Harris should have aligned her policies with those of her base.
Those who align more with left-wing politics have been having apocalyptic views of the future of the nation over the past week following the re-election of Donald Trump. Many have said that Trump’s second rise will mark the end of American democracy, the dissolution of key departments such as the Department of Education and the loss of women’s rights. Some of this is true as Trump has made indications throughout his campaign and during his years in office that he intends to overhaul the federal government. Other parts are catastrophizing the situation. For example, while Americans have no reason to believe Trump when he says that he will not sign a full abortion ban if it crosses his desk, the Supreme Court explicitly protected what the majority of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization viewed as the right of “the people and their elected representatives” to regulate or prohibit abortion. Any national abortion ban would infringe upon this right.
In addition to pondering the future of the country during and after Trump, Americans have wondered what cost Kamala Harris the election. Part of Harris’s loss is due to the racism and sexism that is ever present throughout the U.S, particularly in America’s governing institutions. Another aspect is the global trend of the party presiding over post-pandemic inflation losing their power in government, which is also evident in the fact that the Democrats lost four seats in the Senate. However, much of Harris’s loss is due to her inability to separate herself from Joe Biden and his failures and instead choosing to adopt his policies.
Biden is clearly unfavorable. As per Fivethirtyeight, Biden’s approval rating on Election Day was 38.5% while Trump’s favorability rating was around 43.6%. Biden’s policies have been a source of backlash as he went back on his pro-environment campaign promises by allowing the decades-long Alaskan oil drilling venture known as the Willow Project to proceed. He has also continuously promised a ceasefire in Gaza is close and that he is working tirelessly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu to enact one. Yet, Gaza has been under fire for over a year despite being able to end this genocide with a phone call to Netenyahu. Biden approved arms to Israel despite 62% of those who voted for Biden in 2020 opposing arming Israel until it stops its attacks on Gazan civilians. As his Vice President, it is natural that Harris would be affiliated with his failures and poor approval rating. This was exacerbated by the fact that Harris adhered to Biden’s policies throughout Harris’s campaign. According to CBS News, Harris drew attention to the fact that she cast the tie-breaking vote to open more fracking leases during her Vice Presidency. This mimics Biden’s issuing of oil and gas permits faster than Trump’s. Like Biden, Harris said that she would not instate an arms embargo on Israel regardless of its numerous war crimes. According to CNN, Harris even said that there is nothing of substance she would have done differently than Biden as she has “‘been a part of most of the decisions that have had an impact’” during her time as his vice president.
Another fault of the Harris campaign is that Harris did not listen to her base on key issues or bring any real excitement that would have encouraged them to go to the polls. Many members of the Uncommitted movement which pledged to not vote for Biden and Harris if they did not enact a ceasefire in Gaza would have been won over if Harris listened to the overwhelming majority of Democrats who supported a ceasefire and an Israeli arms embargo. Others could have voted for Harris if she had taken a more principled stance for the environment instead of backtracking on her fracking policy from when she was a senator. Instead, her policies were that of a moderate. Harris pandered to the middle rather than reinforcing her base and getting Democrats excited to vote for her.
Ultimately, this lack of voter turnout is what cost Harris the election. Trump won around the same amount of votes as he did in 2020 while Harris lost around 10,300,000 votes of Biden’s total in 2020. With better policies that would have energized the Democratic base, this may have not been the case. Yet due to Harris and her campaign advisors’ failure to disassociate Harris from Biden and their inability to gain back the votes Biden likely lost due to his policies, which Harris took on as her own, those who feared a second Trump presidency are left to pay the price.
