I have read your commentaries for years. Your commentary on why the Democrats lost the election so completely is the best I have seen so far. But then, your work is always excellent.
I agree with almost all of that. All my friends roll their eyes when I say the Left's identity politics is fueling the right - they don't see it because they all live in San Francisco and New York echo chambers. i'm amazed at how formerly rational and scientific people now agree that sex is a social construct and that you can be healthy at any weight.
But it's not that alone - it's also the abandonment of the working class, which is much larger than the elite class, and much more in need of the programs that the left is supposed to favor. We're now an elite party of college graduates giving condescending lectures on how to be a good person to our intended constituents.
And the deepening alienation of men is scary and dangerous.
The silver lining is that with total control over the government, the GOP will be held wholly responsible for everything it does, and I suspect there will be a reckoning when it turns out that all they want is to benefit the rich and disenfranchise everyone else.
Yeah, I think liberals need to get out more. Go into the country. Mix with the people. This isolation is bad news. And yes, big scary with the direction men are headed. Vilification is a lose-lose. Sigh.
It wasn't just that Biden had refused to step aside, it was the Democratic party thought they could get away with hiding what was painfully obvious to most - he was in severe cognitive decline. And it was only when the donor class refused to hand over the lifeblood of any campaign, aka, cash, he was forced aside. This "good of the country" is a bunch of hooey and it left them unable to find a serious candidate, not one by default.
From the distance of New Zealand it has appeared that the Democrat Party forgot what was actually at stake, they ignored that fighting to win requires strategy, and they appeared to want to display globally how “advanced” they are. Instead they looked like fools.
Not only did Biden stay on way too long, but when it became obvious at the Trump vs Biden debate that Biden’s cognitive ability was impaired, the party moved far too slowly to replace him.
Kamala was the wrong choice. If you are up against a Republican candidate who is a decent man, you can afford the luxury of choosing a woman, and also select someone who is not white. And you also might win.
Integrity, and Competence is what matters to me, not gender or skin colour. However, white misogyny is a feature of the ruling class of America, and the apparent bias of many US voters.
With Trump as the opposition, in the fight for the Democrats to win, they had to remove all variables that might weaken their chances of winning. For Trump to lose, the Democrats had to have a white male opponent, rich, handsome, and YOUNG. With that packaging it’d have been harder for Trump to linguistically disparage his opponent without bringing attention to his own inadequacies. It would have been a battle of character and policies. With Gavin Newsom (or a similar candidate) the Democrats could have won.
I come from a country where we have had a few female Prime Ministers - like most Western Democracies. I agree with equal opportunity. But for the safety of the whole world - this particular US election the stakes were too high to not fight Trump full force. The Democrat party GIFTED a con man, lying sexual abuser criminal narcissist - the US Presidency!
A good post-mortem. If only the incompetent Democratic leadership would just sail away to Martha's Vineyard. Already the talking heads are blaming White women, Black men, Hispanic men. Even in defeat they can't help but put people into identity-based categories. It is insulting that the party leaders thought they could hide Biden, then anoint their own candidate for us.
You are right about a lack of a working class agenda. How was healthcare not a major policy issue for the Democrats this election? Childcare? What about minimum wage or paid sick leave? Consumer protections? The environment? How does Harris have decades in politics and not have some kind of bold vision or idea? She seemed to be a complete lightweight policy-wise, maybe the least impressive candidate since George Bush (even had a Cheney). I think the party will tone down the social justice rhetoric and policies, but still waste time on abstract issues like fascism or the courts and not adequately address working class issues.
In 2020, Trump got 74M votes, while Biden got 81M. In 2024, Trump got 72M votes, while Harris got 66M. Contrary to what was said by the pundits on election night, Trump did not his voter ceiling. He actually lost votes. The issue was that Harris lost 15M Biden voters. It appears that Trump didn’t take votes from the Democrats. Rather, Democrats that voted for Biden didn’t turnout for Harris. Perhaps a lot of the reasons you suggested in your piece are reasons that Democrats stayed home….
As a conservative/independent this really opened my eyes to how “the other side” thinks. All along I’ve thought that liberal democrats have a lot of hate for us, but I guess in a lot of cases I’ve been buying into the same wrong narrative spouted by various media outlets that the left have been about us. If only we could have conversations with each other without the media poisoning anyone’s mind we might just get along with each other. Really nice article thank you!
