Kamala’s muted stance on Gaza genocide gave Trump leg-up

Presidential election failure Kamala Harris was trounced by Donald Trump in 2024. Barring a handful of deluded centrist melts, most of us could see it coming. Her insipid campaign inspired few and delivered even less.

Many suspected her silence on Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians was also a factor in the loss. Now there seems to be solid evidence that this was indeed the case. The DNC has refused to release the report, bizarrely arguing that publishing an analysis of why it lost an election would distract it from the business of winning elections.

But parts of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) secret 2024 election autopsy report have leaked. These sections say the Biden administration’s position on Israel-Palestine did real damage – culminating in a Trump win.

US news site Axios got the scoop:

Top Democratic officials who worked on the party’s still-secret autopsy of the 2024 election concluded that Kamala Harris lost significant support because of the Biden administration’s approach to the war in Gaza.

The report found a split between the left and right of the party (progressive vs moderate in the clunky US terminology):

Progressive and moderate Democrats are particularly divided over Israel, with the left more critical of that nation’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza and many questioning the U.S.’s unwavering support for Israel.

Go figure…

The report claims – rather weakly to be frank – that Harris “sought to strike a balance”

showing strong support for Israel while calling for a ceasefire and expressing sympathy for Palestinians under attack in Gaza as well as the hostages being held by Hamas.

If that sounds anything like a ‘balance’ then American ‘moderates’ need remedial English lessons – but that’s hardly new. Pfft.

A net negative

The IMEU Policy Project gave particularly damning feedback to DNC staffers compiling the report:

The IMEU:

works to educate elected officials, policy-makers, and voters and advocate in Congress and the Executive Branch for US policies that advance Palestinian rights and freedom.

Axios reported:

Activists from the IMEU Policy Project told the DNC that the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel was a factor in the party’s losses because it drained support from some young people and progressives.

And Hamid Bendaas, a spokesperson for the IMEU Policy Project, said:

that during the meeting “the DNC shared with us that their own data also found that policy was, in their words, a ‘net-negative’ in the 2024 election.” Two other senior aides at the pro-Palestinian organization also said the DNC had drawn that conclusion.

They also underlined that:

Axios independently verified that Democratic officials conducting the autopsy believed the issue harmed the party’s standing with some voters.

Something of a ‘no shit, Sherlock’ moment then…

The full DNC report remains secret. The IMEU has claimed this is because of these findings:

The IMEU Policy Project is now accusing the DNC of withholding its report in part because of its findings on Israel.

The DNC has denied this. One Harris aide said the failed candidate has admitted the Democrats should have been better on Palestine:

Harris wrote that she privately “pleaded” with Biden to show more empathy for civilians in Gaza. But during her campaign, she declined to publicly break with him over Israel.

That may be the case. Or it may not. But the fact is that Harris didn’t break with Biden over Israel. Trump is now a year into his second term. And what a bloody year it has been.

The truth is if Harris was elected her government would still have been composed of pro-Israel imperialists. And they still would have groveled at the shrine of empire and private capital. The fact remains that but for an ounce of moral courage among a handful of comfortable, elite US liberals, the world could look quite different today.

Featured image via the Canary