WASHINGTON – When Kamala Harris appeared on ABC’s “The View” last month, it was meant to be a welcoming chance for her to share her background with Americans who might not know much about her.

However, the Democratic presidential nominee found it hard to convey how she would differ from President Joe Biden. “Not a thing that comes to mind,” she remarked, highlighting her position as the current vice president.

After President-elect Donald Trump won decisively against Harris, that moment on TV highlighted a critical weakness in her campaign that ultimately led to her defeat – her failure to distinguish herself from an unpopular president, whose approval ratings have remained around 40% during much of his term.

David Axelrod, a longtime adviser to Barack Obama, described the moment, which was featured in a Trump campaign advertisement, as “disastrous” for Harris while discussing the election results on CNN on Wednesday morning. “There’s no doubt about it. The question is: What motivated it?”

In numerous polls, Americans expressed for months that they felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.

Harris promoted her image as a representative of a “new generation of leadership,” claiming to be the candidate willing to collaborate with others and find practical solutions instead of engaging in political warfare to solve issues like rising costs and housing affordability.

However, as a sitting vice president, she did not embody the typical “change candidate,” remaining closely aligned with Biden. She showed loyalty to him even when many Americans voiced their concerns regarding his management of inflation and immigration at the southern border.

Ultimately, the election turned out to be far from the close contest many anticipated. It became a significant win for Trump, rejecting both Harris and the Democratic Party, and resulted in Republicans gaining control of the U.S. Senate.

Harris falls short among Black and Latino voters

Trump’s win became nearly certain when he was projected as the victor in Pennsylvania—an essential battleground state with 19 electoral votes. This is a state that Democrats had only lost once since 1988, during Trump’s previous victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The Harris campaign allocated substantial resources to four key battleground states in the Sun Belt: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina. Despite this effort, she seemed unlikely to secure victories in any of them. Additionally, the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall” shattered as Harris trailed Trump in Michigan and lost outright in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Harris and her team aimed to capture the presidency by appealing to moderate Republican and independent voters who were tired of years of conflict during the Trump era.

However, one of the main reasons the Democratic nominee lost was her inability to maintain support from essential Democratic voter groups—Black, Latino, and young voters—who fractured away.

Harris did well with Black voters, winning 86%-12%, and with Latino voters, capturing 53%-45% according to CNN exit polls. In stark contrast, in 2020, Biden had more substantial support, leading with Black voters 92%-8% and Latino voters 65%-32% over Trump.

At the same time, Harris worked to minimize losses in predominantly Republican rural counties in states like Pennsylvania but ended up performing worse than Biden in these areas, aligning instead with Clinton’s numbers in 2016.

Did Harris concentrate too heavily on Trump?

From the outset, Harris aimed to make the election a judgment on Trump.

In the campaign’s closing weeks, her rhetoric intensified, labeling the former president a fascist and portraying him as “unhinged and unstable.” She also referenced statements from Trump’s former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, who alleged

Trump has previously expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.

She progressively adopted the narrative of the election being a battle for democracy, echoing President Biden’s stance before he withdrew from the 2024 race.

“Kamala Harris lost this election when she chose to concentrate mainly on attacking Donald Trump,” noted seasoned pollster Frank Luntz on X (formerly Twitter). “Voters are already well aware of Trump – they needed to hear more about Harris’ vision for her first hour, day, month, and year in office.”

“It was a significant misstep for her campaign to focus more on Trump rather than Harris’ plans,” Luntz remarked.

Harris, who campaigned vigorously on restoring abortion rights, secured female voters by a 54%-44% margin, as reported by CNN exit polls, though this was a smaller margin compared to Biden’s 57%-42% performance among women in 2020. Conversely, Trump garnered male voters with an identical 54%-44% margin.

The topic of abortion did not energize voters as it had in 2022, when Democrats performed better than anticipated in the midterms.

This loss for Harris is the second instance in three election cycles where Democrats nominated a female candidate with hopes of making history, only to be defeated by Trump in both cases.

Democrats have much to reconsider

Outside of California, Harris was largely untested, having ended her 2020 Democratic primary campaign before the voting process began. She secured the Democratic nomination this time without any votes after the party quickly united behind her following Biden’s exit. In an attempt to attract Republicans and moderates, she tried to distance herself from some of the more liberal positions she held during her 2020 campaign.

Meanwhile, polling consistently revealed that many Americans hold fonder views of Trump’s presidency today, especially regarding his economic management, than they did while he was in office. A significant number of Americans seemed ready to overlook Trump’s numerous controversies, including four criminal indictments, two impeachments, and his involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

According to CNN exit polls, 51% of voters preferred Trump over Harris for handling the economy, which 31% identified as their primary concern.

This loss has prompted Democrats to reflect: Was Harris the correct candidate to challenge Trump? Could they have considered other options? Or should they have remained with Biden?