The Hard Truth. Trump Didn’t Win this Election – Democrats Lost It.

I sniffle through my so-called ‘liberal tears’ as I stare at the screen in front of me in disorienting disgust. It’s 2024, and America has just voted for a man convicted of 34 felonies over an accomplished woman lawyer with an outstanding track record.

I am an American Latina who loves and believes in this country. One who proudly dropped off her voting ballot, encouraged others to vote, sent voter guides to friends, and posted about the threat of another Donald Trump presidency.

This mind-bending reality is destroying me, just like it is destroying democratic voters across the country. We stand bewildered, shocked, and scared, shrugging our shoulders and wondering what the hell went wrong. What did we miss? The news media cycles for the next few months will undoubtedly debate this question, but most will skip the honest conversations we need to have with ourselves and our peers.

There are two dreadful categories of answers—the easy answers and the hard answers.

It’s easy to say that America is still inherently racist and sexist because it’s true. Despite the civil rights movement of the 1960s and all the social progress made since, it really only has been 49 years since Latinas got the right to vote. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act that ended discrimination against “language minorities.” In the grand spectrum of history, this is a minor period compared to the hundreds of years it took to end slavery, of which our black brothers and sisters still suffer the social and financial repercussions of today.

49 Years later, Latinos in California just now are at the growing height of their prime. We’re winning seats in Congress and graduating college at record numbers. Academia is now filled with nuanced dissertations of Latine academics who offer the missing perspectives of history we lacked in our high school textbooks. There’s even a Latina-led news media outlet! We must be advancing society, right?

So how did Donald Trump win when we have so many of us working hard and entering the higher echelons of society? How, when he demonized us, our communities, and disparaged the Central American countries of our ancestors?

It’s easy to say that Kamala lost because she is a woman of color and voters are sexist, racist and simply not ready for a female president. It’s easy to say that the country is stupid and uneducated. It’s even a bit elitist, and it makes me cringe just typing it.

But it’s even harder to admit that the Democratic party betrayed their voting base, deceptively stringing us along for 4 years amid the threat of another Trump presidency. It’s hard to admit that they pushed Biden upon us in 2020, entertaining us with a democratic primary where many contenders, including Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, validly questioned the Democratic establishment and pushed a progressive agenda.

Despite his poor debate performance, Biden was ushered into the primary seat by the establishment, never giving voters a chance to choose their favorite candidate. By the time the Democratic National Convention came around, they had effectively pushed all competitors out of the race to ensure Biden’s nomination.

And we all said sure, whatever it takes to beat Donald Trump.

Biden won, and all went “back to normal.” Four years of unmemorable accomplishments went by for the Democratic party. The promises made during the 2020 campaign faded away. Immigration was never fixed, abortion was never protected, and I, as a Latina, felt incredibly ignored by my own party. I felt angry and deceived. I worked hard to represent the Democrats in my community, but scrutiny over the party’s poor decisions and lack of connection to voters was getting incredibly hard to challenge.

How long can we keep saying it is the fault of the voters, when it is the responsibility of the party to win our vote?

As we headed into the 2024 election year, Democratic voters across the country resoundingly began rejecting President Biden. Personally, I did not feel like he represented what he ran for, nor did I feel he was strong enough in his messaging to win another election against Donald Trump. I still remember getting nauseous every time I heard the President talk about immigration; it made me despondent, concerned and made me question my vote for him. I won’t engage in the age issue here, but I am sure everyone watched him speak and realized “shit, he isn’t going to cut it.” We all knew this.

The Democratic Party refused to listen.

It wasn’t until they saw the polls showing a Biden loss against Trump that they decided to switch their candidate, questionably, only a few months before the election. The fact is, Kamala didn’t win a primary election as a presidential candidate, and as much as I want a female president, the way she was chosen struck me as incredibly undemocratic. It felt like the party ignored us until they couldn’t, but by the time they changed course, it was too late.

I love Kamala Harris, but her presidential campaign run was botched into a 5-month sprint for a party that had lost the trust of their voters, with only one debate against Trump to show her skill set (and she absolutely nailed it). This was not enough to win.

Democratic Establishment failed to listen to their voters, coalition of organizers, activists, and advocates. They failed so hard that I, a lifelong Democrat, am questioning their motives and values. Vote after vote, the election process feels like an unfair game of chasing the carrot, where you jump for the carrot, and do back-flips but never actually get the carrot.

I have spent 14 years voting and I am fed up with the Democratic Party. At every political loss, they have disparaged young voters, blamed us for not doing enough, and blamed third-party voters for not falling in line when it is their lack of connection, insight, and responsibility to voters that have made them fail. If I hear them blame voters for this loss (and they will, it’s a classic talking point) I will take my vote elsewhere next presidential run, and no, I will never vote for a Republican.

The hardest truth of all is that what I did to sway this election was not enough. As a Latina voter, I could have done more to help dispel the misinformation rampant in my community. I could have volunteered, knocked on doors, and most importantly, I could have challenged my Trump-voting family members. With so much on the line, I think many of us feel this way. This is a guilt I will carry for the next 4 years as I work my ass off to fix the system. Something has got to change, and it starts with taking a hard look at the Democratic Party and determining if they are truly a party for the people, or just another corporate vampire, living only to suck us dry.

What will you do in the next 4 years, sis?