You Can't Save Democracy Without Valuing the Electorate

If Democrats Want to Win and ‘Save Democracy’ They Have to Listen to Their Base

There’s this tug of war between the monied interests who fund Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and the voters she needs to beat Donald Trump. Donors and voters want different things, and as the Democratic Party is being pulled in two different directions, they’re leaning into questionable tactics to garner enough support to win.

Polls indicate that Trump and Harris are still neck-and-neck. Think about that: the race remains insanely close despite every attack Democrats throw at the former President, including his fake electors scheme, criminal convictions, talk of using the military against political opponents and (admittedly hilarious but ill-advised) affinity for dick discourse. I mean that literally. The man has thoughts on genitalia and he will share them on the campaign trail.

With all of his transgressions and issues in mind, Democrats seem to be unable to secure a comfortable lead against Trump both nationally and in critical battleground states. Rather than look inward and ask themselves what they’re getting wrong, the left has instead sharpened their ability to scold voters who don’t fall completely in line with their demands. Barack Obama accusing black men who don’t support Harris of sexism comes to mind.

The shame campaign has even directed its ire toward public figures who openly announce their plan to vote for Harris, but stop short of providing a full-throated endorsement due to policy disagreements.

One such example involves singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, who publicly declared that she will vote for Harris. But that wasn’t good enough. Roan also said that she doesn’t want to vociferously endorse Harris due to the way the Biden administration has handled Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, among other things.

“There’s no way I can stand behind some of the left’s completely transphobic and completely genocidal views,” she said in a viral TikTok post. “Fuck Trump, for fucking real, but fuck some of the shit that has gone down in the Democratic Party that has failed people like me and you.” 

I personally don’t see how the Democratic Party is transphobic. But it’s still her right to vote for and endorse whomever she feels is the best candidate to represent her values. The problem is, she doesn’t feel either party does. 

During an interview with Rolling Stone, the Roan shared her disillusionment with both parties, telling writer Brittany Spanos, “Fuck the government, and fuck everything that’s going on right now.” And then she uttered something that I suspect deeply resonates with many voters: 

“I don’t have a side because I hate both sides, and I’m so embarrassed about everything going on right now.”

Agreed!

No one running for office is entitled to a damn thing. In a system where leaders are democratically elected, candidates need to earn votes. This is something Harris herself has said repeatedly on the campaign trail. Earning support is very different from pressuring, scolding or shaming Americans into backing a candidate.  

Unfortunately, some of the ladies on The View opted for the scolding approach anyway, and chastised the singer for daring to be critical of the party at all. Joy Behar shot back at Roan by declaring that “we’re in an emergency in this country,” due to what she and many Democrats perceive as Trump’s threat to democratic norms. 

Sunny Hostin joined in with even more rancor, arguing that “we are at an inflection point in our country.” She believes public figures should use their platforms to help defeat Trump. “This election matters more than any other election. We may not have elections after this election if [Trump] wins.”

Regardless of how big of a threat Hostin or Behar believe Trump is, the fact remains that Harris still needs to win the election by appealing to voters. The notion that it’s incumbent upon voters to do the work by engaging in pressure campaigns on behalf of Harris is, well, undemocratic and likely ineffective. 

One of Roan’s grievances - the ongoing and expanding war in the Middle East - actually resonates deeply with most Democratic voters. Back in March, Gallup found that the majority of Americans disapproved of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

When asked “do you approve or disapprove of the military action Israel has taken in Gaza,” the percentage of those who agreed dropped from 50 percent in November 2023 to only 36 percent in March 2024. The numbers were even more pronounced for Democrats and Independents.

A measly 18 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Independents, who tend to decide elections, approved of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Since then, more and more polling has yielded similar results.

But Biden has refused to change course. Based on the rhetoric we’ve heard from Harris, along with the DNC’s unwillingness to allow a Palestinian surrogate to deliver a pre-approved speech at the Democratic National Convention, there’s no reason to believe that the she will substantively rein in America’s unwavering support for anything Israel wants to do.

This is where the tug of war between monied interests and the Democrat’s base comes into play. The pro-Israel lobby J Street, which does not support an arms embargo on Israel, has raised $6 million dollars for the Harris campaign. That campaign cash, like any other massive contribution to a candidate from a lobbying group, comes with strings attached.

Sludge reporter Donald Shaw writes that: 

“Like Harris, J Street, a liberal alternative to the more hawkish American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), has called for a ceasefire by Israel, but has not endorsed an arms embargo where the U.S. would halt weapons shipments until Israel stops its attacks on Gaza.”

There is no reason to believe that the Israeli government will rethink their military action if the U.S. refuses to withhold weapons as leverage. What incentive would they have? At least 69 percent of Israel’s weapons are purchased from U.S. companies, and American taxpayers send Israel over $3.3 billion a year in military funding. In fact, the U.S. have forked over $130 billion in military funding since 1948.

This is where the tug of war comes into play. What the voters want differs wildly from what the donors want. But if voters vocalize their discontent with the Democrats they’re met with establishment fury. The scolds might be impactful for some voters, but certainly not all.

Harris could lose the critical battleground state of Michigan due to its sizable Arab American population and their understandable anger over Biden’s handling of the war. The Arab American Institute recently found that the community’s support for the Democratic Party has eroded for the first time in 30 years. 

But instead of genuinely listening to and considering the concerns of the voters, Democrats and their supporters in the press have decided to skewer them for helping Trump win at best, or smearing them as terrorist devotees at worst. It’s unclear how that helps Harris win their support.

This core conflict between monied interests and voters is unsustainable for the party. Unfortunately, past election cycles show that the candidate will likely side with the big money donors over voters, which steps on the Democrats’ core message of ‘saving democracy.” Politicians can’t expect voters to value our democratic process when the process doesn’t seem to value them.