Black Democrats Fume over 2024 While ‘Searching for a Leader' in 2028

Yomiuri Shimbun

2 days ago

Sam Wolfe/For The Washington Post
Former DNC chair Jaime Harrison speaks during the South Carolina Democratic Party State Convention on Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina – A mostly Black crowd of hundreds of Democrats erupted in cheers when former national party chairman Jaime Harrison urged them to 'go on offense' and energize their communities to propel a 'blue Democratic wave' in next year's midterms.
But offstage Saturday, Harrison was still wrestling with the problems of the last election.
'I feel like, as chair, my voice was not always heard, that I was taken for granted. I was seen as somebody to just rubber stamp and not to actually have a seat at the table to influence certain things,' Harrison said in an interview with The Washington Post on the sidelines of the South Carolina Democratic Party's annual convention. 'And that has to change.'
Black Democratic leaders and activists are filled with apprehension as they try to regroup more than six months after a dispiriting defeat that ignited lingering frustrations, recriminations and disagreements about what went wrong and what the party should do differently as it eyes elections in 2026 and 2028. They are eager for the party to rally around a hopeful message and a clearer plan for combating President Donald Trump and Republicans. But they don't yet see a clear standard-bearer to help them turn the tide.
'Trump took all our steam out of us and we're still searching for a leader right now,' said Daryl Scott, a retired Army veteran from Myrtle Beach who attended the state Democratic convention. 'There's none. Name one. Where are they? They feel embarrassed because they didn't deliver.'
Tensions came into sharp focus this past weekend in South Carolina, a longtime early nominating state and major power center for some of the party's most influential Black leaders.
In interviews with more than two dozen Black elected officials, strategists, candidates and activists, many said they felt national Democratic leaders took Black voters for granted in 2024. Some said they felt betrayed by parts of the Democratic base, such as Latino voters, who didn't show up as forcefully for Kamala Harris as they had hoped. Others expressed disappointment in former president Joe Biden's decision to run for a second term and strategic decisions Harris's campaign made after she replaced him on the ticket.
Harrison expressed anger about the result of the election, troubled by indicators that some Black voters stayed home or supported Trump. He supported Biden vocally, including when others called on him to step aside sooner amid concerns about his age and acuity, and rallied behind Harris when she became the party's nominee. But he suggested some of their advisers ignored his ideas about how to sell voters on Democratic policy wins.
'We can't just be nice ornaments,' said Harrison, who opted to not seek reelection as head of the Democratic National Committee when his term ended earlier this year. 'We actually have to have a substantive and real role in terms of directing this party and moving this party forward.'
While other corners of the party are engaged in similar bouts of blame and self-doubt, the discussions among Black Democrats are especially pertinent. They have played a major role in determining the Democratic presidential nominee for decades; and Black voters have been the most loyal members of the party's coalition – supporting the nominee in general elections more than any other racial or ethnic group.
Although few blamed Biden directly for the party's malaise, some Black Democrats said he shouldn't have run for a second term and should have made good on his pledge to build a 'bridge' to the next generation of leaders. Others, like Harrison, the first Black chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and Rep. James E. Clyburn, a beloved elder among Black Democrats, defended Biden throughout the weekend of events.
The release of recent books has reignited a debate about whether Biden's inner circle hid information about his health from the public. Speaking with reporters at his annual 'world-famous fish fry,' Clyburn sought to shut down a question about Biden's health and the election.
'Who's talking about that? Well, this is the first time I've heard that in the last three weeks. I've been all over the state at town halls,' he said.
Catherine Fleming Bruce, a Democratic activist running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), said she wished there had been an open primary because Democrats should be 'making sure that we have Democratic processes at all times' – and Biden dropping out so late meant there wasn't enough time for Harris to win over skeptics.
Harris, the first Black woman to accept a major party's nomination for president, after Biden ended his campaign in July, overwhelmingly won over Black voters. But by some measures, including the reputable AP VoteCast voter surveys, she won a smaller share of them than Biden did in 2020. A recent analysis from Democratic data firm Catalist found that Black men shifted toward Republicans, with Harris performing seven percentage points worse among them than Biden did in 2020.
Sitting Saturday at the back of the building in the South Carolina State Fairgrounds listening to statewide candidates at the convention, Scott said the priority for Democrats is to win elections in Virginia and New Jersey this November and then in the 2026 midterms. But the party badly needs a national leader who 'can deliver for all of us,' he added.
Black Democrats survey a wide-open 2028 field
With the 2028 field wide open, a pair of potential presidential candidates visited the state, swinging by the state party's Blue Palmetto Dinner fundraiser and the fish fry hosted by Clyburn on Friday night. The visits from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were early opportunities to connect with South Carolina's Black voters, who make up roughly half the state's Democratic electorate and helped power Biden's rise in 2020.
