In the 2024 election, Kamala Harris lost the Presidential race and the Democratic party lost the House and the Senate. The Red Wave that was expected to occur in the 2022 midterms was two years later, being more of a Red Tsunami.
When analyzing the “red tsunami,” some facts must be taken into account. The idea that a vast majority of voters flipped to Trump is incorrect. First, 10 million fewer people voted for Harris than Biden. Trump had fewer overall votes totaling 75,169,887 (50.3%) in 2024. In 2020, 74,223,975 (46.8%) voted for the Trump ticket and in 2016, Trump finished with 62,984,828 (46.1%). Pivoting to the Senate and House races, the Republican party ended with 52 seats, surpassing the 50 seat majority. In the House, Republicans held 222 seats compared to Democrats 213.
Voters in seven states, including Arizona, Missouri and Montana, voted for Trump and also voted to change their state’s constitutions to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right for all citizens. States like Kentucky and Nebraska rejected school voucher measures. Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska passed provisions mandating the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour. 65% of Americans would prefer abortion to remain legal nationally according to the exit polls conducted last week. 56% of Americans prefer that undocumented citizens get the chance to apply for citizenship and the pathway to citizenship, while a Pew Research poll found that 37% of voters want national mass deportations and 35% of people nationally are satisfied with the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Out of the total 346,108,716 American population, only 150,467,547 voted. To put this into perspective, less than half of the country voted, in total 43.47% voted while 56.53% did not turn out to vote during the election. The underlying point is that, yes, the Republicans won and they won big, but not in the total grand slam that the American contemporary media is attempting to present to the public at large. Yes, the Republicans won and Trump won, but the Red Tsusnami was more of a Trump tidal wave and a red splash for the rest of the party.
Alexandria Ocasio ,Cortez, a congressional representative of D-NY 14th District since 2019, conducted a poll on Instagram in which she asked her 8.1 million followers on an Instagram live in which she asked those that voted for her in the election but also voted for Trump why? She wanted to uncover why these voters voted for two polar opposite candidates that stand for completely separate and different issues.
One voter was cited as saying “it’s real simple… Trump and you care for the working class.” While another voter said, “I support you and did this. Felt like I didn’t have a choice after Biden’s administration.” Lastly, another voter said, “I feel that you both (AOC and Trump) are outsiders compared to the rest of DC, and less ‘establishment.”
Any candidate that is viewed by the American public as an establishment Democrat or Republican, commonly referred to as Rhinos (R) or Liberals (D), are no longer liked by the public. The overwhelming majority of Americans are tired of the establishment that factually does not serve the American people. According to a survey conducted by AP-Norc, 53% of Americans feel their interests are not represented or fought for by establishment politicians on both sides that take money from corporations. The survey also revealed that 25% of Americans feel that neither the Democrats or Republicans represent their interests or them well at all or to earn their vote.
Moving forward, any candidate that is viewed as an establishment candidate on either side of the political aisle will not do well on the national stage. The American people felt that Trump was/is a populist candidate, “a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.” One modern day politician that can be identified as a populist is Tim Walz.
Walz was picked as Harris’ Vice Presidential candidate which partially resulted in her initial uptick in polling when she was announced as the candidate. He has a history of making promises to the American people and actually delivering. When Gov. Walz was a member of the House of Representatives, Walz attempted to increase the minimum wage voted for better-funded stem cell research and voted to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with big pharmaceutical corporations. While also being an opponent of wars in Iraq, Walz voted against a bill to send 21,500 soldiers to continue the war initially but later voted for the bill later that year going back on his public sentiment stating it would save lives in the long run.
With all of this in mind, what are the failures of the Harris campaign? The failures of the Harris’ ticket include moving away from the Populist platform of economic reform and pivoting to a center right policy platform that was deeply unpopular. Harris was anointed as the candidate for the Democrat party when Joe Biden was forced to drop out. He endorsed Harris, basically killing any possibility of an open primary
Harris has good policy platforms that would resonate well with everyday Americans such as cutting taxes for the middle class and giving families a child tax credit. The Harris campaign also wanted to create three million low cost housing units, grow small businesses and invest in entrepreneurs, lower energy costs and tackle the climate crisis. Harris was not the perfect candidate, but better than Trump by a mile. The problem was not detailing these plans enough and letting the American people understand that this was Harris’ agenda. This would’ve been strengthened if the Harris-Walz ticket pushed Walz’s record of helping Americans, so much so that Tim Walz was voted the most popular out of the four candidates on the Presidential ticket, between Trump, Harris, Vance, and Walz.
The Harris ticket also failed in areas such as the border policy, which was pushed by the Harris-Walz ticket in which she gravitated for policies that would increase border security and crack down on illegals seeking asylum she (Harris) warned migrants thinking of coming to America: “Do not come.” She wanted to toughen asylum standards and hiring more border agents as well as creating more detention centers for illegal mirgrants. The Harris ticket doubled down on the “tough on immigration rhetoric” throughout her campaign. Harris also failed on her stances towards Israel supporting Bibi Netanyahu’s right wing government and supporting Israel unconditionally which is imaginabley unpopular among Americans and failing to stop sending millions of Dollars to Israel instead vowing as president to protect Israel not recognizing the Humanitatrian cost of the unjust Genocide that Israel is commiting to the Palestinian people. According to 55% of Americans who disapprove of the American aid sent to Israel according to this source. The Harris campaign failed to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis committed by Israel and the genocide of the Palestinian people.
With all of this in mind, Harris also ran a deeply unpopular campaign through campaigning with the likes of the Cheneys and other Conservative anti-Trump moderate groups that did not vote for Harris during the Election as these partnerships with “Rhinos” were meant to sway Independent and moderate anti-Trump Republican voters. Instead, they failed to attract these Republicans who, instead, just voted for Trump.
Flaunting how many billionaires endorsed Harris and how she was the most pro-business candidate ever reinforced the narrative that her presidency, if elected, would prioritize corporate gains. No one ended up caring that she was telling the American people she is the most pro-business president “ever” and would give $50,000 to start up companies. Instead, this was a ploy to reassure to donor class that nothing would fundamentally change. Harris even took corporate money from these superpacs: Future Forward USA Action $136,459,651; American Bridge 21st Century $39,263,770; Asana $38,043,618; Bloomberg LP $19,232,155; League of Conservation Voters $15,434,257.
To conclude, Harris failed the Democratic party and America by associating too strongly with the Biden administration. Harris became connected with the economic shortcomings, even though the economy and “Bidenomics” were not her fault. Unverified reports claim her campaign mismanaged campaign funds, overspent on ads, and failed to pay employees.
While deciding to not capitalize on media opportunities that were handed to Kamala Harris such as snubbing Joe Rogan and the Joe Rogan Experience, a popular podcast, by wanting the Rogan team to fly out to Washington in the final week of the campaign. The campaign feared backlash from progressive voters and fearing that Harris could not be poised and presidential for a three hour long interview format in which they would not have prior access to the questions. The question then is why choose a candidate with these issues of being interviewed?
All of these blunders that the Harris campaign is responsible for yet another year the Democratic party snatches defeat. The Democratic establishment believes it will be fine and their pockets won’t hurt much. However, in my opinion, this is why Harris failed the American people and why the Democratic establishment will continue to fail.
To learn more about the 2024 election coverage, click this link and find out more here at The Lasso.
