RootsAction report finds Harris courted moderates instead of working-class Democrats – and Gaza stance did not help
Kamala Harris lost last year’s US presidential election because she chased the wrong voters with the wrong message, ultimately demobilising the very base that she needed to win, according to an autopsy by a progressive grassroots advocacy group.
The vice-president focused on courting moderate Republicans over motivating core Democratic working-class, young and progressive voters, a misstep compounded by her failure to break from Joe Biden on Gaza, says the report by RootsAction.
“To win back the White House and Congress, we urge the Democratic party to change course and embrace economic populist policies that inspire and help working-class Americans,” argues the autopsy. “The Democratic party must show voters that it has a spine and can stand up to corporate and big-money interests.”
The Democratic National Committee has not yet released its “after-action review” of the November 2024 election, in which Donald Trump won the national popular vote by 1.5% after having lost it to Biden by 4.5% in 2020. Trump won all seven major swing states, whereas Biden had won six of them in 2020.
