“It wasn’t because Biden voters shifted to Trump—but because so many of them stayed home.”
We must not repeat this same mistake again. Remember to always vote in every election and consider volunteering to knock on doors. It can make a difference. There are elections that are decided with just a small number of votes.
What’s fascinating is data on vote by mail. You would think it would be near to 100%. It’s not.
Sitting on your sofa eating chips, drinking a beer, laptop open to look up candidates, in yoga pants or even no pants. People still can’t manage to find the energy. You can even, in many cases, mail letters from your own mailbox. Minimal energy required. And yet.
Per Stanford, the participation difference was “modest”.
https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/how-does-vote-mail-change-american-elections
Politifact cites a mere 3.3-15.5% increase in turnout with all mail in voting, and it doesn’t favor either party.
https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/may/18/does-voting-mail-lead-higher-turnout-red-blue-and-/
Only 4 states had increased turnout between 2020 and 2024.
https://ballotpedia.org/Voter_turnout_in_United_States_elections
West coast, NV, HI, CO, DC, VT, UT are vote by mail states.
My point is, voters clearly need to believe, fear, or be really excited to bother.
That’s how inspiring the candidates are.