nov 2024

….and Pete doesn’t qualify! If one more person says it needs to be a man every woman out here should boycott the place! I am sooooo sick of this !

Skittles

(170,451 posts)
41. well they are not wrong
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 06:09 PM
Nov 2024

apparently has to be white, male and straight

or else people will vote for a fucking FASCIST

 

TheKentuckian

(26,314 posts)
25. The likes of a Roy Cooper MAY have eeked it out.
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:49 PM
Nov 2024

White and male may equal a couple points or so...maybe.

elleng

(141,926 posts)
26. NO, it's the PROPAGANDA!
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:52 PM
Nov 2024

Dems gotta do BRAG and be firm and LOUD about repug LIES!!!

tritsofme

(19,856 posts)
28. After Biden dropped out we were stuck with Harris, there was no other plausible option
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 04:55 PM
Nov 2024

It would have torn the party apart.

Harris was a poor presidential candidate, we knew that from 2020, but she did the best she could under the circumstances, and almost certainly did better than Biden would have.

However if Biden never sought reelection, we could have produced a much stronger candidate in a competitive primary, such as Whitmer, Shapiro, or Fetterman, who at the very least wouldn’t have been frozen out of the Blue Wall.

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
38. Funny! She was voted to represent the party in the presidential race!
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 06:02 PM
Nov 2024

WTF! So poor she is within 1% of T right now! This kind of talk against Dems was never aloud here but suddenly it is fair to bash women! Little Trumpies budding! It doesn’t take long! This needs to stop !

tritsofme

(19,856 posts)
42. That's just nonsense. Having an opinion that Harris wasn't a great candidate
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 06:11 PM
Nov 2024

is not “bashing” women, I even suggested a different woman who I feel would have been a much better candidate.

And by the way, no one voted for her to be our candidate, we all know that, so that was a pretty strange thing to say. But I don’t fault her for it, as I said, we had no other plausible option.

“Little Trumpies”? I don’t even know what the hell means, take a deep breath maybe? Or a walk around the block?

Babajida

(88 posts)
33. All this magical hindsight
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 05:23 PM
Nov 2024

Everyone is blaming their favorite pet peeve. Harris ran a great campaign. We should be trying to solve issues like a broken media and Citizen's United instead of disrespecting Harris and Walz's efforts and generally tearing the party apart.

Hope22

(4,589 posts)
39. EarlG are we going to permit Dem bashing out here now!
Fri Nov 15, 2024, 06:03 PM
Nov 2024

Suddenly it’s open season on Dems and women! Serious problem!

Hekate

(100,133 posts)
44. IMO Kamala ran a flawless campaign with only one thing wrong: she lacked a penis
Sat Nov 16, 2024, 12:42 AM
Nov 2024
On the night of the election I was stunned at the stupidity of my fellow Americans. I was utterly gobsmacked by the misogyny.

Look at this sequence:

**Barack Obama, a charismatic black man, ran against John McCain, a white war hero, and won.
**Hillary Clinton, one of the most highly qualified people to ever seek the presidency, ran against Trump, a clown and a bankrupt and an admitted sexual assaulter with no government experience. She lost — the male bankrupt assaulter won.
**Joe Biden, a highly qualified man, returned — he won against Trump.
**Kamala Harris, another highly qualified person, a woman, ran against Trump, who was by this time a twice impeached, 34 times indicted, convicted of sexual assault (ie rape), visibly declining old man who was still a clown and a bankrupt. And he won.

Please notice the pattern.

moondust

(21,257 posts)
46. It still would have been
Sat Nov 16, 2024, 12:58 AM
Nov 2024

superficial entertainment vs. serious governance.

You know which one the media prefer.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Given what you know now, ...