The Liberal Patriot (you should subscribe) has an essay on Dec. 3 by Micahel Baharaeen on the Democrat's “perception problem.” Baharaeen writes:
A burning question coming out of this year’s presidential election was why Kamala Harris’s efforts to fashion herself as a moderate candidate didn’t seem to land with much of the public.
I’ve seen versions of this question elsewhere. She ran as a moderate! She took moderate positions. She “fashioned herself as a moderate.” Doesn’t it all just mean she was pretending to be a moderate? If she is “fashioning herself as a moderate,” is she a moderate or not? Do Democrats believe they do not have to run a moderate candidate; they just have to pose as a reasonable facsimile?
Democrats have a perception problem, but it is not with the voters. It is with themselves. Kamala Harris was not a moderate. She had some documented, far-left views outside the mainstream. And despite the constant cacophony of media drones calling right-of-center views extreme, it is clear where much of the extremism in our country lies. You can’t simply “run as a moderate” as if it were a jacket you pick up at Target. Campaigning isn’t cosplay.
The Democrats need to stop asking how to say the right thing and begin to ask who they are. If they are progressive, they should start working toward progressive ends and run progressive candidates. Be true to what you believe. They may shrink in size, but they would be more authentic and certainly more cohesive. But if moderates win elections, then start being moderate, start nominating moderates, and run away from the activist groups that have captured the party's brain and are in charge of “messaging.”
Who are the Democrats? Are they the practical, can-do, public-spirited, worker-oriented, patriotic party that spawned FDR and the New Deal? Are they happy being this hectoring, factional, pick-the-lock messaging, who-am-I today, party of the too-clever by half? Trump, for all his failings, has one great campaigning strength. He is himself. He has no wonky policy ideas. He can be swayed in various directions. Yes, he’s volatile. Yes, he says outrageous things. But no one in America has to scratch their head and wonder about him. Everyone feels like they know him (whether they do or not). What democratic leader is like that? I can only think of one - John Fetterman.
Harris is an accomplished woman. She’s had years in public life and many accomplishments, including the second-highest office in the land. I applaud her. But she didn’t go on neutral or unfriendly casual podcasts for one simple reason. The extended format would mean she would lose the thread of fashioning herself as a moderate.
Many voters took the measure of Harris and the Democratic party. They found it riddled with scoldy, censorious hall monitors trying to keep everyone in their rooms until the bell rang. They turned to Trump, knowing all his flaws, because, to paraphrase FDR’s famous line about the Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, he’s an SOB, but he’s our SOB. Trump may be awful at times, but they heard the old song and dance about the “end of the republic” from the Democrats before. They simply didn’t buy it. They chose authentic over plastic. And while we are at it, why would anyone think that a trend like “brat summer” is a positive for a campaign? That’s just “weird”.
Slate article today.
“There’s also the fact that Kamala Harris ran basically the exact campaign on immigration that these pundits wanted. She endorsed draconian border-security policies and rarely said anything positive about immigrants or her own administration’s decisions about the border. “
As I used to say to my adolescent children - It is not enough to just say “i’m sorry”. You have to convince me. This line of argument is silly. messaging alone is not the answer.