The UNITED States of America

“It was a bloodbath”, remarked a senior commentator visibly upset as he recalled the horror of 5th November, the fabled election night in America. Kamala Harris, the current Vice president of the United States lost the presidential race to Donald Trump, the 45th president. She just did not lose but was smothered as she lost all the swing states and lost the popular vote, which no Democrat lost since 2008. As the dust settles down, it is time to identify what went wrong and who to blame for this.

To make the mistake of blaming everything on racism would elude an old tale of 2016 when Democratic Party operatives blamed everyone but Hillary Clinton. While the outcome is unexpected it tells you something about America, the democratic party and the world at large.

To quote statistics, Latino men and white women made this possible for Trump. To make matters worse Kamala Harris worsened Biden’s statistics with white women. Her margins in democratic counties like New York plummeted and states like Virginia and Connecticut which should have been easily won by Democrats took a lot of time than expected to be called.

So why?

This tells a cautionary tale about America. The economy still matters the most for everyday Americans and while macroeconomic parameters were stable, at the lowest rung inflation was beyond tame-worthy condition. This mattered the most in blue wall states and especially in Pennsylvania. Latinos who are ascribed the lower rung jobs were the most hit and thence despite Puerto Rico getting called an island of garbage, they overwhelmingly voted for Trump.

The second big reason is immigration which is why Arizona remained red despite turning purple the last time. Kamala Harris being the border tsar and her inability to distinguish herself from Biden cost her the independent swing voters that could have swayed the election in her favour.

The third big reason is elitism. Ever since Obama left office, the democratic party has not only turned left but also identified with the elite Hollywood and the woke culture. While this may not be true in its entirety, it is enough for a sizeable chunk of voters to believe that their voices won’t be heard in the democratic coalition.

The fourth is the inability to create a coherent message. I AM NOT TRUMP is a message good for Twitter but did not resonate much with the voters. An average Wisconsin or Penn State voter was more interested in understanding the vision of the future by Kamala Harris rather than her differentiation from Trump.’ WE ARE NOT GOING BACK’…… screwed up.

Lastly and frankly in the least proportion, Kamala Harris can be blamed for this. She ran a wonderful campaign in 3.5 months, done every interview from Fox to The View to SNL. But she also made some cardinal errors; choosing Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro; the uberly popular governor of Pennsylvania was ignored. No attempt at distinguishing from Biden; Kamala’s famous statement that nothing comes to her mind when asked what things she would do differently sounded alarm for a lot of Americans who were not ready for Biden’s reboot. But she is the last to be blamed.

What next?

What shall happen in Trump’s world is a mystery waiting to unfold. Whether he will act as ‘dictator’ on day one remains to be seen but the Democratic party of today lies in shambles. It had lost the coalition that propped up Obama and Biden quite convincingly. Is there a need to shift left? No, the left had lost its currency already. What is needed is a clear analysis of what went wrong and why is the perception of elitism affixed to the party. There is also a need to understand and not admonish American voters or worse look down upon them for voting for Trump. If history is anything but a guide, that strategy had screwed Democrats far worse than their own misgivings. The need to shun identity politics away and maybe wait for the evolution of society rather than preordain lecturing might also ease the woes of the party.

To put it mildly, the Democratic Party was destroyed on the ballot. What they lost is not just a vote or an election but a generation. The House and the Senate going with the White House and with Trump in charge, everything will be on the line. The first casualty will be the filibuster; an archaic convention that gave a minority in Senate control over a major piece of legislation. With agendas like Project 2025, and more judges on the anvil, the Republican Party will be more than interested to take the filibuster down.

The second casualty will be Reproductive Rights. While the voters looked the other way when democrats were screaming at the top of their lungs, the simple idea that reproductive rights can or no longer be an issue will take one more democratic issue off the ballot leaving them short of a major political plank to fight elections on.

The third will be, The ‘Pariah’ syndrome often attributed to former President Trump by the Democratic Party. When Biden took office, it was attributed that Trump was an aberration, a political novice who got into office only on account of Russian help. Now, with him regaining the office with bigger majorities everywhere, that status would be with Biden and the Modern Republican Party will have Trump etched on its heart forever. One less issue for Democrats to run on.

Whether this election will create a churn in the Democratic Party remains to be seen but the mainstreaming of Trumpism and MAGA is complete. The Democratic Party needs to venture beyond identity politics and understand the core crux of the issue affecting voters in rural and suburbs in order to put up a fight next time. To put it crisply, Trump and his entourage are upon us and one has to live with that at least for the near future.

The election was strange, but it tells a beautiful tale of democracy and optimism. The voters, silent as they waited to exercise their franchise, represented two distinct versions of America. Yet, they overwhelmingly chose one candidate over the other, cutting across various divides. The Vice President conceded graciously, ensuring a peaceful transfer of power, while the victor, in all his mirth, acknowledged the voters who brought him to office.

At first glance, this might appear to be a deeply polarized country, but beneath the surface, it is united in its grievances, needs, and hopes for the future. In the truest sense, the UNITED States of America.