The Democratic Party was poised, once again, to make history. Not only was there a woman – again -- at the top of the ticket, but one with a range of color. What a coup it would have been. But the glass ceiling remains intact, which does not describe the confused and chaotic mental state of the losing class still conducting an autopsy on a barely breathing party. Excuses range from poor campaign strategy, abandoning voters' needs, to poor old Joe Biden not being aware enough to step down months prior – all decent rationalizations that on their own wouldn't have made a dent in the vote.
But the Kamala Harris campaign was a perfect storm of poor strategy, tone deafness, and the Marie Antoinette effect that the pandemic made clear to the little guys and gals. That left room for a populist who could relate to the steelworkers, farmers, servers, and small businesspeople. Donald Trump flipped the script, and many who maybe couldn't stand him in 2020 held their nose and cast a vote for him anyway.
The Republican Party -- once perceived as the enclave of millionaires -- was now the savior of the working class. The "convicted felon" and the hillbilly appealed to the masses. A seismic shift in perception has left a stunned opposition struggling to see a path to the future.
Even the Kitchen Sink
Every Democratic lawmaker, strategist, and pundit, down to the last progressive-minded voter, has an opinion on the demise of the Harris campaign. Another presidential candidate kicked out of the running by the Democratic Party machine in 2016 was blunt: "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, would find that the working class has abandoned them," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said. "First, it was the working class, and now it is Latino and Black voters. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they're right."
Spot-on analysis; ask any Bernie Bro. Feeling abandoned causes extreme reactions, such as voting for Trump.
The soon-to-be-former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg believed Harris was shielded from appearing in public and engaging in the conversation. "We've got to figure out how to take online conversations offline at scale," Buttigieg told The New York Times right after the stinging loss. "While it is not obvious how to do that, that is something that, for much of human history, until about 15 years ago, we all did." In the most basic sense, Mr. Pete says one can't win by wicked, hilarious memes alone.
Perhaps too many high-profile muckety-mucks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) blame Joe Biden's orthopedic sneakers. But the Big Guy didn't quit fast enough for the party to run an open primary or for Harris to figure out what to say when asked why she wanted the job.
Regaled political strategist James Carville, who was once quite adept at turning sows' ears into silk bags, couldn't keep up with all his reasons why the election was on a collision course with doom. He cited "wokeness," the stupid economy, and "preachy women" as just a few reasons no one wanted another four years of a Democratic regime.
There are multiple reasons for the Democrats' failure at the ballot box. However, Trump was the one who turned the election on its axis. Changing everything about the Harris campaign would not have stopped him from winning the 2024 election. And that is precisely where the DNC should look for pointers.
Hey, Democratic Party, It's the Candidate, Stupid
Harris was a weak candidate: three years of accomplishing nothing as vice president, a Border Czar title that became a joke, and an inability to understand foreign policy. She admitted she was no different from the man with the lowest approval ratings three years running. Harris needed a crutch to do simple interviews and avoided any kind of hardball play – instead depending on a fawning and favorable media.
The vice president might have been able to vigorously challenge any other presidential GOP contender: Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, even Vivek Ramaswamy. It was painfully palpable that Harris and her cocooning staff had Trump living rent-free in their minds, and instead of campaigning for the presidency, they hunkered down and hoped the Big Bad Wolf would stop banging on the door.
Trump was a candidate for the ages: Nothing would stop his second trajectory to the Oval Office. No amount of money spent could persuade diehard MAGA fans to vote for anyone else. The man picked up gains in every demographic. After being thrown curveballs and accusations and downright lies, he became more popular than ever, surviving two assassination attempts and becoming a good old boy with a – yes – trumped up felony. How the Democratic Party failed to see this phenomenon unfolding again in front of the eyes of the world is beyond comprehension.
The Republican Party has evolved since Trump rode the golden escalator right into American political history. The GOP is now the party of blue-collar, no-collar, manufacturing, minority, and educated, whether by trade, university, or school of hard knocks. It is the American voter who demanded change. And the Democratic Party has nothing to blame but its own myopic nearsightedness for another failed chance to make history through that pesky glass ceiling.
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