by Oliver Hall writes that bad messaging was not a clear reason for Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump (I spent hours trying to convince US voters to choose Harris not Trump. I know why she lost, 9 November). In fact, the Democrats’ messages are not bold enough. However, this is to be expected from a party that does not take bold action on issue No. 1 for voters: the economy.
I am from a low income Mexican American family and community in San Diego. Non-college voters in my community are very happy with their economic situation under Joe Biden. Most of them don’t follow the news and are completely unaware of things Trump has said and done in the past. I’ve also heard voters repeat corrected talking points they watched on YouTube. There is little to oppose this propaganda.
Instead of a reactive response to Project 2025, where is the Democrats’ own Project 2025? Instead of defensively claiming not to be a socialist, why not point out that Trump has very popular Covid inspired flyers yes social and that we can offer more than that? It shouldn’t be news to Democrats that the phrase “there’s nothing we can do” is being used in a joke on the Democratic campaign’s slogan line.
As a college-educated voter, I didn’t vote for either candidate, because the left wing has repeatedly told the Democratic government to cancel student debt, support universal health care, end it the filibuster, expanding the court etc. At every turn, Democrats uphold the status quo, which tells me they won’t respond to anything but the worst of wake-up calls. I hope this is the one.
Vanessa Torres
San Diego, California, United States of America
• I appreciated many of Oliver Hall’s points, although I did not agree with his conclusion. I agree that Donald Trump is a unique character, who is almost counter intuitively effective in gathering the support of Americans. But Halla doesn’t recognize what Michael Tomasky describes so well in a recent op-ed in the New Republic. Tomasky writes that billion-backed conservative intelligence forces, led by Fox News and X, command larger audiences than the mainstream media.
It is well documented that totalitarian states control the delivery of information. In a uniquely American and democratic way, we have voluntarily created such a climate. Business actors fund and establish so-called news sources that strictly scrutinize information. They oppose, little and silence the opposition, and they choose the politicians to support them. As long as we have such a broken “news” environment with little adherence to the principles of journalism, and a population that forms its beliefs, opinions and actions from that, we will see little change.
David Hausham
Eugene, Oregon, United States of America
• The reason Donald Trump won is much more basic than anything I’ve read – much more primitive, in fact. It’s not the economy or the border, or guns or God. It’s all that but none of that. It’s simply this: it reaches people on a pre-rational level and makes them feel good about themselves. It validates their anger and fear. It eases their worries and eases their worries. Truth, lies, facts are not the same as “other facts. They are just the reasonings that follow the feelings. Democrats don’t get this.
João Resendes
Bristol, Rhode Island, USA
• Like Oliver Hall, I also made many calls to Kamala Harris to voters in swing states. No one mentioned her gender. I’ve talked to a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump the first time and Joe Biden the second time, but they were too disappointed with both parties to vote for anyone this time. Those people often cited inflation and immigration as reasons why they couldn’t vote for Harris. Maybe that’s why Harris underperformed Biden nationwide.
Stuart Bauchner
New York City, USA
• Oliver Hall’s article contained a detailed and comprehensive description of the reasons why Kamala Harris did not vote. The obvious conclusion to me is that the average voter (myself included) is not informed enough to vote. We ask voters to vote on issues about which we have little or no understanding. In this election, the economy and abortion were two of the main issues. Despite my keen interest in politics, I admit to knowing little or nothing about either of these issues – certainly not enough to have an informed opinion to vote. What do I know about the causes of inflation, the high price of petrol, groceries or medicine?
Currently, the media offers “bribes” to the voter and then elected representatives (politicians) offer “bribes” that appeal to the self-interest of the voter. A candidate for power needs only money and the media to manipulate the voter. That’s exactly what Trump did. Therefore, it does not surprise me that he has been elected.
We need to change the system so that the voter is informed by experts on various issues. Surely, on a given issue, a randomly selected “jury” of voters briefed by experts over a few days would result in more reliable and representative decisions?
The problem is “fotainment”. The role of the media nowadays is less to inform and much more to entertain them to get clicks and make money. So the “news” has become a toxic diet of crime, conflict, scandal, violence and disaster. The presentation is sensationalist and hyperbolic. The media should stick to what it’s good at: entertainment. Experts in the field should provide the news and information to the voter, free from commercial pressure.
Don Nixon
Aberfoyle Park, South Australia
