The Great Loss: An Unwanted Lovechild of Ego & Complacency

As tradition dictates, every four years on the night of November 4th, Americans tuned in to bear witness to who will rise victorious as the next president-elect. For many Liberals, the result was a jump scare. But for those who kept a finger on the pulse, it was nothing but predictable. Unfortunately, despite the low threshold for keeping a finger on the pulse of the nation’s political appetite, the Democrat party dropped the ball. So how did it all happen? The answer can be found in a series of self-induced pitfalls.

Perhaps the greatest pitfall Democrats have to examine is their own elitism. This was the greatest blinder in preventing the party from foreseeing The Great Loss. And it took form in a couple of ways. Chief among them: ego. Ego is the air that elitism breathes. Within their electoral strategy, Dems routinely ignored the idea that many, particularly in the treasured swing states, could view them as unrelatable, snobbish, and elitist. In the years leading up to the election, Liberals had developed an increasing image problem. An image that prioritized the voices of voters who were already privileged in their own education, financial status, and ideological representation. This widened the disparity between what the party had been historically perceived as and where it’s fallen at present.

For those like myself, and many of my friends, the voices of coastal, high-affluent neighborhood living, highly educated and privileged people, were undoubtedly heeded by the party. That was their Achilles heel. Countless reports and surveys revealed the voters who’d decide the 24’ Presidential election were lower-middle class and blue-collar Americans. Not exactly financially well-off 20 something year-olds with graduate degrees with a palate for luxury beliefs. The actual critical voters felt routinely ignored by the Democrat party. They expressed grievances concerning costs of living and affordability. Top Dems responded gleamingly about the economy. They expresssed concern over an open southern border and illegal immigration. Top Dems recommended they turn inward and reject their xenophobic and racists thoughts. They expressed reservation over public schools overriding parental rights to rear their children. Top Dems chided their ignorance in not accepting how middle-school aged children know their “gender identity.” For electorally naive Liberals still confounded by Trump’s comeback, they dismiss such concerns as right-wing sounds bites. Maybe they are (maybe being the operative term.) However, come as early as eleven o’clock that Tuesday evening, those sound bites echoed a chorus that led to Trump’s ascension. It is suicide for Dems not to ask “why?”

These grievances were not wed to any race or gender, evidenced by Trump’s electoral gain across all racial groups and women of all social-economic standing. Trump’s gains illustrate how far off the Democrats’ aim was off the mark. How their policies, in particular their social and cultural stances, failed to resonate with essential voter blocks. They instead opted to tailor their platform to those most immune from job insecurity, education inequity, and ideological representation. Democrats use to be heralded as the party for the working class, but that train left the station many years ago. Since that torch had gone out, few in the rank and file of the party have expressed an interest in reigniting it. In a comparison between the 2024 candidates, middle and blue-collar America saw Trump as their representative. They certainly saw a lot more of him on the campaign trail. Time will tell if he truly is. In the meantime, Democrats have a daunting task of regaining the trust of middle and blue-collar America.

Democrats’ ego further lulled them into a false sense of security in their obsessive PR strategy to demonize Trump. This failed strategy prioritized vilification over effectively conveying the party’s legislative successes. It led them to believe no rationale being could vote for a candidate who stated Africa was full of “shithole” countries, who encouraged an assault on our nation’s capitol, and how Trump himself was convicted of sexual assault. Lost among the Dems, this strategy’s glaring flaw was those things, as condemnable as they are, aren’t what the average voter is influenced by. Trump’s actions are shameful, and we should never refrain from calling such actions out. However, the Harris campaign’s belief such grievances would unveil a red carpet to the White House was as naive as it was stupid.

