Outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrison Claims Democrats Weren’t Woke Enough

Among Democratic political professionals, a consensus has formed around the notion that the Biden/Harris campaign lost the 2024 presidential election because they lost the center of the electorate.

In “every battleground state,” Democratic strategist David Plouffe observed, “there’s more conservatives than liberals.” Getting the progressive base to vote to turn out — which Kamala Harris’s campaign absolutely did — is not enough. “We have to dominate the moderate vote,” Plouffe declared. His comments are reflective of an emerging understanding that ascribes the party’s shortcomings to voters’ dissatisfaction with pocketbook issues and the perception among the electorate that Democratic priorities were misplaced.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Among Democratic political professionals, a consensus has formed around the notion that the Biden/Harris campaign lost the 2024 presidential election because they lost the center of the electorate.

In “every battleground state,” Democratic strategist David Plouffe observed, “there’s more conservatives than liberals.” Getting the progressive base to vote to turn out — which Kamala Harris’s campaign absolutely did — is not enough. “We have to dominate the moderate vote,” Plouffe declared. His comments are reflective of an emerging understanding that ascribes the party’s shortcomings to voters’ dissatisfaction with pocketbook issues and the perception among the electorate that Democratic priorities were misplaced.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.