What Went Wrong with Democrats Messaging in 2024 and How They Can Rebound

A charismatic woman of color who was riding a wave of enthusiasm after securing the Democratic nomination in August.

A major issue, reproductive rights, which was resonating with women all over the country.

Polls that consistently showed a tight race nationally and in the battleground states.

Running against an opponent who is a convicted felon, more than 20 years older and one of the most polarizing figures  in American history.

Yet Vice President Kamala Harris decisively lost this year's election to Donald Trump who not only won all seven swing states but made significant inroads with traditional Democratic voting blocks like Latino men.  In addition, Trump's victory marked the first time in years that a Republican presidential nominee won the popular vote.

What happened?  What messages from the Democrats didn't get through and what messages can they craft as the party out of power hoping to re-emerge in the 2026 and 2028 elections?

To find out, CommPRO asked several journalists and scholars to weigh in.

"There wasn't anything wrong with the Democrats' messaging," says Richard Greb, longtime reporter with Reuters, the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune. "The problem was no one was listening."

Greb points out that misinformation from right-wing dominated media platforms effectively drowned out what Harris and other Democrats were saying.

"To her credit, Vice President Harris brought up thoughtful policy ideas," he says, "like having Medicare cover home care for elderly parents;  alleviating the housing crisis by building new units across the country; and preventing price gauging by major grocery store chains."

Despite these ideas and several others, Greb argues that many Americans still believed that Harris wasn't offering anything concrete to improve their lives.

"The messages that were coming from the right wing platforms often depicted her as a radical who was bent on pursuing a far left agenda that included things like open borders, unconditional amnesty for all illegal migrants and universal sex operations on teenagers."

Greb adds that a major challenge for the Democrats going forward is to somehow blunt the right wing media landscape by coming up with more progressive outlets.

"They need to level the social media playing field while at the same time developing practical messaging that shows they are focused on addressing concerns of everyday Americans," he states. 

Greb believes that the initial negative reaction to Trump's appointments from members of both parties could provide the Democrats with an opportunity to push back on his agenda.

Mark Perlman, an adjunct public relations professor at Columbia College Chicago, faults the party for not focusing their messaging more on the economy and immigration.

"Voters were swayed by these two issues more so than anything else," Perlman maintains, arguing that there were no specific messages from the Dems as to how they would address things like rampant inflation and illegal immigration.

He says that going forward, Democratic leaders will need to bide their time to see how the incoming Trump administration deals with those two areas.  

Perlman believes that it will take a long time for the Trump administration and the Republican controlled Congress to make any positive inroads on the economy and immigration despite their earlier promises to move expeditiously. 

"Therefore, the Democrats can score political points by jumping all over how long it's taking Trump to make any significant headway.  At the same time, they can formulate  critical ideas of their own along with the effective messaging to sell them," he argues.

Going forward, Ernest Wiggins, an independent scholar and professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism, believes that Democratic messaging should take a page from Harris' concession speech in which she set a tone of conciliation and resolve without combativeness.

"To my ear, her platonic message of joy and truth which was reminiscent of Barack Obama's time in office, stands in stark contrast to the raw meat pragmatics of the Trump Republicans."

Wiggins observes that at first glance, the message that struck a chord most with voters was the economy and the perception that they were worse off under the Democrats.

"The election outcome would suggest voters who are feeling burdened by the price of necessities might be skeptical of "peace, love and understanding," the classic liberal mantra," he maintains.

Still Wiggins points out that the popular vote margin was 3 million people out of the 150 million votes that were cast. 

"That says to me that 72 million were either responding to Harris' message or rejecting Trump's, probably both," he says.

Wiggins argues that in lieu of the Democrats being shut out of power in Washington for at least the next two years, they should shift some of their focus to more local arenas to have an impact on concerns being discussed by town councils and school boards as those issues ultimately will gravitate nationally.

Still, he maintains that Democrats should not abandon the message of joy and hope that was a hallmark of the Harris-Walz campaign.

"That more optimistic tone has become the party's brand and Democrats should continue to embrace it but they should also be prepared to put on the gloves if and when circumstances dictate," he emphasizes.

John Dempsey, retired news director at Chicago's iconic WLS-AM, agrees that the Democrats should stand their ground.

"I am confident that Democratic members of Congress will speak up when they feel Trump's policies are hurting their constituents," he says.

Asked how representatives of the right wing media machine, which helped fuel the president-elect's successful re-election bid, will respond to any missteps in his administration, Dempsey believes that they will avoid criticizing Trump but will attack instead those Democrats leveling the criticism.

He maintains that Trump's polices will prove so unpopular that not only will the GOP suffer huge defeats in the 2026 Midterm Election but a Democrat will retake the White House in 2028.

"So many of Trump's own supporters will be hurt that they will turn on him as well."