I think a lot of it is people wanting to believe otherwise. I noticed this in myself when the Walz picked was announced and there was this initial surge of enthusiasm. Democrats were doing this "Republicans are weird" bit that worked hilariously well and Walz had a record of progressive policies in his state.

I live in Germany so US politics doesn't affect me as directly as it does Americans, but the tiny part in me that still holds on to naive, liberal ideas saw that and was like "Hey, maybe the West's descent into fascism will finally stop now and we can all go back to brunch! Wouldn't that be lovely? Wouldn't it be just lovely if the good guys took charge and you wouldn't have to worry about all the horrible things in the world anymore? Wouldn't it be nice to feel hope again after a year of unprecedented despair?"

Personally I was way too jaded and disillusioned to truly buy into that, but I could tell that I wanted to believe.