Why the Democratic Party fell short in this Presidential Election

In focusing on Trump’s faults, the Democratic party lost sight of core voter priorities. Kamala Harris’ campaign struggled to connect on key voter issues like the economy and illegal immigration.

Vice President (VP) Kamala Harris was the face of the Democratic party, a party that ran a weak campaign and lost her the race. Former President Donald Trump won 312 electoral votes and VP Harris won 226 electoral votes. If that wasn’t enough, Trump won 50.3 percent of the popular vote and Harris won 48 percent, showing that voters connected more with the former President. 

Frank Luntz, pollster and communication analyst, as a guest on This Week With George Stephanopoulos on ABC, when asked about the Presidential election results said, “One of the things that really matters in elections going forward, is we have the responsibility to tell them the truth and they have the right to get the truth.” 

In an article I wrote after watching the second presidential debate, I wrote that the debate was mainly used to bait Trump, and there was no surprise when he fell for it. Still the moderators did not fact-check false claims by VP Harris such as there being no soldiers in combat zones, when according to the U.S. Department of Defense there certainly are. This shows what the strategy was not only by the left leaning media but Harris’s campaign. 

The American people deserved more out of that debate, especially from Harris, who had the chance to tell people what her plans actually were.     

Luntz in his interview with Stephanopoulos added, “Quite frankly we are a different country today than we were even 8 years ago. What we judge people by. Sometimes it’s, ignoring the information becomes more important than what you say and that was the challenge with Harris, she didn’t say enough.” 

According to a poll by Associated Press, 39 percent of those polled thought the economy was more important than in 2020. The same poll found that immigration was second most important at 20 percent, followed by abortion at 11 percent, health care at 8 percent, climate at 7 percent. Foreign policy and racism were last on the list of concerns in that poll. 

While on The View, Harris was asked how her presidency would be different than Biden’s presidency. Her first answer was that nothing comes to mind, however, she mentions health care and small businesses, but never really said what the difference would be. This was her chance to set herself apart from Trump and she didn’t. 

I don’t really think she was herself on the campaign trail. What I mean by that is she seemed to be rehearsed in much that she said and even the things she didn’t say. Harris is a part of the current administration, which likely meant she couldn’t really condemn or frown upon actions she may have had a part to play in.  

This was a difficult position to be in, to only have about 100 days to campaign. Still, what people saw was the last 4 years with her as Vice President. Stating plans for the economy and immigration would’ve benefited her campaign much more, as focusing on Trump’s faults was a fatal miscalculation. 

The strongest I’d seen VP Harris was her interview on Oct. 16 with Chief political anchor Bret Baier on Fox News. There were times she seemed rattled, but for the most part was clear in her intentions to be on the side of the American people and the law. This is not something new, and neither was her mentioning of Trump after every question instead of elaborating more on her plans for her possible presidential administration. 

VP Harris went on to direct people to her website with eighty pages of policies. Though it is accessible, how many people will go and read through those pages, instead of just watching her speak on television? She had an opportunity to share this with the American public during the debate with Trump. 

Since more people are concerned about the economy, this means they will vote for the candidate that speaks the most about it. Trumps campaign stated repeatedly no tax on tips, more pay for teachers, supporting fair wages, less inflation and affordable housing. In my opinion, this is why he received 11 percent more of the 18 to 29-year-old vote in 2024 than in 2020. 

There are many issues that are important to Americans, but not all issues are equal to all Americans. Something that would be important to one American would not be as important to another and this means we all have different needs and are living unique lives.  

In this election, the Democratic party lost sight of their own policies and what most Americans were concerned with.  

“Whoever told her to focus on him committed political malpractice,” Luntz said This Week With George Stephanopoulos.  

Based on everything I’ve seen since the debate between Harris and Trump and all I’ve stated here, I completely agree with Luntz.