How do you beat Donald Trump?
The Democratic Party once thought they had the answer to that question. But last month, they discovered that they were very, very wrong.
Six weeks after an election that left the Democrats shell-shocked and dispirited, there are now major divides in the party over how to win back the American electorate’s support.
In her first major address since losing to Mr Trump last month, Kamala Harris urged her supporters on Tuesday not to give up on their progressive mission.
“This fight now, it continues with you,” she said.
The president-elect has spent the last 42 days holed up in Mar-a-Lago, strategising with his top team of loyalists and billionaires as to how to tackle his second term in office.
Democrats, one would think, should have been preoccupied in this time with fighting his MAGA agenda. But instead, it seems they have been fighting each other.
John Fetterman
Mr Trump’s historic win saw victories in all seven swing states.
Voters overwhelmingly flipped towards Mr Trump on average within the majority of the US’s 3,000 counties.
John Fetterman, an outspoken Pennsylvania senator, has urged Democrats to engage with Mr Trump’s administration and vision for the country, or risk fading into irrelevance.
He has backed Mr Trump’s choice for ambassador to the United Nations, Elise Stefanik, who has been highly critical of the organisation for its stance on Israel’s policy in the war in Gaza.
He was also the first Democrat to meet Pete Hegseth, Mr Trump’s controversial choice to lead the Department of Defence.
Mr Hegseth has attracted the ire of many Democrats because of claims about his alleged sexual misconduct and drinking on the job at Fox News, where he worked until recently. He has denied those claims.
But Mr Fetterman met him anyway, arguing: “If he is going to be the head of one of the most important parts of our government, then do you think I’m doing a job by flipping anyone off?”
His willingness to engage with the MAGA project appears to have startled some congressional colleagues, who feel Ms Harris was hamstrung during the election campaign by the legacy of Joe Biden.
Some have called for the party to become more Left-wing, echoing the diagnosis of Bernie Sanders in the days after the Nov 5 defeat.
“If you’re an average working person out there, do you really think that the Democratic Party is going to the mat, taking on powerful special interests and fighting for you?” the veteran Vermont senator said. “I think the overwhelming answer is no, and that is what has got to change.”
New generation of leadership
The second major divide between Democrats on Capitol Hill is whether the party is ready for a new generation of leadership, amid accusations it was the octogenarian Mr Biden and his boomer colleagues who scuppered Ms Harris’s chances this year.
There have been calls for a change of staffing at the Democratic National Committee, which has been presented with a slate of Gen Z and millennial candidates for senior roles, and demands for younger officers of the party in Congress.
Leading the charge for both of these arguments is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, the firebrand New York representative and former member of the “Squad” of ultra-liberal Democrats in the House.
She appears to be adopting a less conciliatory approach than Mr Fetterman. After the election, AOC explicitly compared Mr Trump to a fascist dictator.
“Our main project is to unite the working class in this country against a fascist agenda, period,” she said.
“We have had an enormous setback in this election, because the fascist won a lot of working-class support, which has happened before in history.”
It was a characteristically acerbic take on the election result, and followed five years of her distinct political style that blends activism with lawmaking.
After her first election to Congress, but before being sworn in, she joined a climate demonstration at the offices of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging her to back proposals for a Green New Deal. Fifty-one people were arrested.
After taking office, she became known for her fiery appearances on the House Oversight Committee. Fans praised for her frankness and passion, while critics said she was performing for social media, rather than effectively scrutinising witnesses.
In 2021, she appeared on the steps of the Met Gala wearing a dress emblazoned with the words “tax the rich”. She was later investigated by the House Ethics Committee over whether the dress was an improper donation.
Since Oct 7 last year, she has become a standard bearer for liberal Democrats who support Palestine, and accused Israel of genocide on the floor of the House. That position has brought her into direct conflict with Mr Fetterman, a staunch supporter of Tel Aviv.
But like Mr Fetterman, while her swashbuckling approach has drawn her significant support online – it has not made her universally popular with colleagues.
Perhaps sensing the imminent demise of the current party leadership, AOC ingratiated herself with the Democratic establishment during the campaign by appearing in ads for Mr Biden – a man she had previously opposed from the party’s Left wing.
But her post-election career took a blow this week, when she lost an internal election to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, in an apparent rejection of her plan for the party’s future.
The winner was Gerry Connolly, a long-time Virginia representative more than double her age.
Chief among his duties is battling investigations by Mr Trump’s administration into his enemies in Congress.
Addressing the concerns of voters
While Mr Fetterman and AOC might have different ideas about the direction of the party, they agree on one thing: it must do more to address the concerns of voters.
There is rising panic among commentators and staff that Democrats have yet to establish a convincing reply to Mr Trump’s populist rhetoric and man-of-the-people persona. While he may be perceived by voters as an arrogant strongman, he is not viewed as out of touch.
Aspiring party leaders of all stripes can see that Mr Biden’s party has become disconnected with the voters that propelled him to power in 2020. Even ethnic minority voters, long the backbone of a Democrat majority, swing to Mr Trump this year.
Rahm Emanuel, a former senior aide to Barack Obama, wrote on Tuesday that the Democrats had become “blind to the rising sea of disillusionment,” running a system seen to be “rigged in favour of the powerful”.
Working out the solution to that problem is a matter of urgency. Although the next presidential election is four years away, Mr Trump will take office in a month, and midterm campaigns will begin in haste next year.
During her ill-fated presidential bid, Ms Harris called repeatedly for a “new way forward” for America. Now, her own party needs the same.