Here again, it is not so much the facts but the consequences of certain promises that Trump put forth in remedy. The point is Trump was able to use such messaging to draw what were traditional voting blocks that went to the Democrats into support of his campaign –
namely, working-class Blacks and Hispanics.
For example, nationally, about eight in 10 Black voters supported Harris – down from about nine in 10 in the last presidential election who went for Biden: but about three in 10 Black men under the age of 45 went for Trump, roughly double the number he got in 2020. Moreover, Hispanic voters were more open to Trump than they were in 2020, with roughly half of Latino men voting for Harris, down from about 6 in 10 who went for Biden.17
The takeaway is Democrats failed to understand the nuance of Hispanic and Latino voting populations. Instead, they continued to regard them – as well as Black Americans – as a single group who would continue to be loyal to the Democratic party by default. In doing so, Democrats effectively opened a door that the Trump campaign walked through unobstructed. And this was not by happenstance. It was the result of an intuitive read backed up by strategic targeting of ads reinforcing Trump messaging.
For example: “Democrats outspent Republicans on election advertising by 73 percent in the first three weeks of October, with a specific increase in messaging that emphasize[d] Vice-President Kamala Harris’s character while casting doubt on Donald Trump’s mental capacity and fitness for office. At the same time, the GOP boosted its investment on ads railing against taxes and transgender healthcare, and put fewer dollars into ads about the economy, immigration, and inflation.18 And the message was reinforced by right wing media groups. According to Immigration Hub, which hired AdImpact to
study the issue, “During the October tracking period, there were 4,498 negative immigration mentions across right-wing media outlets (+2% from September) to an estimated audience of 15,572,810,285 people (+1% from September) worth an estimated $460,607,472 in publicity (-8% from September).”19
Consequently, Harris was put on the defensive and was not convincing in her responses to the challenges. And her flip flopping on border challenges only further suggested that she could not be trusted.
America First
The approach dovetailed into Trump’s America First agenda, which is effectively not simply an isolationist agenda but one which focuses on American self-reliance, strategic pragmatism in foreign policy, and a transformation in public discourse. How so?
In terms of self-reliance, Trump pushed an economic agenda that prioritized U.S. manufacturing. Arguing deregulation would facilitate growth and government efficiency and therefore would limit spending, Trump argued companies and foreign powers would in turn increase investment in America. This would limit the need for global outsourcing, something of which was already on the decline because of the pandemic. Trump further argued
Democrats failed to understand the nuance of Hispanic and Latino voting populations. Instead, they continued to regard them – as well as Black Americans – as a single group who would continue to be loyal to the Democratic party by default.
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