I think there's something to be said about the value of a calculated protest vote.
For young men, who doesn't feel that the Democrats are offering them a world view where they are valued at all, why should they vote Democrat? Maybe at some level they realize that Trumps policies are worse for them in some ways than Harris'. But when Harris loses despite Trump being such an awful candidate it sends a very powerful message to the Democrats: you can't just keep ignoring a huge portion of the population and make them feel like they're not valued in society.
People put self-worth above almost anything else except self-preservation.
I keep seeing this take on Democrat's treatise of men but I'm not sure it really follows. Even among Democrats white people and men are the most valued classes of American society, for better or worse their interests will never not be protected above all others. The Democratic case has been "given that, what can we do to help the rest of you." Stuff like LGBT support, reproductive rights, BLM, and even path to citizenship don't even wiggle the needle of white men's favor in society.
It doesn't change how it feels especially in online spaces where minorities vent publicly where before it has been private, and I can understand that, but that seems to be the only difference. GOP messaging successfully took "everyone is doing worse off right now" + "look at these Democrats throwing inconsequential scraps to minorities" and convinced people it was causal.
For young men, who doesn't feel that the Democrats are offering them a world view where they are valued at all, why should they vote Democrat? Maybe at some level they realize that Trumps policies are worse for them in some ways than Harris'. But when Harris loses despite Trump being such an awful candidate it sends a very powerful message to the Democrats: you can't just keep ignoring a huge portion of the population and make them feel like they're not valued in society.
People put self-worth above almost anything else except self-preservation.