Ex-Obama Aides Break Down Reasons Kamala Harris Lost Election

Democrats across America are mourning the loss of the 2024 election after Vice President Kamala Harris conceded to President-elect Donald Trump.

On the latest episode of the podcast Pod Red America, hosts Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Lovett, who all worked in the White House under former President Barack Obama, discussed the outcome of the election and attempted to dispel the factors that contributed to Harris’ loss.

“A majority of the country, which includes all ages, races, genders, religions and political persuasions, chose four more years with Donald Trump. Either because they like him, because they like his agenda, or they see him and his agenda as enough of a risk, or they voted for him based on bad or incomplete information,” Favreau said.

“Or they hated Democrats,” Vietor replied, before discussing the main reasons behind the election results.

President Joe Biden should not have run

President Joe Biden initially sought re-election until a poor debate performance and concerns about his age ultimately led him to drop out in July, leaving Harris the nominee and having just over 100 days to campaign.

“It was a mistake for Joe Biden to run for re-election,” Vietor said.

“What she was asked to do was practically impossible,” Lovett added.

Dan Pfieffer stated earlier in the episode that: “The sitting president has an approval rating of about 40 or 41 percent.”

Vietor added: “The White House took the wrong lessons from the 2022 midterms. They didn’t listen to obvious voter concerns about Joe Biden’s age and anger about the economy.”

The economy

It was clear among the podcast hosts that the economy was a key factor.

“Most people, at least according to the exit poll and almost every other poll we’ve seen in the last few years, say, ‘I’ve faced economic hardship because of inflation,'” Favreau said.

“Three-quarters of voters believe the country is on the wrong track, two-thirds are dissatisfied with the economy. In the exit poll, 45 percent of voters said their families’ financial situation was worse than it was four years ago.” Pfeiffer said.

“This was a financial problem, and people blamed the top of the ticket for bad financial conditions,” Favreau said.

The Democratic Party’s Changing Identity

The four men discussed the identity of the Democratic Party and how it relates to voters as a factor that also affected the election outcome.

“Our party is now the party of an educated, cosmopolitan minority,” Lovett said. Vietor added: “My main concern is how we are able to take back the mantle as a party for the working class. Because I am concerned that we have lost it.”

Favreau talked about how the Democrats dealt with people’s identity, and the influence of this on politics. “People’s racial, ethnic, gender identity are not the most salient factors in their politics.”

“We as a party have to stop treating them like that. This party cannot be the sum of its identities and interest groups that have to be a bigger message of improving people’s lives,” he said.

“The idea for a while that Latinos only care about immigration, black voters only care about criminal justice reform, or women only care about reproductive freedom, that’s condescending and it’s just wrong. We need to have a message that reaches everyone, that everyone can see themselves in,” Favreau said.

Foreign policy

Vietor highlighted the influence of foreign policy on the election result. Conflict and rising tensions in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine were factors for many voters in the election.

“We need to get back to being the anti-war party again,” he said. “Four percent of voters in exit polls said foreign policy made their decision.”

Vietor said: “People were not only offended by the war in Gaza, but concerned about the amount of money the US is spending on weapons for Ukraine, and we have to either think of a new way to talk about why it’s important , and why we do it or refocus our foreign policy priorities.”

“You heard a lot of people say that Donald Trump is going to be the guy that keeps us out of World War 3,” he said, adding, “That’s the opposite of the conversation in 2016.”

The establishment

“Trump was able to take the mantle of the anti-establishment candidate at a time when voters were really, really mad,” Vietor said, adding that people’s anger was enough to justify “taking a chance” on a second Trump term.

Vietor added that the anti-establishment sentiment saw voters who hated Washington look to Trump because he “looks like the guy who’s going to burn it down.”

“If we are always able to defend democratic institutions that most of the people in the country don’t believe work for them, then we will be defenders of a broken system,” Favreau said.

Pfieffer said the Democrats: “must become a party that wants to reform democracy.”

Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign outside normal business hours via email for comment.

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