The Democratic Party's Obsession with Losing: A Post 2024 Election Breakdown
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While writing this post, I went through several phases. At first, I considered doing a Top Five Takeaways list, next an election night reaction and meme round-up, and then, naturally, a dramatic election night meltdown. But, in the end, I landed on one great, undeniable thought that kept gnawing at me as the election results rolled in: DEMOCRATS DO NOT LEARN LESSONS.
I mean, I knew this already, but for a brief moment, I got caught up in the buzz of potentially being wrong. So when the night started, I said to myself, “This isn’t going to be 2016 again.” I wasn't full-on “libbing out” like the rest of the internet, but deep down, I still held on to that faint, lingering liberal optimism—the kind I used to cling to like a security blanket.
Then, my brain kicked in. And of course, it was 2016 all over again—because, guess what? The Democrats keep pushing toward a center that keeps moving right, failing to grasp that the so-called “moderate Republican” is a figment of their imagination. Newsflash, Democrats: there’s no such thing anymore, and maybe there never was.
With Harris’s path to victory now all but nonexistent and a projected Trump win, I’m upset. And no, it’s not because she lost—it's because her loss was self-inflicted. Her disastrous campaign didn’t just tank her chances; it also dragged down House and Senate races. I mean, how on Earth did Sherrod Brown lose his seat? How is Bob Casey about to lose? Watching the campaign as it reached election day was like seeing a train derail in slow motion—except instead of trying to stop it, the Democrats kept feeding it more fuel.
Here’s the thing that’s driving me mad: this is exactly what we’ve been warning the Democratic Party about for years. This is the very thing that leftists and progressives have been screaming into the void. Hugging Liz Cheney didn’t work (SHOCKER). Running toward right-wing immigration policies—you know, the kind you once called racist (because, spoiler alert, it is)—didn’t work. And let’s not forget how completely tone-deaf it was to keep talking over and invalidating pro-Palestinian Americans who are asking for a stop to the funding of genocide. That didn’t work either!
And instead of trying to craft a message that could actually resonate with key swing demographics—like Latino voters (who swung hard for Trump) or white women or, I don’t know, maybe everybody else—Kamala and her team decided to go full-on blame Black men (the second-largest voting bloc for Harris, by the way) in the run-up to the election. Brilliant strategy, guys. That’s definitely going to win you the election.
Instead, Harris and the Democratic establishment forced the party to rally around an unfavorable candidate, then discarded progressive policies that were more popular than Harris herself. And somehow, they thought the left would just fall in line and consolidate behind them. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Maybe the Democrats should’ve run a real primary. Maybe they should’ve actually campaigned on progressive policies instead of sabotaging the only likable candidate they had—Tim Walz. Maybe, just maybe, Democrats should’ve stopped obsessing over trying to win over moderate Republicans and, I don’t know, tried galvanizing their actual base for a change. But who am I kidding? The Democratic Party of today seems more interested in losing than in winning.
We live in a world where Kamala Harris could’ve easily won in battleground states like Michigan if she’d had the backbone to reject Biden’s disastrous, Zionist Gaza policy. But no, instead, she gave us a scenario where Trump not only won the Electoral College but also the popular vote (the first time for a Republican in 20 years). And in case you forgot, this was a campaign that insisted we needed Republicans in the cabinet. Well, looks like she got her wish.
But hey, let’s not pretend it’s all Harris’s or Biden’s fault. The entire Democratic Party shares in this catastrophe. They’ve been complicit in allowing America’s slide into fascism and our inevitable march toward the far right. And instead of doing the self-reflection that’s desperately needed, liberals and Democratic voters are already out there blaming progressive voters for refusing to vote for a candidate who supported, among other things, continuing genocide. Newsflash: Vote-shaming doesn’t work. It never has. But Democrats? They always prefer to tack right and then blame the left when they lose.
Even Kamala herself has said, "I take it seriously that I have to earn everyone's vote." Well, she sure didn’t do that, did she? The problem is, people who’ve shown up for the Democratic Party, year-after-year, are tired. When they need the party to show up for them, the Democratic Party plugs their ears, literally—or, worse, tell them to shut up and accept whatever watered-down, right-leaning platform they’re offered.
If this were any other industry, these people would be fired for incompetence, and the entire strategy would be scrapped. But no—when it comes to the Democratic Party, failure is just part of the game. They seem obsessed with losing, and honestly, at this point, it feels like they enjoy it.
So, yeah, the liberals can be angry that the Democrats couldn’t beat Donald Trump. But the truth is, it’s not that the Democrats couldn’t beat Trump—they just didn’t want to. There are so many people who poured their heart and soul into this election. They knocked doors, phone-banked, sent texts, gave money. And what did the Harris campaign do with that? They didn’t respect the very people who gave everything to this cause. They didn’t treat this election like the consequential moment they so often touted it to be.
Last’s not decisive victory for Trump is additionally frustrating because Americans have been rejecting Trumpism for years. But now, we can’t beat it because the Democrats keep pushing forward candidates and policies that are as attractive as a bag of wet laundry. The centrists always promise that they’re the electable ones, and then—surprise!—they fail. They squander their post-January 6th favorability. They run a corpse of a candidate. Then they offer us Kamala Harris, who threw away a 10-point momentum swing and just lost to one of the most racist, ignorant people on the planet. At every turn, the Democrats choose to fail.
Even if Harris had won, I would’ve been disappointed. But now, it’s even worse, because all the worst, most racist people I know are going to be celebrating. And the tiny shred of hope I had left? Yeah, that’s gone.
Moving forward, I would hope Democrats would learn from their mistakes. But they won’t. Because they never do.
Why I Still Have Hope
I know I’ve been pretty doomer about the election results, but before I leave you in the depths of despair, let me offer a few glimmers of hope—and what comes next.
First, there’s still a chance the Democrats can hold onto the House. It’s not a huge win, but it does provide some gridlock against the truly disastrous policies coming down the pike. And for that, we can thank California. So, that’s something.
On a more personal note, Sarah McBride made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. That’s a big deal and a much-needed win for visibility and progress in our fight for equality.
And here's something else worth noting: Americans still respond very well to progressive policies. That means we have a strong base to build on, even if both the Republican Party and establishment Democrats are too stuck in the past to fully embrace it.
But, here’s the cold truth: the fight doesn’t stop just because things look bleak. There are still vulnerable people out there who will be hit hardest by the policies we’ll see come from this election. The work isn’t over. As many of us progressives know all too well, checking out isn’t an option.
What gives me hope, though, is that we always stick together. We’ve been knocked down time and time again, yet we keep showing up. We keep pushing forward. We do what must be done because that’s who we are. And I have no doubt we’ll continue to do it—because together, we can get it done. Plus, as a progressive, I wouldn’t be able to operate if I didn’t have hope.