Like a second (or in his case, a third) marriage, the vote to award Donald Trump a second presidential term is the ultimate triumph of hope over experience. Americans decided to ignore his disastrous first term in anticipation that he is a changed man who might do better this time.
Good luck with that.
With Republican control of the White House, the Senate and probably the House, Trump is poised to do much more damage than he did during his first term when millions of Americans lost their jobs and 400,000 poor souls lost their lives because he dismissed the deadly pandemic as a “hoax.”
The Trump-dominated Supreme Court gave him a get out jail free card with its tragic ruling on presidential immunity. The high court is in his back pocket and is likely to back up anything dangerous that he does. He is now set to cause even more destruction than he did the first time around.
Trump once boasted that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York City and not lose a vote. This was never more correct than it is now.
The flip side of the victor’s glorious story is the loser’s troubled tale. Vice President Kamala Harris failed to make “herstory” by becoming the first female president, but Trump made all sorts of history. He will be the first convicted felon to become president, and only the second president after Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. The former and soon-to-be president has defeated two female candidates and lost to his only male opponent.
Harris lost because she did not aggressively confront the concerns of millions of hard-working families who suffered from the ravages of soaring prices over the last four years. James Carville was right. Trump’s victory demonstrated that “it’s the economy, stupid.”
To win, Democrats must get back to basics and embrace aggressive populist policies that address the financial struggles of working families. The most alarming fact in the national Election Day exit poll is that Harris barely won the bedrock Democratic constituency of low-income voters. FDR is likely spinning in his grave.
The 2028 Democratic presidential campaign began in earnest on Wednesday when Harris formally conceded to Trump in a speech at Howard University. She smiled bravely and her speech was inspiring, but no words could relive the disappointment of angry and aggrieved supporters.
The soon-to-be former vice president may very well run again and start the campaign as the Democratic frontrunner. She deserves credit for her ability to structure a national campaign effort and overcome an abbreviated 100-day election window. But her inability to defeat a felonious former and twice impeached president will hinder her hopes for another bite at the apple. She will encounter serious opposition to repeating as her party’s standard bearer.
Harris ran behind Biden’s 2020 performance in just about every demographic category. Incredibly, Biden even did better than she did with female voters.
Democratic notables will soon make the long treks to Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina to jump-start their presidential campaigns in the early primary and caucus states.
Harris’s fellow Californian, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), is champing at the bit to make a presidential race. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (D) wait in the wings for the opportunity to take center stage to challenge the new vice president, JD Vance in 2028. And there might be a wildcard candidate like Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).
There is bound to be a candidate like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) from the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, who can offer a much-needed aggressive progressive populist economic perspective.
The threat Trump poses to our great republic and to democracy means Democrats don’t have the luxury of taking time to lick their wounds. It is time for American patriots to be wise, get energized and organize.
Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster, CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.
