Kamala and her cabal can’t understand where they went wrong. Now the entire party is in jeopardy.
And the Democrat Party is fracturing after being hit with a massive truth bomb.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., has issued a stark warning for Democrats: the Republican Party is making gains among key demographics that Democrats have alienated by veering too far Left.
After Trump’s surprising victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats and political analysts have been left scrambling to understand how he managed to expand his support across a broad spectrum of voters — spanning ages, genders, and races — including those in urban strongholds traditionally seen as Democratic bastions.
Discussing this shift with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Torres echoed concerns raised in a recent analysis describing this election as potentially marking “the end of the Obama coalition.”
“The far-left is a gift to Donald Trump, and it is a gift that will keep on giving until there is a serious reckoning with the results of the election and a serious recalibration,” Torres cautioned.
The congressman highlighted alarming trends in Trump’s appeal to groups Democrats once thought were secure. “When you zoom in on the specific demographics that Trump made progress with in this election, there is cause for concern,” Torres explained.
He pointed to Trump’s success in making inroads in urban areas, saying, “Not only did Donald Trump crack the blue wall in the industrial Midwest, but he is beginning to crack the blue wall, the ultimate blue wall, in urban America.”
Trump’s gains in traditionally deep-blue areas were striking. “He came within five points of winning New Jersey. He came within 12 points of winning New York. One-in-3 New Yorkers in New York City voted for Donald Trump,” Torres noted.
Even in the South Bronx, where Barack Obama secured 96% of the vote in 2012, Trump managed to win nearly 30% this time — a swing of more than 20 points. “We no longer live in a world where the Latino vote can be taken for granted,” Torres warned.
He also referenced Trump’s overwhelming success in Stark County, a Latino-majority area in Texas that has historically voted Democratic since the 19th century. “If that is not cause for alarm, I am not sure what would be,” he said.
Melber questioned whether the Republican Party has now captured the counter-cultural energy that once energized the Obama coalition. Torres acknowledged that while Democrats are still performing well at the congressional level, Harris’s campaign failed to appeal to a crucial group: young men.
“I am concerned that there are increasing numbers of men who are gravitating toward the Republican Party, and we have to outreach to those men,” Torres said.
He criticized Harris’s decision to avoid appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which commands a massive following among young men. “I thought it was unwise for Vice President Harris not to go on Joe Rogan.”
Torres argued that Democrats must embrace a more inclusive strategy to counteract this shift. “If we have confidence in our messaging as Democrats, we have to take our messaging everywhere. We have to take our message to every corner of the media ecosystem, including alternative media, which has ushered in a brave new world,” he said.
Reflecting on the broader challenges facing the party, Torres urged Democrats to avoid an air of condescension.
“I feel like as a party, we have to look inward, we have to be careful not to scold, or scapegoat, or shame anyone,” he emphasized. “Condescension is not only bad morals, it is bad politics.”
To illustrate the danger of looking down on voters, Torres shared an anecdote about Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic candidate who lost two presidential elections in landslides.
“There is a story of a fan of Adlai Stevenson who said to Adlai Stevenson, ‘Mr. Stevenson, you’re gonna have the support of every thinking American,’ and he said, ‘Madam, I need a majority of the American people.’”
“That kind of condescension,” Torres concluded, “is not only bad morals, it is bad politics. It’s gonna not only lose you goodwill, it’s gonna lose you elections. So, we have to listen, and learn, and be careful never to shame or scapegoat.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
