'Permanent minority': How Democrats’ 'self-loathing' may cost them another election

04 April

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on February 2, 2024 (Photo by Anthony Quintano/Flickr)

After then-Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly lost the 2024 presidential election, cable news was full of pundits reflecting on possible reasons for her loss. And a recuring theme was "Democrats have a problem."

Many of the conversations exaggerated the margins of Donald Trump's victory. It was a close election, with Trump defeating Harris by a margin of just 1.5 percent in the national popular vote. And many of the swing states that Trump won found him doing so by small single-digit margins, including Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Almost three months into Trump's second term, the "Democrats have a problem" argument continues to be made — and more often by Democrats themselves. And The Atlantic's Mark Leibovich argues it has become counterproductive.

"Democrats have a problem: too many problems," Leibovich writes. "Identifying the problems is not one of those problems. 'Democrats have a trust problem,' suggests Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado. 'Democrats have a big narrative problem,' adds Rep. Greg Casar of Texas. 'Democrats have a vision problem,' says Rep. Ro Khanna of California."

Leibovich adds, "In general, Democrats have a 'Democrats have a problem' problem…. Here’s another problem: Problems are tedious. Talk about them endlessly, and people will start to avoid you at parties. It can foster self-loathing — and exacerbate the Democrats' preexisting 'big problem with its own voters.'"

According to Leibovich, Democrats and Republicans both "tend to over-dissect their problems and defeats."

"Every party that loses an election supposedly risks becoming a 'permanent minority,'" Leibovich observes. "This concern usually lasts no longer than an election cycle or two. 'Permanent' minorities usually turn out to be temporary."

Read Mark Leibovich's full article for The Atlantic at this link (subscription required).

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