A new study offers a rear view into the 2024 election and tries to answer why former U.S. vice president Kamala Harris lost to current President Donald Trump.
“Distressingly, the Democratic Party has continued to cling to failed ideas and strategies and has refused to engage in a transparent and honest evaluation of its failings,” study author Christopher Cook said. “Instead, Democrats, and all who care about our nation and planet’s future, must ask: what can we change that is within the Democrats’ control.”
The areas that Cook identified as failures include Biden’s late exit from the presidential race, disconnect from the working class, unwavering support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, and youth disenchantment.
Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race on July 21, 2024, which was 107 days before the election, leaving voters without a choice in selecting their nominee.
Harris was crowned the Democratic nominee through internal party promotion rather than a traditional primary.
“Harris’s campaign was dramatically out of step with many voters’ day-to-day realities,” the report states. “While Harris and her team courted suburban moderates and Republicans who were purportedly frustrated or disgusted with Trump, the campaign largely ignored working-class voters both in their outreach and their messaging.”
The report further found that turnout among voters aged 18 to 29 dropped due to the party’s failure to deliver on student debt, climate change, and a federal minimum wage hike.
“Large portions of young and progressive Democrats became disillusioned by Biden’s failure to move forward a federal minimum wage increase, ongoing struggles and uncertainties around student debt, inadequate progress on the climate crisis, and his unflagging support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” the report states.
To "turn the tide in 2026," RootsAction recommends formally rejecting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), banning corporate PAC contributions, fully committing to "Medicare for All," and anti-trust enforcement.
AIPAC is a bipartisan, Washington D.C.-based lobbying group that advocates for U.S.-Israel relations.
“Harris would have gained critical votes in vital swing states, especially Michigan, had she signaled a shift from Biden’s Israel and Gaza policies,” the report added.
Certified election results show that Trump won Michigan with 49.7 percent of the vote compared to 48.3 percent for Harris.