Why?

 Annamaria on Monday

To be honest, I am a little trepidatious about taking up this topic today.  After all, I am not a political scientist.  But I need to find my way to some level of understanding, at least for myself.  So I am using this blog to try to make sense of the situation.  I fear, readers will think I am being jejune.  Or facetious.  But I believe in my conclusion is true.

For the past few weeks, I have had to turn off the news because Democrats have ben doing what, I am sorry to say, we too often do best: blaming each other for our loss in an recent election.  That amounts to shooting ourselves in the foot.

Too many people have been playing this blame game.  They have been dwelling on specific acts that so-and-so shouldn't have done.   Or he/she did not do XYZ when it would have cured the whole situation.  I cannot imagine why anyone would think engaging in such self-flagellation, especially when it will be broadcast worldwide, would be helpful.

That said, I am going to throw my chapeau into the ring.  My analysis, amateurish as it may seem, I hope will add some salt to the soup.

First, I need to get us past the rumor that Trump won by a landslide. He won, but by a margin of less than 2%. (Aside: after all his lies about the American election system being rife with fraud, he now believes in this result.)  In truth, when all the votes were counted, more Americans voted for somebody other than Trump. But he did win.

Although the Democratic Party won the votes of their own members and of many well–informed Republicans, they did not win because of, in the words of Cool–hand Luke, a failure to communicate.  The Democrats messages were progressive, but they required explanation and thought to be convincing. And generally speaking, they weren't amusing. "Women deserve the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies." "America under Biden came out of the pandemic stronger than any other country in the developed world."

The MAGA message on the other hand was tailored to the addicts of social media "They eat their neighbors pets." "Immigrants are taking your jobs."

The Democrats messages were aimed at getting the voter to think.

The MAGA messages were aimed at amusing and rialing up the voters

The Democrat's messages required, for example, an elementary knowledge of economics.

The MAGA messages could be easily expressed in 140 characters, or 280 at the very most.

In the end, when it comes to attracting those voters who listen to influencers rather than experts, I am afraid it boiled down to this: 

Hyper-competent, but boring

Totally Incompetent, but fascinating