Post-Election Blame Game Highlights Democrats’ 2024 Struggles
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
In the aftermath of the 2024 election, some staffers from President Joe Biden’s camp have reportedly accused Vice President Kamala Harris of mishandling the campaign, speculating behind closed doors that Biden could have defeated Donald Trump had he stayed in the race.
However, columnist Will Saletan of The Bulwark dismissed these claims as pure “fantasy,” arguing that Biden’s earlier missteps were a key reason for Harris’s eventual loss. “It’s not clear whether Biden actually believes this. His aides and associates have given varying accounts,” Saletan wrote.
“But some people in his circle seem to be nursing the idea that he should have remained in the race and would have succeeded where Harris failed. They’re wrong. Let’s put this delusion to bed.” Analyzing VoteCast data from the 2024 electorate, Saletan outlined how Biden’s poor performance early in the election cycle had already set the stage for a Democratic defeat.
According to Saletan, Harris inherited a party in disarray and an electorate largely locked into its decisions before she even stepped in. “The top row of the table shows that 70 percent of voters knew all along which way they were going to vote. Of these, 59 percent voted for Trump and 40 percent for Harris,” Saletan wrote.
“Since Harris didn’t replace Biden till July, it’s logical to infer that those 40 percent were going to vote for Biden. She basically inherited them.” Saletan emphasized that Biden’s campaign placed Harris in an almost insurmountable position. “Losing 70 percent of the electorate by a spread of 59 percent to 40 percent is very bad.
It means that Biden put Harris in a serious hole,” he explained. “When you do the math, it means that she began her leg of the relay with locked-in support from only 28 percent of the electorate, compared to Trump’s 41 percent.”
Despite this grim start, Saletan credited Harris for keeping the race as close as she did, given the circumstances. “There’s plenty to regret about Biden’s campaign,” Saletan acknowledged. “Maybe he should have skipped the 2024 race and let a new generation of Democrats fight it out. … But handing the reins to Harris in July, rather than sticking it out, wasn’t one of his mistakes.
His mistake was that he didn’t do so sooner.” As the Democratic Party grapples with the fallout, Saletan’s analysis underscores the challenges of transitioning leadership and the lasting impact of early campaign missteps.
