The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: The Democrats Are Addicted to Losing

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

On this week’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Hanson breaks down the party’s post-2024 election autopsy and explains why they’re doomed to fail if they continue on their trajectory. “ After the defeat of Kamala Harris in November 2024, the Democrats decided recently to run an autopsy, a discovery, so to speak, of why they lost that election. These autopsies are not uncommon for the losing political party, but they only tend to work if you're honest and you try to analyze every considerable factor or criterion without censorship or without fear. “ They didn't have issues and policies that reflected their core values, but would also appeal to the middle class. … They don't want to talk about the middle class because their policies—open borders, The Green New Deal, Critical Race Theory, Critical Legal Theory, defund the police—all that have to be rejected because they're anathema to the middle class. They won't do it.” 👉Brought to you by Freespoke.com, the search engine built to be unbiased.  Join the over 10,000 patriots who’ve upgraded to Freespoke Premium. Use promo code “ds25” for a limited-time special discount. Freespoke Premium includes: Unlimited, Unbiased AI — Search without the censorship Ad-Free, Fully Private Browsing Deep Dive Podcast Access Filter Out Media Bias Block Sites You Don’t Trust 📅This offer is only valid during the month of July. [Join the Campaign Now →] https://freespoke.com/premium/subscribe?coupon=ds25 (0:00) The Nomination of Joe Biden (0:20) Democratic Policies and the Middle Class (0:50) Autopsy of the 2024 Election Defeat (1:29) The 2020 Primaries (2:13) Kamala Harris: Anointed but Unsuccessful (2:52) Bill Clinton's Middle-Class Appeal (3:19) Democratic Policies: A Middle-Class Disconnect (3:36) Lessons from the 2008 Republican Autopsy (5:46) The Need for Change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. Why was Joe Biden nominated in the first place? When he was president, they hid his dementia. And then when he was no longer useful and could not serve as a waxen effigy for a radical agenda, they dumped him. At that point, they should have had an open convention. But they didn't.

They annoyed at Kamala Harris, who had been a candidate. Her campaign was an visible failure. The Democrats don't want to talk about the middle class because their policies. All that have to be rejected because they're anathom to the middle class. Until the Democrats look in the mirror and say, we have a message that nobody wants in the middle class, they'll never change. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal. After the defeat of Kamala Harris in November 2024,

the Democrats decided recently to run an autopsy, a discovery, so to speak, of why they lost that election. These autopsies are not uncommon for the losing political party. But they only tend to work if you're honest and you try to analyze every considerable factor or criterion without censorship or without fear. In the case of the Democrats, though, there are certain elements of that campaign that were obviously wrong and contributed to their defeat. So we would expect the following. Why was Joe Biden nominated in the first place? He seemed to, after the South Carolina primary of 2020, kind of me coronated.

He had lost New Hampshire. He had lost Iowa. And then the party bosses came in and said, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, these people are too radical, will get old Joe Biden from Scranton, even though he's not alert. And then when he was president, they kind of created a cabal, didn't they, that hid his dementia. And then when he was no longer useful and could not, you know, serve as a waxen effigy for a radical agenda under his name or his auto pin, then they dumped him. And yet, at that point, they should have had an open convention. But they didn't. They annoyed it Kamala Harris, who had been a candidate in 2020, a dismal candidate, and had not won one delicate.

Her campaign, truncated, though it was, was an abysimable failure. I mean, she went through a billion dollars. she really didn't have a message. She avoided the press. When she did try to speak extemporaneously, it was a word solid, and she was just an unimpressive candidate. More importantly, though, they didn't have issues and policies that reflected their core values, but would also appeal to the middle class. Bill Clinton was a liberal, but he ran in 92 and 96 on 100 new police officers. Abortion should be, remember, legal, safe, but rare. School uniforms, juveniles who commit violent crimes

should be punished accordingly. There should be a secure border. Illegal immigration is wrong. And then he made a populist appeal to the middle class. The Democrats are not going there anyway. They don't want to talk about the middle class because their policies, open borders, the Green New Deal, critical race theory,

legal theory, defund the police, all that have to be rejected because they're anathema to the middle class. They won't do it. Look what happened in 2008 when John McCain lost. Remember that to Barack Obama? He didn't do very well at all. He was a moderate Republican. About 10,000 Republicans were unimpressed and stayed home or 10,000, 10 million independents or whatever we want to call them. But the point is there were millions of voters who would have voted for a Republican candidate had he just appealed to the middle class and said there wasn't much difference if you look at their respective campaigns between John McCain and Barack Obama. And when John McCain lost, there was a Republican autopsy. And what did they find? Well, they picked Michael Steele because he

was black and he was, I guess, a McCainite. But he wasn't a, I don't know, he wasn't the medicine for the cause of John McCain's defeat. Remember what they also did? They started idealizing Barack Obama. David Frum, a Republican strategist, had a very infamous essay where he compared Barack Obama to what he said was a new head of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh. And he said he's white, he's fat, he's had multiple marriages,

he's not a good example. That wasn't the point. The point was that Rush Limbaugh, had some ideas, not all of them that could be incorporated into a new Republican message, but close the border, protect American citizens, try to create a new policy that favors the middle class in matters of trade and tariffs, avoid optional wars in the Middle East, on the ground at least, that rely on the middle class that you have neglected during globalization to fight for you.

Try to be physically responsible. All those were core Republican values, and yet when you looked at that Republican autopsy of 2009, it was essentially as try to out identity politics or let in people from south of the border illegally. It was not a corrective. Bottom line is until the Democrats look in the mirror and say, we have a message that nobody wants in the middle class, it's antithful. to the middle class, on crime, on immigration, on energy, on foreign policy, on the economy. They'll never change. They will never change. And they're like addicts. They can't live with DEI,

with the Green New Deal, with this utopian globalization, and they can't live without it. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for The Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to The Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.