Democrats’ circular firing squad began immediately after the Nov. 5 election debacle, with shots fired at President Joe Biden for not dropping out of the race sooner, or not running for re-election to begin with – as if having more time to sell a weak, unappealing message would have made a difference.

Biden did play a role in the Democratic disaster, but it started long before his dropping out.  The embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan planted seeds of doubt among voters about his competence, and Republicans fertilized those seeds relentlessly.  Most Americans agreed we needed to exit a futile war in the Middle East.  But that withdrawal should have been carefully planned and executed, with safe evacuations of all our troops and allies, along with protected removal of our valuable assets.  Instead, 13 of our troops were killed and 45 wounded, our allies and their families were abandoned, and our valuable assets were left behind for the Taliban to seize – and Biden’s standing never recovered.

But Biden’s most damaging action (or inaction) became Trump’s favorite campaign whipping boy.  To paraphrase legendary pundit James Carville, “it’s the border, Stupid.”  Millions of undocumented, unvetted migrants pouring across our border, month after month (totaling 8+ million), alarmed many Americans, including this one.  Harris could have emphasized more that congressional Democrats and Republicans had agreed on a plan that would have greatly improved border security – but Trump ordered Republicans NOT to support it, and they slavishly submitted.

But let’s not ignore Carville’s original political truism, “it’s the economy, Stupid.”  It was the other dominant campaign issue, per usual.  But “the economy” actually meant INFLATION to most voters; prices had soared in the months leading up to the election.  And if there’s one thing that will grab Americans’ attention, when other news will not, it’s how much they must pay for eggs & gasoline; so the “lamestream media” reported it tirelessly.

In fact, the economy in general was in good shape, growing at a steady rate, with job creation high, unemployment low, the stock market booming.  But did Democrats try to inform voters about that?  Of course not, they were too busy raising money (the only thing they’re good and persistent at; I’m still receiving fundraising texts from the Harris campaign).  So Republicans seized “the economy” as THEIR issue, and polls showed voters thought Trump would better manage it.

Democrats didn’t bother explaining that inflation is NOT totally controlled by any president.  Since America has agreed we prefer a capitalistic economic system, there will be waves of inflation, recession, good and bad times for the middle and working classes.  That’s just the law of the economic jungle.

Nor did Democrats try to explain the necessary role Biden did play in inflation.  When the COVID pandemic (totally mismanaged by Trump as president) was raging, Americans were losing their jobs and homes.  Biden and Congress pumped billions of dollars into the economy to help save those jobs and homes – which did contribute to inflation. And Trump’s incompetence caused THOUSANDS of unnecessary deaths.  Anybody hear Democrats try to remind voters about any of that, or even mention it?

One of Harris’ most obvious failures was her appearance on the TV show The View, a friendly audience. Asked what she would have done different from Biden, an unpopular president, Harris looked like a deer in the headlights – frightened and confused.   She nervously stammered “not a thing comes to mind”, and gave Trump a gift he would use mercilessly in attack ads.  Did nobody in the Harris campaign anticipate that question WOULD be asked?  Or plan and rehearse an appropriate reply for whenever it did?

Harris could have reminded voters about the historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill the Biden Administration succeeded in passing; it was beginning to show results in most states, improving mobility and reducing commute times.  Likewise with crime rates, which actually decreased in national statistics during Biden’s term.  Trump repeatedly lied about it (as he did with many issues, and was never sufficiently called out for that by the lamestream media), claiming it had increased to dangerous levels, scaring voters. Trump claimed he would fix it and “make America safe again”.  Did Harris ever demand HOW he would do that – and explain how she and Biden had reduced crime rates?

Harris’ appointment of Tim Walz as Vice Presidential candidate didn’t help.  Walz, everybody agreed, was a folksy, likeable guy.  But VP candidates are often recruited to be campaign attack dogs, fiercely going after opponents.  Walz did not assume that role; and in his debate with JD Vance, Trump’s VP candidate (who DID), Walz instead projected his Midwestern friendliness – not what the campaign needed.

Some pundits criticized the Harris campaign for focusing too much on Trump.  Maybe, but their focus on him could have been more specific – not just labeling him “a threat to democracy”, which was true but hard for voters to relate to.  Examples: they could have focused more on his role in the January 6^th attack on the Capitol and fact-checkers’ agreement that Trump is the most prolific LIAR in American presidential history – painting him as a typical lying politician and dismissing all his boastful promises as empty rhetoric.  A simple way to do that:  tag HIM (as he does with opponents) as “Dishonest Donald”.

Harris’ campaign should have hammered Trump for his claim that he alone would protect American women, “whether they like it or not”, juxtaposed with his infamous “grab ‘em by the p***y” quote.  And question his claim he would end the disastrous wars in Ukraine and the Middle East immediately.  HOW, Donald, HOW?  Kiss up to dictator Putin and demand that Ukraine give him what he wants, rewarding him for his vicious invasion?

With the Southeast (including two battleground states, Georgia and North Carolina) reeling from two catastrophic storms, Helene and Milton, immediately before the election, why didn’t the Harris campaign focus on Trump’s despicable claims that the Federal government wasn’t helping victims, even when those states’ governors (one a Republican) publicly thanked the government for its extensive help? And his dangerous claim that FEMA was using storm damage as an excuse to seize people’s property?  That one caused out-of-state, armed militia groups to descend on rural North Carolina to “hunt for FEMA” – threatening the people who were trying to help victims. A great opportunity to remind voters about the chaos and rage Trump engenders.

By the way, campaign gurus, those deadly storms also provided a perfect opening to remind voters climate change is exacerbating current storms’ intensity – and that Trump and Republicans have denied climate change even exists and have resisted Biden/Harris’ efforts to delay or weaken it. Another Democratic opportunity wasted.

So there were many ways, this Moderate believes, that Harris could have campaigned more effectively on several key issues.  On one, though, the cultural stuff, there wasn’t much they could do. Republicans found clips from Harris’ California days, with her endorsing sex-change surgery for transsexual inmates, at taxpayer expense.  Their only hope would have been, again, to carefully craft a response (as difficult as that would be), have it ready and rehearsed, and use it at opportune times.  Instead, the campaign refused to engage on it, and the Trump campaign had a field day:  “Kamala is for THEY/THEM, Trump is for YOU.”

We could go on, but you get the point.  Even with the challenges Harris faced, she could (and should) have won, running against a convicted felon, an impeached (more than once) former president despised by many Americans, including many who held their noses and voted for him anyway.  As the old saying goes, Harris’ campaign “couldn’t punch their way out of a paper bag”.  Neither could the national Democratic Party; more on that in our next post.  Stay tuned.