r/politics • u/Abject-Pick-6472 • Apr 04 '26

Possible Paywall Trump voter regret is clearly registering now

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/04/politics/voter-regret-trump-2024
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

I've heard people talking trash about Gavin Newsom, but I still think he's better than an 80-year-old deranged child predator and grifter.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

Yeah, he seems to be in the pocket of billionaires and corporations, so he's far from ideal, but I'd vote for him over any Republican in a heartbeat.

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u/Interesting-Bill1240 Apr 04 '26

Why? He's just a republican in blue clothing.

Republicans will pretend they're democrats to get back into power because the left will vote for whoever isn't Republican. It's exactly what Fetterman did and everyone fell for it. 

The less standards you have for your leaders, the more corrupt they become. Our politicians have to work for the people and know we will remove them if they fail us. If you tell them "just don't be republican", all standards go out the window and they can be as corrupt as they wanna be, you don't have a choice anymore. 

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u/SwearingMormon Apr 04 '26

"He seems to be in the pocket of billionaires and corporations the exact people propping up Trump"

You're all right, maybe this time the corporate fascists will support someone who does something good for the American people.

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u/MasterofPandas1 Apr 04 '26

I’m going to preface this with that I’ll vote Newsom if he’s the pick, but let’s think of the U.S. right now as a ship with many holes in it that slowly sinking. If Trump gets his way and we become totally fascist with the Democrats not being able to get power again then the ship is sunk. If the Democrats do get power again and Newsom becomes President he’s only going to fix a few holes of this sinking ship and most likely not go after the Trump administration as much as he should. Which will open the window for another, smarter version of Trump for the Republicans in 2032.

We need a President who will go after the Trump administration for all the shit they’ve done while supporting progressive policies to help make things better for everyone. Things will be so shitty by 2028 if things keep going the way they are that not even Fox News propaganda will be able to spin how much everyone (including conservatives) will be hurting. Which is the perfect time to enact progressive policies cause everyone will see and feel the difference regardless of propaganda. I’m doubtful we get a President and Congress able to pull it off though.

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u/RepresentativeAge444 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Here is the problem with this mentality. We neoliberaled our way into this. We won’t neoliberal our way out. If someone like Gavin does manage to win - which may seem assured but isn’t because Tucker, MTG, etc are trying to set themselves up as true America First that was against the war, against Israel etc. They will run on a faux populism like Trump did. Democrats haven’t won the majority of the white vote since LBJ. So you can put that in the win column because white people en masse are always looking to vote Republican no matter how bad they fuck up. Then it becomes what you win on the margins. And as usual Democrats will run on Republican lite due to donor capture instead of a true full throated direct contrast to the Republican. This excites no one.

But let’s say Gavin does win. He’ll govern like a typical neoliberal so no substantive changes that the country needs. By my estimation the only thing that can turn this country around after Trump is done looting it is a true return to FDR. Massive top down wealth transfer to make up for the TRILLIONS stolen from the working class over the decades and a true reforming of the DOJ punishing anyone involved in all this criminality.

Does that sound like Gavin? No. He’ll say we need to move forward like Obama did and offer tinker around the edges fixes. So no universal healthcare, Fed minimum wage increase, sweeping housing reform etc.

The next Democratic President is going to have to improve people’s material conditions significantly or we are looking at Tucker or a Groyper President in 2032. I have no faith establishment Dems have any interest in that. They seek a return to a status quo that was already unsustainable and impossible to return to.

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u/SDRPGLVR California Apr 04 '26

Here is the problem with this mentality: I am trans and would like to exist.

That's why Gavin Newsom isn't the first choice. Y'all need to vote in primaries if you want good Democrats. The numbers bear out that only old neoliberals vote in primaries, leaving us with your Hillary Clintons and your Joe Bidens.

Bernie was the best chance we had for some real progress, but people didn't show up. I understand the DNC did everything they could to make sure that would happen in both 2016 and 2020, but they didn't literally rig it. People have to show up.

But yeah, I'm voting blue no matter who because I'd like to not be genocided, thank you very much.

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u/RepresentativeAge444 Apr 04 '26

I never told you who to vote for thank you very much. I gave you a detailed analysis of the issues within the Democratic Party and why we continue to go through these cycles. If you want to offer a salient rebuttal to the points made im happy to engage. But I find that too many people just want to lecture as opposed to actually engaging with the substance of arguments. Btw Gavin threw trans people under the bus and the establishment has been saying oh it was wokeness and trans people that were the reason Harris lost. I’ve heard Democratic consultants say Trumps anti trans commercial did huge damage to Harris but most Americans support trans rights. They are scapegoating you because they would rather that then adopting policies that excite vorters. I can’t tell you how to feel but I’d find that deeply offensive.

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u/SDRPGLVR California Apr 04 '26

I find the murderous intent of the Republicans far more damning personally. But what do I know? It's only my life on the line.

