It’s a well-known story that boxer Max Baer (aka “Cinderella Man”), a heavyweight who was known for both his arrogance and his power, was once thrown back from a right punch by Tommy Loughran who he regarded as beneath him. Baer, dazed and confused, spat out his mouthguard. “This guy?”
I share this sentiment with tens of thousands of Harris supporters.
The internal DNC polls were wrong, just as the Harris campaign was wrong and so were nearly all liberal strategists and Democratic strategists. Our expectations were shattered and our instincts were wrong. Many of us are still reeling from the agony we felt as we watched Kamala Harris’s bid for the presidency fall apart.
How could we lose, especially to “this man”, someone we’d long ago labelled as unfit and unstable, if not un-American? How could Kamala lose to Donald Trump, a figure we on the left see as a punchline-turned-threat, with twice-impeached baggage and enough personal scandals to sink a porn career?
The knee-jerk reaction, which I felt for most of the night, that “half of America is insane” is tempting. But it misses an important point: the echo chamber of liberal America is not as in tune with ordinary Americans as they think. This dissonance, which has been a constant for the democratic party, has cost them dearly over the years. And this is the latest blow. What happened?
Harris made some tactical mistakes: she chose a progressive running-mate who failed to deliver in a key state, or with key voters; she stuck too closely to Biden’s records; and she called Trump a fascist, which was an insult to Trump’s supporters. Her strategy relied heavily on celebrity endorsements, while she struggled to clarify Harris’s appeal and positions. Many were left unconvinced by her inability to address past controversial stances other than with canned lines such as “My values haven’t changed”. These were tactical mistakes. The real problem was much deeper.
Let’s begin with the liberal blind spot. The belief that everything was going well in Biden’s America, and that anyone disagreeing was either uninformed, brainwashed or just plain stupid. Are grocery prices on the rise? Often, the response was “Check the Fed data.” Immigration crisis? What immigration crisis? What immigration crisis?
Harris’s frequent mentions of her tough on gangs stance, as an example, completely missed border issue’s bigger, unspoken worries: it wasn’t crime, but community strain, feeling outside in your hometown, and housing prices.
The tone-deafness may have sounded clever to lefties on social media. But to regular working-class people, it was elitist and dismissive. They know that the neoliberal elite does not care about their fears, aspirations, or needs.
The left refuses to give the one thing they want – R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – because it believes that it knows better. About everything.
The Democrats were often perceived as the party of social mandates, jingoistic language, and tortured terminology. D.E.I. was required for gender transitions in children (restricted throughout Europe) and athletes who wanted to compete in women’s sports. Training and loyalty statements/oaths… I had to sign both, so don’t tell me that they don’t exist. Americans who raised concerns about race or LGBTQ+ were labeled transphobes and racists. But was this fair?
Most people want to live their lives without being called villains for questioning the new norms. In the minds of most Americans, the left has become the moralizers and scolds, fixated with cultural issues and wielding identitiy politics like a hammer at whack-a mole. Trump’s brash defiance, which contrasted sharply with liberal pieties, resonated with voters who felt cornered.
The left viewed Trump as an existential threat to democracy and not as a politician who’s policies should be surpassed by better, more popular ones. The label “Trump is fascist” opened the door for the left to make anti-democratic and blatantly anti-democratic actions, such as courtroom fights to remove him from the ballot or legal charges that were too convoluted to be understood by anyone. Liberals chose to focus on self-important *resistance* tactics rather than a better, clearer platform. To our shock and horror, Trump shrugged it all off. If anything, the drama added to his renegade appeal.
Harris was a symbol of stability, decency and forward-thinking policies for many of us. Fears of Trump’s populist brinkmanship, economic protectionism and foreign policy were real. As a Harris supporter I can’t deny the fact that the left lacks the humility to reflect and the savvy to realign.
In the end, the Democrats were seen by a majority of voters as the party of elitism and tone-deafness, as well finger-wagging virtue. Even though it felt righteous, this shit doesn’t win elections. Minorities are no longer reliable and consistent base votes for Democrats.
I voted for Harris because I was concerned about the direction the country would take under another Trump presidency. However, I am worried that the blabbering left-sphere of social media and the liberal elite lack the humility and foresight necessary to correct course. To win back the trust of the public, Democrats must meet voters where they are: by talking less, listening better, and showing genuine R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Mark Rein-Hagen’s Op-Ed
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