U.S. Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves at supporters as she walks off stage after speaking at Howard University in Washington, DC, on Nov. 6.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

If there is one constant in American politics, it is that the losing party in any election typically fails to internalize the lessons of its defeat, while the winner tends to exaggerate the meaning of the mandate voters have given it. This time is unlikely to be any different.

American voters may have delivered an emphatic verdict this week on the Democratic Party’s overindulgence in identity politics and lack of focus on working-class concerns. But that does not mean they want economic autarky or unchecked Republican rule.

After taking all seven of the most hotly contested battleground states and winning the popular vote, president-elect Donald Trump insisted voters had handed him an “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.” But he will have the shortest political honeymoon on record if he misinterprets his victory as a licence to indulge his worst instincts.

Still, Democrats should not count on Trump 2.0 being enough of a train wreck to revive their own fortunes. They need to take a long hard look at why so many Americans chose Mr. Trump over Kamala Harris,........

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