What Kamala's loss portends

Much of the election post-mortem predictably focuses on the mistakes made by Kamala Harris, but I want to take a step back for a big-picture explanation of the Democrats' across-the-board losses in the 2024 elections.

- ANIS SHIVANI

No doubt Joe Biden and his quick-fix successor's missteps contributed to the wipeout, but the fundamental reason for the latest liberal setback against the ballooning hypernationalist threat is the political paralysis the declining empire confronts in its last days.

Running with discredited neocons like Liz Cheney, refusing to let a Muslim American speak during the convention, and hoping to run on vibes and joy alone were terrible concessions to the consultant-driven politics of corporate empowerment, but why did the Democratic Party prefer self-marginalization rather than make any real effort to address economic pain and end the wars?

The scale of Donald Trump's resurgence is confirmation that his initial 2016 victory wasn't a fluke. Rather, the Obama era of strident identity politics plus pint-sized economic initiatives has received a definite rebuke. The 2024 election bears comparison to 1980 and 2000 for the working class's rejection of the very policies neoliberals thought would benefit them. I wouldn't describe it as realignment, which was mistakenly applied to 2004 and 2008 as well. This designation is thrown around by political operatives every few years, and except for 1968, in the wake of the Vietnam debacle and the South's backlash towards civil rights legislation, is rarely applicable.