Democratic inquest: How Harris's lead evaporated before polls
Kamala Harris suffered a significant defeat in the presidential election. Within Democratic circles, discussions about accountability began even before the official announcement of the election results. Names of those allegedly responsible for the electoral defeat have already been mentioned.
6 November 2024 16:33
Although just a few months ago Kamala Harris had a clear lead over Donald Trump in the polls, the Democratic candidate ultimately lost the election race. We do not yet know the official election results, but it is already known that Trump secured enough electoral votes.
They didn’t wait for the election results. A dispute among the Democrats
As noted by the "Daily Mail," within the Democratic circle, there was no waiting for the official result announcement to assign blame for the loss. Some analysts believe that Tim Walz, the vice-presidential candidate in Harris's administration, influenced the electoral defeat.
Walz was deemed too leftist a politician, and the riots in Kenosha in 2020 were said to weigh against him. Four years ago, in this city, an African American, 29-year-old Jacob Blake, was shot. The man ignored police orders and was shot seven times in the back in front of his wife and children.
The defeat of the Harris-Walz duo was also attributed to the fact that a large number of women did not go to the polling stations, and citizens of Latin descent abandoned the Democrats and supported Trump. "We have to be blunt about [it]. Black voters came through for Kamala Harris. White women voters did not," said political commentator Joy Reid on MSNBC.
Black voters, especially men, supported Trump to a greater extent than in 2020. Exit polls show that in this minority, the Republican candidate could count on 13% support, compared to just 8% in the previous elections. Among Latinos, support for Trump rose from 32% to 45%.
In internal discussions, Joe Biden is also being criticized. According to some analysts, the outgoing president withdrew his candidacy too late, causing Kamala Harris to lose several months she could have used to reach potential supporters.
Lindy Li suggested on Fox News that the Democratic representative would have had a better chance in the election if she had proposed Josh Shapiro, the current governor of Pennsylvania, for vice president. However, part of the community rejected his candidacy because Shapiro is Jewish, and his religion might have been problematic in the context of the Middle Eastern conflict.
Li said that people are now wondering what would have happened if Shapiro's name was on the ballot. And it's not just about Pennsylvania, as she believes a slightly more conservative politician would have been a better choice than Walz.
"Choosing a moderate like Shapiro would have shown Harris wasn't the 'San Francisco liberal' Trump claimed she was. But she went with someone actually to her Left. In the eyes of the American people, Walz was the governor who oversaw the protests [in 2020]," she added.
It was Walz who was the governor of Minnesota when police shot Blake in August 2020.