I am part of I guess what you would call the "alt-left" so I probably don't represent a lot of liberals, but I actually think there are many liberals and progressives out there who do think this way and have many of the same issues. Appreciate your comment.
In the small picture...how do you repudiate a man who has a super majority on the Supreme Court, sycophants in important Congressional positions who are not expected to govern (meaning savvy strategic Democrats who listen to your advice can't make any gains by picking them apart to set up for 2026 midterms) and has a strong amount of immunity and zero re-election concerns to hinder his actions.
The reality is that Democrats are already adopting a defeatist mindset based on these factors and even if they did the appropriate soul searching they'd come to the conclusion that even the (in my opinion haven't double checked the metrics) 25% of non MAGA reluctant Trump voters will realize to their horror and shock they have no mechanisms to repudiate Trump and will most likely give up on voting because they've already given up on Democrats or fear Democrats will scream I told you so instead of following your advice. Especially if they feel that playing the long game doesn't work.
I’d argue that while there may be popularity in Hollywood’s wokeness shift this doesn’t make for particularly gripping or meaningful art and we get things like Snow White-type remakes, and Star Wars saturation instead of new ideas with truly subversive messaging writ large.
For the first time since I was able to vote, I abstained. I couldn't in good conscience cast a vote for Trump, but I didn't believe in the Democrat's platform; they felt too out of touch. I'm in a good economic situation so that wasn't an immediate issue for me. Immigration was concerning, but I think the cultural issues had me wanting Trump to win (even though I couldn't bring myself to vote for him).
I don't like how acceptable it is to disparage men, especially white men. I don't like what has happened to the pop culture I grew up loving. Good stuff still gets made, but the most prominent IPs get hijacked and Trojan horsed with "the message."
I don't expect Trump to fix that, but I hope the left that I once felt a part of does some introspection and makes changes to help me feel welcome again.
I am not North American and I can easily say that the left loosing sight of its purposes and goals is not just a USA problem: worringly, it's worldwide, in rich countries and poor countries alike. Your article was very insightful from the US perspective, though I fear, as you suggested, leftist leaders won't realize it until it's too late.
I have read your commentaries for years. Your commentary on why the Democrats lost the election so completely is the best I have seen so far. But then, your work is always excellent.
Thank you very much.
I agree with almost all of that. All my friends roll their eyes when I say the Left's identity politics is fueling the right - they don't see it because they all live in San Francisco and New York echo chambers. i'm amazed at how formerly rational and scientific people now agree that sex is a social construct and that you can be healthy at any weight.
But it's not that alone - it's also the abandonment of the working class, which is much larger than the elite class, and much more in need of the programs that the left is supposed to favor. We're now an elite party of college graduates giving condescending lectures on how to be a good person to our intended constituents.
And the deepening alienation of men is scary and dangerous.
The silver lining is that with total control over the government, the GOP will be held wholly responsible for everything it does, and I suspect there will be a reckoning when it turns out that all they want is to benefit the rich and disenfranchise everyone else.
Yeah, I think liberals need to get out more. Go into the country. Mix with the people. This isolation is bad news. And yes, big scary with the direction men are headed. Vilification is a lose-lose. Sigh.
I agree with what you said except for the last paragraph. Where is the evidence of this?
Besides, in many ways the left-right paradigm is being gradually undone.. It is not the right frame of reference anymore.
It wasn't just that Biden had refused to step aside, it was the Democratic party thought they could get away with hiding what was painfully obvious to most - he was in severe cognitive decline. And it was only when the donor class refused to hand over the lifeblood of any campaign, aka, cash, he was forced aside. This "good of the country" is a bunch of hooey and it left them unable to find a serious candidate, not one by default.
Excellent analysis Erik.
From the distance of New Zealand it has appeared that the Democrat Party forgot what was actually at stake, they ignored that fighting to win requires strategy, and they appeared to want to display globally how “advanced” they are. Instead they looked like fools.
Not only did Biden stay on way too long, but when it became obvious at the Trump vs Biden debate that Biden’s cognitive ability was impaired, the party moved far too slowly to replace him.
Kamala was the wrong choice. If you are up against a Republican candidate who is a decent man, you can afford the luxury of choosing a woman, and also select someone who is not white. And you also might win.
Integrity, and Competence is what matters to me, not gender or skin colour. However, white misogyny is a feature of the ruling class of America, and the apparent bias of many US voters.
