Finally, the correct take on why Kamala lost

It wasn't just one thing, but it seems Dems are already committed to getting it wrong again.

Same, girl. Same.

Kamala Harris lost to Donald J. Trump. The rapist, felon, insurrectionist, second president of the Confederacy. Boy howdy, this country fucked up.

The pundits who were out of touch this whole election cycle are now asking us to look to them again to tell us why we are bad and wrong and the reason for our own defeat. My favorite little part of it is the eschewing of the base of the democratic party (Black people, Jewish people, gays), to appeal to what they call a “broader coalition” of White people, working class people.

I have to laugh because if it was really about economics, who is more concerned about economics than Black people? Who is more economically insecure than Black people? I’m amazed at how flat the conversation about this is already. Never mind the hypocrisy of the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” people voting for the government to help them figure out their economic situation. I guess it’s only a problem when we feel that way.

And I already can hear the canned response that “focusing on racism is what got us here in the first place!” and “Being woke is what turned people off of the democrats”— but consider that Kamala Harris avoided talking about being a Black, Indian woman for the 109 days of her record short campaign. When the women all wore white to her speech at the DNC? She wore Black. She talked the war hawk talk. She did the thing that pundits are now saying she should have done and what the party should do going forward—she moved right. But they’re all saying that she was too woke, actually.

As a Black woman (lol, a phrase that clearly no one really cares about), I would ask you to wonder what it is about her that would make people think she was woke without anything she says or does mirroring that accusation. It’s almost like she’s (even now) being judged by the color of her skin and not the content of her character. Same with Trump, btw.

Leftists want to claim this victory in “owning the libs.” Because if only she had done what they wanted re: bringing peace to Gaza as a Vice President (impossible given the powers bestowed upon a Vice President and the geopolitical implications of this moment), or been less warhawk-ish (welcome to the USA, partner), she would have “earned” their vote. And several realities are:

1. Their candidate did not impact this race massively. Most people did not make a decision regarding this election based on their love for Gaza.

2. If their continued anger at her specifically about this issue did cause millions of people to sit out voting, it is exemplary of the “woke” shit they claim to hate. Standing up for a community they’re not a part of and deciding what is best for them, because of a failure of imagination about how things can (and definitely will) get worse. Trump has promised Bibi unlimited power to level Palestine, but I guess you made Kamala Harris feel bad? Oh wait, no, she’s just playing board games and having wine with her cute family. Huh.

3. There’s nothing progressive about adding suffering to suffering to prove a point.

And on that last tip, I do think that across the political spectrum, people who aren’t Jewish or Black (going by the final vote tallies) have a hard time understanding mitigation. It’s why in 2020 and 2021 they had such a hard time understanding that people will die, but it’s better to save some people by wearing a mask. For them it was “well if people are going to die, let them die as quickly as possible, I wanna eat at restaurants.”

Why Kamala Lost

It’s probably better titled, “Why Trump won.” And it’s simple. I think.

1. He has been famous for 50 years. Kamala sure did have Beyonce and Taylor Swift on her team, but the most famous person on Trump’s campaign was him. Conservative celebrities are a flop. He’s maybe the last true conservative celebrity (which is why throughout media they’re desperately trying to create a copy cat through poorly dressed incels). Were the American people going to trust a Brown woman they don’t know over a man who has been in their pop culture for decades?

2. The government didn’t hold him accountable for his crimes. Even now I think since we are at the unprecedented moment of having a felon rapist as the president-elect, they should do the unprecedented thing and throw his ass in jail. Why can’t he govern from prison? Can’t he get out for good behavior in 4 years if he doesn’t lie and enrich his family and try to overthrow the government again?

3. The media didn’t remind the American people that Joe Biden won not because we all love Joe Biden, but because we hated Trump. Because things got so bad during covid and he was a bumbling moron throughout. I truly believe had he not gotten covid and almost died that week in October 2020 that we would’ve been treated to 4 more years of his shit.

4. A right-wing media ecosystem funded by billionaires and the country’s adversaries that has flourished unchecked in our currently completely unregulated internet service.

5. Because she’s a Black, Indian, woman.

On that final point—allow me to be a bit egotistical. I’m a Black woman. I have made excellent work and created the foundation of a career that I am actually very proud of, and guess how I’m doing? Guess how many opportunities are being afforded to me? If I’m not your canary in the coal mine, consider how many CEOs are Black and Brown women, today in 2024. When you go to restaurants, how many are run by Black women? Let’s look at Hollywood, shall we? The “woke” center of media. How many movies starring Black women have been made? Indian women? Women? And when they don’t become all-time hits, who do we blame? And what happens? We blame women, we blame Black women, we blame Indian women, we revoke their opportunities and punish their entire demographic.

Kamala Harris ran a good campaign. That she ultimately will lose this by - 2 percentage points is a miracle. It’s not actually some historic blowout. Trump lost by nearly 5% last time and instead of shitting on their party, they literally just ran the same fucked up candidate.

And look, if she had a 2-year head start with Biden dropping out in 2022, maybe she would’ve come out the victor. Maybe she could’ve won. I tend to doubt it, but to dismiss celebrity, stupidity, racism, a lack of accountability politically, legally, and in the media as number 2 to “dems being out of touch” really shows me that we haven’t learned anything. That the conversation is now “we need more white men on the left with podcasts” — FUCKING SPARE ME.

And the pundits ALREADY wanna punish Black people, trans people, Black women, and all of us who actually voted in a way that will save this raggedy country. They’d rather break bread with and push us closer to people who voted for a rapist, racist, criminal to be the president of their country. Couldn’t be me.

I’m heartbroken, but I’m not surprised. I am essentially Nero fiddling at the fall of Rome. I used to think he was pretty cold-blooded for that. But now I understand that this hubris, this unchecked stupidity, this racist rot at the core of the country will be a lesson. It will be painful for all of us, but for those of us who know what this country really is? It won’t be devastating. We’ve already been here. It’s going to hurt. But maybe this is what it will finally take. The full weight of the cruelty.

-Akilah