Moore, the nation's only current Black governor, urged Democrats to become 'the party of 'yes' and 'now' ' during a hopeful speech at the dinner fundraiser. He encouraged them to move quickly to deliver policy wins as he accused the Trump administration of 'actively divesting from our Black communities, dismantling our minority business programs, and banning books about our history.'
'In 10 years, our success will be measured not by how much we resisted, or how loud we yelled. Our success will be measured in the results we deliver to make life better for people,' Moore said in his speech. Afterward, some attendees spoke positively about his pitch.
In an interview with The Post, Moore said he didn't think Trump made gains with Black voters 'because he figured something out that Democrats didn't. I think he gained a vote share because he just exposed the fact that Democrats weren't figuring it out.'
'It's not like he offered anything new or interesting or innovative. He just simply said, 'What are they doing? How are they benefiting your life?' Moore said. 'Trump was a fantastic vessel for the frustration.'
Beyond concerns from some about Biden's age and acuity, Black voters, like other demographic groups, were vocal about their economic frustrations – even as Biden made significant gains in reducing unemployment, boosting funding for Black-owned businesses and creating jobs for Black Americans during his presidency.
Biden spokesperson Kelly Scully said that Biden and Harris made 'important progress' for Black Americans, touting some of his economic achievements and others, including capping the cost of insulin for seniors and canceling billions of dollars in student loan debt. 'President Biden believes that while progress was made, the work to make the promise of America real for Black communities must continue,' Scully said.
A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump used targeted advertising, occasional outreach events and support from some high-profile Black celebrities as he vowed to deliver a strong economy with more opportunities for Black Americans. He promoted his mug shot and said Black voters liked him more because of it and his criminal indictments. Trump has spoken for years with inflammatory and sometimes racist remarks about Black Americans that have drawn widespread condemnation.
Biden and his campaign argued that the prospect of Trump returning to the White House meant risking 'all progress, all freedom, all opportunities.' But polls showed Black Americans' support for Biden was down, particularly among young voters, even before he ended his campaign last summer after a disastrous debate where he repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought.
When Harris replaced Biden on the ticket, she initially generated excitement, but later struggled to address concerns that Democrats failed to deliver on promises, such as overhauling the criminal justice system. Black Democrats beyond South Carolina, including younger, more liberal members of the party, have in recent years been frustrated by its stalled agenda.
Concerns about slippage in support prompted former president Barack Obama weeks before the election to issue an impassioned plea to Black men to support Harris. He admonished them for thinking about sitting out the presidential contest and suggested sexism might factor in.
Moore suggested Democrats' missteps with Black voters predated Trump and 2024, arguing that candidates often waited until election years to aggressively reach out to the Black community.
'It's tiring,' Moore said.
Walz, who was Harris's running mate, delivered a keynote speech at the convention, where he encouraged Democrats to match Trump's tough tactics and worry less about offending people. He also challenged conservative criticism that Democrats have focused too much on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, saying, 'We focus on it because it's foundational to everything we do.'
Walz drew loud cheers and a line of supporters who flocked to the side exit to take selfies and chat with him. Several praised him for speaking candidly in a speech peppered with expletives
'We're just not coming together like we should'
Christale Spain, the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, reflected on the last election as she looked to the next one, saying she doesn't like the word postmortem 'because we're not dead.'
Spain said the Harris campaign did not make Black voters a big enough priority as it courted centrists and moderate Republicans.
'We can't lose our most dependable base because we're chasing rainbows,' she said. 'You've gotta know where your bread is buttered. Invest there.'
Many Black Democrats who aired frustrations were also quick to praise Biden and Harris for their service. Some spoke fondly about the former president's decades-long commitment to their community and expressed well wishes for Biden as he undergoes cancer treatment. Several shied from blaming Biden or Harris for the election outcome.
While Harrison criticized some in Biden's inner circle for not listening to him, he emphasized that he felt Biden himself understood the importance of having Black leaders empowered and making decisions about the party's direction and policy.
In 2020, Biden said he saw himself as a 'bridge' to the next generation of Democratic leaders, which some in the party interpreted as a pledge that he would step down after one term.
'At that point, way back then, that would have given the people a full amount [of time to run], and that didn't happen,' said Bruce, the Senate candidate.
Some convention attendees over the weekend said they longed for the early days of the Obama presidency when they felt more unity within the party, and before Trump, his inflammatory rhetoric and chaotic agenda had become a fixture of American politics. But they acknowledged those days were gone, and focusing on the strategies of the past probably wouldn't serve them now.
Renee Boles, 62, a volunteer with the Council of Black Democrats at the convention, said she was pleased to see so many Black Democrats gathering to talk about the party's future. But she doesn't see Democrats doing that on a national scale, she said, and she struggled to name someone she would like to see run for president.
'I actually think the Democratic Party could be better at trying to get people together. We're just not coming together like we should,' she said. 'That's the sad part.'