2mo ago

Harris' Messaging problem

People Twitter @sh.itjust.works

Why Harris lost

285 21

You're viewing a single thread.

258 comments

When she sat down on The View and said she wouldn't change a thing compared to Biden that was a messaging problem. People can't afford rent and grocery inflation is out of control and she thinks everything is fine and dandy? I voted for her but I'm kind of sick of being a perpetual afterthought who has been voting for the lesser of two evils for over 20 years. They dumped the working class in favor of chasing an imaginary pool of moderates and this is the result. Give us someone we can be passionate about and, even if they're lying, at least pretend to tell us what we want to hear.
- The problem with that was that she was actually answering the question, correctly and analytically. They actually made the right decisions, even if the supply chain was still a problem. Not much the president can do about that global problem.
  even if they're lying
  Yeah you get it. She didn't do the politician thing where you answer adjacently.
- Grocery inflation is, in fact, not out of control: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
  I'm so tired of hearing that. But I guess that's part of her messaging problem. She couldn't get through to people looking at high prices and assuming they're still rising.
  
  Food inflation is outpacing wage growth
  People don't give a shit what the CPI is
  Their grocery runs cost more for less food, so there is a problem with wage growth or food prices that the Dems are not willing to acknowledge
  
  Food prices are a component of CPI. Food inflation is also around 2%, which is like the ideal inflation rate: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/food-inflation-in-the-united-states/
  Note that it was out of control a couple years ago, which is why prices went way up. I haven't looked at the statistics, but what I have heard is that wage growth, generally, has caught up to inflation, which includes food prices. This is still a feels over reals situation. People feel that their food is too expensive, and Republicans are way better at addressing the feels. One of my favorite signs around the neighborhood said "TRUMP LOW PRICES || KAMALA HIGH PRICES". Like, yeah, that definitely makes sense. Well explained.
  
  Sorry you have a hard time engaging with reality
  
  Thanks for your condolences, SquatDingloid. Your contribution to this conversation has done wonders for the world.
  
  If you were ever capable of self reflection you would delete your dumb propaganda posts
  Sorry you have pride issues or whatever. As long as you refuse to educate yourself people will keep telling you this
  
  Kind of needlessly aggressive. Why does having an opinion and stating literal facts make it propaganda? That's not really a word we want to cheapen with a fascist regime incoming.
  
  That's because low inflation does not mean prices come back down, which is what people expect. So technically inflation is not out of control. But prices are still high. That's what people mean.
  
  That's exactly what I said.
  
  Not really. Sorry but you're playing pedantic with the terms. People say inflation to mean high prices.
  
  It's not pedantic. People just literally don't understand what inflation means. Wage growth, apparently, has caught up to inflation, so it's really just that people haven't adjusted their mindset to the higher prices now. And they're angry about it.
  
  It's not pedantic. People just literally don't understand what inflation means
  In almost everything there is the scientific or technical definition of the term, and then there is common parlance. People will never know the technical terms, just accept that because all you're accomplishing is being pedantic.
  
  How basic of terms should we give up on? Inflation is not a difficult concept. I would barely call it a technical term.
  
  Let me know if you stop people from using the word theory incorrectly. That's only been going on for centuries, surely we'll educate everyone any day!
  
  You jest, but seriously, inflation is not that hard to understand. You apparently have a very low threshold for calling something pedantic.
  
  You are going to be sorely disappointed by the world.
  
  Weird. It's almost like colloquiality is a thing. Words weren't written down thousands of years ago to remain unchanged through usage. Or you could choose to be an inflexible pedant in a changing world...?
  
  I assumed I could have a discussion on Lemmy about the very clear difference between two words without getting attacked for it, but I guess not.
  I also don't agree that the word inflation has colloquially changed meaning, I think people just are not aware that inflation is normal now. They look at the current prices due to the period of previous inflation and are angry about it.
  
  You're entitled to your opinion. But just repeating "inflation means something different" in various ways and doubling down on being offended that others don't agree with you is not "discussion". Wish you the best, we need you...
  
  I'm more surprised at how quickly the Lemmings got emotional about this than I am offended. Also that's kind of reductive to say I'm just repeating and doubling down. I'm trying to explain myself. I guess I should just acquiesce to the Lemmy masses or not comment at all, because that's how we foster a community.
  Thanks for the somewhat reasonable comment, I guess.
  
  Grocery inflation is also a result of price gouging, not the economy.
  
  What do you think the economy is? It is made up of price gouging and parapsychology <yes I know that's ghosts>
  
  pseudopsychology might be the term
  
  Oh I know, but frankly the total weirdness of it feels more like parapsychology
  
  But it’s not just grocery stores as everyone thinks. Prices are up all the way along the supply chain. Supplies, feed, and seed for farmers are way up too.
  
  Maybe it's back down to "normal" inflation rates... But Kamala should have come out swinging to raise minimum wage to $25/hr, tie it to inflation, and mandating everyone get a 40% raise to counter the 40% inflation we've had since the last time minimum wage was raised. Something along those lines... As one thing in a long list of things she should have done... Sure it might have cost her the (checks notes) zero votes she was able to scrape off Trump's boots, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
  
  I agree! Her messaging was terrible, and she didn't know how to counter the "TRUMP LOW PRICES // KAMALA HIGH PRICES" ads.
  
