If there’s anything I’ve learnt that is an absolute fundamental in modern politics, it is that you do not win an election by looking down on people who vote for the opposition.

Trump may be a convicted felon and a compulsive liar. But there’s no denying that he is a master at convincing working American people that he is on their side, especially when they believe that the liberal elites have left them behind.

Sure, Trump will probably impose tariffs that will screw them over but it’s not about the truth. It’s about perception. (Think Brexit)

And Trump used the internet and the power of outrage to his advantage.

We have to accept that the politics of identity has played a huge part in this election, sadly more-so than the issues that should matter much more, not least women’s rights.

There needs to be an absolute reckoning for the democrats.

Biden dug his heels in for far too long when his time was up, so they then fast tracked VP Harris, when she had too much baggage, ran a poor campaign in 2020 and lacked the leadership skillset to properly challenge the republicans on issues like the economy or the Israel/Palestine conflict.

They should have been more decisive and ran a nomination where someone with a clean slate and leadership experience could have come through, like Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer, but they all rallied and shunned anyone who had anything critical to say.

They need to stop thinking they know better. The Democrats were in a fantasyland where they played a losing strategy and gifted the victory to Trump.

As depressing as this all potentially is, I can’t help but read about it with fascination and learn something from it.

Starting with the stark reality that we have not yet figured out a way to properly challenge populism and that centrists should ditch the top down approach and start thinking of ways to do this bottom up.