Is Kamala 2024 Clinton 2016?
Republican endorsements, running to the right on foreign policy, an unambitious agenda of incremental change less important than how bad the other guy is. Where have we seen this before?
US vice president Kamala Harris (L), New York governor Kathy Hochul (C), and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton (R) stand on stage during a rally in New York City on November 3, 2022. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)
You always got the sense that the Democratic Party resented having to learn anything from losing in 2016.
There’s no doubt that all the excuse-making that followed — blaming Russia, James Comey, the media, anyone but Hillary Clinton and her campaign — was the party’s desperate attempt to avoid taking responsibility for letting Donald Trump win and to assuage anger from their rank and file, lest they hold the party leadership accountable.
But tell a lie incessantly enough, and you start to believe it. And you can’t help but feel that Democrats really do believe that they ran a great campaign that would and should have won, if only it hadn’t been for the dastardly villains who pulled the rug out. This year, they seem determined to prove that thesis.
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