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Dear John,
What is “The Lesson” from the 2024 election? I’m hearing a lot of theories, and most of them are wrong. It’s certainly not that Democrats need to move to the right. Oh, please!
It’s not that Harris ran a bad campaign. I think she ran a good one given that she had just over three months to do it. And yes, while misogyny and racism absolutely played a role, I don’t believe they were the biggest factors either.
Here’s the real lesson: A top issue for most Americans was the economy.
While the economy has improved over the last four years, according to standard economic measures, most Americans without college degrees -- that’s the majority -- have not felt it. These Americans overwhelmingly voted for Trump.
Let’s think this through together. In this week’s video, we reflect on the direction the Democrats need to take in order to come through the Trump years stronger and firmly on the side of the struggling 90% of Americans.
The real lesson of 2024 is that Democrats must not just give voice to the anger, but also explain how record inequality has corrupted our system, and commit to limiting the political power of big corporations and the super-rich.
Democrats need to tell Americans why their pay has been lousy for decades and their jobs are less secure -- and who is to blame. It’s not because of immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, the “deep state,” or any other MAGA bogeyman. It’s because of the power of large corporations and the rich to rig the market and siphon off most of the economy’s gains.
The Democratic Party should use this inflection point to become an anti-establishment party, ready to shake up the system on behalf of the vast majority of Americans.
This is and should be The Lesson of the 2024 election.
What do you think? I hope you will watch the video here, and share your thoughts in the comments!
Thank you for committing to the coming resurgence of the Democratic Party.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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