The Harris Campaign Reveals Why Kamala Didn't Do 'Hot Ones' or Joe Rogan

I have resisted writing our “Why the Democrats lost” piece because I’ve read plenty of them, and I generally find them smug. They often put too much blame on one thing for an election we barely lost against a uniquely specific candidate. It wasn’t entirely about identity politics — Kamala Harris didn’t run on identity politics, but Trump and the right had successfully spent years turning that into our brand. Personally, instead of running from the trans issue, it would’ve helped us to personalize it and put faces to it, like the Dems have successfully done with abortion (I think Sarah McBride is going to do a tremendous job of personalizing the issue).

I also won’t chalk it entirely up to the Dems’ inability to attract working-class voters. Biden’s agenda was the most working-class-focused of any president since FDR, but the messaging was off. The messaging focused on the “middle class” instead of the “working class.” Likely, this was because when we talk about working-class voters, we’re labeled socialists/leftists/out-of-touch/Marxists, but when Trump does, he’s seen as relatable to the “Average Joe.” That double standard is what we need to spend the next four years overcoming. We are the working class party. I wouldn’t be a Democrat otherwise.

If you ask me why Harris lost — aside from the ferocious headwinds working against her — I can sum it up this way: A couple of days after Joe Biden announced his exit, Harris gave her first stump speech. It was phenomenal, and what made it so fantastic was how she responded to the feverishly enthusiastic crowd. At one point, she casually said, “We’re not going back!” and the crowd picked up on it, chanting it as a mantra. That moment was fun and powerful. If she had kept playing to the crowd and reacting organically, I think she’d have performed better — maybe even enough to win.

Where I began to worry, however, was when she did that Fox News interview with Bret Baier. Afterward, I thought, “Whew! She didn’t make any big mistakes.” I thought that a lot in October. During the campaign’s final weeks, it felt like her team was more focused on avoiding mistakes than on selling her candidacy. Her favorable ratings shot up when she entered the race but then leveled out and dropped as she began acting more like a politician.

She felt overly managed, which I blame on her campaign. Speaking of which, key members of that campaign — like Stephanie Cutter and David Plouffe — spoke about the loss on today’s episode of Pod Save America. The way they discussed the loss reflects why the campaign wasn’t as successful as it could’ve been: They talked about numbers, polls, and constituencies. It felt very wonky, just like Harris’ campaign did toward the end.

Instead of reflecting or taking much accountability, they emphasized that Harris did well where she campaigned. They argued that the country tilted to the right by 8 points overall but only 3 points in the seven battleground states, which are harder for Democrats to win without capturing 60% of moderates (hence the Liz Cheney play). Suburban America drifted right by 5 points, but in battleground states, it only shifted 1 point. They said the anti-trans ad that the RNC poured millions into hurt, but their focus-tested responses didn’t play well, so they didn’t counter it. To me, that says the campaign was too focus-tested.

In my view, the party spent too much time carving out constituencies instead of running a campaign with majoritarian appeal. Stop delivering one message to women, another to Latino men, another to Black women in Maricopa County, and yet another to gay people in Wisconsin. Deliver one to which most Americans can relate.

As for Harris skipping Hot Ones: Early on, everyone online believed an appearance could help her wipe the floor with Trump. And I do think the viral clips that might’ve followed would’ve helped her. But as her campaign revealed, they tried. They reached out. The Hot Ones team didn’t want to get involved in politics — they weren’t going to have Harris, Trump, or any other candidate on. Fair enough.

As for Rogan, the campaign said they genuinely wanted to make it happen, and that Rogan’s team tried to work with them. But schedules were tight, and they couldn’t justify skipping battleground rallies to fly to Texas for Rogan’s show, which he insisted be recorded in his studio. They tried to get him to fly to her, but he refused. They had hoped to record it on the day Harris rallied in Houston (when Beyoncé showed up), but that’s the same day Trump taped his Rogan interview. And that’s why it didn’t happen. Would it have mattered? Probably not. But it would’ve been one less thing Dems could blame instead of reflecting on the real reasons Harris lost.

When Harris was real and herself, she shone. When her campaign took over, she struggled. In the end, it might not have mattered given the built-in unpopularity of the Biden administration. But if Harris had told her campaign to back the hell off a few times, I think it would’ve dramatically improved her odds.

Source: Pod Save America