The scene on the day of Elections 2024 within the unremitting confines of a Philadelphia hotel ballroom, which served as Camp Kamala Harris’ Pennsylvania headquarters, was initially buoyant. The turning out in force of voters in the early hours, particularly from Luzerne and other Puerto Rican dominated regions, exceeded all forecasts. Some in the room were quick to connect these promising signs to a recent gaffe by the Trump campaign, when they hosted a comedian who scorned Puerto Rico at a leading pre-election rally. However, as we’ll see, their hopes were all too premature and misguided.
Members of Harris’ team, like Erik Balsbaugh, started their day cup brimming with optimism. He had hope that the pollsters were underreporting Harris’ backing similar to the underestimations seen in the Democrats’ favor during the midterms only two years before. He went further to anticipate that a similar catalyst – the rage amongst female voters regarding the potential destruction of abortion rights – might be instrumental in propelling Harris to victory. How mistaken his optimistic hunches would prove.
All through the election day, Balsbaugh and his team worked diligently to ‘fix’ approximately 6,000 votes. This entailed rectifying minor errors that had led to the rejection of ballots cast by Democrat voters. The value of their role in the preceding months, as they foresaw it, was to be instrumental in ensuring a Harris success in Pennsylvania come 2024. But by dawn on election day, Balsbaugh hypothesized a Harris landslide victory that would render their roles redundant. Again, his optimism was woefully misplaced.
Despite Balsbaugh’s spiraling energy drink consumption on election evening, the initial certainty he clung to began to wane. The once vibrant room filled with Harris’ supporters began to ooze tension and uncertainty. However, it was not long before Balsbaugh was compelled to confront an incontrovertible truth – his role in securing the presidency for Harris was irrelevant. Trump was set to snatch the race out from under her.
The once bustling ballroom soon stood empty as realization dawned. Just Balsbaugh miserably marking the results, plagued with the recurrent question, ‘Where did we err again?’ But on introspection, he seemingly held the answer. Despite their arrogance in the face of looming defeat, deep down, they knew.
Fast forward to a month post-election, representatives from both Trump’s and Harris’ campaigns congregated in a meeting room at Harvard University. Their aim? To formulate a unified account of how an election, that had such massive stakes and a budget upwards of $2 billion, had deeply mistaken the pulse of the American public. An error magnified by the fact that the entertainment industry, mainstream media, and seemingly the music industry were all in their corner.
They admitted, at Harvard, that their campaign strategy involved targeting African American men, Latinos, and disenchanted young men – many still residing with their parents. Their address centered largely on the economic plight of their constituents – exorbitant rent, unaffordable groceries and gas, and an elusive dream of homeownership. These individuals were approached in areas where their counterparts from Trump’s campaign would never venture.
A trustworthy source within Trump’s campaign shed light on their targeted voter strategies. Those relying on cable or satellite television were presented with limited streaming ads. In contrast, those undecided voters who lacked access to both cable and satellite TV, were flooded with text messages and mailers. It was clear that the Democrats’ steadfast ignoring of these strategies played a vital role in their downfall.
Although a comprehensive voter file offering a detailed analysis of the debacle is still months away, preliminary exit poll data and county-level data are glaringly clear – Democrats fell short across the board in the elections of 2024. In sum, they failed to understand, or chose to ignore, this key lesson: the art of effectively communicating with American voters.
The blinding focus on testing, confusion around voter reach, and uncertainty in effectively discussing matters of import to their potential voters all underscore one conspicuous truth – Democrats have regrettably forgotten the art of conversing with, rather than at, the voters. Overlay these missteps with an overall political landscape predominantly shaped by conservative viewpoints, it’s no wonder they faced such a debacle.
As Balsbaugh pointed out, nine of the ten most popular streaming channels covering the election results aligned with conservative views – and not one spoke in favor of Harris-Walz. This underscores the Democrats’ total inability to understand and meaningfully engage with the digital conversations shaping voters’ preferences.
Balsbaugh summed up the reality of their defeat, stating, ‘The collective wisdom of a million internet users will always produce faster, more genuine results than the brightest Democrat leading a program.’ While this statement was intended to be disparaging, its undeniable truth is a definitive testament to the Democrats’ aloofness in a digitally-dominated world.
The aftermath of the 2024 elections served not only to cement the Democrats’ staggering misunderstanding of the American public but also their apathy toward embracing innovative and effective campaign strategies. This tunnel vision, as demonstrated by the tone-deaf Camp Kamala Harris, resulted in critical electoral failures and exposes their inability to adapt to the ever-changing political landscape.