The outcome of the recent presidential election has made one thing abundantly clear: the Democratic Party has lost touch with the standard American voter. This isn’t 2016 where the loss can be blamed on the flaws of the Electoral College. Not only did President-elect Donald Trump obtain a landslide victory with electoral votes, he won the popular vote as well. A reform of how the Democratic Party messages must be brought to utmost importance and there must be an acknowledgement of the division that has grown between them and the average American citizen in order for Democrats to see future political success on a national scale.

One of the biggest problems that Vice President Kamala Harris’s team faced was the lack of separation from her campaign and the current Biden administration. Granted, she didn’t have the most amount of time — only three and a half months or so, but regardless, Harris failed to differentiate her economic plan from President Biden’s perceived failing one. And if citizens don’t perceive the economy well, they will look for change, often in the opposite party. Throughout history it’s been evident that Americans continue to do one thing — vote with their pocketbooks. 

As many economists and data-driven individuals will counter, the standing of the United States’s economy under Biden’s term has been generally positive. According to Forbes, employment is up 12%, and written by the USA Today, the stock market is up with the “Dow Jones Industrial Average rising…nearly 35% since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term.” In contrast, however, only 23% of Americans currently rate the economy as “excellent” or “good”, per the PEW Research Center. The perception of the economy is what matters and Harris was faulted in getting this message of a strong economic standing across to the American people.

Issues like current price levels, especially the cost of [JUMP] gas and groceries, were hot topics on campaign trails, however, they were not adequately acknowledged by Harris. Her campaign turned to celebrity endorsements like Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift hoping that this would engage drifting voters. Instead of positive results from this encouragement, a fissure between average citizens continued to grow. The more that Democrats pull wealthy elites onto stage with them, the more the party is going to appear distanced from the working-class of America.

It’s clear that Americans are nostalgic for pre-pandemic prices and failed to see rising inflation appropriately addressed by Democrats. Instead, the Democratic party chose to focus on restoring reproductive freedoms, which is a critical issue, but unfortunately not at the forefront of the majority of citizen’s minds. The luxury of being able to make reproductive rights your focal point instead of how you will be able to put food on the table for your family is one that is not often recognized by Democrats. Failure to address the latter leads to unease and uncertainty in the party’s economic plan, as demonstrated by the election results. This lack of connection to the standard voter from Democrats was exploited by the Trump campaign, and done very well.  

The Democratic Party often likes to tell voters what and how to think when really it comes down to how the party makes voters feel. People feeling like they are cared about is critical to being favored in an election and it’s obvious that Harris did not spend enough time making middle America feel seen and heard throughout her campaign.

As Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in his official statement on the election, “it should come as a great no surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.” One of the things that President-elect Donald Trump does very successfully is message to voters. He listens to what Americans have to say and tells them what they want to hear, comforting them throughout their concerns. This messaging led him to the single greatest political comeback in United States history, handing him his second term of presidency.

This presidential election should serve as a wake-up call for the Democratic Party. An urge to find middle-ground with the working-class is a must. Democrats may pride themselves on diversity, which is a vital quality, but the party must find a way to not let the majority of America fall through the cracks.