In Reply to: I get that it is bad messaging that didn't poll well... posted by Dr.J on May 14, 2025 at 09:50:32
That's a little disingenuous, don't you think?
Why exactly someone votes as they do is nearly impossible to prove. We can't prove exactly why people voted for Trump over Clinton or Clinton over Trump.
All we can do is ask how popular particular ideologies are and how that is in their priority list of issues. Even with that data, you can't prove anything.
Defund the police was unpopular with the middle.
Dems had a problem with people thinking they are worse on crime.
Crime/immigration is usually one of the higher priority issues among voters.
We know that defund the police was a republican attack plank and it was something Kamala tried to walk back.
All of the data points to it being a losing issue.
Both sides acted as if it were a losing issue.
This is a soft science, but when it comes to proving a point, all you can do is look at the abundance of data points in one direction.
If that's not enough for you, I won't argue it, but it's enough for me. If you think abolishing ICE is a winning message after an election won partly on immigration, there's not much to say.