The Democrats’ ego didn’t stop there. It only added salt to the wound of ignoring disenfranchised voters, which followed a slap to the face of the nation as a whole: the Great Gaslighting of Biden’s cognitive decline. Unlike the characterization of many Conservative commentators, Biden isn’t stricken with dementia, nor is he overdue for a wet nurse. No, but there is and continues to be a visible decline in Biden’s mental acuity from his 2021 inauguration. After all, Presidents are no more immune to the ravages of age than the rest of us. Despite the evidence, Liberal leaders and media devoted hundreds of hours of airtime convincing the nation what they were seeing was shadows on the wall. I’ve never claimed to be a political strategist, but gaslighting the nation’s entire electorate probably wasn’t the best PR response to this critique.

Moving closer to the first half of Biden’s term, Democrats’ ego can be traced to another issue they believed would propel Harris to the White House: abortion. This is where I diverge from many of my fellow Liberals. While I too believe the Supreme Court erred in their reasoning for reversing a woman’s right to an abortion constitutional recognition, their ruling didn’t occur in a vacuum. From a holistic perspective, it was a loose end Democrats intentionally left untied. Dems for decades have raised countless donations by championing themselves defenders of a woman’s right to choose. Though despite control over the White House and Congress on no less than three occasions since the 80’s, abortion was never codified as a federal right. Had it been done so, Dems would’ve forfeited one of their highest streams of revenue (excuse me, “donations”). Had Democrats truly prioritized bodily autonomy over donations, they would’ve codified abortion as a federal right. In having done so, even a Conservative-majority Supreme Court would be bound to honor such legislation. At the very least, Chief Justice Roberts likely would’ve voted with the Liberal minority, and could’ve persuaded Gorsuch or Kavanaugh to join him. This would have resulted in an affirming 5-4 majority ruling upholding abortion federal recognition. Sadly, this is not our reality today. This is a particular act of wanton greed and egoism I can never forgive the Party for.

Continuing another beloved Democrat tradition is complacency, particularly when in power. Highlighted in the voter referendum that was the 24’ presidential election, this complacency was most enshrined in illegal immigration, and the Party’s lack of response. Regardless of your own stance on the issue, it represented a clear vulnerability for the Party. However, the top tier of the Party was reluctant to respond. The reason being their pandering to “Progressives” and how any comment or rebuke against illegal immigration constituted “xenophobia” and “racism.” 2024 saw one of the highest waves of illegal immigration in decades. While this issue was exacerbated by Conservative opportunists, it affected the lives of voters red and blue alike. Conservative voters witnessed unwelcomed changes to their neighboring towns and rural cities’ character. Liberal voters experienced strained public resources as popular, high-density blue metropolises scrambled to provide necessities for tens of thousands unexpected new residents.

Immigration has often been used as a polarizing political stick, but Democrats’ silence on this issue was a thorn they shouldn’t have left in their side. What they misunderstood was the backlash from voters across the board wasn’t anti-immigrant sentiment. It was frustration with the adverse affects of unchecked, illegal immigration. Democrat leadership fell prey to thinking these were two sides of the same coin, and wanted to correctly call heads. But they weren’t sides of the same at all, but different coins altogether. Immigrants to this nation have ushered in countless benefits to communities far and wide, from helping small businesses to flourish to contributing to the nation’s broader economy. And that’s nothing to say about the personal value they add to our own lives, whether they be spouses, neighbors, or treasured friends. But what Dems failed to decipher was how to effectively respond to a specific immigration issue that voters, red and blue, desired tangible action on. Their fumble was Trump’s opportunity, and it was a widely-cited issue among swing state voters who gravitated towards a GOP ticket.

As Democrats and Liberals continue to reconcile a second Trump victory, the Party’s leadership must turn inward. Their ego is undoubtedly bruised, and I view that as a silver lining in the dark horizon I fear to be coming. After two consecutive losses to Bush in 04’, the Democrats were inspired to be bold in their new leadership. This change culminated in the selection of president that became one of the greatest electoral powerhouses in Democrat party history: Barack Obama. It’s unfortunate a second Trump victory is the wake-up call the Democrat party received. But it is a wake up call, and if Dems don’t wake from their complacent dogma, the effects of Trump’s influence will impact elections for decades to come. This is the Democrats’ “do or die” moment. I hope, painstakingly so, they opt for the former. The risks are too grave for them not to.