I feel like the guy at the all-you-can-eat buffet who didn’t understand that the prudent consumer treats it as an all-you-should-eat buffet. I am an avid consumer of modern American politics, but you can get too much of a good thing. The most recent 
presidential election was a long, exhausting, roller-coaster ride that crashed at the end. It also has a fair probability of being the most consequential US election since Roosevelt or possibly (hopefully not) Lincoln.
Now the election is over, the dessert trolley has caught my eye. I am fascinated by the public rending of garments and loud wailing as Democrats simultaneously mourn their loss and look for someone to blame.
One of the best characterizations of these empty, futile gestures was The Daily Show comedienne Desi Lydic’s shredding.
Vice President Kamala Harris ran what many regard as an extraordinarily disciplined campaign in an extraordinarily short time. She did this after picking up the reins dropped by an obviously geriatric Joe Biden. Joe mumbled and stumbled through the first three-quarters of the campaign before bowing out. Thank you, Joe!
In the German Federal election held on 6 November 1932, the two best-performing parties were the NSDAP and the SPD. The former outperformed the latter by 15.7 points. I imagine the SPD (the Social Democratic Party) had a postmortem. Why did we do so badly, they ask themselves? And I can’t help but wonder, following the loss to Donald Trump, what advice would the modern American Democratic strategists offer the SPD for their next election. What lessons might some Democrats think they have learned that are worthy of passing on? Here are some thoughts about that conversation.
[Democrat]: Guys, we just lost our own bruising election. We are you, and we have advice. It would help if you broadened your appeal. You lost the working class. And remember, you’re just coming out of the Great Depression, so repeat after me … “It’s the economy stupid!!!” If you’re going to beat the NSDAP, you need to step it up. And for God’s sake, stop with the identity politics.
[SPD]: We hear what you say, but our platform does support workers’ rights and trade unions. We advocated for unemployment benefits and social welfare programs. Our policies focused on dealing with the economic fallout of the Great Depression. We know it’s about the economy(!), and we’re not stupid!
Well, your messaging is obviously all wrong. The voters aren’t hearing you, or they don’t believe you. Sometimes, they need a point of focus, a metaphor for their troubles. Have you thought about demonising a particular group or class of people who you could blame for controlling the economy? Tell them about a group they can hate. Bankers are a good place to start—and if you can link your Bankers to some out-group!
Also, you really need to get some distance from the Marxists.
We hate the Marxists. Our platform is explicitly anti-communist.
Yeah … but the voters aren’t hearing you or don’t believe you. Could you give them a point of focus? Make the abstract real. Have you thought about demonising a particular group or class of people who you could identify with the communists? Create a mental portrait of an evil Bolshevik in their minds … Find an out-group and make that group the hated Bolshevik … A communist out-group—that’s a group everyone can hate.
And jobs! Don’t forget jobs. Why should good, pure German citizens not have greater opportunities to engage in the workforce? Is there a group of people who are not quite your equals, a sort of under-person who you could target, some foreigner who’s stealing your jobs?
…
Adolf Hitler, the leader of the NSDAP (Nazi Party), had a “go to” group to hate—the Jews . But he had hate to spare. His tent of loathing had a broad canopy: Communists, Slavs, Gays, Roma.… Hitler’s ire had two foci—groups for public demonisation and groups who threatened his power.
In September 1930, Hitler’s Nazi Party won only 2.6% of the popular vote. In July 1932, it won 18.3%. In November 1932, it won 37.3% —the first time the Nazis outperformed the Social Democrats. That was also the last free election before Hitler seized power in 1933. Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”) is his political manifesto/autobiography. In it, he introduced the idea of the “Big Lie”, a lie that is so audaciously false that some people will believe it. Fake News!
Let’s return to the original question: what did the Democrats do wrong?
I have heard people did not know who Kamala Harris was. They couldn’t vote for someone they didn’t know. They most certainly did know Donald Trump! He had been their 45th President. Donald Trump was there for all to see. He praised whites and demonised non-whites. He gave government assistance to allies and punished (perceived) enemies. He praised authoritarians, demagogues, and dictators and railed against democratic allies. He argued for the Justice Department to target his enemies. He overstated the threats posed by protesters and suggested that the troops should shoot them. He engineered the loss of reproductive rights. He gave billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to other billionaires.
He is a racist who says he is the least racist person he knows. A rapist who says that no one loves and respects women more than he does (shudder…). He boasts about his sexual assaults. He is a fraud—“no one knows business better than I do”. An insurrectionist. A notorious liar. As Nancy Pelosi says, if his lips move, he’s lying.
If the electoral choice is between a demagogue and a lawn chair, you vote for the lawn chair. But you didn’t have a lawn chair. You had had a smart, accomplished woman of color, who has worked for the people for most of her adult life.
What lesson should the Democrats learn from their electoral loss? Easy. Over 50% of the American voters in the last election lost their moral compass. They either agree with, don’t care, or are easily duped by a power-hungry, narcissistic, charlatan, showman, and felon.
My advice for the future. Give no quarter. Do not edge to the right—you will not win the descent into hell. Do not forsake your values. Do not forsake the vulnerable. Drag your republic back to where it should be. Call out the demagogue for who he is. Defend every liberty and every right you have—and defend those rights for others. When they take them from you (and they will take them from you), do not accede.
Fighting words(!), but cheap, essentially worthless advice. I am a detached observer only able to consume American politics from a distant armchair. It may affect me—as it will affect the rest of the world—but I have no power to affect it. Nonetheless, I can hardly wait for my next visit to the buffet.