Here’s What Happened.
In 2019 I joined Kamala Harris’ Presidential Campaign
Wow.
It feels like 2016 again. Except instead of sobbing, running around in disbelief wondering how could this have happened? I guess I’ve become one of those I formerly considered a know-it-all asshole. I can best describe my feelings as anger and bitterness, but I honestly don’t feel the desperation and surprise I recall from 2016.
I stand by my observation a year or two into Biden’s presidency, that HE (and the Democratic Establishment behind him) would be the one most responsible for a Trump victory in 2024. With virtually no accomplishment to speak of other than sending billions of dollars to Israel and Ukraine, I knew that the average American had much more pressing issues (like student debt cancellation and the skyrocketing cost of living) than putting Ketanji Jackson on the Supreme Court.
I firmly believe that by the time the campaign was pried out of his stubborn, senile hands it was actually much too late. But on that note…
It Was Never That Close To Begin With. We all knew this election was going to come down to seven swing states. I guess I’m truly not sure why so many of us choose to believe the corporate media, but to this day you have “major” networks talking about how close Trump and Kamala were polling and what is clear NOW is that that is a blatant lie. The truth is that the corporate media knew FOR MONTHS that Trump was leading in each and every battleground state. Why else do you think major newspapers refused to endorse a presidential candidate, bypassing their boards and breaking years of precedent? THEY KNEW TRUMP WAS GOING TO WIN and didn’t want to provoke a tantrum. But here you believed that they actually cared about the genocide (more on that next).
Palestine. Ah yes. The “complicated” issue that few are willing to admit took a large role in this election. There are a few different ways of looking at this. There are those of us with souls (not too many) for whom the genocide was a no-go and this drove them to vote for Trump, stay home, or vote third party. There are those who are purely disgusted by the sheer amounts of money being wasted sending bombs to foreign countries while we have Americans losing everything in natural disasters and being sent home with $750 and a kiss on the forehead. And then you have the actual relatives or people of the same ethnicity and/or religion of the people being lined up and bulldozed in Gaza with American tax dollars. When you have an uncommitted movement that secured enough votes to send delegates to the DNC, it is incredibly foolish to not allow any member of this delegation even thirty seconds to speak on the stage; THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION OF YOUR BASE, AFTER ALL! Add to this the fact that Trump is the only president who has EVER visited Dearborn, Michigan (largest concentration of Arabs in the United States) and you have a series of incredibly foolish, RACIST, beginner mistakes. Some are surprised by the success of Arabs For Trump, but Kamala was too busy securing endorsements from Dick Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to drop the anti-Arab racism for even two seconds.
The Adamant Refusal to Break From Biden. Some of this is not Kamala’s fault. I can’t imagine remaining Vice President under a deeply unpopular Administration and trying to cultivate a message of your own. But focusing on celebrity endorsements and securing the most lethal military in the world just didn’t resonate with the American working class. I was reading that in the final weeks of the campaign, Kamala campaigned with Liz Cheney FOUR TIMES but not once with Shawn Fain, the well-recognized and respected president of the United Auto Workers, one of the largest unions in the United States. I think her best opportunity to break from Biden was when she was offered it on a silver platter when she went on The View. When Sunny Hostin asked Kamala if she would’ve done anything differently from Biden over the last four years, she replied that there was not a thing that came to mind. And it is quite obvious the American people didn’t like that answer.
The Clown Show And Lies. We knew (thought) the election was going to be close, we knew the base was disillusioned, we knew everything that we had working against us. So why are we taking out ads in Pennsylvania affirming Israel’s right to exist, while simultaneously taking out ads in Michigan claiming to be working nonstop on a ceasefire? And if you’re going to be stupid enough to pretend to talk on the phone to a supporter WHY WOULD YOU LIFT THE PHONE UP TO SHOW US THAT YOU’RE ACTUALLY NOT ON A CALL? It's interesting because Obama knew that as a person of color running for office in racist America he wouldn’t be able to get away with any clown behavior, so why did Kamala, given EVERYTHING THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY AT STAKE HERE, think this stupidity was okay?
Kamala Was NEVER Elected. She was thrust into the candidacy after Nancy Pelosi bullied Biden out of it. She did not go through the “democratic” process of a primary. Like it or not, that is the truth, and I believe many Americans were angered at the additional reminder of just how little their voice actually matters. Working in Biden’s shadows as Vice President didn’t give the American people any chance to get to know her, and like I’ve stated previously, I firmly believe her candidacy was dead on arrival- even if Donald Trump had agreed to a second debate.
I’ll admit yet again that Kamala was not given a “fair shot”. I still think it was reprehensible of her to refuse to leave her home on Election Night, abandoning her supporters who waited hours to see her at her alma mater, Howard University (but we can keep pretending everyone was so shocked by the loss).
What it does go to show is that genocide is not a winning foreign policy stance. Americans need healthcare and affordable housing; the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party decided it was more important to send billions of tax-payer funds to an illegitimate white supremacist settler project that has no business in the Middle East.
I do wonder if Obama will ever chastise all the white folks who overwhelmingly voted for Trump the way he did Black and Brown voters in BOTH the 2020 and 2024 cycles. And don’t get me started on Bill Clinton. Keep that man (and his wife) away from television.
It makes me wonder how much longer we are going to continue having any hope in them, the Democrats. I mean who are you making excuses for? The folks who had fifty years to codify Roe vs Wade? Irresponsible doesn’t begin to describe it. Actually one might argue that electoral loss is just a part of the strategy.
We’re in for some dark days America and COMMUNITY is the only way through it.
So let’s roll our sleeves up and get to work.