We lost. But all is not lost. We can win in the next two critical national elections. How? What is next? We must improve our connection to and our communications with the middle class and blue-collar voters. We need to articulate, advocate and fight for new policies and change in government to protect the American Dream for all citizens. We must address the rapidly rising inequality in wealth, in our economy and in capitalism. We need to show average Americans that government is not rigged against them and only accessible mostly to wealthy donors. We need to restore trust in democracy by proving that efficient government programs can directly help them. We must be aggressive and tenacious once again, in the tradition of historic and inspirational leaders like Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by advocating for radical change in housing, education, health and labor rights.
We lost the presidential race and the Senate and failed to win back the House last year because we have been consistently losing white, Black, Hispanic and Asian middle-class voters over the past 25 years. This is an open wound which is bleeding profusely and if not addressed, could be the death of the patient. The loss in 2024 was not simply about Joe Biden's late departure from the Democratic field. We had an opportunity during the primary campaign (when we ignored Rep. Dean Phillips' warnings) to voice our concerns about Biden’s age or to remind him that we voted for him in 2020 to defeat Donald Trump and serve one term.
Moreover, the blame does not rest on Kamala Harris and her valiant effort over 90 days to replace the incumbent. Democrats lost in 2024 because we have become the party of the status quo and could not overcome Trump, the agent of chaos and destruction. Defending the overall status quo at a time when the American Dream is slipping away for so many working Americans is politically tone-deaf and dangerously out of touch. Defending the status quo on rental rates and home prices, especially if you want the votes of middle-class people or voters under 40, is insane. Maintaining the status quo in education today too often translates to your educational future being determined by your zip code, not your GPA. Getting into private colleges, and being able to afford them, is increasingly reserved for millionaires and legacy kids. The status quo In health care means our seniors may need to win the lottery to afford heart medicine and blood pressure pills.
Defending the overall status quo at a time when the American Dream is slipping away for so many working Americans is politically tone-deaf and dangerously out of touch.
Democrats need to find ways to reduce bureaucracy, increase opportunities for home ownership and build affordable middle-class housing. We need to pioneer and announce new programs that grab the attention and support of angry and frustrated voters. If California finds ways to quickly rebuild housing in Los Angeles after this winter’s devastating fires, we need to replicate this nationwide. Voters ultimately picked their presidential candidate in 2024 based on two choices: 1) Keep things the same. 2) Blow things up. Harris was too often identified with the first position, even claiming that Trump wanted to go too far with his promises to “tear down the Department of Education.” Trump, of course, advocated the second position. There should have been a third choice: Big Change! We did not convey a message of fresh and viable economic change for working people. Nor did we stake out bold ideas for young voters, who increasingly voted Republican.
Blue-collar voters in the heartland states (don’t call it the Rust Belt) have seen their jobs disappear due to trade, technology and globalization. You hear repeatedly from workers who once had good jobs in a steel plant or highly-paid jobs assembling cars that their lives are now virtually over. They recall being 35 years old and making great money but now, perhaps, they must work as Uber drivers, and make half their previous salary. They will tell you their children have “no future” in getting good jobs or achieving the American Dream. This is a wrenching gut-punch to the soul. Democrats need to be the working-class voice of frustration and their hammer for change.
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Democrats did not lose the election in 2024 because we defended transgender choices or believe in climate change. We are morally right on both issues. We lost because we too often appear to lead our national agenda with these issues even as most Americans desperately want to hear about what we will do to curb rising housing prices, reduce escalating egg prices, keep gas prices low and fix out-of-control college costs. Food, energy, housing and education are core voting issues, especially when you experience them as reducing your choices and chewing up your family budget. This past week, Waffle House added a surcharge of 50 cents per egg, resulting in the average meal for two increasing to $27. Voters want to hear what we will do to protect their current job and create new ones. They want lower prescription drug costs and less Medicare bureaucracy. Please make a real difference in my daily life, they tell us. It’s almost like a desperate prayer.
We Democrats lost in 2024 because too many voters had the impression that we cared more about telling them to buy an expensive electric car than helping them repair their 10-year-old pickup. In October, I knocked on a door in Pittsburgh where a voter informed me that “Democrats want to ban my fracking job, tell me what kind of car to buy and rename my local school.” He went on to say, “I don’t have the luxury to care about all that other stuff when I don’t have a decent job and I can’t afford the future for my family.” Democratic presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson once had their pictures proudly displayed on the walls in these homes. These people used to be reliable Democratic voters. We need to loudly and proudly make the dignity of work, and the character it builds, the clarion call of our party.
Democrats lost in 2024 because too many voters had the impression that we cared more about telling them to buy an expensive electric car than helping them repair their 10-year-old pickup.
