The only thing to be learned from Hillary and Harris losses are the Democratic establishment should NEVER try another CORONATION. Dems decided that Bernie was too radical for Democratic establishment and donor overlords. Joe Biden was the sitting Vice President and yet they decided to Coronate Hillary. In 2024 they replayed that failed game plan by not having an open primary. Biden promised to be a “transitional” president but got greedy and decided to run for a second term even though his dementia was obviously more severe than his inner circle let the American people know. We need new leadership that listens to the American people rather than special interests, the consultants and big money donors.
Huh. That is wild to see as a person not regularly seeing the discussion in Democratic circles. Hillary, for all her faults, seemed like a much better candidate and campaigner than Harris. Aside from the convention, which I thought went really great for Harris all around including (especially!) her speech, Harris basically seemed to ms like ditzy American Idol era Paula Abdul running for President.
(Admittedly Clinton had a much better lead in with Obama than Harris with Biden.)
Anyway, this is interesting. I'm not sure how it makes me feel about the Democratic Party but it's interesting!
Like "Color Me Skeptical" says...I think this is an interesting thoughtful piece, professor. I'm hopeful that most D leaders aren't blaming Kamala. I have seen a number, seemingly past associates of the Obama administration, who do seem convinced this was a wipe-out of the Ds and "hard choices" will have to be made. They do seem to find it too hard to actually clearly describe those choices!
The only thing to be learned from Hillary and Harris losses are the Democratic establishment should NEVER try another CORONATION. Dems decided that Bernie was too radical for Democratic establishment and donor overlords. Joe Biden was the sitting Vice President and yet they decided to Coronate Hillary. In 2024 they replayed that failed game plan by not having an open primary. Biden promised to be a “transitional” president but got greedy and decided to run for a second term even though his dementia was obviously more severe than his inner circle let the American people know. We need new leadership that listens to the American people rather than special interests, the consultants and big money donors.
Huh. That is wild to see as a person not regularly seeing the discussion in Democratic circles. Hillary, for all her faults, seemed like a much better candidate and campaigner than Harris. Aside from the convention, which I thought went really great for Harris all around including (especially!) her speech, Harris basically seemed to ms like ditzy American Idol era Paula Abdul running for President.
(Admittedly Clinton had a much better lead in with Obama than Harris with Biden.)
Anyway, this is interesting. I'm not sure how it makes me feel about the Democratic Party but it's interesting!
Like "Color Me Skeptical" says...I think this is an interesting thoughtful piece, professor. I'm hopeful that most D leaders aren't blaming Kamala. I have seen a number, seemingly past associates of the Obama administration, who do seem convinced this was a wipe-out of the Ds and "hard choices" will have to be made. They do seem to find it too hard to actually clearly describe those choices!
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I know we don’t blame Harris for her loss, and we shouldn’t.
Having said that, I don’t believe the Democrats will run another woman for President for a long while.