Why Haven't Top Democrats Learned From the Harris Campaign's Failures?

Newsweek

2 days ago

Political upstart assemblyman Zohran Mamdani stunned the political world last month with an upset defeat of former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. What was even more stunning, however, was that Cuomo made every major mistake in his mayoral campaign that Kamala Harris did in her presidential campaign. He clearly did not learn a single lesson from the presidential race of only eight months ago, and as a result he lost, 56 percent to 44 percent, to Mamdani.
I wrote prior to Kamala Harris' formal anointment as the Democratic presidential candidate that the then-vice president was the weakest candidate Democrats could have chosen. I believed, up until now, that if any of the other major contenders (except for Joe Biden of course) had been nominated instead, they would not have run the failed campaign Harris did, and we as a nation would have been spared a second Trump presidency. However, after watching Andrew Cuomo lose, it occurred to me that I may have been very wrong to assume other major Democrats would not have made the significant unforced errors that cost Harris the election.
Why do I say that? Because there were a number of incredibly obvious lessons to learn from the Harris campaign's failures, and yet a proven Democratic political figure like Cuomo clearly did not learn them.
First and foremost, it was clear from the presidential election, and just as clear from the New York Democratic primary results, that questions of the affordability of housing and consumer goods drove voter sentiment more than anything else. Kamala Harris fell short when it came to understanding voters' concerns over inflation, or articulating how her administration would lower the cost of groceries. Cuomo fell equally flat on this set of issues. That was a lesson no Democrat could "afford" to miss after last November's result. How Cuomo missed it is totally unexplainable.
By contrast, it appears current Mayor Eric Adams understands not only the importance of the affordability issue, but that crime and safety matter just as much to general election voters—Adams reportedly plans to run his independent campaign on the ballot line "Safe Streets, Affordable City."
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 24: New York mayoral candidate, Andrew Cuomo, speaks to the media as he arrives to vote in the Democratic primary at the High School of Art and Design on...
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 24: New York mayoral candidate, Andrew Cuomo, speaks to the media as he arrives to vote in the Democratic primary at the High School of Art and Design on June 24, 2025 in New York City. MoreHarris missed how important affordability was to attracting even the younger voters many observers believed would never break for Trump—something that indeed took the Harris campaign very much by surprise. Similarly, Cuomo failed to motivate younger voters.
Instead of affordability, Harris emphasized the abortion issue during the campaign, taking advantage of an issue that Trump was highly vulnerable on among the most important Democratic constituency: women. Unfortunately, relying so heavily on that issue diverted an awful lot of much-needed attention from questions of the economy and affordability. Similarly, Cuomo went hard at Mamdani's biggest vulnerability among what many believe is the most important demographic in the New York City Democratic primary—the Jewish vote. Mamdani's stance on Israel is in fact abominable, but Cuomo missed how much more important to the broader primary electorate pocketbook issues were.
Kamala Harris famously failed to disassociate herself from President Biden by saying outright that she would not do anything differently than the president she served. In one sentence she basically destroyed her opportunity to run as anything other than an incumbent in an age where all incumbents seem to have a major political disadvantage. Cuomo, instead of diminishing the perception of his recent incumbency, committed the same general mistake Harris did in coming off as part of the status quo establishment.
Moreover, Harris ran a campaign that sheltered her from regular interaction with the press and minimized opportunities to engage with journalists to create moments of unscripted authenticity. Cuomo, too, stayed aloof from the press and in so doing came off as a lot less authentic and genuine than Mamdani. Both campaigns failed to use social media in a way that would create an authentic picture of the candidates, or portray them as genuine warriors for a cause that would inspire voters to get behind and get out to vote.
In addition, Harris relied heavily on having raised more money than Trump and deployed it lavishly. Cuomo relied on the very same campaign tactic, failing to recognize that money does not create passion on the part of voters around a clear and compelling message, something Mamdani, like Trump, excelled at.
To have missed so many lessons of the Harris campaign is nothing short of political malpractice. Let's hope Democrats finally learn the lessons they need to from these two major campaign flops, before there's a third.
Tom Rogers is executive chairman of Claigrid, Inc. (the cloud AI grid company), an editor-at-large for Newsweek, the founder of CNBC and a CNBC contributor. He also established MSNBC, is the former CEO of TiVo, a member of Keep Our Republic (an organization dedicated to preserving the nation's democracy). He is also a member of the American Bar Association Task Force on Democracy.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.