What matters in elections isn't whether things are good or not but the perception of if they are. Tail end of Obama's ten and end of Bidens term, right wing media succeeded in convincing people that black is white and, despite actual evidence showing the contrary, that the economy was terrible.
They convinced people the USA was a laughing stock in the world stage and abandoned by all allies under Obama and Biden, but was in awe and respect of the USA under Bush and Trump.
The real reason Trump won wasn't because of left wing name calling, it was because of the success of right wing name calling and right wing propaganda.
A prime example is trans issues. It's portrayed as a left wing problem but it's actually the right wing constantly banging on about it.
That would make sense, except notions was the economy doing well and recovering nicely, it wasnt a top issue in the primaries.
Infact, Sanders was the big beneficiary of economic inequality, he played that really well, and was leading Clinton in many states. After all, Trump nor Clinton could claim to be the bastion of the working man on that cause lol.
Trumps entire MO was draining the swamp, building a wall, strengthening the US position on the world stage and bringing manufacturing back. Infact he was incredibly quiet on the economy, so im not sure who the right wing sources who 'convinced people black was white' were. Happy to see some evidence though.
Again, noone was making the claim Obama was being laughed at, he was a global darling, and literally won the nobel peice prize mid bomb run hahaha
With regards to Bidens term, well the Afghan pull out, the delay in reopening the country, his cognitive issues and the printing money really all did create a scenario where the USA was being laughed at a bit. I dont think laughing stock was fair, but the rights selling point of embarrassment was obviously going to be used, because there were literal compilation videos of Biden falling over, getting lost on stage and mumbling about kids playing with his hariy legs for all to see. These videos arent propoganda, theyre evidence.
The trans issue is a key one for the right, of course they are going to exploit high ranking Democrats who don't know what a woman is, which serious politician wouldnt lol?
When a Dem promoted Supreme court nominee replies to the question with 'im not a biologist' they are going to be exploted.
You are right, trans issues are tiny, but Democrats spend too much time apologising for their terminology, refusing to answer questions, and boxing themselves into corners, these are easy wins for Republicans who hold a stance about trans people in sports and stick to it. I dont think that these issues are specifically the point, but people watching one politician giving his thoughts, sticking by his principles and backing that up, and then seeing Dems fumble over the question, not answer, and then apologise to the tiny community for not giving the answer quite how they wanted, well it is perceived as strong vs weak.
And this is where Republicans win I think, they hold their line, they give actual views and they set out their stalls, whereas Democrats are spending all their time bending the knee to every societal cause that pops up.
Theor presidential nominees are talking race issues, Clinton pretending she carried hot sauce every where she went to black podcasts, Biden telling voters theyre not black if they dont vote for him, and Kamala changing her ethnicity and accent depending on the race of who shes talking to.
BLM riot, Democrats literally take the knee in African garb.
ICE detains illegal immigrants (at a lower rate that they did so a decade ago) and theyre causing fights in car parks.
Groups of them are now doing gaming intro style videos in a tik tok trend
The optics are being used by the Republicans, who man for man are worse than their Dem counterparts, but at least they act like adults (on the most part).