Politics
As Democrats on Wednesday morning digested the news of Trump’s victory, the party was awash with angst-ridden second guessing.
By Matt Viser, Tyler Pager, Washington Post
President Joe Biden on Tuesday night gathered in the White House residence with some of his longest-serving advisers, the ones who guided him to victory in 2020 and centered his reelection campaign around a fight for democracy, the ones who reluctantly advised him to drop out of the race.
The mood started optimistic, with hopes that Vice President Kamala Harris would oust Trump as he had done four years ago. But as results began flowing in, the mood turned somber, according to a person familiar with the situation.
As Democrats on Wednesday morning digested the news that they had failed spectacularly, with Trump winning or leading in all of the battleground states, the party was awash with angst-ridden second guessing. If Biden hadn’t clung so long to his reelection hopes, could the party have held a more fulsome primary process to produce a better battle-tested nominee? If Harris picked Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pennsylvania) as her running mate, could that have improved margins in the Blue Wall? If Biden had stayed in the race, could he have better retained the Democratic core coalition that powered him in 2020?
They were also asking a deeper question: How has the party so misunderstood the country and underestimated the voters who are attracted to Trump’s message?
Some Harris aides consoled themselves that the results were so dramatic and widespread that it was beyond their control, telling themselves that the issues werestructural and not something they had the ability to change. While they said more critiques would come later – and the blame could become more widespread – they didn’t have tactical regrets in the immediate aftermath.
They viewed Biden as an anchor, suggesting they couldn’t shake the unpopular incumbent and convince voters that Harris would be fundamentally different from him. Some suggested that, were Biden the nominee, the race would have been called much earlier in the night. In the early morning, there wasn’t as much second-guessing among Harris aides, with them feeling they ran the best campaign they could over the three months they had.
Some Democrats, however, were critical that Biden was underutilized by his vice president.
“I do have an indictment of some of the strategy, and again, the people that said, ‘Joe Biden was the problem,’ ” Symone Sanders, who worked for both Biden and Harris, said on MSNBC. “I will just note that it is probably not the best idea that Democrats orchestrated a very public stab fest, a proverbial stabbing in the front of the sitting President of the United States of America, and then didn’t use him in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.”
Harris is expected to call Trump to concede and speak publicly at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, offering her first remarks after the loss, and Biden could provide his own reaction later in the day.
During a senior staff call on Wednesday morning, White Housechief of staff Jeff Zients urged Biden administration officials to keep working hard, and be good transition partners with incoming Trump officials. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last week indicated that Biden would attend the inauguration regardless of who won.
“Yes, he will,” she said. “Regardless of who wins, the American people need to see a peaceful transfer of power, and that’s what you’re going to see from the president.”
But the Democratic Party writ large is in shambles, having lost control of the Senate and clinging to the hopes of winning control of the House. But the repudiation from voters was widespread, and Trump was leading among the popular vote, which would make him the first Republican to do so in 20 years.
Democrats are also now relatively leaderless, with deep uncertainty over how to reassemble. The current president was forced aside by many in the party who were worried about his age and cognitive abilities, and the vice president just lost overwhelmingly.
Former president Barack Obama could have a role steering the party, as could Michelle Obama, who drew large enthusiastic crowds as she campaigned for Harris but who has also indicated she has little interest in dipping further into politics. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still has deep affection within the party, but there is largely a leadership vacuum as the party will at some point turn toward how to nominate someone in 2028.
“It’s the job of all of us as Americans to find ways to heal the divisions,” Kerry Kennedy said Wednesday morning on CNN, saying family members needed to speak with one another “to reach out and reestablish those bonds of love and community.”
She was asked if she had communicated with her brother, Robert Kennedy, Jr., who divided the family with his presidential run and his endorsement of Trump.
“I have not spoken to him. I will reach out later today,” she said. “I plan to say congratulations and good luck.”
