In the week following the results of the 2024 elections in the United States, Democrats had to face a difficult reality: what would the party organization look like to oppose the agenda of the incoming Trump administration? Even with an agile and dynamic structure to unite the party around the candidacy of former Vice President Kamala Harris after Joe Biden dropped out, and with a platform that brought together the different wings of the party against Donald Trump's turbulent reelection campaign, it was not possible to foresee such a resounding defeat. This is because Trump was unable to win all the states considered “swing states” in the election, but the Republicans managed to maintain their majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and for the first time in twenty years, they won the popular vote.

Several factors may point to an explanation for this situation, whether it be the rejection of the Biden administration or Kamala Harris’s short campaign time (almost three months), but did this context serve to explain the current scenario in which the party finds itself, with difficulty in appointing leaders and proving ineffective in opposing certain actions of the White House? A more detailed analysis is needed.

In summary, these were the results of last year’s elections: 53 Republicans against 47 Democrats in the Senate; 220 Republicans vs. 215 Democrats in the House; Donald Trump elected with 77 million votes to Kamala Harris' 75 million. Even though some of these numbers were close, such as the popular vote and the result in the House of Representatives, it is necessary to note a strong rejection of the Democratic Party by the American population. This scenario chosen by millions of voters can be understood as a “trifecta,” in which the victorious party manages to win the presidency, senate, and house. This triple victory occurred in the last two elections, also in 2016 and 2020, even though in the year of Biden’s victory the numbers were more unfavorable: in the senate, 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats were elected, with the vice president serving as the tie-breaking vote, in addition to a small majority of 222 representatives for the Democrats . In this way, both parties have been harmed in the last three elections, but something curious has been happening in 2025, with the Democrats proving incapable of organizing themselves to analyze and oppose some measures considered controversial by the second Trump administration, unlike, for example, the first term of the current US president.

In 2017, shortly after Trump took office, the “Women's March” “shook” the United States. It is estimated that more than 4 million people took to the streets to protest demanding rights and equality for women and minorities; in Washington, for example, more than 500,000 were present, including celebrities and politicians. The following year, the “March for Our Lives” brought millions of young people to the US capital to demand more legislation restricting gun purchases, due to the increasing number of gunattacks in schools. It is also worth highlighting the two impeachment trials against Trump and all the debates raised about his appointments and his own legitimacy as president, given that he won against Hillary Clinton in 2016, but the former Secretary of State had three million more votes than Trump. In this sense, what would explain a campaign that in 2024 had the motto “we are not going back” for a party that not only approved all of Trump's appointments so far, but also managed to push forward the controversial Laken Riley Act, with the support of 12 Democratic senators, including names like Ruben Gallego?

The answer that explains this inaction of the Democratic Party lies in the short electoral period that occurred last year, leading Kamala Harris to be the nominated candidate against Trump. Even with all the optimism and reorganization that the party carried out to face the former president, with millions of dollars spent on the campaign and the participation of several celebrities, the party was unable to shake off the government's unpopularity and convey the message that Kamala would like to the electorate. As a consequence, it distanced itself from the 81 million votes that Biden obtained in 2020, the vice president won 75 million votes, losing ground in states that were crucial to her victory and exposing another critical factor for Democrats, that part of their electorate, considered their base, is distancing itself. For comparison purposes, the female vote, targeted by Harris' campaign, was 53%, below the 57% obtained by Biden in 2020; Trump won 45% of the female vote, the highest number since 2012 for a Republicancandidate. Furthermore, among Latinos, another important group for the Democratic electorate, it appeared to be moving towards the Republican right in this election, with 37% of Latinos opting for the new president, while 62% voted for Kamala; Even though it won the majority of votes, the Democratic Party’s performance was worse than Biden’s 66% of Latino votes in 2020. Thus, even with the majority of votes in groups relevant to its electoral base, the Democratic Party emerged weakened from this election, reaching the first days of the Trump administration without the same organization that occurred in 2017.

As Representative Jasmine Crockett defines it, the Democratic Party is “lacking a coherent message” for the population. In an interview with The New York Times, the congresswoman highlighted that after Harris' defeat, the Democrats were left without firm proposals that were direct to the population and that would define the party as a traditional opposing force to Trump. As has been happening in Congress, Trump's executive orders, many of which end up being blocked by the courts, have received little attention from the main political forces, with the big exception being the case of USAID. Furthermore, cases such as the approval of the Laken Riley Act, now a law that intensifies the arrest of undocumented immigrants who have committed some infraction (controversial because it can lead to unfair detentions), was supported by 12 Democrats, including Ruben Gallego, senator for Arizona. Even taking into account the state of Gallego, which is bordering and has strong Republican tendencies, this vote shows how part of the group that makes up the Democratic leadership is disorganized, passing legislation that could cause many problems for immigrants who have not committed offenses.

Thus, after a full month, the new White House shows itself committed to implementing the agenda promised by Trump over the last two years. With the Democrats in the minority and without a unified voice to oppose the measures of the federal government, deportations have been announced by the official White House account, tariffs are being imposed on the United States' main trading partners, minority groups are being targeted by conservative measures, and Canada has even been called the "fifty-first state." In other words, Washington is painted red by the Republican Party, with the months being important to see if the Democratic Party will be able to recover and seek unification and new leadership, considering that the next elections will only take place in 2026 and 2028, in addition to the country having a hugely negative view of the party. According to a recent survey by Quinnipiac University, 57% of voters have a negative view of the Democratic Party, an alarming number that shows the need for internal changes.