In 2024, Democrats too often made the mistake of failing to respond to Republican attacks, particularly on the transgender issue. Harris was portrayed in a TV clip supporting generous resources for prisoners to access gender-affirming operations and drugs. I saw no timely or effective response from the Harris campaign in swing states. It appeared to many voters, falsely, as if this was the primary issue and singular focus of the Democratic candidate. Absent a compelling and succinct economic message, cultural issues took center stage. Democrats must boldly lead on the economic message and rebuild the American Dream. That must be our first, second and third issue. We can make policies impacting civil rights and extreme weather important issues in our national platform. Lesson learned: We must expect vicious attacks on these cultural stands and must proactively have the playbook ready to respond aggressively and powerfully.
Democrats need to have inclusive and respectful discussions on these cultural issues, because there are richly diverse opinions within our party and across the country. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said he believed his daughters should not have to compete against transgender athletes on the soccer field, and was unfairly vilified and ostracized by fellow Democrats. Democrats should be open to meaningful discussions on these issues and should listen to one another on all sides of these policies. We often criticize the MAGA wing of the Republican Party for dictating policy, and insisting that it’s “their way or the highway.” We should be a party that welcomes diversity and discussion and builds a big tent across America. Immigration should also be an issue where we can combine concerns about national security, human rights and new technologies to protect the border from drug cartels.
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Democrats have been losing blue-collar and middle-class voters because we often don’t actively go to them, listen to their concerns and respectfully take in their opinions and criticism. Some say we lecture them, the way a professor does in a first-year freshman philosophy course. When a young senator from Illinois ran for president in 2008, he purposefully targeted independent and swing voters in suburban and rural areas. For example, he personally campaigned in my home state, visiting suburban Indianapolis and swing regions like LaPorte County in northwest Indiana, meeting with union members who were increasingly independent voters. Barack Obama played basketball with farm kids. He let pissed-off and laid-off workers blow off steam at him. He visited Indiana dozens of times. He pursued the strategy of "losing by less," understanding that he would almost certainly lose most of these targeted counties and rural areas, but might shift them from 70-30 losses to 60-40 losses. He showed up, he listened and he proposed specific economic reforms to answer voters’ questions about jobs, schools and health care. What happened? He actually won Indiana in 2008, the first Democrat to do so since the 1964 Johnson landslide. Democrats must return to this proven template to aggressively pursue the middle-class vote and be willing to "lose by less." We must be more competitive in more states, counties and small towns, even those we perceive as deep red.
Democrats should carve out distinct and important differences with Donald Trump’s Republican Party. Democrats are not in favor of pardons for violent convicted criminals who viciously assaulted our police officers on Jan. 6, 2021. Democrats are for safe and secure borders, but not for ripping up the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the citizenship of everyone born in the USA. Democrats should support common-sense guardrails on technology to protect our children from predators and dangerous, addictive social media algorithms. Democrats should support AI efforts in biotechnology and antibiotics for better science, but must not allow Big Tech to create "people robots" that can eliminate tens of thousands of blue-collar and white-collar jobs. We want to “make in the USA” and insist on fair trade agreements with other countries, with real access to their markets to sell American products. Democrats don’t support wealthy oligarchs who buy elections and purchase access to government. Democrats need to draw clear, concrete lines voters can understand, so they can draw their own conclusions and make rational decisions. We must hold the Trump administration accountable. We must clearly announce and repeat our differences with them, and do vigorous battle for the hearts and minds of middle-class voters.
Barack Obama visited Indiana dozens of times in 2008, pursuing the strategy of "losing by less" — and became the first Democrat to win the state since 1964.
Statistically, the Democrats did not suffer a devastating defeat last November. It was fairly close. A handful of House seats changing hands in 2026 will deliver a Democratic majority and a Democratic speaker. Recruiting the right candidates in the Senate to match the politics of each state, and to defeat Republican incumbents while avoiding divisive primaries, will help narrow the current gap. The number of talented and qualified potential Democratic presidential candidates for 2028 — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gov. Wes Moore, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Secretary Gina Raimondo, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Gov. Andy Beshear, Gov. JB Pritzker, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and others — bodes well for our chances of winning the White House.
But although the future looks bright on many fronts, only 51% of Democrats believe their party is headed in the right direction, according to a Morning Consult poll published on Feb. 4. (That’s down from 65% in January 2024, while 84% of Republicans believe their party is trending the right way.) Rebuilding our economic message is the key to winning. The American Dream remains achievable, but the ladder required to climb up and grab it requires modernizing and repairing. The rungs on that ladder have always been education, jobs, housing and health care. Let’s learn from this past election, fix the mistakes we have made through the past several cycles, and propose a positive economic agenda for reaching the American Dream.
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