Democrats are trying to work out what went wrong. On the left a consensus is forming
Democrats are trying to work out what went wrong. On the left a consensus is forming
Democrats must abandon ‘neoliberalism’, Connecticut senator warns, as party leaders face strongest backlash in years
Summary
Following Kamala Harris’s unexpected defeat, Democratic leaders are scrutinizing their party’s failures, particularly with working-class voters.
Figures like Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Ro Khanna argue the party lacks a strong economic message, especially for those frustrated with stagnant mobility and neoliberal policies.
Sanders emphasized Democrats’ disconnect from working-class concerns, while Murphy criticized the party’s unwillingness to challenge wealthy interests.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison announced he won’t seek re-election, leaving the party’s leadership in flux as Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries prepare to assume top roles amid a Republican resurgence.
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Kamala is part of the Biden administration, which most people, in my opinion, found to be awful. We couldn't grasp who she was and what policies she wanted. She didn't do enough interviews. Trump went on Joe Rogan's podcast, while she was reluctant to participate in an interview for more than 45 minutes, compared to Trump's three hours. I'm not saying that the interview was the nail in the coffin for her, but it was definitely a contributing factor. Essentially, the average person wouldn't know what she wanted or who she is unless she actually did an interview on a podcast that they could watch on YouTube. Additionally, Trump was already president, so people at least had a general idea of what it was like when he was in office. I have no hate for Kamala here; I'm just sharing my thoughts on what I think went wrong.
"Kamala is part of the Biden administration, which most people, in my opinion, found to be awful."
Define "awful". I'll help: you're about to find out.
"We couldn’t grasp who she was and what policies she wanted. "
It helps a lot of if you pay attention and listen to the candidate. Maybe look up her past voting record and background.
"Essentially, the average person wouldn’t know what she wanted or who she is unless she actually did an interview on a podcast that they could watch on YouTube. "
Please tell me you are joking. That you really truly believe that because she didn't go on a specific podcast, she lost? Like seriously people are so fucking lazy they couldn't search "Kamala Harris interview" or "Kamala Harris policies".
Fucking sheep.
Define “awful”. I’ll help: you’re about to find out.
And there's your problem. You shouldn't have to point that out, she and the Democratic party should have been talking about the economy non-fucking-stop once she had polling that said people only give two shits about the economy.
She should have been saying, yeah I know inflation sucked balls but we're going to go after the assholes who price gouged you. She should have said, yeah, egg prices went up because of the bird flu and here's the plan to make sure we tell these mass chicken farms to be better. She should have said, hey I know your rent is too damn high but here's something actually realistic we can do about it. Every. God. Damn. Day. until she got inaugurated.
And as for the "Maybe look up her past voting record and background", well guess what? They don't and we know they don't because we have a lot of social science research showing that when you're lower working class, when you're done working two - three jobs or a 12 hour physically demanding job trying to make ends meet, tired out of your god damn skull, and you can't afford to pay your rent or food or internet that you need to actually get another job because the one you have is still laying you off. Yeah, you got that 17% raise that the rank and file got over the four years but to you that basically amounts to another 2 bucks an hour meanwhile you rent's gone up 500% in four years.
I've been there, I've done that, I'm not looking shit up after running a double shift dealing with asshole customers complaining about how prices are too high and some white dude spouting off racist bullshit to my face. I'm not that now and I have a job where I can post on Lemmy in the middle of the day and have that luxury of being able do that research. Most American's don't have that mental bandwidth to do that and one as I put up above is going to give two shits about the BLS report saying that wage growth was the highest in decades when they're literally struggling.
Democrats are often derided for being elite and honestly there's truth to that, Democrats, especially the people in leadership really fucking suck at actually talking to people and really suck at empathy and they have to realize that, I'm sorry but the American public isn't the brightest, they don't have the greatest attention span, they're tired and just want someone to tell them they're going to be able to eat and have a roof over their heads and not have to struggle so damn much and someone's actually got their back. Even if it's pretty little lies.
