It’s powerful sledding for Democrats, as they attempt to wrap their heads round Donald Trump’s improbable-but-also-foreseeable sweep of all seven swing states and profitable the favored vote.
This wasn’t alleged to occur, in any case. Democrats genuinely believed — as they did in 2016 — that Trump’s many odious qualities could be sufficient to maintain him far-off from the White Home once more.
And if for some purpose that wasn’t sufficient for many People, that they had in Vice President Kamala Harris a lady of shade who, apparently, by advantage of her identification alone, would assist seal the deal amongst these voting demographics.
And if that wasn’t sufficient, there was at all times…Beyoncé.
But it surely didn’t go that approach. Voters neglected Trump’s crimes and insults. Loads of girls and voters of shade didn’t vote for Harris simply because she was a lady or a minority, and celebrities didn’t ship a Dem to the White Home. And so the blame video games have begun.
In a closed-door assembly for Home Democrats this week, one congressional member urged it’s occasion consultants who’re in charge for reelection failures down-ballot.
However candidates with ears shouldn’t have wanted consultants to inform them what voters already have been — that they have been nervous in regards to the economic system.
One other member blamed President Biden’s help of Israel within the Gaza conflict for Dems’ losses. However simply 4% of nationwide voters named overseas coverage as their high problem on the polls — and amongst Harris voters, it was simply 3%.
Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi blames Biden for staying within the race too lengthy. At the very least some within the Harris camp do, too, with one aide saying, “Joe Biden is the singular purpose Kamala Harris and Democrats misplaced tonight.”
However over in Biden world, some fingers are pointing again at Harris for “benching” the president. One other puzzled, “How did you spend $1 billion and never win? What the f***?”
Amongst some progressive voices, there’s one other wrongdoer: White girls.
MSNBC host Pleasure Reid argued, “This would be the second alternative that white girls on this nation have to alter the best way that they work together with the patriarchy,” she stated.
One other MSNBC host, Symone Sanders-Townsend, additionally pointed a finger at white girls: “I perceive there are white girls on the market that voted for Kamala Harris, however child 52% of y’all voted for Donald Trump. And this was not the primary time. So that you’ve acquired to return collectively and tackle it internally.”
Huh? The voters who didn’t vote on your candidate have to debate amongst themselves why they allow you to down — as an alternative of Dems asking what they did to lose that voting bloc?
This all ignores some very apparent, however apparently painful, realities for Democrats: their insurance policies are unpopular.
If we take voters at their phrase — and we’d be clever to — the economic system was by far their No. 1 concern all through this election.
A majority of voters with a complete family earnings below $50,000 voted for Trump. A majority of voters making greater than $100,000 voted for Harris. Amongst individuals who stated their household’s monetary scenario is best at the moment than 4 years in the past, 82% voted for Harris. Solely 14% voted for Trump. Amongst individuals who stated inflation induced their household extreme hardship, 74% voted for Trump. Of people that stated the economic system isn’t so good or poor, 70% voted for Trump.
Don’t these numbers inform you simply as a lot, if no more, about why individuals voted for Trump?
This was a transparent rejection of Biden and Harris’ inflationary financial coverage— stimulus checks, tariff hikes, pupil mortgage forgiveness, anti-tech and antitrust coverage, and regulatory burdens on small companies.
On immigration, voters additionally resoundingly rejected Democrats’ asylum coverage of open borders and sanctuary cities. Not as a result of voters are racist, however as a result of the coverage demonstrably doesn’t work — simply ask Democratic mayors and governors.
On crime, voters rejected Dems’ soft-on-crime insurance policies — slashing police budgets, refusing to prosecute total classes of offenders, and releasing violent criminals again onto the streets.
However for any political occasion, coverage, even when it’s clearly dangerous, is the toughest factor to half with and even re-examine. It’s why you hear a lot extra about needing to tweak messaging, enhance the bottom recreation, attain new voters, area contemporary candidates, and different issues that ignore the apparent — that voters don’t suppose your insurance policies are working.
And there are many coverage areas the place majorities agree with Democrats — abortion being only one.
But it surely looks as if the left is set to make this excruciating loss about messaging, identification politics and the inherent awfulness of voters.
Within the phrases of 1 Dem guide, “Kamala Harris wasn’t a flawed candidate. America is a flawed nation.” Belief me, that’s no solution to win voters again.
Fixing their issues by means of coverage is.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.
