Re: the election…it is obviously not simple to say, Trump won because of —; The Democrats lost because of —. But I do think it’s striking how much of the messaging from the Democratic party had the tone of: Vote for Harris, or else! It doesn’t matter what she stands for and what her policies are; in fact, demanding that she articulate them clearly and cogently, demanding that she make a case for herself beyond being not Trump, is a sign that you’ve aligned yourself with fascist authoritarianism. (She did stand for abortion rights, at least. But in states like Arizona, the abortion access amendment passed, while Kamala lags Trump…)
Two analyses I really liked on the Democratic party’s strategy, and how profoundly inadequate it was for this election:
From ’s “a short election post”—
We vote for politicians because they do stuff for us…a lot of people acted like I was some sort of starry-eyed idealist [for saying this]…They were like nobody would refuse to vote for Kamala Harris…if you’re an Arab-American in Dearborn, well, you’re stuck, you have to vote for us because the alternative is Donald “Muslim Ban” Trump…
Actually, though, my position is not idealist. It is practical. People vote for you if you do stuff for them. Doing stuff for us is their job. Rashida Tlaib crushed her opponent and she made it clear that she cared about issues local to her voters…Tlaib is not somehow less controversial than Kamala Harris! But she understands her job.
By and large, Republicans also get this. Republican politicians are mindful of their base because they know they can be replaced…Democrats, as a party, do not get this. That’s their problem. Individual Democrats do, but as a party, no. When I watch Democrats operate I feel like I’m watching somebody step on a rake while being repeatedly warned “you’re stepping on a rake, it’s going to hit you in the face” and then they do it but somehow the person who gets hit in the face by the rake is me.
For what it’s worth: I did decide to hold my nose and vote for Kamala in Michigan because I was so repulsed by J.D. Vance spreading stories about Haitian immigrants whose veracity he admitted he didn’t even know. But I don’t blame anybody who did not do so because they felt like they were voting for nothing.
From ’s “I told you so”—
Kamala Harris was the least popular Vice President in recent US history…But as soon as she became the candidate, despite nothing about her actually changing, her approval rating skyrocketed. It turns out that all you have to do is tell the Democratic base that they ought to like someone, and they’ll just start liking her. I think this is evidence of an extraordinary generosity of spirit…In Gaza, they were lining up dozens of people in the courtyards of hospitals and crushing them to death with bulldozers, but that was all very far away…But for some unaccountable reason, among the general public, ‘Kamala: You Already Like Her!’ was not the brilliant pitch it seemed to be.
It couldn’t have hurt for her to have adopted literally any policies whatsoever. Stupid thought. That sort of thing isn’t available to politicians like Kamala Harris. It’s not how the system works. The candidate doesn’t owe anything to the public, the public owes something to the candidate. You have to give them your love and respect and admiration and, crucially, your vote. Otherwise the monster wins.
Which is the line they reverted to, once Brat Summer faded into the dying time when the leaves all fall. Blackmail: democracy is on the ballot. Project 2025. The Republican plot to steal your pronouns. Fascism on the horizon. All of which might be real…But democracy is on the ballot is an incredibly antidemocratic slogan. You have no choice other than to vote for us, it says. You don’t get a say in the matter. Whichever grasping freak we pick is your only option: now deal with it. It should not surprise you that a lot of people look at the offer you’re making, and decide to pass.
I really do think the Democratic party has operated off of a belief that they are entitled to certain votes (especially from LGBTQ people, from racial minorities, from young people), and that those voters owe it to the candidate to vote correctly. When really it’s the reverse: the candidate must earn those votes, and then deliver.