- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
Summary
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has criticized the Harris-Walz 2024 presidential campaign for playing it too “safe,” saying they should have held more in-person events and town halls.
In a Politico interview, Walz—known for labeling Trump and Vance as “weird”—blamed their cautious approach partly on the abbreviated 107-day campaign timeline after Harris became the nominee in August.
Using football terminology, he said Democrats were in a “prevent defense” when “we never had anything to lose, because I don’t think we were ever ahead.”
While acknowledging his share of responsibility for the loss, Walz is returning to the national spotlight and didn’t rule out a 2028 presidential run, saying, “I’m not saying no.”
The Democrats seem to think misogyny played a part, yes, but I’m not convinced that this was the case. It’s an easy excuse. But it glosses over a problem that Democrats have not been willing to face for almost 20+ years.
They are convinced that if they become the center, they’ll win the majority.
The Harris campaign ran the same play as the Clinton campaign: I’m not Trump.
The only case of misogyny that I can see is that Biden ran the same campaign. But the problem with this argument is that we were in a Trump presidency. The effects of it were clear to voters. If you carry over this logic to Biden, Harris lost not because she was a woman but the effects of the Biden presidency was clear to voters.
Harris had the opportunity to come out as progressive. To go further than Biden. To guarantee colleges loan forgiveness for everyone. To come out against healthcare companies. To come out against the alt right.
But she didn’t.
She played the same plays as Hilary: I’m not Trump. I’ll save democracy. Israel is cool.
The sad thing is she could be leading the charge right now to help organize people against fascism. If she really learned any lessons from her campaign, she’d be with Bernie and doing tours to help people protest.
The DNC would rather eat crumbs that fall off the table than risk biting the hands that feed it (corporations). They have lost legitimacy in my book and will only support them as opposition to the fascists because there isn’t another option. If a true progressive party gains momentum, you can bet that the DNC and GOP will work together to push progressives out.
Biden didn’t, though. Biden ran a centrist-ish campaign, to be clear, but he also coopted many of Bernie’s popular promises and generally ran on making things better for the average American. He promised a move left, while Harris promised a move right. They were not running the same campaign.
Here’s my perspective as a non-American watching this shitshow unfold: Y’all will need to create another option before it’s too late. The DNC isn’t an option; it’s losing by default.
We’re trying! There’s only so much we can do. I’m in a deeply red district and trying to coalesce enough people to do anything liberal has been like pulling teeth
Nope. The Harris platform was more to the left than Biden. She was going to impose additional taxes on corporations and billionaires that went beyond Biden.
Even though Hilary always had a bunch of Muslim women in the background of all her crowds and identity politics helped sink her campaign.