I have not posted much since the election but I just I read through most of this and I think we're still missing the points, some are close but still not hitting the mark.
80% of the People don't care about policies, it's theatre. Who has the sound bites, how do they feel, and is there someone to blame. You reach these people with messaging and viral SM hits, saying the same thing or flooding the zone with everything at the same time and then making things feel better through policies that matter.
Economy and national security:
Economy - This was baked before Harris was in the campaign. Biden fucked this up and thought the job was over on Jan 20, 2021. The message should have been this is Trump's inflation from the beginning. Blame it on poor handling of COVID. We knew it was coming but the Biden admin acted like everyone should know why it happened. There was no messaging and then all the stupid "I did this" Biden stickers were everywhere. No awareness. They missed out on messaging like making Child Tax credits permanent, paying for the infrastructure bill with corporate taxes and taxes on Billionaires - the ones that benefit the most should pay for the infrastructure.
Border policy - Waited until the issue was lost to submit a bill to congress. Waited until 2024, the election year. Wow. See the Special rights bullet below for more. We're being dishonest if we say there is nothing Biden could have done in 2021, 22 or 23. He hung that issue around Harris' neck. It could have been a "controlled number of legal work visas to keep inflation down, we're doing background checks, and jailing/deporting criminals" message opportunity.
Ukraine - Should have been hitting with the same 80s rhetoric about us vs the commies and freedom vs dictators and the here are our hand me downs we've outgrown. Most of us on Daily Texan board know this but all the average guy saw was 800 Million approved to send overseas. We won the cold war. Russia collapsed, why let them rebuild? Horrible PR
Israel and Hamas - Wow, I got nothing.
Social Policies: I believe in people choosing their own way to be, live and identify the way they want. Most people like this (Except the religious zealots of all stripes) as long as the equality of others don't infringe on their rights or put them at a disadvantage. The perception of the majority of Americans is we've gone too far on accommodations into the special treatment zone and there is backlash against the gains on equality that groups have made. The policy needs to be equal rights not special treatment. When someone cuts you off in traffic, takes your parking spot or skips to the front of a line you get pissed. It's unfair, it's a biological and chemical reaction. Anytime you make things less fair you lose. Here are some examples:
The messaging of special rights for some is what people heard, not equal rights for all.
Immigration: Special rights for undocumented immigrants when some people came here with visas and documentation. This is resentment from the legal group and you lose them. The natural reaction is I had to stand in line, why do those assholes get to cut?
Trans athletes participating in gender assigned sports is perceived as special rights for a group to get an unfair advantage, not equality, just like saying some can take steroids but others can't. I have sympathy for trans people but you can't give them a biological and hormonal advantage over non-trans athletes
This bled over into an overreaction on affirmative action and the DEI attacks. Everything became DEI and it got a bad name because it is perceived as a way to promote based on identity instead of merit. Sure organization benefit from diversity but diversity is not the end, diversity is a means to an end.
Abortion - should have come to a decision on how long access should be available. Being vague on the topic hurt them. They went with the "Most people support access to abortion" and interpreted that as unfettered which opened them up to the full term abortion attack. Set a period of time, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, I don't know but I'm sure there is plenty of medical and public opinion data out there. Pick something reasonable and you shut down this attack. This was probably less impactful than some other issues but it took a chunk of voters out of the D column.
Parental rights positions opening up the door to the moronic argument of my son came home from school a girl. You have to acknowledge parental rights. I don't care if it is birth control, hormone therapy or abortion. Those things are over the line for most parents to give up control over their children. I support access for minors with parental consent or consultation and that if the parent disagrees with what the child wants then it goes before a judge. We outlaw minors buying tobacco, alcohol, sex work and from other activities because they are not equipped to make those decisions until they are more developed. Why would we put life changing medical care in the category that they make a decision on their own. Create a support structure for the most vulnerable ones but start with parental rights as the first stop on the decision tree.