Thread by @MikeNellis

I just listened to the Pod Save America episode with VP Harris' leadership team, reflecting on what went wrong in the 2024 presidential election. Here are some quick thoughts on what stood out to me. 🧵

First, they talked about Harris not wanting to differentiate herself from Biden. Her loyalty to him is admirable, and I appreciate it deeply. But in a change election, that likely cost her more voters than it gained.

Voters were looking for change, and we didn’t represent that. Instead, we were framed as an extension of policies (or perceived policies) that people were angry about. That’s a hard sell with inflation as it was, no matter how strong the candidate or campaign was.

There’s also this tension that Harris’ leadership wanted to differentiate more from Biden, but Harris herself didn’t let them. I get it. It’s her campaign, not theirs. Been there many times. You can only push so far against the principle.

In hindsight, I wonder if an open primary in 2023 would’ve changed anything. Harris did an overall excellent job with just 100 days to close the gap, but would a fresh candidate have pulled it off? Hard to say, but not impossible given how close it was in swing states.

And yes, I think Democrats need to look into the abyss and realize that Biden not stepping back in 2023 was a huge unforced error. It would have been messy, but it should have happened. I still see too many people acting like he should have run in the general.

Another topic that stood out to me: super PAC coordination and lawyers. Plouffe said: “We’re playing a different game.” Democrats are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs while the GOP is outright coordinating in public. That's an issue.

It’s time to stop playing nice. We need to stretch the limits of what’s possible and be as ruthless as Republicans when it comes to using every tool at our disposal. I love our lawyers, but we need to be more aggressive or we're going to get killed.

On messaging: it’s clear the trans ad hurt Harris. I’ve heard stories of door-knockers begging HQ for talking points, only to be told the ad wasn’t having much effect, so “don’t worry about it.”

That's a huge red flag to me.

The ad was in Harris’ own voice, with the “they/them” tagline at the end—a brilliant (and horrible) piece of GOP messaging. It required a direct and broader response imho. It sounded to me like most of what they did was targeted digital responses which wasn't enough.

For examples of how to effectively respond to attacks, look at Gov. Beshear's ads in KY or some swing-state Senate Dems. There’s a way to hit back without taking the bait, but the campaign seemed hesitant to go there.

I will also note it's harder to do that when the ad is using Harris' own words against her. It's a good reminder that we get to decide what we talk about, when we talk about it, how we talked about it. We need to do a better job of not putting ourselves in situations like that.

On podcasts and alternative media: sounds like the team wanted Harris to go on Rogan but couldn’t make it work logistically. They didn’t want to make another trip back to Texas, but honestly, they should have. It's too big of an audience to avoid.

They didn't talk about it, but I’ve also seen a lot out there about concerns over junior staff revolting if she went on Rogan. That’s silly. You don’t always get to love every decision in a campaign. Putting her on Rogan was one of those things that should have happened.

I don't think going on Rogan would have changed the outcome to be clear, but it would have helped. They should have done Theo Von, too—and others like it. Campaigns need to meet people where they are, especially with podcasts/YouTube driving so much of the current media ecosystem.

They also talked about how a lot of other shows turned them down, opting not to get into politics. That makes sense to me. A lot of folks don't want to damage their brands. One I've been wondering about lately is Conan—why didn't she go on Conan? Did he not want to do it? Biden did.

That's about it. I thought most of it was sticking to the normal talking points, playing things closer to the vest. I get it. I'm also not going to sit here and shit on people. They were in an impossible situation with very little time and sometimes it is what it is.

Let me know what you think 👇