WEBVTT - Kamala’s identity politics fail

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<v Speaker 1>From The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey a special bonus episode

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<v Speaker 1>of The Front for You Today. How did Kamala Harris

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<v Speaker 1>and the Democrats fail so comprehensively? Gender, race, and celebrity

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<v Speaker 1>all played out in ways the Harris campaign didn't expect

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<v Speaker 1>and delivered Donald Trump back to the White House. Today?

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<v Speaker 1>Are US reporter Joe Kelly helps me soort rhetoric from

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<v Speaker 1>reality In the wake of the democrats defeat.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome the next President of these United States, Hamma Harras Good, Seek.

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<v Speaker 1>Seek, No. She couldn't. Kamala Harris couldn't turn around the

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<v Speaker 1>disastrous campaign begun by Joe Biden. She couldn't convince voters

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<v Speaker 1>she knew how to ease their grocery prices. She couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>ease fear and anger about illegal immigration. When she was

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<v Speaker 1>handed the chalice by a faltering Joe Biden back in July,

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<v Speaker 1>Harris chose to go for optimism.

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<v Speaker 3>I will be a president for all Americans. This has

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<v Speaker 3>not been about a fight that is against something. This

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<v Speaker 3>is about a fight that is for something. We are

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<v Speaker 3>not going back. We are not going back.

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<v Speaker 1>But it turned out too few Americans were in the

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<v Speaker 1>mood for her brand of joy. Harris left her dejected

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<v Speaker 1>supporters waiting on election night and then took until Thursday morning,

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<v Speaker 1>Australian time, more than twelve hours after the confetti settled

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<v Speaker 1>at Trump's victory, everty to concede defeat.

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<v Speaker 4>My heart is full today. My heart is full today.

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<v Speaker 5>I thought the speech was disappointing from Kamala Harris. I

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<v Speaker 5>think this was a comprehensive defeat for the Democrats, and

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<v Speaker 5>I felt she was doubling down on failure.

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Kelly is part of our reporting team in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States.

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<v Speaker 4>I spoke with President elect Trump and congratulated him on

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<v Speaker 4>his victory. I also told him that we will help

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<v Speaker 4>him and his team with their transition and that we

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<v Speaker 4>will engage in a peaceful transfer of power. A fundamental

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<v Speaker 4>principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election,

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<v Speaker 4>we accept the result. That principle, as much as any other,

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<v Speaker 4>distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, and anyone who seeks

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<v Speaker 4>the public trust must honor it.

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<v Speaker 5>There was nothing in there about what the Democrats need

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<v Speaker 5>to do moving forward, or reconnecting with the working or

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<v Speaker 5>middle class of America. I think that was a mistake,

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<v Speaker 5>and that key line in the speech was.

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<v Speaker 6>I am here to say while I conceide this election,

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<v Speaker 6>I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, you just lost. So I think it was problematic,

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<v Speaker 5>But in some ways, I think it's typical of the

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<v Speaker 5>Democrat mentality out in various states. When I was speaking

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<v Speaker 5>to people, most of the Republican supporters were voting on issues.

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<v Speaker 5>They were talking about the economy, they were talking about

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<v Speaker 5>the price of their groceries, they were talking about the border.

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<v Speaker 5>Most of the Democratic supporters were talking about Donald Trump's character.

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<v Speaker 5>So I felt that Trump engaged with these people concerned

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<v Speaker 5>about their everyday lives the cost of living. Harris didn't

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<v Speaker 5>cut through to them, and I think the campaign was

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<v Speaker 5>exposed for being out of touch. I think it was

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<v Speaker 5>a mistake. She should have been more accommodating. She should

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<v Speaker 5>have said that they would have listened to the message,

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<v Speaker 5>they would have taken heed of the result and essentially

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<v Speaker 5>sort of reassessed moving forward. There was none of that

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<v Speaker 5>in that regard. I think it was not a politically

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<v Speaker 5>clever speech from Kamala Harris.

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<v Speaker 4>On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight,

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<v Speaker 4>we win, but here's the thing. Here's the thing. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 4>the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win.

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<v Speaker 1>The important thing.

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<v Speaker 3>Is don't ever give up.

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<v Speaker 4>Don't ever give up, don't ever stop trying to make

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<v Speaker 4>the world a better place.

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<v Speaker 1>Something that always strikes me about American politicians, candidates for

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<v Speaker 1>President Joe is that they have themselves introduced at rallies.

