Why did the COVID lockdowns hurt Democrats more than Republicans?

[Tekken_Guy]

Why did the COVID lockdowns hurt Democrats more than Republicans in 2020?

[Schiff for Senate]

Democrats were helped by COVID19 when it was new and everyone was scared and supported masks.
Pretty soon support for masks become polarized and Trump made it a partisan issue.
Really, the premise of your question is wrong since COVID19 pretty obviously helped the Democrats in 2020.
Now COVID19 is a bad issue for Democrats since people think it's gone on for too long (though it's not like anyone can control that) and they have gotten tired of masks and lockdowns.

[Pericles]

Covid pretty clearly made the difference for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. It's hard to separate how people felt about lockdowns specifically, but Trump's response did not get majority support and was seen as too soft so most likely he lost the argument in November 2020. Now people are having a different argument as the pandemic changes, but Democrats have only lost one election because of it and it is too early to tell whether it will be an ongoing or even salient issue in November 2022 (and is unlikely to be in November 2024).

[MARGINS6729]

Because nobody wants to be in lockdowns, especially because it hurts the economy. COVID19 played a big role in ending Trump's presidency although it most certainly wasn't the only factor but I think the lockdowns hurt Democrats more especially with Latino voters.

[ElectionsGuy]

Before election: Vast majority of people are pro lockdown and mandate. Only fringe people who care about freedumb are opposed to them.

Election happens: Way closer than "experts" expectations

After election: Huh, lockdowns must've hurt Democrats more than Republicans.

[Ferguson97]

Because people don't want to be told to eat their vegetables, they want to be told it's okay to have candy for dinner.

[GregTheGreat657]

Because people don't want to be told to eat their vegetables, they want to be told it's okay to have candy for dinner.

The difference is that candy isn't illegal

[DPKdebator]

At the time of the 2020 election, support for lockdowns and other restrictions was especially concentrated in well-educated areas whose jobs more seamlessly fit in with working from home, while opposition for such measures was more common for people whose livelihoods depended on the functioning of businesses like restaurants and anything in tourism-heavy areas. Trump saw substantial losses with the former group, but the latter group swung right (as seen in states like Nevada and Florida).

[Person Man]

THG's analysis of the lead up and aftermath of the Iraq invasion makes an even better parallel-

9/11 helped get the neoconservative agenda off the ground and it was very popular in 2002 and popular enough in 2004. Eventually, it dragged on for too long and it killed Republicans in 2008 and 2010. The only reason that the Republicans were able to recover so quickly is that the same exact dynamic played out in 2008 with the foreclosures.

[Skill and Chance]

THG's analysis of the lead up and aftermath of the Iraq invasion makes an even better parallel-

9/11 helped get the neoconservative agenda off the ground and it was very popular in 2002 and popular enough in 2004. Eventually, it dragged on for too long and it killed Republicans in 2008 and 2010. The only reason that the Republicans were able to recover so quickly is that the same exact dynamic played out in 2008 with the foreclosures.

Yes, going on about one thing for years and years eventually hurts a party, however popular/important that event was in year 1.  Even FDR would have been in trouble without the pivot to foreign policy in 1940. 

[Person Man]

THG's analysis of the lead up and aftermath of the Iraq invasion makes an even better parallel-

9/11 helped get the neoconservative agenda off the ground and it was very popular in 2002 and popular enough in 2004. Eventually, it dragged on for too long and it killed Republicans in 2008 and 2010. The only reason that the Republicans were able to recover so quickly is that the same exact dynamic played out in 2008 with the foreclosures.

Yes, going on about one thing for years and years eventually hurts a party, however popular/important that event was in year 1.  Even FDR would have been in trouble without the pivot to foreign policy in 1940. 

I think Democrats are pivoting now, which makes sense with the Supreme Court transitioning from a center-right to a hard-right right court.

[Del Tachi]

It's interesting to consider, in a universe without Covid, what the top issue of the 2020 campaign would have been.  Trump's impeachment was the biggest political story of 2020 before lockdowns upended everything.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Covid was important only in that it gave people who already wanted to vote against Trump a better-articulated reason for doing so.  This is why Covid concern tracked so closely with Democrat voting intention throughout 2020.  "Trump is killing grandma" is a way more digestible message than droning on about Russian interference or whatever, so it probably made all the difference for Democrats in 2020.   

[Hammy]

It's hard to say to what extent this was the case in 2020, but for those who it was, the economic fallout was almost certainly a major reason.