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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Deborah Mattinson and Claire Ainsley

Kamala Harris’s fate was sealed before her campaign began – Labour must act now if it doesn’t want the same result

Kamala Harris  giving a speech
‘Kamala Harris won the debate. But she never won the argument, at least not with the voters who mattered most.’ Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Given how events unfolded, it was never going to be easy for Kamala Harris. Many Democrats are convinced her campaign saved the party from an even worse result. To be fair, it achieved some real highs: she won the debate. But she never won the argument, at least not with the voters who mattered most.

The US election triggered a scary deja vu moment for those of us who had watched the 2019 general election from behind our sofas, hands over eyes. The Democrats lost votes with almost everyone, almost everywhere, but, like Labour in the “red wall”, most dramatically with traditional heartland voters: working class, low paid, non-graduates. And, like Labour back in 2019, that lost connection with core voters had not happened overnight.

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