Why Kamala Harris Failed to Connect With America

By Jason Collins

There’s no doubt about it. Kamala Harris’s four-month dash for the White House was historic, and with a slew of stars backing the presidential hopeful, spirits were high on the blue side as the elections approached. But this wasn’t enough, and Republican favorite Donald Trump defeated Harris. It was a crushing blow for Democrats and left many people wondering what went wrong. 

Stick around because that’s what we’re going to explore: how do you spend billions of dollars and lose all seven swing states? 

Where did it all go wrong? 

It’s hard to look back and pinpoint the exact moment when it all went wrong for the Democrats, but a good place to start is the Democrat primary or the lack of one. July this year was a low point for Democrats following Joe Biden’s worrying performance during the presidential debate. Still, that energy quickly changed when Biden withdrew from the race and Kamala Harris took his place. You could feel the momentum as Harris brought a flatlining campaign back to life by rallying women, taking them to TikTok and Instagram, and garnering the backing of high-powered stars like Taylor Swift and Oprah. 

So, why did it all go so wrong for her? 

Her selection as the presidential candidate had a somewhat undemocratic feel to it, considering that she was not part of the Democratic primary. This is the first time since 1968 that a Democratic nominee has won the nomination without winning a single primary vote. 

Was this an omen of what was to come? Harris’s failure to win the White House was a mixture of reasons. No one thing caused her campaign to fail to connect with America. Instead, there are a bunch of reasons why her campaign could have failed. How important each was depends on who you ask.  

Joe Biden’s Long, Unpopular Shadow

Unfortunately for Harris, it seemed her campaign was doomed to start because of her association with Biden. Many political analysts and Trump agreed that her inability to remove herself from his shadow cost her the ticket to the White House. During an interview on ABC’s “The View,” Harris had the chance to introduce herself to Americans, and when asked what she would do differently from Biden, she answered,

Not a thing that comes to mind. 

This answer was disastrous for her campaign as poll after poll at the time had shown that Americans were worried their country was headed in the wrong direction under Biden. So, why would they vote for Harris if she wasn’t going to offer them something new? 

Others within her campaign agreed that Biden was the problem. Politico reported what one Harris aide said,

We ran the best campaign we could, considering Joe Biden was president. Joe Biden is the singular reason Kamala Harris and Democrats lost tonight.

The singular reason is a stretch, but it was certainly a factor. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also blames Biden for Harris’s loss. According to ABC News, Pelosi said, “Had the president [Biden] gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”

A CNN report revealed that because Biden had left it so late to step down, Harris was not able to bring in a fitting campaign manager and had to rely on Biden’s campaign team that was already in place. 

Unclear Policies and Disconnect From the Middle Class 

Despite endlessly promoting her middle-class upbringing, Harris was unable to win over middle-class voters who were concerned about the economy and inflation. Instead, Harris chose to focus on issues that mattered to women and blatant pandering to Black voters. These included issues like abortion rights, housing affordability, and middle-class tax cuts. But this wasn’t what was on the minds of the majority of voters, and combined with Harris’s lack of explanation of her policies, voters chose Trump when it came to the economy. 

For example, Reuters reported that 31% of voters felt the economy mattered more in deciding who to vote for, whereas only 14% felt abortion rights mattered more. Democratic voters in the battleground states feel that the reason why Harris didn’t win any swing states is due to a lack of economic messaging.  

Celebrities Endorsements Reveal an Out-of-Touch Campaign 

When it came to star-studded endorsements, Harris shone, but could celebrity endorsements be more damaging than helpful? Political pundits have highlighted that relying on the endorsements of celebrities is what could have cost Harris’s popularity with working-class voters. The amount of money the Harris campaign spent on campaign celebrity events has reinforced the idea of a Harris campaign that is out of touch with ordinary Americans’ concerns about the economy. 

Harris even had the support of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at the National Convention. Obama had also appeared alongside her at a joint campaign appearance in Atlanta in October to urge supporters to vote for Harris. Yet, this still wasn’t enough to sway voters and it appears that the magic the power couple once had has now gone.   

Accounting records show that $1 million of Harris’s campaign cash was used to pay Winfrey’s production company. The campaign also set aside $20 million for targeted efforts in swing states just before the election and also spent $450,000 per day on ads displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere.  

All of this money was spent on advertising and celebrities but nothing to show for it. 

Her stance on the Gaza/Israel war 

Aljazeera reported that many Arab and Muslim American voters were unhappy with Harris’s decision to support unconditional US support for Israel and maintain that Israel has the right to defend itself. The Arab-majority suburb of Dearborn made this clear in their ballot box, and Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese American political consultant, explained what this meant. He said,

The Arab community said we’re anti-genocide. We supported the candidates that supported the community, and we stood against the candidates [Harris] that stood against the community.

While Harris had emphasized ending the war if voted as president via a ceasefire and has remained sympathetic to the suffering in Gaza, she has not publicly deviated from Biden’s policies on Israel. With her being so closely tied to Biden, it would be very unlikely that Harris would publicly come out and change her stance should Biden continue to fund Israel. It all comes back to Biden.   

So, what was it that made voters choose Trump over Harris?

For starters, time. Trump has had years to build his campaign. His MAGA brand and red caps are instantly recognizable and everyone knows what he’s about. Harris only had 100 days to try and build a campaign, especially one still under Biden’s shadow. It didn’t help that Democrats were so bitterly unhappy following Biden’s blunders and who left so late it was almost impossible for Harris to establish herself as a candidate without being tied to Biden. 

Although, if she had been given more time would that have even made a difference since Harris admitted she probably wouldn’t do anything different from Biden? A longer runway for Harris could have allowed her time to define her position on crucial issues relevant to voters. And so, it all comes back to Biden. Harris had already started on the back foot and her campaign was doomed because she could not unstuck herself from Biden. Perhaps with more time, the results of the November elections could have been different, although, given the wrong track numbers and lack of Democratic response to inflation and immigration, a second Trump term might always have been inevitable.