A new report by RootsAction, titled “How Democrats Lost the White House,” conducts an autopsy on the 2024 presidential election, concluding that Vice President Kamala Harris lost while courting “moderate” Republicans rather than speaking to her core bloc: Democratic working-class, young, and progressive voters. The pivotal factor in her loss, the autopsy suggests, was the drop in Democratic voter turnout. Harris received 6.8 million fewer votes than Joe Biden did in 2020. Support among young voters plummeted.
According to RootsAction, the autopsy “spotlights ‘disastrous choices’ by Democratic Party leaders that enabled Donald Trump to win the 2024 election.” It noted that the autopsy…is not from the Democratic National Committee, which has failed to issue any such report.”
The report argues that the Democrats lost the election for five basic reasons:
- Voter Disenchantment. Losing a whopping 6.8 million voters who supported Joe Biden in 2020 proved pivotal in this extremely close election. Kamala Harris’s inability to mobilize these pro-Biden voters may have been the campaign’s biggest failure.
- Biden’s Betrayal: Former President Biden’s disastrous decision to run for reelection, and his stubborn refusal to step aside until very late in the process, robbed voters of a Democratic primary process, created confusion and chaos, and severely hindered Democrats’ chances.
- Abandoning the Working-Class Base: With millions of Americans already disenchanted and desperate due to inflation, the Harris campaign lost this essential Democratic base by focusing on courting Republicans, kowtowing to corporate donors’ interests, and failing to confront the role of corporate greed in escalating inflation.
- The Gaza Effect: There is ample evidence that Harris lost many voters, especially young voters, Arab-Americans, and critical support in Michigan and elsewhere, due to the campaign’s failure to shift or even signal a potential shift in policy on Israel and Palestine.
- Losing Young Voters: Extensive evidence shows a huge drop-off in both turnout and Democratic support among young voters aged 18-29.
CHRISTOPHER COOK, [email protected]
Cook is the author of the election autopsy.
SAM ROSENTHAL, [email protected]
Rosenthal is the political director of RootsAction.
Cook said: “This was a preventable disaster, but Harris and the Democratic Party leadership prioritized the agendas of corporate donors and gambled on a centrist path, while largely abandoning working-class, young and progressive voters.”
Rosenthal added: “With the Democratic Party still unwilling or unable to adequately assess their failures in 2024, this report provides a necessary antidote to that inaction.”