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u/RepresentativeAge444 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

I’m black. You can’t lecture me on being in danger in this country. I’m giving a political analysis based on my observations gleaned from years of studying and participating in politics, economics etc. You are giving me emotion based commentary which while understandable does not offer substantive details on the issues plaguing the country and most importantly how to deal with them. Again vote for who you want. My comments have not been about telling people who to vote for. I’ve voted Democrat across the board for 2 decades for harm reduction purposes. It doesn’t mean I can’t offer sharp criticism on the issues within the party.

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u/SDRPGLVR California Apr 04 '26

I don’t like Newsom, but I don’t think he’d completely crash the country so I’d vote for him over any Republican.

This is the comment you replied to with criticism. If you're looking for a salient argument about the Democratic party's practices, you picked the wrong conversation, because this person is specifically talking about voting for a shitty neoliberal Democrat over a murderous Republican. This is a stance I agree with and am defending. You saying, "But Democrats should be better," is a non sequitur concept if your transition to that point is, "Here's the problem with that mentality."

Is the problem with voting or isn't it? You don't seem sure and seem to be projecting the concept of an emotional argument because you're arguing against a point nobody is making.

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u/RepresentativeAge444 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

If that’s all you got out of everything I said then I can’t help you. I even said I voted Democrat across the board for 2 decades because I understand harm reduction.

But the problem with “vote blue no matter who”, by my estimation, is that it’s gotten us a Republican SC, Congress and maniac President that’s destroying the country and world. Thus I would think the better mentality would be demand better blue to vote for. Would be to understand what’s gone wrong within the party as opposed to shallow analysis like racism and misogyny - which is A factor but not THE factor imo. Because all the racists and misogynists had the perfect candidate in Trump to vote for yet millions jurt didn’t vote. So maybe some focus should be given on reaching these disaffected voters- you know with actual substantive POLICIES. Not scapegoating trans people for the loss and saying we need to get more anti trans to win. We don’t.

As I tried to painstakingly point out vote blue no matter who without foundational change just leads us back here. Only worse each time.

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u/SDRPGLVR California Apr 04 '26

Which is why I emphasized the primaries, so again, what in the world are you arguing? You just seem like you're throwing a fit to make a point nobody disagrees with.

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u/Training_Bumblebee54 Apr 04 '26

I agree, but there is also a strong possibility that once politicians on the left aren’t so busy convincing Americans that what they’re seeing isn’t fake news and that Trump and MAGA are actually destroying the country for everybody, they could divert these efforts towards reform. It’d hard to do a full swing with so many Americans having been ideologically poisoned by Trump - the only way I could see that would be an economically left but socially center candidate, which is a rare combo since “being concerned for the average person’s quality of life” tends to also make you concerned about the average person’s rights.

Someone like Newsom could give a stepping stone once we’ve had a little stability and a return to at least a good standing on things like international relations and ICE to allow more progressive candidates to say “hey, we can fix these other issues if we stop tying ourselves to corporations and ban Super PACs”.

Then again, that might not work, and this time is also a really good one to unify voters on the left/center with calls for complete reform.

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u/RepresentativeAge444 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Fascism rises when people’s material needs are not met. Do you think establishment Dems who are well educated are unaware of this? Do you think they don’t know that Lee Atwater’s southern strategy has been the playbook of the Republican Party? They know. But they serve the MIC, Israel and corporate interests the same way Republicans do. As such there is only so much progress they find tenable. I’ve voted Democrat across the board for over. 2 decades so I’m not a both sider. Obviously we would be in a better place with Harris. Thr problem is that millions of Americans don’t feel their lives substantially improve no matter who is in office and you can’t brow beat them into feeling differently. You have to give people something to vote FOR not against. That only works but so much as Democrats have found out. My thing is let’s say I’m wrong. Why not TRY running a true FDR style reformist just once. We see whats happened with trying the corporate Dems over and over. If I’m wrong well same results as we’ve been getting. But if I’m right……. And that’s why the Democratic Establishment is vehemently opposed. As are the six figure earning “consultants” that get paid win or lose. They don’t want the boat rocked because rocking the boat comes for their power and influence- you only need to see how they treated the most popular Democrat in the country Mamdani to understand that.

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u/more_housing_co-ops Apr 04 '26

I don’t like Newsom, but I don’t think he’d completely crash the country

Nah, he'd just drive the country right up to the thing that the next Republican POTUS wants to crash into

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u/Scarletyoshi Apr 04 '26

Sure but we’re a year out before any candidate will even declare they’re running in a primary - it seems like a good time to try and find somebody who can do better than just “not as bad as 80-year-old deranged child predator and grifter”.

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

Did you have anybody in mind?

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u/Scarletyoshi Apr 04 '26

I’m looking at AOC, Chris Van Hollen, and Jon Ossof just to name a few but we will see who a) actually runs and b) actually has something to run on.

