The New York Times editorial board published an op-ed in which it issued a sound drubbing to the Democratic Party. The piece details the mistakes Democrats made before and after the 2024 presidential election and gives several recommendations on how the party can rebound after its devastating defeat last year.
The criticism was well deserved. But will the party’s leadership listen?
The piece begins by highlighting how badly the Democrats lost in the latest election and points out how the party doesn’t seem to be learning its lesson.
Despite narrowly losing the 2024 presidential election, Democrats experienced widespread setbacks, losing control of the Senate, failing to reclaim the House, and winning fewer than half of the governor and state legislature races. However, instead of introspection, many party leaders have settled on external explanations, blaming issues such as inflation and voter turnout. Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, captured this sentiment, saying, “We’ve got the right message… What we need to do is connect it back with the voters.” Similarly, Gov. Tim Walz, the party’s vice-presidential nominee, dismissed attempts to court Trump voters, stating, “I don’t think we’re going to win over those 77 million that voted for Donald Trump… I’m concerned with the 90 million who stayed home.”
The editorial board notes that the Democrats’ excuses ignore a myriad of deep-seated problems with the party’s policies and political strategy. It points out how voters did not trust Democrats to handle issues such as immigration, crime, government spending, foreign policy, and several others.
The authors point to the party’s bleak approval ratings, noting that only “27 percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Democratic Party,” their lowest ratings in decades. Even worse for Democrats, the party is “now at a point where the more people vote, the better Republicans do,” according to data scientist David Shor.
Public approval has sharply declined, with polling revealing that only “27 percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Democratic Party,” marking their lowest popularity in decades. Further undermining Democrats’ voter-turnout argument, data scientist David Shor starkly summarized the situation, noting, “We’re now at a point where the more people vote, the better Republicans do.”
It is clear that the Democratic Party is in quite a pickle. The authors highlight the left’s hyperfocus on identity politics, arguing that it turned off a wide swath of voters.
Even today, the party remains too focused on personal identity and on Americans’ differences — by race, gender, sexuality and religion — rather than our shared values. On these issues, progressives sometimes adopt a scolding, censorious posture. It is worth emphasizing that this posture has alienated growing numbers of Asian, Black and Latino voters. Democrats who won last year in places where Mr. Trump also won, such as Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, adopted a more moderate tone. They were hawkish about border security and law enforcement, criticizing their own party. They did not make the common Democratic mistake of trying to talk about only economic policy and refusing to engage with Americans’ concerns on difficult social issues.
The word “sometimes” is doing a lot of work here. Saying that progressives “sometimes adopt a scolding, censorious posture” is like claiming the Grand Canyon as a pothole. Progressives love scolding Americans about how bigoted we are. It is a key component of their political strategy and has been for years – and it didn’t do the party any favors in 2024.
To remedy the problem, the editorial board suggests the party engage in some self-reflection. Democrats should acknowledge how they mishandled former President Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive problems, embrace more moderate policy ideas instead of going full-blown socialist, and come up with bold, new ideas for bettering the lives of Americans.
The suggestions are apt. In fact, some Democrats have admitted that trying to gaslight the public into believing Biden was as spry as a spring chicken was about as effective as attempting to breathe underwater.
Still, asking the party to moderate its policy ideas might be seven bridges too far. Former Vice President Kamala Harris veered away from her more socialist policy stances during the 2024 campaign, as the authors acknowledge. But she never took the time to explain why she changed her mind in the first place, which sent the message that she hadn’t actually abandoned these ideas.
On top of this, the progressive wing of the party seeks to take center stage on the left. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are on a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, trying to galvanize support for far-leftist policies. It does not seem that the moderate faction has an answer for this yet.
The party seems hellbent on not learning from its losses last year. They are still doing the usual “America is bigoted” talking points while shrieking “Orange Man Bad” every time they get in front of a camera. Right now, this is where the party is stuck. At some point, they might wise up, but the question is: When?
Meanwhile, the GOP is flexing its power now that it controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. They had better make the most of it before the Democrats finally get it together.
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