thing is, though, when it comes to actual ideas, the gop simply has a better ideology, worldview, and policy platform on economics and national defense than the dems do.  if its an election on those issues, republicans win every time. the only way the dems can make electoral headway is on the 3rd leg of the traditional stool: cultural values.  for generations, the gop owned this leg too, as most american had traditional values (family, children, pro-life, christian beliefs, etc). but over the last 40 years, as traditional values fall out of favor, cultural issues have obviously become up for grabs, and the dems have pounced.  the dems feel like theyre on solid footing if they can make elections about abortion, lgblts, or demonize religious people on some issue. problem is, thats a one-trick pony that only works when other issues arent front and center. and this election was entirely about policy, not culture. namely, economic policy (inflation, etc) and national security (immigration, etc).  and, as that chart shows, to the extent the dems tried to make it about culture, they overplayed their hand and the electorate wasnt having it because the other issues were more important.  tldr: it seemed like the dems were shouting about trannies while haitian murderers were stealing my expensive eggs. so they lost.
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