Letters to the Editor: Don’t downplay the role of gender in this election or Biden administration failure

To the editor: I applaud political scientist Seth Masket’s insightful analysis of the election. It should be required reading by all who want to bring our nation back from the brink of destruction. (“Democrats are finger-pointing. Does the evidence support them?” Nov. 17)
But in downplaying the role that gender played in voters’ assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris, Masket overlooked one compelling consideration: Her perceived suitability to serve as the nation’s commander in chief.
It’s not just that Harris lacked military experience. With wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East — and with saber-rattling by China and North Korea on the rise — I believe many voters shuddered at the prospect of having a militarily inexperienced woman guide U. S. armed forces in time of war.
President-elect Donald Trump surely sensed that he could exploit residual misogyny as the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip continued.
M. Edward Alston, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Since the election, The Times has been publishing articles regarding the reasons for Harris’ loss to Trump. Some blame the Democrats’ messaging to voters, but they avoid the most important reason.
Probably half of those who voted for Trump did not actually vote for him as much as they voted against Harris and the Democratic administration. Had the Biden administration done a good job of governing, Trump would not have won. But the administration did not.
From overseeing a border crisis (while lying to the American people about it) to the badly flawed withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration failed to deliver, and it has been punished for this.
Gordon Hodge, Goleta
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To the editor: A great deal of verifiable, factual information on the elections shows that the race between Trump and Harris was close. Yet headlines make it sound as if the Democrats lost in a huge landslide.
Please stop framing this election as if the Democrats lost by double digits. There is no massive consensus that authoritarianism is a good thing.
Judith Martin-Straw, Culver City
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To the editor: It appears that many voters wore rose-colored glasses about Trump’s first term. For them, he was the better choice on the competence issue.
Yet when he was confronted with one truly big crisis — the COVID-19 pandemic — his performance was clownish. Think ingesting disinfectant. The country would have suffered economic catastrophe without federal intervention.
For many years, the Democrats’ messaging has been totally inadequate against the best propagandists since the Bolsheviks.
William L. Winslow, Santa Monica