Democrats disappointed in Atlanta as party grapples with reckoning | US News
In Atlanta, Democrats are disappointed.
ChiChi Khan, a 26-year-old Democrat, is surprised by how much more Kamala Harris needed to win.
“The difference in the results is astounding. I think that’s the most surprising part. Just how much more we needed to get her elected,” she says.
For her friend, Dr Reyna Patterson, also 26, it’s a disheartening indication of the barriers in America for people of color.
“Obama was like our pinnacle. It’s like we got that one historic thing. But we can’t ask for anything else. Don’t try to break more boundaries. The glass ceiling is gone,” she says.
It is the second time a woman has tried to break that glass ceiling.
Public health activist Dazon Dixon Diallo
Hillary Clinton put her gender and identity politics front and center in the race in 2016. Harris often appeared to avoid it, focusing instead on issues.
But how she prioritized those risks will be analyzed for months and years to come by Democratic strategists. Harris put reproductive rights at the top of her campaign agenda.
There were some victories – restrictive abortion bans were undone in seven states. But, in the end, it didn’t pay off for Democrats and activists at the forefront feel abandoned.
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Dazon Dixon Diallo, founder of SisterLove, which focuses on reproductive rights and health told me: “I feel let down honestly first and foremost by white women voters in this country.
“They voted at almost the exact same rate that they voted in 2016 for the same person who is a convicted felon… and is proudly telling you that he snatched away your reproductive rights.”
It’s a stark reminder of the divide in the country. But in rural and suburban areas like Acworth – north of Atlanta, it was other anxieties that dominated.
Stephanie Ryan (left) voted Democrat with Laura Goodman, who voted independent
Susan Butler, a mother-of-four, tells me over lunch: “I don’t think Harris ever talked about anything that were points that meant the most to me: the economy, immigration, the crime that came with the immigration.”
Interestingly, she is also not convinced America is ready for a woman in the White House.
“A woman who served at a high rank in the military might very well make a good president, but a woman who’s been a prosecutor in a very left state, I don’t think so!”
Susan Butler, a mother-of-four, said she felt Kamala Harris did not speak enough about the topics that were important to her
It is a reminder of how traditional America still is. I’ve heard that sentiment from men and women across three elections. The gender gap did play into this one.
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More women than men supported Harris. But she needed a big change. What she received was more like a small shake – one overshadowed by the loud voices of young men.
The Democrats believed this was going to be the year of the woman. Instead, the young women I spoke to told me today they find it hard to imagine they will have a Madam President in their lifetime.
It was fears and strong emotions about the economy, immigration, and democracy that influenced the vote. And the Democrats are once again reminded that they cannot underestimate any issue or any group.