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<v Speaker 1>We heard Oprah Winfrey introducing Kamala Harris with this phrase,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome the next president of the United States. Both sides

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<v Speaker 1>do that. They do that in every election campaign. It's

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<v Speaker 1>really the opposite of what we hear in Australia, isn't it,

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<v Speaker 1>Where politicians are trying to encourage their supporters to think

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<v Speaker 1>that their vote matters. You must vote for me, otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>I might not get elected. In Harris's case, obviously now

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<v Speaker 1>it's embarrassing to look back and see that she's not

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<v Speaker 1>the president of the United States. What do you think

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<v Speaker 1>about that kind of bullish, optimistic sentiment that she invoked

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<v Speaker 1>at her rallies.

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<v Speaker 5>I think it's something that happens on both sides. But

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<v Speaker 5>I think the problem for Kamala Harris was this sense

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<v Speaker 5>of elitism that was associated with her campaign you know,

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<v Speaker 5>she had this congo line of celebrity endorsements rock stars,

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<v Speaker 5>big musicians, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, eminem. But at

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<v Speaker 5>the end of the day, the result shows that it

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<v Speaker 5>doesn't matter what celebrity endorsements you have. It doesn't matter

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<v Speaker 5>what a less celebrities hitching themselves to your wagon. People

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<v Speaker 5>want to vote on the issues, and.

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<v Speaker 3>When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide,

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<v Speaker 3>as President of the United States, I will proudly sign

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<v Speaker 3>it into law.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the issues that Harris leant on heavily was abortion,

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<v Speaker 1>but she kind of turned that into an identity point

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<v Speaker 1>Joe telling women that they should be fearful of a

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<v Speaker 1>Trump presidency, that he would enact a national abortion and

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<v Speaker 1>kind of assuming that women would get that and would

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<v Speaker 1>vote for her. Educated in young women, of course, in

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<v Speaker 1>large numbers did vote for Harris responding to that rhetoric

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<v Speaker 1>about abortion, But it seems many other women, particularly in

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<v Speaker 1>the suburbs, had other priorities, like the cost of groceries.

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<v Speaker 1>So do you think that focus on abortion was misjudged

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<v Speaker 1>by her or was it just that she mangled the message.

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<v Speaker 5>I think it was too narrow. I think it's fine

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<v Speaker 5>for them to promote that message on abortion, which is

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<v Speaker 5>obviously very important to many women in their base, and

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<v Speaker 5>you need to get the base out. But obviously women

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<v Speaker 5>have different views on all sorts of political issues, so

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<v Speaker 5>I think the campaign lacked depth in its appeal to women.

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<v Speaker 5>But this was not a problem that was limited to

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<v Speaker 5>women only. The coalition which she was hoping to cobble

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<v Speaker 5>together didn't end up materializing at the end of the day,

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<v Speaker 5>So in terms of Black communities, Ltis communities, these communities

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<v Speaker 5>still on average, shifted towards Trump. This was a big

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<v Speaker 5>shock result for Harris, and Kamala Harris didn't do any

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<v Speaker 5>better than Joe Biden did four years before. So you'd

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<v Speaker 5>have to say her campaign was disappointing in that regard,

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<v Speaker 5>and that she needed to add more flesh to the

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<v Speaker 5>bone to really get this broad coalition she wanted over

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<v Speaker 5>the line, and she didn't. I think you're correct to

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<v Speaker 5>identify the fact that simply a hollow appeal to identity

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<v Speaker 5>politics doesn't cut it. There needs to be more substance there.

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<v Speaker 1>Kamala Harris spent a lot of time during the campaign

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Donald Trump's character.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I think this is so rich coming from someone

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<v Speaker 4>who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes,

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<v Speaker 4>election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault, and

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<v Speaker 4>his next big court appearance is in November at his

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<v Speaker 4>own criminal sentencing.

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<v Speaker 1>You can see why it was tempting for Kamala Harris,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, to talk about his character in the hopes

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<v Speaker 1>that people didn't like all those things about him, didn't

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<v Speaker 1>like his crude language and the way he spoke about

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<v Speaker 1>women in particular. But it didn't work for her, So

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<v Speaker 1>was that a misfire too.

