Former Vice President Joe Biden’s White House victory was powered by a broad and racially diverse coalition of voters driven to the polls by fierce opposition to President Donald Trump and anxiety over a surging, deadly pandemic.
Both nationwide and in key battleground states across the Midwest and Sun Belt, the Democrat dominated with voters worried about the coronavirus and hungry for the federal government to do more to contain its spread, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. After four years of political turbulence under Trump, Biden handily won voters looking for a leader who could unify the country, and those pushing for racial justice. More saw him as empathetic and honest, and willing to stand up to extremism, compared with the Republican incumbent.
“It has to do with decency. This country has got integrity and hopefully we can get decency,” said Kay Nicholas, a 73-year-old retired teacher and school principal from Brighton, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. “I think Joe Biden can do it and bring back kindness.”
The election ultimately emerged as a contest between two conflicting visions of America in a time of crisis. Biden voters saw a nation in chaos and a void in presidential leadership, while Trump’s supporters believed the economy was roaring back to health and that the president was delivering on the dramatic political change he campaign on four years ago.
“We love our president, we love our Constitution, we love everything that he’s promised and followed through on,” said Annastasia Theodoropoulos, a 50-year-old Trump supporter in Milford, Pennsylvania, a borough outside Scranton.
Biden’s coalition included clear majorities of college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters, young people and Black Americans — all groups that have risen up in resistance to the Trump presidency. He made good on his promise to win over moderate voters, including some Republicans who rejected the president.
Trump, meanwhile, held his base of white voters without a college degree, rural voters and religious conservatives. And in some competitive states, like Nevada and Florida, Trump ate away at Biden’s support among Latinos, according to the survey.
The two coalitions reflected a striking racial division. Roughly 40% of Americans identify as racial minorities, but just 14% of Trump supporters do. Biden voters more closely reflected America — 63% of his supporters were white, and 37% were people of color.
“We are a force to be reckoned with,” said Linda Wilson, a Black woman and Biden voter, of the mobilization of Black voters. “Let us pray that this is just the beginning.”
Ultimately, Biden’s coalition was large enough for the former vice president to seal a victory, although not the sort of overwhelming wave that Democrats hoped would secure a commanding majority in the Senate. Biden’s win was locked in Saturday when a narrow victory in Pennsylvania handed him an Electoral College majority after he had cemented leads in battlegrounds Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday.
(AP)
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11 Responses
One word. Corona
> “Former Vice President Joe Biden’s White House victory was powered by a broad and racially diverse coalition of voters”
Trump received a much higher percentage of Black, Hispanic and female voters than he received in his first term when he won. So it does not matter what the total number of voters actually is. What matters is the percentage of voters, so how is it that while receiving a higher percentage of voters than previously, Trump could now lose?
Fake news media tries to GASLIGHT America, claims Biden the winner… Trump fires back with ultimate truth: “The media doesn’t decide elections”
As part of the continued effort to gaslight America and demoralize Trump supporters, the same fake news media that ran the Russia collusion hoax for four years has now declared Joe Biden to be the president-elect, even though no states have certified their final vote reporting and numerous states have recounts and lawsuits pending. This is nothing but a desperate effort by the fake news media to gaslight America and hope Trump supporters become demoralized. Trump legal advisor Jenna Ellis replied:
Media coordinated efforts are attempting to simply declare Joe Biden the president and ignore the rule of law. There is no official winner until every legal vote is counted accurately, the states certify results, and all legal challenges are resolved.
President Trump has now issued a devastating statement:
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.
Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.
So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”
Newt Gingrich adds context to the insanity of the media calling the election for Biden:
“If you want to see how much the fix is in, votes are still being counted, no recounts have started, challenges are ignored, 5 states are within one percent but the media pack has declared Biden won”.
Never forget that the media cheered Al Gore as he fought the 2000 election all the way through Dec. 14th, but now with Trump, they demand he immediately concede (before all the evidence of vote fraud comes out).
This whole article could have been two words. how did Biden do it? voter fraud.
He did it the old fashion way, he STOLE it.
With that said, it’s NOT over yet.
Biden did it by cheating!
Anyone who says that he really won, is either lying or stupid.
“How did Biden do it?”
I’ll give you 1 guess…
HE STOLE THE ELECTION PLAIN & SIMPLE! You know why more ppl voted then ever in US History? Cuz this year every Cemetery in every swing state send huge representation to vote (for the dems) Besides for many babies etc. etc.
he cheated
How Did Biden Do It? FRAUD That’s how.
I, personally, do not think that Biden ‘did it’. Rather I think the majority of Americans did not look at the issues as much as the personalities.
In terms of doing, Trump did well, but his personality was too bizarre and contemptuous for most Americans that this name calling, belligerent uncouth person should represent the ‘greatest and wealthiest’ nation. I think it was more of a reject of Trump’s overbearing personality than a desire for Biden – any normal looking decent speaking politician would have beaten Trump.