2026 Elections: To the Midterms and Beyond!

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

I'm gonna guess that this is after years of being full blown Trumpers.

Not at all. My mom voted for Hillary, Biden, and Harris. My dad voted for Gary Johnson (which I suppose you could argue was a vote for Dump), then Biden, then probably Harris (definitely not Dump).

I think being college educated in their era and then spending their early adulthood under Reagan (*spit*) has given them a strong sense of voting for balanced government and levelheaded people (again, we'll set aside that Johnson vote here). They liked Tip O'Neil and Senile Ronnie's public pretend-friendsies relationship. My dad loved Slick Willy's 'third way' approach, at least until his zipper problem became all the news cycle would yap about. At the same time, my mom grew up heavily Catholic, so there's still a bit of the ol' self-hating Catholic guilt and dislike of perceived bums and freeloaders there in her worldview.

They're also both in their 70s (well, dad's got another year to go, but close enough) and retired. They probably feel this is no longer their fight. Or that our institutions will save us, etc. etc.

 

[Boston_E]

Not at all. My mom voted for Hillary, Biden, and Harris. My dad voted for Gary Johnson (which I suppose you could argue was a vote for Dump), then Biden, then probably Harris (definitely not Dump).

I think being college educated in their era and then spending their early adulthood under Reagan (*spit*) has given them a strong sense of voting for balanced government and levelheaded people (again, we'll set aside that Johnson vote here). They liked Tip O'Neil and Senile Ronnie's public pretend-friendsies relationship. My dad loved Slick Willy's 'third way' approach, at least until his zipper problem became all the news cycle would yap about. At the same time, my mom grew up heavily Catholic, so there's still a bit of the ol' self-hating Catholic guilt and dislike of perceived bums and freeloaders there in her worldview.
DiscoverDegree Programs

They're also both in their 70s (well, dad's got another year to go, but close enough) and retired. They probably feel this is no longer their fight. Or that our institutions will save us, etc. etc.

So - correct me if I'm way off base but I'm surmising that they likely fall somewhere in the middle/upper middle-class range and worked really hard to give their family a good life while making sacrifices along the way and never asked for nor expected any sort of handout. They think of themselves as mostly centerish while perhaps leaning left on some issues and leaning right on others while also thinking that our elected officials should be held to some basic character standards. Maybe voted for Obama but didn't view McCain or Romney in a negative light. They can remember when the government actually functioned and now can't stand how it has become more about sound bites and "owning" the other side vs actually getting things done for the American public? In more recent years they recognize what a piece of crap Trump is, and have seen how the GOP has been taken over by MAGA and what a shitshow the party has become. Thus have trended more towards the Democrats, but now in the past couple of years as they hear about things like government run grocery stores, zero borders etc they are finding that does not speak to them either?

They sound exactly like the type who the Democrats should be fearful of losing if the party continues marching towards the far left. And there are millions of people out there exactly like that.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Lose to who exactly. There is only a binary choice and anyone who votes R is voting for fascism, white supremacy, and the complete destruction of the social safety net.