With Trump as the opposition, in the fight for the Democrats to win, they had to remove all variables that might weaken their chances of winning. For Trump to lose, the Democrats had to have a white male opponent, rich, handsome, and YOUNG. With that packaging it’d have been harder for Trump to linguistically disparage his opponent without bringing attention to his own inadequacies. It would have been a battle of character and policies. With Gavin Newsom (or a similar candidate) the Democrats could have won.
I come from a country where we have had a few female Prime Ministers - like most Western Democracies. I agree with equal opportunity. But for the safety of the whole world - this particular US election the stakes were too high to not fight Trump full force. The Democrat party GIFTED a con man, lying sexual abuser criminal narcissist - the US Presidency!
All very true.
A good post-mortem. If only the incompetent Democratic leadership would just sail away to Martha's Vineyard. Already the talking heads are blaming White women, Black men, Hispanic men. Even in defeat they can't help but put people into identity-based categories. It is insulting that the party leaders thought they could hide Biden, then anoint their own candidate for us.
You are right about a lack of a working class agenda. How was healthcare not a major policy issue for the Democrats this election? Childcare? What about minimum wage or paid sick leave? Consumer protections? The environment? How does Harris have decades in politics and not have some kind of bold vision or idea? She seemed to be a complete lightweight policy-wise, maybe the least impressive candidate since George Bush (even had a Cheney). I think the party will tone down the social justice rhetoric and policies, but still waste time on abstract issues like fascism or the courts and not adequately address working class issues.
In 2020, Trump got 74M votes, while Biden got 81M. In 2024, Trump got 72M votes, while Harris got 66M. Contrary to what was said by the pundits on election night, Trump did not his voter ceiling. He actually lost votes. The issue was that Harris lost 15M Biden voters. It appears that Trump didn’t take votes from the Democrats. Rather, Democrats that voted for Biden didn’t turnout for Harris. Perhaps a lot of the reasons you suggested in your piece are reasons that Democrats stayed home….
Great piece, Erik! I agree with you. You hit pretty much every note.
Thanks!
As a conservative/independent this really opened my eyes to how “the other side” thinks. All along I’ve thought that liberal democrats have a lot of hate for us, but I guess in a lot of cases I’ve been buying into the same wrong narrative spouted by various media outlets that the left have been about us. If only we could have conversations with each other without the media poisoning anyone’s mind we might just get along with each other. Really nice article thank you!
I am part of I guess what you would call the "alt-left" so I probably don't represent a lot of liberals, but I actually think there are many liberals and progressives out there who do think this way and have many of the same issues. Appreciate your comment.
In the big picture I agree with your points.
In the small picture...how do you repudiate a man who has a super majority on the Supreme Court, sycophants in important Congressional positions who are not expected to govern (meaning savvy strategic Democrats who listen to your advice can't make any gains by picking them apart to set up for 2026 midterms) and has a strong amount of immunity and zero re-election concerns to hinder his actions.
The reality is that Democrats are already adopting a defeatist mindset based on these factors and even if they did the appropriate soul searching they'd come to the conclusion that even the (in my opinion haven't double checked the metrics) 25% of non MAGA reluctant Trump voters will realize to their horror and shock they have no mechanisms to repudiate Trump and will most likely give up on voting because they've already given up on Democrats or fear Democrats will scream I told you so instead of following your advice. Especially if they feel that playing the long game doesn't work.
I think people will vote more if they're truly upset. The midterms will be illuminating.
I’d argue that while there may be popularity in Hollywood’s wokeness shift this doesn’t make for particularly gripping or meaningful art and we get things like Snow White-type remakes, and Star Wars saturation instead of new ideas with truly subversive messaging writ large.
Indeed
For the first time since I was able to vote, I abstained. I couldn't in good conscience cast a vote for Trump, but I didn't believe in the Democrat's platform; they felt too out of touch. I'm in a good economic situation so that wasn't an immediate issue for me. Immigration was concerning, but I think the cultural issues had me wanting Trump to win (even though I couldn't bring myself to vote for him).
I don't like how acceptable it is to disparage men, especially white men. I don't like what has happened to the pop culture I grew up loving. Good stuff still gets made, but the most prominent IPs get hijacked and Trojan horsed with "the message."
I don't expect Trump to fix that, but I hope the left that I once felt a part of does some introspection and makes changes to help me feel welcome again.
I am not North American and I can easily say that the left loosing sight of its purposes and goals is not just a USA problem: worringly, it's worldwide, in rich countries and poor countries alike. Your article was very insightful from the US perspective, though I fear, as you suggested, leftist leaders won't realize it until it's too late.