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In truth, Trump lost because (among other reasons) he failed to encourage his base to vote by mail. Only about one-third of Trump voters voted by mail, as compared to nearly 60 percent of Biden voters, according to the Pew Research Center. This makes no sense: If anything, more Trump voters should have voted by mail, because Trump voters were older, and older people were the likeliest age demographic to vote by mail. Trump voters were also whiter, and white people were much more likely to vote by mail than Black people. And Trump voters were richer, and rich people were much more likely to vote by mail than people who werent rich.

This outcome was not exactly unforeseen. As far back as July, many Republicans were warning that Trumps war on mail-in balloting would cost him Republican votes. Trump failed to listen and lost; yet now that Trumps been proven wrong, Republicans are falling in line to limit mail-in balloting. Do anything else, and youll anger Trump loyalists, and maybe even the Chief himself.

How do we know Trump was an idiot to oppose mail-in ballots? (I mean, apart from the fact that Trump himself voted by mail in both the Florida primary and the general?) Because in April the Census released some data that demonstrated precisely how costly that opposition proved to be.

Before I dig into these numbers, let me remind you that America is a gerontocracy. The president, Joe Biden, is, at 78, the oldest weve ever had. The average ages in Congress are 64.3 (Senate) and 58.4 (House). These averages exceed those in the last three Congresses, and according to The Washington Post, our current Senate is the oldest in history. There are a variety of reasons why our countrys leaders are old, but a key reason, as Ive explained elsewhere, is that the electorate is disproportionately elderly (voters age 65 and older accounted for 22 percent of the electorate in 2020). The Baby Boom is entering old age, and older people are the likeliest age group to vote.

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Donald Trump's Obsessions Are Hurting the GOP's Voter Suppression Efforts - The New Republic