  People are not goldfish with minds that reset every year. Per your own link, accumulative inflation is up 21.8% since 2020.
  
  Are they goldfish with minds that reset every four years?
  
  No. If you would look at the graph in the link you posted, you would see that 2020 is right before the huge spike in inflation. This sustained spike explains the current outrage over increased prices.
  
  There was a two year spike. If you look at the graph in the link I posted, you would see that prices have been mostly going up as normal for almost two years now. When are people going to adjust to their mindset to the current prices?
  
  When I get a 22% pay increase ill consider it
  
  Good luck. What field are you in?
  
  To make people happy, I think it would take a return to a running average of 2%. This requires a temporary drop below 2%, perhaps even to 0 or negative. Otherwise, you're just telling them to suck it up and embrace the new normal.
  
  I'm not an economist, but from what I've heard in the past, 2% is basically ideal. Price deflation or inflation that's too low can indicate problems with the economy. Maybe this situation is different since we had really high inflation a couple years ago. But either way, I think it's unlikely that prices will drop. Kamala needed to promise super low taxes on the working class or something to make up for it.
  
  so tired of hearing that
  I'm tired of centrist claiming the econony is great and anyone claiming its not are stupid. grocery prices rose 28% in 5 years: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/price-of-food
  Mcdonalds prices are up 40% in the same period. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/29/mcdonalds-cost-increases.html And they doubled over the last decade.
  Wages growth did not keep up with the last decade, or the last 4 years. People are constantly losing ground and Biden/Harris's reply was that "they dont understand", because the "stock market was at an all time high."
  Tone deaf and privelaged, and even after losing Biden/Harris and their allies still dont get it and wont self examine.
  
  I've never claimed to be a centrist. Very far from it. Grocery prices went up, yes. Grocery prices are now going up at a normal rate. That's all I'm saying here and people are losing their minds.
  
  You might try listening.
  
  Its not out of control now, but that doesn't cancel out previous high inflation rates on things. If people wages haven't kept up then they may not be able.to still afford the standard of living they had a few years ago.
  
  Oh, it's not out of control? Great! I could buy a pound of ground beef in 2019 for 4.99 and the price is now 8.99. Fuck, lucky me. It's so in control!
  
  Right but those are grocery prices not inflation.
  Reducing inflation doesn't mean prices go down.
  You can be upset about the cost of living but the current rate of inflation is trending down so you're going to have miscommunication if you demand it's reduction when that is already happening.
  https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthly-inflation-rate-in-the-us/
  
  Reducing inflation doesn’t mean prices go down.
  Seems like this is the thing that people don't seem to be grasping. Inflation is a rate of change, a decrease in inflation still means purchasing power goes down.
  
  The vibesession says otherwise.
  
  You do realize that inflation is cumulative right?
  It's out of control because some of the stuff we need on a daily basis still costs double what it used to without any real increase in wages for half of America.
  
  I do realize that. Wage growth is also cumulative, and wages have caught up to balance out the current higher prices: https://www.bankrate.com/banking/federal-reserve/wage-to-inflation-index/#the-job-market-has-cooled-more-than-expected-this-year
  That's only one source from a quick Google, and I assume they're average numbers, so some people will have less purchasing power than pre-2020.
  
  Okay either you're not getting it or you're ignoring it on purpose. If wages in 2023 met inflation, there's still 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2008, 2009, etc where they didn't.
  Unless wages beat inflation that's not getting better. And wages beating inflation years later is literally too little too late. Because we finance so much stuff this means years of delayed cars, houses, remodels, tax income (for cities), etc.
  That's not fun on its own, but then to find out companies leveraged the supply crises to keep raising prices long after it was over and caused more inflation by their greed is infuriating. Especially to then hear Democrats try to take a fucking victory lap on it.
  Democrats were told all of this back in early spring and ignored it. And now Democrats have lost the election in large part because they never stopped trying to take a victory lap. The country told you it's still hurting and you're still here trying to patch up family finances with top line statistics that don't mean shit.
  
  Except that wage growth, from what I'm seeing, has kept up with inflation. If you find me numbers to say otherwise, I'll believe you. Until then you're just stating how you and others feel. My point this whole time is that the feeling doesn't match up with the numbers.
  I get that companies have been price gouging, I get that Democrats needed to push for more policies that make people feel better economically, or at least say dumb lies that make people feel better like Trump does.
  
  You're looking at the median. Look at the mode which still sits somewhere around 35-40 and say that again with a straight face.
  
  Mode of what? 35-40 what? What source? Why are you so angry? Also why is the mode more important than the median?
  
  And we're done here. It's obvious you're just trolling and haven't actually gotten into the data.
  
  I'm seriously not trolling. I took a cursory look at data from a few sources. I do enjoy that you won't answer basic questions though.

258 comments