The 2024 Presidential Election was an absolute disaster for the United States, and the Democrats should not be absolved from blame. They had four years to prepare for 2024 and they procrastinated on finding a replacement until it was clear that Biden was mentally unfit for another term. It wasn’t the electorate’s fault that Harris lost.
- Who needs a primary, anyway?
In 2020 voters were sold on the fact that Biden was a temporary stopgap against Trump, and that in the next four years, the Democrats would find a more energetic, youthful candidate to run in 2024. That didn’t happen. Instead, Biden had a disastrous first debate and the Democrats scrambled to put together a Harris campaign.
The Democratic leadership was arrogant in this election cycle. They expected voters to show up even in the midst of a hasty, desperate candidate swap. They had plenty of time to send Biden out to pasture, but they lacked the conviction to do so.
The Democrats got outplayed by a declining old man. Expecting voters to eagerly support Harris despite getting no choice in the manner was naïve and foolish. One would think the party that hosted the disastrous 1968 presidential primary would learn their lesson, but no.
It turns out putting forth a candidate which no one outside the DNC voted for was a bad idea.
- Populism Please!
Harris didn’t appeal to the Latino working class and young men whatsoever. Trump did. What gives? Simply put, the Harris campaign failed to address working-class issues.
Did anyone really think trotting out Fat Joe on the eve of the election was a winning political strategy? The appearance was inconsequential, but it was indicative of a larger, problematic issue.
The Democrats have come off as extremely out of touch lately. This is the campaign that accepted Liz Cheney with open arms.
It shouldn’t be a surprise when young men swing towards Trump when Harris scarcely addressed them during her campaign. It’s easy to sit here and complain that x group didn’t show up, but that thinking is unhelpful, and shifts blame away from leadership.
Latinos didn’t show up because the Democrats didn’t do enough. Full stop. Part of this is because Harris was on an almost impossible time crunch. Her campaign was the equivalent of doing the essay the night before, and the results reflect that.
In 2020, Harris was picked by Biden, a decades long fixture in the Democratic party. In 2024, she was picked out of desperation by party elites. She performed horribly in the 2020 Democratic primary and failed upwards all the way to Democratic nominee for POTUS.
What part of that story inspires anything in the working class? Walz was a good pick, but the VP can’t be the only part of the ticket that has any ties to the average American. The whole platform was a mess as well.
What exactly was her big draw supposed to be? Running on a platform of ‘anyone but Trump’ worked when he was crumbling under the pressure of Covid-19, but it didn’t when Trump looked like an appealing alternative to economic hardship under the Biden administration.
If Harris had chance to win this election, it wasn’t by pulling away Trump supporters, but by exciting Biden voters. Running a milquetoast copy of Biden’s campaign was never going to accomplish that goal.
For the love of God, one of these Democrats has to run on universal healthcare at some point. It may have been risky for Harris, but at least it would have sparked some life into the campaign.
Also, Trump didn’t have to worry about his support among these groups because his marketing has cemented himself as an underdog and an outsider. He’s not a working-class hero, but he acts the part and that’s enough.
If there’s one thing that MAGA has done well, it’s appealing to the working class. They have an identity that people feel energized by. The Democrats don’t need to create a cult of personality, but they do need to push policies that are exciting in some way.
The Democrats have to stop playing not to lose.
- It’s the economy, stupid
Her bid for presidency was somewhat doomed from the start because she inherited Biden’s record as President. Unfair or not, Harris was associated with high gas, grocery and housing prices under the Biden administration.
Even if metrics like GDP looked good, the average American didn’t feel that impact. It shouldn’t be a shock that a candidate associated with crippling inflation didn’t perform well.
Trump’s economic plan was (and still is) awful, but he won because it wasn’t Biden’s. Most voters aren’t looking up official campaign polices. They vote based on the results that they’re getting currently, and for many it wasn’t good enough.
The Democrats knew that the economy was the biggest concern for Americans in this election cycle and ran a candidate with a poor economic record anyway. It showed. Harris didn’t even win the popular vote.
- What’s Next?
Now the Democrats have a chance to respond at the midterms. Will they continue their path of smelling each other’s farts while Trump assembles a gaggle of incompetent buffoons to lead our nation?
Only time will tell.