Democrats Argue That the 2024 Election Actually Had Its Bright Spots
The New York Times
Some leaders have begun to put a sunnier spin on the November outcome by pointing to down-ballot victories — a possible sign that Democrats may not tear down their party after all.
For most Democrats, losing to Donald J. Trump was a devastating gut punch that sent them hurtling into the political abyss.
But to hear some party leaders and their allies talk, Democrats had plenty of November victories to be proud of.
Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote a 2,600-word memo to party members last week that pointed to down-ballot triumphs and declared, “Democrats beat back global headwinds that could’ve turned this squeaker into a landslide.”
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, wrote in a statement recently that his caucus had “defied political gravity,” a reference to the newly released “Wicked” movie that was soon echoed by Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat.
And further down the ballot, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee wrote in its year-end report that the party’s successes in statehouse races represented “one of the most shocking election results in modern history” — even though Democrats lost majorities in chambers in Michigan and Minnesota.
These sunny-side-up views of the election serve as something of an antidote to the notion that Democrats, humbled by their 2024 mistakes, are about to begin rebuilding their party from the ground up.
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