Photo via Vanity Fair
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Former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5, 2024. The election solidified America’s decision to hand back the reins of the free world to Trump, who, just four years ago, incited a riot in an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results, in which he lost to former Vice President Joe Biden. He was called a “pariah,” a “demagogue,” and, most famously, a “threat to democracy.” Yet, Trump returns to the Oval Office, refined and focused on transforming America into the country he sold to over 72 million of his voters.
However, as the election day fog settles, and sober reflection begins, one thing has become increasingly clear: the Democratic Party failed, not in mere votes, but in rhetoric and strategy.
In 2020, President Joe Biden was elected on the thought of him being a bridge, connecting two generations of Democratic leadership. It was believed to be “virtually inconceivable” that he would run for reelection in 2024. Yet, as the midterm elections heeded positive results for Democrats, Biden chose to seek a second term. In doing so, he lost the moderate appeal that led him to victory in 2020, causing an identity crisis within his party. Progressives longed for a new face, while senior officials stood by their longtime ally. This directly resulted in the Democratic Party’s inability to sell a vision bold enough to counter Trump’s calls for transformation. After all, how can one sell the vision of the future with a relic of the past?
The absence of cognitive ability displayed by Biden during the nationally televised debate between him and Trump proved to be the final nail in the Biden reelection campaign. Shortly after, it was decided that his Vice President, Kamala Harris, would be awarded an opportunity to defeat Trump. In doing so, the Democratic Party handed the reins of a fractured, adrift campaign to a candidate who primarily existed in the shadows throughout the Biden administration.
What followed in the few months before election day was an inability to present a vision of America that resonated with the electorate. Instead, Democrats built their campaign around the fact that they were not Donald Trump and how that should be good enough. It’s not.
The inability to present a compelling alternative to the MAGA movement illustrates a long-brewing identity crisis within the Democratic Party. The party’s eagerness to appeal broadly—to be “correct,” to be just—has resulted in it abandoning its core principles. Once the party of hope in the eyes of ordinary Americans, the party of FDR and JFK that was committed to the working class, economic equality, reform, and civil rights, has become one that prioritizes the preferences of the powerful donor class and corporate interests. Formerly committed to progress and change, it is now dedicated to maintaining the status quo.
President Obama’s comments about Black men “getting lazy” if they do not cast their vote for Harris to Biden dismissing half of America as “garbage” if they support Trump only solidifies the Democratic Party’s changed rhetoric. For that, they have no one but themselves to blame.
And so, as Trump’s shadow hangs over heads worldwide, as uncertainty and fear reverberate across communities worldwide, one thing is sure:
The Democratic Party has a choice to make.
It can return to its roots as the voice of America’s working class—a champion for change, progress, and reform—which is what the party was built on. Or, it can continue on its current trajectory, clinging to cooperation, elite interest, and dangerous rhetoric.
Adapt or die. The choice is yours.
