Sen. Bernie Sanders. Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Dear Commons Community,
Senator Bernie Sanders bluntly told BBC Radio 4 why Democrats can only blame themselves for the results of the 2024 election.
During his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, Sanders said it was wrong to pin Kamala Harris’ defeat on then-President Joe Biden’s late retreat from the race.
“It was the fault of Kamala Harris and her consultants,” he said plainly, before laying out how Democrats failed to “run a campaign designed to speak to the American working class.”
Sanders told the station that while President Donald Trump may be “reasonably popular,” Democrats could have beaten him if they addressed the struggles everyday Americans face during the campaign.
“I ran all over the country trying to elect Kamala Harris and begged them: Talk to the needs of the working class. Talk about raising the minimum wage to a living wage,” he continued. “Talk about real health care reform. Talk about building the kinds of massive amounts of housing that we need, and putting checks on landlords’ greed on housing.”
But instead of listening to Sanders, the Harris campaign decided to rely on “billionaire friends” and anti-Trump Republicans like former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.).
“Kamala spent more time with Liz Cheney almost than with anybody else. What is that message out to working-class people?” he asked.
Sanders added that using billionaire “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban as a surrogate was also a major misstep for Democrats.
“To my mind that was a campaign that absolutely should have been winnable,” but consultants and the 1% led them astray, he said.
“The bottom line here is the Democrats have to answer a very simple question: Which side are you on?”
Talking about the party’s current strategy in an interview with The Washington Post published last week, the senator had a similar message.
“Do Democrats do enough?” he asked himself. “No.”
.“The difference that I have with the Democratic leadership is not in the need to vigorously oppose Trump,” he explained. “It’s to bring forth an agenda that resonates with working-class families. And I think there are a number of Trump people who will support that agenda.”
Even before ballots were cast, observers were wary about Democrats’ decision to bank on big-name supporters like Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez and more, wondering whether it would pay off.
And in the fallout from the 2024 election, politics insiders were even more critical.
“Celebrity endorsements say a lot: they say you’re a liberal, an elitist, and a cultural progressive. An Oprah or Clooney endorsement is the kiss of death in large swaths of the country now,” Republican strategist William F.B. O’Reilly told The New York Times in a postmortem election analysis.
I don’t think celebrity endorsements are the kiss of death but if that is all you are offering, you lose!
Tony
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