Former Vice President Kamala Harris finally got something right.
During a Wednesday interview with former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, she criticized her party over its faulty messaging strategy, saying that its leaders were not speaking “authentically.”
Harrison asked whether Harris believes the party is “too risk-averse” and that it tries “to play it safe too much, in terms of messaging and policy.”
“Yeah, I think we… I think that in some ways we are very much stuck in the past,” Harris said. “And so we’re not speaking in a way that sounds authentic or relatable or just relevant. You know, we’ve got to speak to this moment.”
The former vice president stated that “we have to be able to accept that there are voices that are maybe new to the room, but have something important to say.”
“I think that there is a lot that we need to do. That is about recognizing we give a lot of lip service to listening to the people — but are we really listening?" Harris added.
🚨Former Vice President Kamala Harris criticizes Democrats for their flawed messaging strategy.
— Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) December 17, 2025
"I think that in some ways, we are very much stuck in the past, and so we're not speaking in a way that sounds authentic or relatable or just relevant." pic.twitter.com/hDwbloPiHD
After the Democrats took a thorough shellacking in the 2024 elections, some decided to do some soul-searching to figure out where they went wrong. The New York Times published a piece explaining that the party’s focus on “abortion rights and the protection of democracy” did not resonate with the broader public. The party “failed to find an effective message against Mr. Trump and his down-ballot allies or to address voters’ unhappiness about the direction of the nation under Mr. Biden.”
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Others pointed out the Democrats’ constant obsession with identity politics as a clear factor. Instead of focusing primarily on an economic vision for the U.S., they honed in on LGBTQ issues.
A center-left organization known as Welcome published a study earlier this year explaining how the party damaged its brand by diving headfirst into far-leftist rhetoric that appeals only to “white liberals” and highly educated, affluent voters while alienating the working class and nonwhites.
The group’s polling revealed that 70 percent of voters “think the Democratic Party is ‘out of touch’” and that they focus too much on LGBTQ rights and climate change while largely ignoring immigration and crime.
Some Democrats appear to have woken up to the flaws in the party’s messaging strategy. But not enough. Most are still leaning in on identity politics and “Orange Man Bad,” hoping it will somehow propel them back into power. As a long term strategy, it’s about as effective as fighting an elephant with a toothpick. Americans are one with the culture wars, by and large. They want to know how they will afford gas, groceries, healthcare, and other necessities. Until Democrats realize that, they will fall further into irrelevancy.
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