1. Inflation. Of all the reasons she lost, this one wasn't really the fault of the Democrats or her. The entire world experienced post pandemic inflation, often worse than we experienced. Moreover, our economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic was the strongest of any major economy on earth. Just the same, people, rightly, hate inflation, and the party in power gets tarred with it.
2. Her 2019 presidential campaign. In 2019, she listened to the cultural left, and as a result, took on positions that well outside of the mainstream of America: Full decriminalization of illegal immigration, the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and a ban on Fracking. Sure, she has since changed her position on these, but they have provided plenty of campaign material for the Trump campaign to run ads showing her, often on video, demonstrating her past support. The negative ad Trump ran showing Harris supporting taxpayer funded trans surgeries for federal inmates and illegals was the most effective negative ad of all time and swung the race nearly 3 points in his favor.
3. Crime. The political damage done by progressive prosecutors and the far left when it comes to public perceptions of crime has been incalculable. Yes, crime did drop in 2023, however there are many major cities were property crime rates and violent crime is still much higher than it was in the 2010s. If you want to explain the fall off in support from Blacks for Democrats, look no further than this. Regardless of your race or politics, law and order are consistently popular.
4. Terrible governance (often driven by the cultural left) of many major cities. If Democrats want to know why they lost support among minority voters in 2024, just look at the state of the typical city park. If a Black parent cannot let their kids play in the local park because it is overrun with junkies and a homeless encampment, they are much less likely to vote Democrat at the top of the ticket.
At the national level, the United States electorate leans center right. This notion that Democrats just need a more progressive candidate on the national ticket is a recipe for a landslide Republican win. Democrats have ran solidly leftwing presidential candidates in 1972, 1984, and 1988. Those were all horrific loses for Democrats. There are people that argue that it is a different electorate since then. Okay, if that is the case, why did Bill Clinton leave office as the most popular president since FDR? Over the last 20 years, why have all the most popular governors been moderate Republicans in Blue states? Why did Obama run in 2008 as a pragmatic moderate? Why is there no member of the squad representing a competitive congressional district?
If you want to see what a winning future is for Democrats at a national level, look at someone like Governor Jared Polis.
