Another Perspective: A Failed Presidential Campaign and the Democratic Party

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III

The 2024 American presidential election is over.  The people have spoken. The world is shocked! Trump won!  Americans fell for it again, or did they … fall for it?

Many in the African-American community are angry, shocked and looking for the culprits. Who did this to VP Harris? Somebody must be held accountable! The audacity of those misogynistic Latino men, White women and those angry Black men who hate Black women. All of them must he held accountable. What damage does this do to the psyche of Black Women?  VP Harris was ENTITLED to the Oval Office and has been denied.

According to Senator Lindsey Graham in 2015, Trump is “a race-baiting xenophobic religious bigot.” Senator Rick Perry warned us that Trump, “doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies…” while Senator Ted Cruz said, “he lies, practically every word that comes out of his mouth …” With all of that, Hilary Clinton lost to him in 2016 and now VP Harris has lost to him as well. Trump has prevailed … AGAIN! Why?

Don’t ask why Harris lost; ask yourself why did this “race-baiting xenophobic religious bigot,” win. AGAIN!

It’s too easy to chalk this up to or write this off as being a “master class in white privilege.” It’s too simplistic to attribute this cataclysmic failure to “hatred toward Black women.” Too many Democrats, their pundits, and some analysts are trying to write this historic blunder off as America will “never elect a Black woman as president.” Stop it! The bad lies are the lies you tell yourself. Even worse are the ones you tell yourself and believe.

That flawed “hatred toward Black women” troupe is more convenient than making the necessary course corrections that the Democratic Party needs to make in order to help America live up to its promise. Instead, odds are that they will continue to “maintain course and speed,” running aground or striking the iceberg time and again.

To truly be able to move forward, the Party and its African-American constituency must first look inward and self-assess before placing blame.

On March 6, 1857, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney opined in Plessy vs. Ferguson, “ … negroes had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect … ”

I believe that the racist, white supremist, eugenic based mindsets that led to the holdings in Plessey, even though that decision has since been overturned by the Brown decision and others, continues to influence mindsets in America today.

Variations of this racist theme continue to be the reality in America.  This is not new. This not a news flash. This is everyday life in America for Black people.

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It was a huge mistake to anoint VP Harris as the nominee.  James Carville wrote in early July that Democrats needed to move away from Biden, “But it can’t be by anointing (VP Harris) or anyone else as the presumptive … nominee. We’ve got to do it out in the open – the exact opposite of what Donald Trump wants us to do.” Carville was correct.

Once on the stump, VP Harris ran a campaign based upon the politics of personality and identity, not a policy-based campaign.  It took until mid-September before her webpage even had a policy tab and the policies that were listed were more campaign talking points than substantive solutions to the real problems facing the country.

VP Harris ran away from her base instead of embracing it. For example, polling showed that over 70 percent of Democrats supported a cease-fire in Gaza. Additionally, almost four in 10 likely voters, as well as more than half of all Democrats, believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. VP Harris and the DNC would not even allow a Palestinian spokesperson on stage at the convention. Thus, losing Michigan.

The Obama/Biden campaign promised to deliver federal codification of Roe. Over two terms, they failed to deliver.  The Biden/Harris campaign promised the same thing and failed to deliver.  With women’s reproductive rights as a lead issue of the Haris/Waltz campaign, why would voters trust that she would deliver now?

VP Harris chose to embrace the endorsement of former ultra-conservative, war hawk, Republican VP Dick Cheney, over working closer with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VM).  She traversed the campaign trail with former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) who voted with Trump 93 percent of the time, instead of campaigning with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).  These are just two examples of how the Democrats have moved to the political right and realigned themselves with political adversaries that were once considered extremists, instead of securing their base.

The traditional Republicans did not win. MAGA won. Project 2025 won. The kleptocrats won. America will now be governed by the pathocracy, the inmates have taken control of the asylum.  Voters did not fall for it. They clearly voted for it and America is about to get what these folks voted for.  JD Vance is being groomed to carry the banner forward after Trump is done. Are you ready for that? It might very well be a long cold winter in America.

So, if you really want to understand why VP Harris and the Democrats lost, don’t blame misogynist Latino males or “the White man.” Look inward and self-assess before placing blame on those around you. Because contrary to popular belief, Harris/Waltz (just like Clinton/Kaine) was a lousy campaign.

Dr. Wilmer Leon, a Trice Edney News Wire columnist, is a national broadcast radio talk-show host; author of Politics Another Perspective; and host of the podcast, Connecting the Dots w/ Dr. Wilmer Leon. Contact: www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com ©2024 InfoWave Communications, LLC