Bernie Sanders pounces on Kamala Harris' stubborn farewell speech

Kamala Harris' favorite spot when she attended Howard University in the 1980s was a large, grassy area in the middle of campus called the Yard. She stood there and watched as the musicians played their instruments, as the doctors left the laboratory and as the students laughed together. “That was the beauty of Howard,” she wrote in her memoir. “Every signal showed the students that we could be anything – we were young, talented and black – and we should not let anything stand in the way of our success.” Forty years later, Harris hoped to herald her ascension to the American presidency at the Yard to announce.

But it wasn't meant to be. There she conceded defeat yesterday afternoon (November 6) in front of a small crowd of supporters, staff and Howard students. Her uplifting tone was unbowed. She delivered a message of defiant hope. “Today my heart is full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of determination,” she said. She wanted to inspire her followers to continue the fight against the kind of politics that Trump represented, politics that left her undefined. “While I concede this election, I do not acknowledge the fight that fueled this campaign – the fight for freedom,” she said. “Never give up on making the world a better place. You have power. You have power.”

It was surreal. Their positivity gave the impression that Harris hadn't really lost, that the entire reason everyone was there wasn't now redundant, and that Republicans hadn't (almost certainly) won the popular vote for the first time since 2004. She had no remorse over the defeat and did not try to come to terms with the reasons for her defeat. The message was the opposite: keep calm and carry on, stay the course, carry on. She spoke as if nothing had gone wrong and the strategy had been successful. Her finale was characteristic of her campaign: “I know many people feel that we are entering a dark time, but for the good of everyone I hope that is not the case.” But if it's America, then so be it Let us fill the sky with the light of a bright, shining billion stars.” At this point the people around me began to giggle.

Minutes before Harris took the stage, a statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders began ringing on attendees' phones. It was a sharp rebuke to everything she wanted to say. It said: “It should come as no surprise that a Democratic Party that has failed the working class would find that the working class has failed them… While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and wants change.” And they’re right,” he said. “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn real lessons from this disastrous campaign? …Probably not.”

This was a furious indictment of the Democratic Party. It echoed David Axelrod's comment on CNN that the party was treating the working class like “locals” who needed to be civilized. Despite his opposition to the government's arms sales to Israel, Sanders supported Harris. But his statement yesterday marked the first blow in the dispute over the reasons for the party's defeat, the outcome of which will determine its direction over the next four years. Dissenters are already criticizing Harris for cozying up to Republicans like Liz Cheney, playing down Biden's economic populism and relying on superficial and incoherent messaging. Expect a reckoning with Gaza as some quiet voices express concern over the party's failure to stop illegal migrant border crossings.

On the other hand, Harris' aides are already pointing out that the blame should lie with Joe Biden's refusal to resign in a timely manner. But Democrats are in trouble if the focus continues to be on the timing of Biden's departure. Would Harris have won if she had more time? Isn't there a risk that the more the public got to know them, the worse the outcome would have been?

Her concession speech was a sign that the party elite will carry on as before without thinking about the distance between them and large parts of the electorate. After the crowds filed out of the gates back toward downtown Washington, one man remarked cheerfully to a friend, “You know, I remember Hillary gave one too Impressive Concession speech in 2016”.