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Democrats are coming to terms with a sobering truth following Kamala Harris’s electoral defeat to Donald Trump. What began as shock has given way to a deeper, more volatile anger, as party members engage in a frank assessment of the mistakes and missteps that may have led to this disappointing outcome.
With the fallout from Tuesday’s election wipeout still unfolding, strategists and lawmakers appear to be focusing their criticisms on President Joe Biden, showing less inclination to blame Harris, whom many believe performed respectably given her brief campaign window.
With Trump’s victory and a GOP “red wave” sweeping the Senate, Democrats are left with an election night catastrophe that has exposed rifts within the party. Each faction is now dissecting the loss through its ideological filter, turning the outcome into a complex reflection of Democratic divisions.
The infighting within the Democratic Party began when progressive Senator Bernie Sanders issued a sharp critique, asserting that a party which had neglected the working class should not be surprised by the latter’s decision to turn its back.
That prompted an angry rebuke from Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison, who dismissed Sanders’s thesis as “straight up BS” and posted a long list of Biden’s achievements for low income families.
New York congressman Ritchie Torres hit out at what he sees as smug political correctness on the left, insisting that Trump had “no greater friend” than activists alienating voters with “absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’… or ‘Latinx.’”
Harris has escaped the harshest criticism, as she is regarded as having had insufficient time to campaign thanks to Biden’s initial insistence on running again at 81, despite having promised to be a bridge to the next generation.
Read also: Harris Says Nation Must Accept Presidental Election Results
The aging president’s sluggishness in bowing out after a disastrous debate performance against Trump deepened the challenge, as Harris had to start her campaign in July as a relative unknown, despite being the vice president.
Billionaire former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, who feels that Biden’s campaign should never have got as far as the June 27 debate, attacked the president’s team in a commentary for Bloomberg for covering up his shortcomings “until they became undeniable on live TV.”
In contrast, some Democrats blamed the enduring economic effects of the pandemic, suggesting that the global wave of dissatisfaction, driven by skyrocketing inflation, was responsible for the downfall of governments worldwide.
In a televised address from the White House on Thursday, President Biden lavished praise on his vice president, commending her efforts and leadership.
He addressed the public, stating that she had wholeheartedly committed to the campaign, and that both she and her team should take pride in their efforts.