She should have been saying, yeah I know inflation sucked balls but we’re going to go after the assholes who price gouged you.
Funnily enough, she did!
But ok, you keep on ranting. Good rant!
Damn, you're right, she did mention that in one single interview and I had forgotten until you mentioned it.
And that's from someone the regularly follows politics and reads the paper everyday. Now imagine the guys I'm talking about above, what make you think they're going to actively go out and seek that info and retain it. Again Every. God. Damn. Day. until inauguration.
All I can see is that this is why Democrats are going to keep losing because instead of coming down to talk to the people and not over them and dismissing with reports and numbers and can't accept the fact that they have a lot of blame along with these low info voters who also have a lot to be desired. But hey, never learn Democrats, never learn.
All I can see is that this is why Democrats are going to keep losing because instead of coming down to talk to the people and not over them and dismissing with reports and numbers and can’t accept the fact that they have a lot of blame along with these low info voters who also have a lot to be desired.
I agree with the sentiment, at least in principle. Democrats need to reject neo-liberal (or is it really neo-con?) policies and start meeting regular working people where they are at. To my mind both AOC and Sanders have articulated this extremely well.
But... this is a two-way street. A lot of voters are low-information because they simply don't prioritize voting and elections. There may be decent reasons for this but not voting or just voting for whoever says things that make you feel good in the moment is not taking responsibility as a citizen and it certainly isn't voting for your own interests. Things don't get better that way. We need to fight.
I know I know... chicken meet egg.
I guess that's where we differ in opinion. I honestly don't see it as a chicken/egg situation, I 100% put the communication issue on the leadership.
When I lead a team, it's incumbent upon me to ensure communication is flowing and that my team understands what I am providing and asking for from them. Success is ours, failures are mostly mine.
That's how I see this situation at least.
Damn, you’re right, she did mention that in one single interview and I had forgotten until you mentioned it.
And yet, if it were an important issue to you, important enough that your vote hinged on it, I'm quite sure you and every other voter could head to google and go "Kamala Harris price gouging" to find out.
The argument is basically "Yes she was doing what I wanted but she didn't tell me personally so I voted for the other guy."
"It helps a lot of if you pay attention and listen to the candidate. Maybe look up her past voting record and background."
People type in "Kamala Harris policies", yet, you could barely find anything. And listen to her? You mean the script she was reading off of?
"...you really truly believe that because she didn't go on a specific podcast, she lost?"
Didn't even have to be a Joe Rogan podcast, if you read on my original comment, I said "a podcast". I couldn't find any podcast with her, so I barely knew who she actually was. Trump doing podcasts and her not doing any, definitely had an impact.
Okay, you're full of compete shit then.
Literally type in Harris policies and you get Harris's website on the issues, BBC "what are Harris and Trump's policy", CBS "Kamala Harris' policy plans and platform on key issues for the 2024 election", and so on.
If you're going to lie, don't lie about something so easily disproven and being proud that you've admitted you've got time to look shit up and still be a low info voter. That's just pathetic.
Deported.
deported.
What? That made no sense at all. Was that supposed to be some kind of incoherent threat?
I couldn’t find any podcast with her, so I barely knew who she actually was.
LOL. I can see how this might be a problem for you. Do you make major life decisions this way too?
"I couldn't find a podcast detailing the make and model of car I was interested in, so I really couldn't make a decision and decided I would just have to stay home. I was PARALYZED I tell you!"
"I was trying to decide between two job offers but no podcast was available so I just stayed unemployed"
People type in “Kamala Harris policies”, yet, you could barely find anything
You mean like the very first result here: https://kamalaharris.com/issues/
I grant, it requires you actually READ. How troubling.
If he's in a right wing echo chamber, it's possible that he just see the right wing stuff on Kamala Harris first and has to go down to find the official website
A Lemmy user talking about echo chambers, what a funny statement.