The Democrats Are In The First Stage of Grief – Denial

By: Sophia Stafford

The Democratic Party needs to take responsibility for their defeat

This November, the Democratic Party lost the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and their dignity. The election was undeniably a disaster for the Democrats, but their reaction to the loss is equally troubling. 

“It’s official, America’s elected its first criminal president before electing its first female president.”

“Millions of women and girls woke up to find out that their families and friends chose lower gas prices over their bodily autonomy.”

“Kamala Harris was not a flawed candidate. America is a flawed country.”

These statements, taken from talk shows, newspapers, and tweets from public figures following the presidential election, paint a bleak picture of the American electorate. They’re sexist. They’re selfish. They’re sullied. Behind all of these declarations is an underlying premise that the Democratic Party deserved to win, but lost because of the prejudice of the American people. 

An alternative assumption is that Americans are primarily good. It seems plausible that there are sexist and selfish Americans, but doubtful that there are 77,284,118 of them. Under this assumption, if millions were willing to vote for a convicted felon, it suggests they saw the alternative as an even worse option.

It’s important to note that not all Republicans are die-hard MAGA supporters. In fact, in 2022–before Donald Trump was officially chosen as the Republican candidate–a New York Times/Siena College poll found that 51% of GOP primary voters preferred an alternative Republican candidate over Trump. This suggests that for many voters, their support for Trump was less about unwavering loyalty and more about a lack of confidence in the Democratic Party’s direction.

Over the past few years, Democratic leaders have repeatedly assured voters of Joe Biden’s mental sharpness and ability. However, as Americans watched him struggle to exit the stage, recall key information during press conferences, and even defend his own mental focus, the truth became undeniable–there had been a cover-up. Despite constant reassurance from the White House, it was clear that Biden’s cognitive decline had progressed beyond what was publicly acknowledged. It is not Biden’s fault for aging naturally. But, it is the fault of the Democratic Party for selecting him as their nominee and deceiving voters. Through this, they revealed the extent of corruption within the party, showing they prioritized self-preservation over the best interests of the American people.

By the time the Democrats were caught in late June, after Biden’s disastrous debate performance and his withdrawal and endorsement of Kamala Harris, the damage was already done. This decision was not just a response to public pressure, but also a result of divisions within the Democratic Party itself. Influential party leaders urged Biden to step down. This visible lack of confidence among Democratic leaders cast further doubt on the party’s stability and coherence.

The party has lost its integrity among voters, and merely switching the bottom of the ticket to the top was not a compelling signal of introspection or accountability. Although leaders of the Democratic party rallied around Harris, it was difficult to separate her from the legacy of the old administration. Harris struggled to define and distance herself from Biden and was hesitant to admit any mistakes he or the party had made. For example, when asked on ABC’s “The View,” what she would have done differently than Biden over the past four years, she responded, “There’s not a thing that comes to mind.” This only reinforced the perception that she was a continuation of a party unwilling to admit its failures or change course. In a country hungry for change, this was unappealing. 

Americans’ trust in institutions has been declining for years. In 2022, a Pew Research Center poll found that only 20% of Americans trusted the government in Washington to do the right thing most of the time. Trump capitalized on this growing distrust, presenting himself as an outsider willing to fix a broken system and point out the flaws in the country during Biden’s presidency. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party only reinforced Americans’ distrust by deceiving them about Biden’s ability. Rather than offering an alternative to broken leadership, the Democrats proved themselves part of the problem. 

The Democratic Party’s reluctance to acknowledge its own mistakes is dangerous. If Americans were willing to pick a convicted felon over the Democratic candidate, imagine what would happen in four years when the Republicans put forth a new, conceivably less polarizing one. Americans wanted to vote for the more transparent, less corrupt party, and the Democrats proved they were not that option. The Democrats cannot change the result of this election, but they can change how they proceed next time. The first step is to take responsibility.