
A month and a half after Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss to Donald Trump, the debate on what went wrong for Democrats continues, with many still asking why she lost to a twice-impeached, convicted felon, found liable for sexual assault, and who incited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Some political observers note that a dramatic rise in pandemic-related inflation worldwide led to virtually all incumbent politicians being defeated in recent elections.
Regarding voter turnout Kamala Harris won 74 million votes, far fewer than the 81 million votes cast for President Biden in 2020. In contrast, Trump gained 3 million more votes than he had four years ago. Among Latino voters, Harris only won by six points, a steep decline from Biden’s 33-point edge in 2020. Although the vice president won the most votes among Black men and young voters, she had a significantly lower margin than Joe Biden did in 2020 or Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Ralph Nader, America’s best known and most effective public interest lawyer, who ran for president four times with the Green Party and as an independent. In noting that Harris lost Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin on Nov. 5 by a total of 230,000 votes, Nader faults the Democrats’ decades-long alliance with Wall Street and their inattention to issues important to American workers, many of whom are just one paycheck away from significant economic hardship.
RALPH NADER: Trump should have been landslided by a Democratic party, say the vintage of Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman. This Democratic party is compromised in many ways in the direction of obedience to corporate priorities.
First of all, the party contracts out most of its campaign to corporate-conflicted political consulting firms and media firms. Most people think these consultants sort of stand on the byline and just wait for a call to get a request for advice.
No, no. They pretty much run the campaign. They raise the money with strings attached. They develop the strategies, the tactics, the language. They develop what the taboos are, what shouldn’t be talked about. That accounts, by the way, for the weaker portrayal of Gov. Walz in a debate with Vance. The Democratic National Committee had him tied up in knots about what he couldn’t say.
He wasn’t himself as he was governor in Minnesota. So, number one, when you contract out your campaign as candidates to corporatists, what do you think’s going to happen?
Well, the first thing that’s going to happen is you’re not going to have front and center a minimum wage increase at least to $15 an hour. That’s 25 million workers who would have gotten a raise.
That’s a lot of votes. You could have had a slogan “Go vote for a raise. It’s long been denied you, and you’ve earned it.” Instead, it’s a throwaway line.
She took several weeks even to use the number $15 an hour. It’s now $7.25 an hour federal. I know Connecticut and some of the states have higher minimum wages, but over half the states still stick with seven and a quarter.
The second thing, a party in thraldom to corporate campaign consultants does is it doesn’t increase the benefits. And Social Security, which have been frozen for over 50 years. Who’s a champion? Congressman John Larson, he’s been pushing Nancy Pelosi and the corporate Democrat in western Massachusetts, Richard Neal, who is a chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Month after month, he couldn’t get the bill to have a vote on the floor. When Nancy Pelosi was the speaker, this bill, by the way, was supported by 200 Democrats in the House. Kamala Harris and her handlers wouldn’t even talk about it. They talk about protecting Social Security as it is. No kidding. But not increasing benefits for the first time in over 50 years.
But it’s just an example. Cracking down on corporate crime, that comes in over 80 percent. Cracking down on corporate crooks, over 80 percent. That’s a lot of conservative voters, she never even talked about it. She sent her brother-in-law up to Wall Street, in her middle of her campaign to get advice on what she should say about tax policy. That’s not exactly a way to get votes, is it?
Increasing taxes on the wealthy. She mentioned that once in a while, but nobody listening to her really thought she was authentic. Again, it’s a throwaway progressive line that corporate Democrats send in the direction of what they think are some progressive voters.
But where does that come in? Eighty-five percent of the American people want higher taxes on the grossly under- taxed super-wealthy like Elon Musk and the big corporations.
So what is it? What did it come down to on Nov. 5? 230,000 votes switched in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin would have defeated Trump.
Seven million Democrats who voted in 2020 for Biden stayed home and expect to win the election against their führer, Donald Trump, the chronic liar, the chronic criminal violator, the chronic narcissist, the chronic braggadocio, the chronic ignoramus.
That’s what the voters who turned out with a very narrow majority, very narrow majority elected an American Führer.
So here we go, Jan. 20. What are we going to do as progressives? What are we going to do when the Democrats blew the Senate and the House as well? We’re going to focus on the Democratic party.
Listen to Scott Harris’ in-depth interview with Ralph Nader (29:59) and see more articles and opinion pieces in the Related Links section of this page.
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