“The Democratic Party has its responsibilities for the bitter failure that has just been imposed on it”

“This is a political victory the likes of which our country has never seen before” [« It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before »]. For once, the expressions used by Donald Trump during his speech on the morning of Wednesday, November 6 are not hyperbole. The day after the election, while the vote count is still underway, the Republican has already won more than the 270 voters needed to win the presidency, while his camp also obtains a majority in the Senate.

Above all, the new president-elect won the popular vote this time, with more voters than Kamala Harris. If the currently uncertain House of Representatives also gives the Republicans a majority, Trump would then hold the trifecta (the “trifecta”): the White House and the two Houses of Congress – to which must be added the Supreme Court, which since its first term has had a majority of six conservative judges out of nine.

What are the voting dynamics that explain the astonishing victory of a far-right candidate hated by a considerable percentage of Americans, a repeat offender who many suspect of being subservient to Russian power? The first of these are certainly due to the political talent, charisma and resilience of this extraordinary character.

Lack of new talent

But the Democratic Party cannot avoid a painful examination of its own responsibilities in the bitter failure that has just been imposed on it. Thus, the primary reasons for the defeat must undoubtedly be attributed to Trump's rival, Kamala Harris. During a campaign that was far too short, from the end of July to the beginning of November, the Democratic candidate failed to deliver an effective message to the Americans.

Between his left-leaning program during the 2020 Democratic primary campaign and his much more moderate proposals four years later, voters did not understand what his real opinions were. Above all, Harris has never managed to find the right tone to express his personal story – where his opponent, despite his repeated lies, is perceived as ” authentic “.

But beyond the inadequacies of Kamala Harris, we must also blame the absence, for almost ten years, of a real selection of new political talents within the Democratic Party. Strongly encouraged in high places despite the holding of presidential primaries, the candidacies of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 hindered the rise of the next generation of Democrats. Taken by surprise by Biden's far too late withdrawal at the end of July, the party found itself lacking quality candidates.

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