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Why Kamala Harris Lost: The Challenges of a Complex Campaign


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Nearly a month ago, Kamala Harris appeared on *The View* for what was expected to be a favorable interview to connect with the American public. But the conversation quickly veered off course when she was asked what she would have done differently from President Joe Biden. Her answer, "Not a thing comes to mind," turned into a Republican attack ad and highlighted the difficulties her campaign faced in securing a victory over Donald Trump on Tuesday.

 

By late Wednesday, Harris publicly conceded, urging her supporters to "do not despair." Her loss has left Democrats questioning what went wrong and what the future holds for their party. Harris campaign officials were initially silent, with some aides stunned and tearful, anticipating a closer race. "Losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard," campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in an email to staff. "This will take a long time to process."

 

As vice president, Harris was closely tied to Biden, a president with low approval ratings and a heavy association with economic struggles, which many Americans see as top issues. Biden’s approval ratings remained in the low 40s throughout his term, and around two-thirds of voters consistently reported that they believed the U.S. was on the wrong track. Harris was expected to bring fresh energy and change, but distancing herself from the president was a difficult, if not impossible, task. Her former communication director, Jamal Simmons, described it as a "trap," noting that distancing herself from Biden would have only exposed her to new attacks. "You can't really run away from the president who chooses you," Simmons stated.

 

Biden’s decision to drop out after a poor debate performance left Harris leading the ticket without a primary vote to validate her candidacy, bypassing the vetting and momentum a primary contest might have provided. She began a 100-day campaign on a message of "a new generation of leadership," with a strong focus on women’s rights, abortion access, and working-class issues such as rising costs and housing affordability. Her campaign initially gained traction, with endorsements from public figures like Taylor Swift and record-setting donations, but it was not enough to shift the anti-Biden sentiment that permeated the electorate.

 

Harris’s campaign tried to frame the race as a referendum on Trump, leaning into her background as a prosecutor to critique the former president. She also aimed to balance a positive, forward-looking message with warnings about Trump’s potential return to power. However, as the election drew closer, her strategy shifted to a direct confrontation, labeling Trump a “fascist” and calling him “unhinged and unstable” in response to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s account of Trump’s alarming remarks about Adolf Hitler.

 

This pivot, though intended to energize the base, may have ultimately backfired. Republican pollster Frank Luntz observed, "Kamala Harris lost this election when she pivoted to focus almost exclusively on attacking Donald Trump." Her attempt to emphasize the dangers of a Trump presidency while also providing a hopeful vision for the future left some voters uncertain about her own platform and her approach to pressing issues like economic anxiety and immigration.

 

In the end, Harris’s close alignment with Biden and a campaign strategy that wavered between optimism and confrontation may have eroded her standing with voters. As Democrats look ahead, her loss underscores the complexities of maintaining party unity while pushing for change—especially when burdened with an incumbent's legacy.

 

Based on a report by BBC 2024-11-08

 

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Posted
31 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Oh please. I think this has to be an inflection point for the dems, there is much to be learned. I can't tell you the number of people that I've spoken with that tell me that the two biggest issues for them were the economy (and their perception that Biden was not doing much for the economy, which I tend to agree with) and the PC agenda. Especially trans rights, the fact that they had daughters who competed on teams that insisted on a man who decided to transition being allowed to use the same locker room even though his package was still intact. I don't think that as a Democrat we can overestimate the degree to which people were offended by that kind of policy. I could go on and on about the PC agenda and the extent to which it alienated tens of millions of folks, feeling like it was being crammed down their throats, how to speak, how to behave, and how to act.

 

I have to admit I am amongst those people, I am not a PC guy, I have not bought into the woke agenda, so I can relate. 

 

The other aspect of this is that Biden should have been forced to accept one term, and he should have been moved aside before he even made the decision to run again. It's not about deferring to an incumbent, it's about the survival of the party. 

 

My last thought is that after this massive failure the entire Democratic party apparatus should be dismantled, all the people in charge should be fired, and the party should be rebuilt from scratch from the ground up.

 

Demonizing conservatives at this point is simply not helpful, there is a reason why they voted the way they voted. I have a lot of conservative friends and family who I love and respect and I get why they were not comfortable choosing Harris. I did not like her, I have never liked her, I did not find her to be a likable character and I cannot express how many people have spoken to that disliked her to a huge extent and were extremely turned off by her extreme lack of policy. That was not misogyny. It was personality, her track record, and a lack of substance. 

 

We must learn from this or we're destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over.

The fact you didnt mention trump in your post once says alot ive never seen that before

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Posted
23 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

What did you expect a more reconciliatory tone now that your ship sank? What was the name calling except I made a pun on a user name? I did nothing more than ascribe to you the attributes you are known for. Enighted is an adjective not a name.

Enighted is not in any English dictionary.

 

I have no doubt you will be enlightened, when Trump's policies result in cuts to your Social Security and Medicare.

 

Then there's the reduction in purchasing power which will come with tax cuts and a tariff war, as sure as night follows day.

 

You voted for this, now you have it. Som nam na.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Enighted is not in any English dictionary.

 

I have no doubt you will be enlightened, when Trump's policies result in cuts to your Social Security and Medicare.

 

Then there's the reduction in purchasing power which will come with tax cuts and a tariff war, as sure as night follows day.

 

You voted for this, now you have it. Som nam na.

 

My keyboard isn't great the word should have been benighted. Sorry for the confusion.

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Posted
Just now, Cryingdick said:

 

My keyboard isn't great the word should have been benighted. Sorry for the confusion.

 

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Enighted is not in any English dictionary.

 

I have no doubt you will be enlightened, when Trump's policies result in cuts to your Social Security and Medicare.

 

Then there's the reduction in purchasing power which will come with tax cuts and a tariff war, as sure as night follows day.

 

You voted for this, now you have it. Som nam na.

 

I didn't vote for Trump. 

Posted
1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

 

 

I didn't vote for Trump. 

Strange. IIRC you have been quite vocal in your support of him.

 

 

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Posted
Just now, Lacessit said:

Strange. IIRC you have been quite vocal in your support of him.

 

 

 

Yes that is true. However I didn't vote for Trump or Harris. The only person more hated in the USA than Trump is Kamala specifically and the dems in general. People think it is only Trump that had ill will. The referendum ultimately was on Kamala and her band of freak fringe lunatc supporters.

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