A coalition of interest groups

I want to start by saying that I don’t think that Kamala Harris could have done much more to win the election. Given the circumstances, her campaign was remarkably competent and made few mistakes. She raised the money, consolidated the base, and pulled off a successful national convention in a very short amount of time. She also soundly defeated Trump in the only debate they had. While she was an imperfect candidate, she rose to the occasion.

She and the Democrats faced powerful forces that dominated the sentiment of the country. The incumbent party faced very strong headwinds. Almost two-thirds of the people believe the country is on the wrong track. I think the hangover from inflation and the perception of unregulated immigration embodied feelings of voters who believe they are losing their economic power and cultural heritage. A three month campaign did not have the power to curb the impulses of voters to reject the status quo.

That said, Democrats were ill-positioned to counter the reactionary wave that has swept western nations in recent years. They lack a unifying, overarching set of values that bring people together and offer people a sense of direction. Instead, the party has devolved into a coalition of interest groups that rallies around issues, not a core set of beliefs. The concepts of intersectionality and identity politics dominate the party but alienate the less informed, less politically active voters that usually determine the outcome of the election.

Democrats ran on abortion rights to attract women voters. They ran on worker protection issues to appeal to unions. They ran on protecting democracy, a vague notion at best. They ran hard against Trump and authoritarianism, concepts most swing voters don’t really understand. But they have not defined themselves in broad terms that attract voters who might not care much about those issues.

Republicans define themselves as the party that’s trying to stop the cultural and economic erosion of the United States. Most of their issues fall under that rubicon. They’ll stop migrants from taking your job. They’ll stop the government from forcing you to accept lifestyles you consider sinful. They’ll cut regulations that get in the way of building a business. And, more recently, they’ll impose tariffs to keep your job from going overseas.

Democrats once defined themselves as the party that gave voice to the powerless, standing up against powerful entities like big corporations. Now, a lot of those powerless people have become part of influential interest groups spending millions of dollars on campaigns and living in more affluent, urban communities. A lot of voters who aren’t very political see those groups as trying to force their values on them. And they see a lot of Democratic candidates as beholden to special interests trying to change their way of life.

During this time of reflection and recrimination, Democrats should think about how they define themselves in terms of values, not in terms of issues. Being pro-choice, pro-union, pro-LGBT, pro-immigrant, or anti-fascist are positions, not values. Democrats need to adopt overarching themes that have broad, inclusive overtones that separate Democrats from Republicans.

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