It’s that time of year when the losing party goes into finger-pointing mode. Party insiders are eager to give off-the-record quotes about wrong-headed decisions made by key operatives. Copious ink is spilled by opinion writers about what that party got wrong in 2024. In some cases, the party puts these concerns and recommendations into an actual document — aka the 2013 GOP “autopsy.”
In reality, however, much of the analysis is over-wrought and over-complicated.
Parties in power lose because voters are dismayed with the way they are running the government. In 2024, President Joe Biden was unpopular because voters were unhappy about the way he and his administration handled two very important issues to them: inflation and the border.
While plenty of folks have been eagerly offering up ways in which Vice President Kamala Harris could have altered the course of the race — “she should have gone on Joe Rogan’s podcast,” “she should have found a way to distance herself from Biden,” “she should have attacked Donald Trump more forcefully” — the die was cast long before she became
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The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
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