Everybody has a theory about this election. Despite Kamala Harris’ late entry into the race — she had a little over 100 days to work with — she ran a very good campaign. She built coalitions, won the debate, gave two presidential speeches to national audiences, flooded the airwaves and social media, crisscrossed critical states and mounted a ground game.
But try as she might, she could not fully separate herself from the woke policies that are fashionable in some parts of the Democratic Party. Some of those problems were of her own making, positions she took at one time that she has since changed her mind about. But that was a hard message to communicate to the voters.
The voters also made her account for some of the policies that are dragging Democrats down wherever they are in control. The Democratic Party has brought us national and universal programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. But lately, identity politics seems to have led the party to care more about political correctness than the general welfare of the people it has always served.
We have been seeing that happen in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County for some time now. Here are just a couple of examples of the kinds of things that push some voters too far. In Pittsburgh, there was the early misguided call to defund the police, which has turned into a reality.
Mayor Ed Gainey allowed the number of street-ready officers to steadily decline, starting with attrition and a lackluster attem.