In the aftermath of a bruising electoral loss,
the losing party begins participating in a well worn democratic tradition.
Slinging takes about what happened.
This is democracy.
When the voters send the dissatisfied response,
the messy work of recalibration requires parsing the signal from the noise.
Were voters mad because of a global inflationary environment
that no Democrat could dig their way out of?
Did they want to see specific breaks between Harris and Biden on policy?
Were they frustrated by a candidate they saw as too left?
On cultural issues, there are data points in favor of many different theses.
Here's where I'd put my stake in the ground,
with the caveat that we still don't have a complete analysis on subgroup dynamics
or even a final vote count on all the races.
First, incumbents worldwide were facing tough election odds.
Electorates were frustrated by the COVID inflationary years and were clearly seeking change.
In Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and beyond,
ruling coalitions lost power across the political spectrum.
Second, I don't think Kamala Harris was ever going to be a great candidate.
After Biden's disastrous debate effort in late June,