Political Memes

No disagreement, but they believed he would lose because they miscalculated just how popular he was becoming in that demographic. They assumed either a typical republican turnout, or slightly reduced due to centrist republicans being turned off by his populism and abrasive aesthetic. They didn't expect the high turnout among young white men, and a big motivation for those voters was a reactionary misogynistic and anti-establishment resentment. That Hillary was a white woman from the political elite class amplified that sentiment, too.

He didn't 'have anything to do' with gamergate directly, but that movement is what set the environment for his popularity. Had that demographic remained politically apathetic, there's a good chance the election would have gone more like what the democrats were expecting. And had the democrats run a more populist candidate/policy platform that addressed the sinking popularity among their own base, they might have overcome that higher turnout on the republican side.

They seem poised to replay the same strategy, though - Newsome is a milquetost neoliberal candidate from the political elite class, and unless trump actually sinks his own coalition, Newsome likely won't activate enough of the democratic base (who is increasingly unhappy with the party) to beat a similar high anti-establishment voter base on the republican side. I'm praying AOC actually runs, or another progressive with a populist economic agenda, and that the democrats don't fuck themselves and the entire country over by working against the popular sentiment among young democrats and non-voters. It would be a huge mistake for them to assume trump is unpopular enough to ignore their own unpopularity within the progressive side of their caucus.