Self-preservation is American and Democrats need to understand that

Republicans are listening to voters. Democrats are not.

If we were, we wouldn’t send national surrogates from distant places to make campaign pitches or try to buy influence by paying musicians and creators to encourage voting.

Some argue celebrities play a role in politics, and I would agree — when they help turn voters into volunteers and donors. But we are the party of LeBron James and Beyoncé, and we still lost.

I traveled to Michigan before Tuesday’s election and felt, for the first time this season, subtle signs that Democrats may not win the White House. The first event drew a local crowd, thanks to efforts by Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign organizer.

Here’s the thing: people didn’t turn out to see Harris’s sister, Maya, or Maryland Gov. Wes Moore give speeches in Pontiac. They came for the organizer. She didn’t need national surrogates to advocate for her candidate. All she needed was chili, people from her community, and a DJ spinning hits from the 2010s.

Two days later in Flint, I watched my colleague organize another event, partnering with local organizers to produce a get-out-the-vote concert. I marveled as she negotiated performance fees with local talent and drew a crowd of about 100 — all while navigating the cultural landscape. Then the emcee took the mic.

“I’m here for the coin," he shouted, "but you need to vote!”

I knew instantly we were going to lose.

President-elect Donald Trump wins elections because he’s a cult personality, a guidepost for those who see self-preservation linked to community or country. The government’s purpose is to deliver services, but nearly 70 million voters now believe our democratic institutions aren’t carrying their weight.

Trump has shown the nation and the world that if you want that “coin,” you should turn reality upside down to get it. He shifted the American paradigm from “The government won’t abandon you” to “Fend for yourself.”

In their post-election analysis, pundits will point to the 15 million people who didn’t turn out for Harris. They will point to those who remained loyal to President Joe Biden and to the waves of Latino and Black voters leaving the Democratic Party. Democrats will spin it as Harris lacking sufficient time from the convention to Election Day. Republicans will argue that Democrats and their policies are out of touch, worsening the country’s state under their leadership.

But no. Harris lost 15 million votes because one party is listening to voters, while the other is trying to guide them.

It’s a harsh reality, but no phone banking, texting, canvassing, rallies, or buses to the polls will persuade voters who feel the system is stacked against them to think otherwise. When economic systems routinely fail them, they don’t see their relationship with America as an equal exchange of goods and services.

Harris is authentic, kind, generous, fun and brilliant. Her team’s policy ideas — from creating 3 million affordable homes to tax cuts for Black business owners — were well-communicated in soundbites.

But her campaign fell short by failing to connect these policies to voters who believe self-preservation is something you seize, not something you hope for.

Ironically, by pushing Biden out of office, the elites steering the Democratic Party took away from voters the decision to replace an incumbent president. It backfired. Self-preservation is about controlling your own life, not deferring it to others. Voters who value their right to choose who represents them did not appreciate being told whom they should vote for.

Although Trump is authoritarian, our system appears to have fairly elected him twice as the Republican nominee and as our 47th president. Rational or not, many voters blame Democrats for job losses, economic downturns and inflation.

I expect the Democratic Party, in the coming days and weeks, will examine its messaging and strategize paths forward for down-ballot candidates in 2025 and beyond.

We can start by analyzing the vice president. Harris argued in her concession speech that Americans owe their loyalty “not to a party or a person, but the Constitution,” but the message fell short. Voters in places like Flint and Pontiac are focused on survival to thrive; the language in our founding document is irrelevant to them.

And we need to objectively study President-elect Trump. Closely. To understand how to communicate effectively to the voters we lost, and to strip away our veneer and impulse to speak in lofty, abstract terms.

Unlike Democrats, Trump resonates with voters who link self-preservation to America. However laudable they may be, the Democratic Party’s national policies and candidates simply do not. I

It’s easy to broadly label Trump supporters as sexist, racist, or misinformed because their views clash so starkly with Democratic ideals. The “not Trump” approach would mean seeing them as Americans, neighbors and friends — not enemies — and crafting a long-term message and engagement strategy that speaks to them.

Michael Ceraso is a Democratic strategist who served on four presidential campaigns, including those of President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg. In 2017, he founded Winning Margins, a communications firm focused on amplifying emerging voices in the media, as well as Community Groundwork, a nonprofit supporting two-year students interested in civic careers