Why Kamala Harris Lost

I fell asleep last night watching election coverage and praying for a resounding Trump victory, waking myself several times to the sound of talking heads on the television pouring over predictions and discussing both candidates’ paths to the White House. I’m not sure exactly what time it was when my fiance woke me up to tell me that enough of the numbers had come in to declare President Trump the winner, but the announcement set my mind at ease and allowed me a few extra hours of rest. 

This morning I find myself reflecting on the irony of double standards, lack of class and some of the glaring reasons that Kamala Harris, and Democrats in general, should have easily been able to predict their demise at the polls this election. 

Radio Silence

Let’s start with the fact Kamala Harris decided not to address the nation last night, instead heading home and leaving her supporters high and dry after they had spent countless hours waiting for the Vice President to appear. Even if Harris was holding out for more concrete numbers, she could have said that and thanked steadfast advocates for their commitment to the campaign. Choosing to be a no-show is disgraceful, and if she can do that to her own people, we have to wonder when or if a concession call will be made to President-Elect Donald Trump. The irony of the double standard takes shape when you think back to past criticism placed on President Trump and his supporters for their skepticism and hesitation regarding the 2020 election results. 

What’s more important for the country, however, is the reflection on what went wrong for Democrats, and the fact that the answer to that question is also the basis for why the United States has become so polarized. While the self-sabotage list is long and distinguished by subjects such as identity politics, open borders, taxpayer-funded gender transitions for convicted criminals and countless other absurdities, it can all more simply be boiled down to the progressive embrace of the radical woke agenda. 

Polarization takes place when two groups find their opinions and beliefs in such stark contrast that their differences become irreconcilable. With conservatives, I don’t see much has changed over the years, and what has evolved seems to have come in the form of increased tolerance, acceptance and a willingness to understand ideas and lifestyles that were once considered foreign or taboo. Aside from that, it’s business as usual, advocating for smaller government, protecting inalienable rights enshrined in the Constitution and promoting strong family values. 

Left-Leaning Outer Space

In contrast, Democrats have launched themselves into leftist outer space, playing host to woke policies that have set us back to the extent that we must now question what makes a man and what makes a woman, licensing society’s sycophantically ill to attack others based on pronouns, arguing against the reality that only a woman can give birth and that somehow it is racist to want people to immigrate into the country legally. The left has openly supported defunding the police and promoted socialism. They have flooded our southern border to the point that we have millions here illegally, many of whom place a great financial strain on our ability to provide social services and disaster relief, and worse, many gang members and criminals spreading violence and terrorizing citizens across the country. Democrats have also continued to show their willingness to game the system by threatening to pack the Supreme Court and flaunting their ability to weaponize the judicial system against political opponents. 

Democrats have even colluded with private businesses to limit free speech in blatant violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which comes as no surprise to those who have spent years defending the Second Amendment against the left’s desire to dismantle and abolish the right. Thinking back 20 years, I can recall far more rural liberals standing up for gun rights, however, the radicalization of the party has turned the argument into an all-or-nothing issue as anti-gun politicians and organizations have seized control of the discussion within the Democratic party.

Second Amendment Fail

We know where Kamala Harris stands on the Second Amendment, but that isn’t necessarily what she tried to sell publically late in the campaign. In the past, Harris made a concerted effort to distance herself from liberal colleagues, trying to prove she was the most anti-gun, by calling for a ban on the manufacturing and sale of semi-automatic firearms including a declaration that she would confiscate those firearms already owned. Later, she insulted Americans’ intelligence, downplaying the idea of confiscation by instead calling for a “mandatory buy-back,” but the government cannot buy back that which it did not sell, and mandatory simply means to comply or face criminal charges. I think we have a word for that. It’s called confiscation. 

During the campaign, however, Harris changed her tone, claiming she no longer supports confiscation, as if to say that her continued support for banning semi-automatic firearms isn’t a blatant violation of the Constitution she swears to protect out of the other side of her mouth. She even rolled out “Tampon” Tim Waltz, an Elmer Fudd-like caricature of a Second Amendment-supporting liberal who made for better memes than did the cackle-prone confiscation queen herself. Americans saw right through this awful schtick for what it was, more lies and deception, which have permeated her campaign, and leftist politics in general, on all prevailing issues.  

Aside from this failing agenda, the Harris campaign picked up where Biden left off, focusing their race as a referendum on Trump rather than any effort to explain to Americans why we are currently in the precarious shape we are in and what they plan to do to change it. Even the hot-button topic of abortion failed to be a galvanizing force as you can only campaign on killing babies so much before it ends up sounding morbid.

Additionally, Harris was unable and unwilling to separate herself from an unpopular President Biden, whose approval ratings have hovered around 40% for most of his four years in the White House, the lesson here being that you can’t rally people around an already failing agenda just for the sake of teamwork. It is almost impossible to step out as Vice President in support of your own failing administration while telling Americans how much better you’re going to make things for them if they give you the big promotion, and even more so when you’re on the ticket without being voted there in any legitimate primary election in the first place. 

Message Sent, Message Received

America has sent a message with this election, and the message is that the radical left needs to backtrack to the center. A return to normalcy is in order, not just pretending to be normal while kowtowing and pandering to society’s fringe elements. It is notably admirable that the Founding design of our Constitutional Republic allows us to correct our course when we get steered so far astray. I hope that short memories find longevity, however, as much work is necessary to fix the damage and heal the wounds caused over the last four years of this administration, from inflation and a failing economy to lawlessness and the attack on American liberties.