It's not misogyny that defeated Kamala Harris. There is a certain insincerity lurking behind this explanation for the decisive victory of the Republican Party, which has led to the installation of Donald Trump, once again, in the White House.
It is the same insincerity with which the Harris-Walz campaign was carried out for months. In the face of an ‘unexpected' debacle, the Democrats in the US, along with other politicians across the world, will do well to introspect. What, indeed, was the problem?
It is easy to employ feminism to explain away Trump's triumph over two women in less than a decade. What is being forgotten easily here is the fact that she was recruited in a huff to replace Joe Biden, who was sure to have lost to Trump. An afterthought. The Democrats were desperate to fight anti-incumbency but addressed it from the wrong end.
Harris was used by her party as guilt-inducing bait in the 2024 presidential election, and her defeat has important lessons for everyone. First and most obviously, you cannot guilt-trip voters into supporting you unconditionally. The Harris-Walz campaign doubled down on making the undecided voter feel guilt-ridden for even considering a change. There was a complete lack of self-awareness on the part of campaign designers and ideological Democrat voters that their policies may have........