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<v Speaker 5>Look, I think this was the great trap when it

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<v Speaker 5>comes to Donald Trump. This was the trap that the

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<v Speaker 5>Democrats fell into in twenty sixteen. It didn't work, Then

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<v Speaker 5>it worked with Joe Biden, and it didn't work again. Now,

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<v Speaker 5>I think it was so tempting, and it's an easy

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<v Speaker 5>campaign to run, but it only had a fifty percent

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<v Speaker 5>track record. So I think it was a mistake to

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<v Speaker 5>have so squarely focused so much of the campaign on

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<v Speaker 5>this relentless character attack. When you go negative, I think

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<v Speaker 5>you have to accompany that negative campaign with positive offerings,

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<v Speaker 5>and I don't think that there was enough there. And

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<v Speaker 5>people also have to believe that the person who is

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<v Speaker 5>actually going negative has credibility, And I think people felt

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<v Speaker 5>Donald Trump was a known quantity. He'd been president before,

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<v Speaker 5>they were familiar with his style, they knew the problematic

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<v Speaker 5>aspects of his personality, of his character. But at the

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<v Speaker 5>end of the day, this negative campaign from Kamala Harris

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<v Speaker 5>also probably shone a spotlight on the fact that people

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<v Speaker 5>didn't feel they knew too much about her, that she

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<v Speaker 5>was a bit of an unknown quantity. Her campaign was

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<v Speaker 5>one hundred and seven days, and so in that regard,

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<v Speaker 5>I think it was a bit of a risk to

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<v Speaker 5>go down this well worn route of character assassination against

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<v Speaker 5>Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming up, how do the Democrats start picking better candidates.

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<v Speaker 1>Kamala Harris was on the ticket for this election campaign

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<v Speaker 1>from the beginning as vice president. Then Joe Biden's debate

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<v Speaker 1>car crash happened.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, when I'm going to do to fix the Texas

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<v Speaker 5>for example, Oh, we had one thousand tillionaires an Antha

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<v Speaker 5>and a billionaires anthy.

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<v Speaker 1>He stepped down shortly afterwards.

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<v Speaker 3>Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy.

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<v Speaker 6>That includes personal ambition.

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<v Speaker 1>So Harris had one hundred and seven days to try

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<v Speaker 1>to defeat Donald Trump. She certainly pulled the polls a

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<v Speaker 1>lot closer, and maybe she avoided a complete thrashing that

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<v Speaker 1>Biden would have suffered. But Democrats are now looking back

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<v Speaker 1>thinking maybe they should have held a primary process to

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<v Speaker 1>find a different candidate. So was Harris the wrong candidate?

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<v Speaker 5>I think there are a whole range of mistakes that

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<v Speaker 5>the Democrats made. There were big, overarching mistakes to smaller mistakes.

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<v Speaker 5>In terms of Harris herself, she didn't sufficiently differentiate herself

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<v Speaker 5>from Joe Biden. That was always a problem for her.

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<v Speaker 5>The campaign was too short, There wasn't enough time for

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<v Speaker 5>her to explain who she was to people. I think

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<v Speaker 5>the problem for her was there was no primary process.

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<v Speaker 5>She didn't have her feet held to the fire. And

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<v Speaker 5>it was a consistent theme that I picked up from

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<v Speaker 5>a voters on the ground. They felt that what happened

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<v Speaker 5>was undemocratic and that this undermined a lot of the

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<v Speaker 5>democratic attack on Donald Trump as a threat to democracy.

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<v Speaker 5>They kept saying, well, look at how Kamala Harris was elevated.

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<v Speaker 5>There was no primary process. This wasn't a democratic thing.

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<v Speaker 5>People were very concerned about that, and I think also

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<v Speaker 5>if you do look at the possible contenders. You have

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<v Speaker 5>Josh Shapiro, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer. I think it's unlikely

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<v Speaker 5>if there was a proper primary campaign, that Kamala Harris

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<v Speaker 5>would have ended up running being the Democratic candidate. I

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<v Speaker 5>don't think she was the strongest person, but she got

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<v Speaker 5>the job. I think she was too negative. I think

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<v Speaker 5>those are the key problems. I think there are broader

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<v Speaker 5>cultural problems that the Democrats will have to come to

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<v Speaker 5>terms with, but I think the main problem is people

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<v Speaker 5>felt overlooked and they felt safe for going back to

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<v Speaker 5>Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Keilly is covering the US election for The Australian.

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<v Speaker 1>On Friday, we'll be back right here with an episode

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<v Speaker 1>about Donald Trump two point zero, what we can really

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<v Speaker 1>expect from his administration and how much of his wild

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<v Speaker 1>talk will turn into policy. In the meantime, check out

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<v Speaker 1>all our journalism and analysis at The Australian dot com

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<v Speaker 1>dot au