Kamala Harris Couldn't Close the Deal: Her Defeat Is a Message from Voters

 

The Democrats misread the room entirely, believing Americans were interested in radical social policies when they were more worried about rising gas prices, mortgage rates, and a chaotic border situation.

Donald Trump's win over Kamala Harris might feel like déjà vu for many political observers. Remember that old saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same"? The Democrats, riding high after the 2022 midterms, must have felt confident stepping into the 2024 elections. The abortion rights issue and the shocking overturning of Roe v. Wade gave them an edge, especially among suburban women and young voters. Yet somehow, here we are, talking about Trump’s return. The 2024 elections ended with many on the Democratic side left asking the same troubling questions: "What just happened?" and "Where did we go wrong?"

Despite the upbeat predictions of Harris’ campaign team, the electorate had other plans. The polls, which suggested Kamala Harris held a razor-thin lead in key battleground states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, ended up as mere fantasy, mere echoes of a world that the media hoped would come true. It turns out those indicators were far from reality, with Donald Trump decisively taking those very states. And why, you might ask, did the Democratic dream turn into this unexpected nightmare?

Some say the answer lies in one word: inflation. Let's be real – inflation under the Biden-Harris administration was the kind of monster hiding under America's collective bed. President Biden's ambitious spending packages, hailed by progressives as a much-needed social safety net expansion, quickly spiraled into an economic headache for middle-class voters. The American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and even the infrastructure bill, while touted as victories by Democrats, didn't translate into the kind of successes that voters cared about when looking at their grocery bills or gas pumps. It didn't help that the Federal Reserve was hiking interest rates aggressively to keep inflation under control, resulting in soaring mortgage rates and a higher cost of living. Americans were feeling the pinch, and they knew who to blame – the party in power.

Another crucial misstep was Biden’s pivot to the far left. When Biden took office in 2021, he was seen as a centrist, a pragmatist who could bring both sides of the aisle together. However, his administration soon became caught in the tangled web of progressive policies. The Biden-Harris team seemed more eager to appease left-leaning Democrats than to cater to the broader, middle-ground America that voted them in. Biden’s constant alignment with the so-called “squad” of young progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar only alienated moderate Democrats and independents who were put off by their radical rhetoric.

The chaos at the southern border didn’t help matters either. There’s an old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Well, it seemed the Biden-Harris administration did not believe in that sentiment, or in fences at all. The abrupt reversal of Trump-era immigration policies turned out to be an open invitation for chaos. When Biden rescinded the "Remain in Mexico" policy, border crossings surged to record levels. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, who was appointed as the “border czar,” did little to inspire confidence. Her handling of the border crisis became fodder for Republicans, with footage of overcrowded facilities, overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, and a vice president who seemed too uncomfortable even to visit the epicenter. In short, Harris was perceived as weak and ineffective in managing a significant national concern.

Let’s also remember how the Democrats fumbled their leadership transition. Instead of presenting Harris as a candidate who was ready and capable to lead the country, it seemed more like she was being handed the reins simply because Biden was unwilling or unable to run. The “dethroning” of Joe Biden – who stepped aside for Harris after being seen as too old to continue – looked more like a desperate, backroom deal rather than a natural and enthusiastic endorsement. It was almost as if the Democratic Party itself had lost confidence in its own leadership, which is never a good look when you are trying to win over the electorate.

Then there was the energy crisis. President Biden's push for clean energy seemed noble in theory – who wouldn’t want a world with less pollution? However, in practice, the anti-energy policies turned out to be an albatross for everyday Americans. Canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, limiting new drilling permits, and setting unattainable emission goals made it seem like the Democrats were more interested in winning environmentalist brownie points than in helping working-class families. Gas prices spiked, and it didn't take a political strategist to see who would be blamed. Voters, frustrated by the rising cost of heating their homes and driving their cars, found comfort in Trump’s promise of “American energy independence.” After all, folks were used to paying $2 a gallon during Trump’s tenure.

Moreover, let’s talk about Harris herself. Kamala Harris’s inability to connect with voters was a glaring issue that simply never went away. She struggled to shake off her reputation as the "laughing vice president" – a nickname that stuck after numerous instances of her awkward, misplaced laughter during interviews. In a country as deeply polarized as the United States, authenticity goes a long way, and Harris seemed to lack the ability to come across as genuine or approachable. Whether it was her inability to handle tough questions during debates or her failure to communicate a coherent vision for America’s future, Harris’s shortcomings were glaring and, quite frankly, impossible to overlook.

Trump, on the other hand, played a classic hand. He leaned into the populist rhetoric that won him the presidency in 2016 – “Make America Great Again,” but now more like “Make America Prosperous Again.” He spoke to the forgotten Americans, those who felt overlooked by a Democratic Party too obsessed with identity politics and climate change. Trump didn’t need to win the majority of voters in places like Milwaukee, Detroit, or Phoenix; he just needed to persuade enough of them that Harris’s America was not the one they wanted. And it worked.

The midterms in 2022 had indeed seen Democrats doing well in the wake of the Roe v. Wade overturn, but they misread the mood of the country leading into 2024. In the grand scheme of things, kitchen-table issues – inflation, the economy, energy, and safety – trumped (pun intended) social issues. Voters are not fools; they see beyond lofty promises and performative politics. The Democrats overplayed their hand on issues like abortion, climate change, and immigration, underestimating just how much people care about their immediate material conditions.

In the end, the Democrats’ overreach left them vulnerable, and voters turned to the devil they knew. Donald Trump, for all his flaws, managed to connect with voters on the things that mattered most to them. The Biden-Harris administration might have been progressive darlings, but they failed to understand one basic principle: Americans don’t just vote on ideology, they vote on how their lives are being impacted in the present. If the cost of living skyrockets, the grocery bills swell, and the chaos at the border is too much to ignore, no amount of talk about social justice or environmental policies will win you an election.

It seems the Democrats forgot the age-old political adage: "It’s the economy, stupid." The electorate sent a clear message in 2024 – promises of change are good, but only when backed by practical solutions that don’t hurt the common person’s wallet. Kamala Harris may have been a symbol of progress for the Democratic Party, but in the eyes of many voters, she was simply an ill-prepared leader who represented the party’s failure to understand the everyday struggles of the American people.

And so, here we are again, with Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, and a Democratic Party that’s licking its wounds, wondering how they let victory slip away. Maybe next time they’ll remember that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Or maybe, just maybe, they’ll repeat the same mistakes and we'll be right back here in another four years, shaking our heads and writing the same commentary.