Say what you will about the Democrats, but when a former insider calls their latest electoral loss a "massacre," it’s time to pay attention.
According to Breitbart, Patti Solis Doyle, who managed Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid and worked on campaigns for Joe Biden and Barack Obama, recently unloaded her frustrations about the Democratic Party’s dire straits after losing the White House to President Donald Trump in 2024.
Speaking on a podcast with journalist Mark Halperin, Solis Doyle didn’t hold back, painting a picture of a party adrift without direction or purpose. "I have never been happier not to be actually in it in the middle of politics — than I am right now, because it sounds really depressing, what’s going on at the party," she said. Well, when your team loses ground in every county across America, “depressing” might be the kindest word for it.
Solis Doyle pointed out a glaring issue: the Democrats lack a clear leader to rally behind. "The other problem that they have is that there’s no real leader," she noted, explaining that without control of the White House, the party’s last president—Joe Biden—should step up. Yet, she added, Biden is "off the radar completely," leaving the party rudderless.
This isn’t just a minor hiccup; it’s a full-blown identity crisis. Solis Doyle described the Democrats as "messageless" and "agendaless," with no fresh ideas to counter the Republican agenda. One might wonder if they’ve forgotten how to play the game altogether.
"We don’t have any alternative ideas to the president’s and the Republicans’ right now," Solis Doyle admitted. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a party that once prided itself on being the voice of progress, though many of us on the right might argue their version of "progress" often veered into overreach.
The scale of the 2024 defeat still stings for Solis Doyle, who called it nothing short of a "massacre." She insisted, "Democrats lost ground in every single county in America," pushing back against any attempt to downplay the rout. That’s not just a loss; it’s a wake-up call with a megaphone.
"There are people who say, ‘Oh, it wasn’t a landslide.’ It absolutely was," she told Halperin. If you’re losing everywhere, it’s hard to spin that as anything but a disaster—turns out, elections aren’t graded on effort.
Solis Doyle didn’t shy away from pointing fingers at the decision to run Joe Biden in the first place. She called it the "Original Sin," questioning the wisdom of backing an 80-plus-year-old candidate who, in her view, wasn’t as sharp as advertised. Sometimes, ignoring the obvious comes with a hefty price tag.
"He probably was not capable of serving another four years," Solis Doyle remarked about Biden. That’s a bold statement from someone who’s been in the Democratic trenches, and it raises serious questions about why the party doubled down on a risky bet. Perhaps they thought loyalty trumped practicality—spoiler alert, it didn’t.
Then there’s Kamala Harris, whom Solis Doyle praised for doing an "exceptional" job under tough circumstances during her 2024 campaign. Still, she noted Harris’s failure to fully separate herself from Biden as a key misstep. It’s a classic political trap: cling too close to a sinking ship, and you’re going down with it.
"Harris’s loss was partially due to her failure to distance herself from Joe Biden as much as she should have," Solis Doyle explained. It’s a fair critique—voters aren’t always forgiving when they sense more of the same old, same old.
Looking ahead, Solis Doyle suggested there’s little appetite for Harris to run again in the future. The perception of incompetence after an election loss sticks like glue, she argued, summing it up with a resigned, "It’s just the way the cookie crumbles." Harsh, but politics isn’t exactly a charity event.
For conservatives watching this unfold, there’s a mix of vindication and curiosity. The Democratic Party’s implosion offers an opportunity for Republican ideas to shine, but only if they deliver on promises rather than rest on laurels. After all, voters can turn on any party that forgets why it was elected.
Solis Doyle’s candid assessment is a rare glimpse into the Democratic soul-searching-or—or lack thereof—post-2024. While her words carry the weight of experience, they also underscore a party that seems out of touch with the heartland’s priorities. Maybe it’s time for Democrats to rethink their playbook, but don’t hold your breath waiting for that epiphany.