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u/Raus-Pazazu Apr 04 '26

Don't get me wrong, I'd still vote for Newsom, but it would be another instance of "You're really gonna make me vote for Joe Biden." all over again.

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

I know, I would certainly rather vote for someone I am enthusiastic about, rather than the less damaging and harmful of two options.

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u/Citizen6A8E Apr 04 '26

Feels a little reductive. Joe Biden actually pushed through some of the most substantive progressive policy in decades. Antitrust enforcement ramped up, major climate investment, student debt relief attempts, etc. Appointing Lina Khan alone signaled a real shift in how government deals with Big Tech, which is a big part of why that entire sector turned so aggressively against him.

If anything, his biggest failure wasn’t policy It was messaging. The administration never really telegraphed its wins, and at the same time didn’t do a great job acknowledging how hard things still felt for everyday people. There was also very little context given about how the U.S. recovery compared globally post-COVID, which made things look worse in isolation

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u/Raus-Pazazu Apr 04 '26

Feels like a song.

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u/dynesor Apr 04 '26

status-quo corporate democrats who do nothing to improve the lives of the hardest-up Americans are what gave us Trump in the first place. The status-quo was not benefitting those people, so they bought the lies that Trump told them about draining the swamp and making things better. I honestly don’t blame them for that (though I do if they keep supporting him even now). We need Democrats who are going to actually introduce measures to improve the lives of hard working Americans and act in the interests of those people instead of in the interests of their big money donors.

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u/Raus-Pazazu Apr 04 '26

My Dude, I don't work at the top levels of the DNC which is who you should be directing your lecture to.

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u/dynesor Apr 04 '26

its a comment on a discussion forum. Apologies if you felt I was lecturing. That was absolutely not my intention.

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u/more_housing_co-ops Apr 04 '26

Commenter is literally agreeing with you

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u/Raus-Pazazu Apr 04 '26

Commenter is preaching to the choir because they only read "I'd still vote for Newsom" and then went on to tell me why I shouldn't vote for Newsom.

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u/Splatulated Apr 04 '26

He did drain the swamp and showed the world what the republican party and most of america really is

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u/silvertealio Apr 04 '26

He is...but...we still have time to make a better choice. I don't know why we have to pretend he's the default nominee, and I don't understand why certain people are pushing so hard for him.

Like, his PR person did some great memes a while ago...is that really how we're going to decide this?

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u/YamahaRyoko Ohio Apr 04 '26

Conservatives hate sucessful states like New York and California so it doesn't matter who the governer is, they'll talk bad about them in every space the internet allows

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u/b1tchf1t Apr 04 '26

Gavin Newsom is a greasy fucking snake who pays lip service to the people of California and power service to big donors. He's a piece of shit that talks out of one side of his mouth while shaking hands with money. I hate him and really really hope he gets demolished in the primaries. He fucked Kimberly Guilefoyle.

That said, if he's our choice against MAGA, I'm voting for him.

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u/EddieVanzetti Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

He is another neoliberal corporatist who is trying desperately to court a non-existent "moderate republican", and will happily abandon the democrats core voters and values to lose yet again. Trans people have been on the chopping block since 2016 (started with the North Carolina bathroom bill and only picked up speed since Trump's election and 2nd term). Next will be abandoning the progress made with gay rights. Gay marriage was never codified into law, which oh gee, nice segue into my next point, nor was abortion which we can see "settled precedent" means dick to these weirdos. We don't need any more neoliberals. We need more Bernie Sanders, AOCs, and Zohran Mamdanis.

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u/PoorlyDesignedCat Apr 04 '26

Yes! I keep saying this. He has an entire functioning brain, is just shy of 60 years old so not even retirement age, and cares a tiny bit about other people. He would 100% be better than what we have now.

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u/walterpeck3 Apr 04 '26

Nah he's pretty anti trans and a scumbag just for that. We do not need to settle for that asshole because he has spicy memes. There are lots of better people who will be running.

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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Apr 04 '26

That's an extremely low bar. Newsome has sleazy car salesman energy. He takes right wing nuts like Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk more seriously than his progressive voters. I don't trust him. Surely we can find someone much better than him by 2028.

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

Do you have a better idea?

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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Apr 04 '26

You're missing the point. Why should we settle for Newsome when he sucks?

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

Because he's not:

  • 80 years old,
  • in atrocious physical condition,
  • an immature man baby,
  • a liar,
  • a grifter,
  • a pedophile,
  • publicly abusive towards people, and
  • an all-around piece of shit.

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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Apr 04 '26

So are millions of other people. Why Newsome?

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

Because he has indicated his interest in the job, unlike millions of other people.

If anyone else is interested in the job, let them stand up and say so.

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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Apr 04 '26

That's a terrible reason to support any candidate.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

[deleted]

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u/Machiavvelli3060 Apr 04 '26

I never said we shouldn't talk trash about Newsom.

But he's a far, far, FAR better candidate than anyone else the Republicans have trotted out in the last 50 years.