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Okay we are getting started with our focus group. Follow along on this thread.
We're opening with COVID and the economy. Every participant here supports a mask mandate. Half said they were worried about new lockdowns under Biden. "I can't do March and April again," says one mother of three.
80% of the people here say they have more personal savings now than they did at the start of COVID. An interesting dynamic of the pandemic: if you didn't lose your job, taking no vacation, eating out less, no commuting etc. may have left you in a better financial position.
We ask if participants approve of Trump's handling of the pandemic. 70% say they disapprove. One woman notes that while Trump "F*cked this up" she also isn't "going to let Biden or anyone else tell me I can't have dinner with my friends."
Every person here says they have seen small groups of people indoors without masks. Either friends or extended family.
Almost all the group says Biden would better manage the pandemic. One woman chimes in "But I think a vaccine is coming soon anyway and there are things I don't like about how both of them would handle it." Lots of head nods in agreement.
It seems obvious to me COVID was a net political positive for Biden but maybe just less cut and dry than we initially thought. Some people agree with him but didn't prioritize it when voting. Other liked his take more than Trump's but were still nervous about more lockdowns.
Okay now on to Hunter Biden.
Every participant here says they heard about the Hunter story. Every person except for one (the one white man in our group) says the story was not very concerning. One woman chimes in "I don't think the Biden kids could be worse than the Trump kids if they tried."
We ask if anyone changed their vote because of Hunter Biden. No one raises their hand. This landed flat. I don't think it made any difference.
70% of the people here say they think Biden "mostly disagrees" with AOC. No one says her influence on the party was important to them flipping their vote.
Over 50% of the people here support more government intervention in healthcare. Over 70% support the ACA and Roe v. Wade. 70% don't think Roe or ACA is likely to be overturned by the courts.
80% say racism exists in the criminal justice system. 60% have a favorable view of Black Lives Matter. These people voted for Trump!
Only one participant here agrees we should "defund the police." One woman says "That is crazier than anything Trump has ever said." 50% of people here say they think Biden was privately sympathetic to the position.
We are explaining the actual policies behind defund the police. One woman interrupts "that is not what defund the police means, I'm sorry. It means they want to defund the police."
"I didn't like being lied to about this over and over again" says another woman.
"Don't try and tell word don't mean what they say" she continues. Rest of group nodding heads.
We ask if they support reducing police funding and reallocating it to social services and other agencies to reduce police presence in community conflict. 70% say they support that proposal.
It's such a universally accepted take on twitter: activists who are doing the work get to decide the message 
but maybe and hear me out, very liberal activists shouldn't decide the messaging to win over middle of the road voters!
but maybe and hear me out, very liberal activists shouldn't decide the messaging to win over middle of the road voters!
We ask an open ended question on "Why did you change your mind?" Various reasons. One woman says polls showed Biden was going to win but she didn't want it to be overwhelming so she logged a protest vote.
Makes me wonder if more robust coverage of polling is effecting how voters make their decisions. Not enough evidence of that yet but someone should really explore the idea.
We ask if these people think Democracy is in peril. Only 40% say yes. One of the women who says yes chimes in "But it would have been bad regardless of who won. Democrats wouldn't have accepted Trump."
Every participant except 2 say Trump's behavior post election is inappropriate. 2 believe there was significant fraud. 2 more believe there was "some but not enough to change the outcome."
Every person here thinks Biden will be inaugurated and the transition of power will be peaceful. They don't seem to like Trump's antics but also don't view it as a very big deal. I think that has been an ongoing problem in opposing Trump.
We use language that (accurately) frames Trump as a crisis. And it probably dings our credibility with people who don't like his behavior but think we are being over the top.
My friends talked me into adding this in for fun. We ask if people here saw the Lady Gaga GOTV performance. Only 4 people know what we are talking about.
One woman says "I love Lady Gaga but all of Hollywood supports Biden and Democrats." Another woman says "Lady Gaga is kind of crazy and I don't think we should listen to her talk about government. She wore a dress made of meat."
Okay closing with asking if anyone already regrets their vote for Trump. One woman says she wishes she wouldn't have voted. 2 say they would probably change their vote. One says she wouldn't but only because Biden won. Swing voters are really something y'all.
