Sexism, campaign errors, media malpractice: Why Kamala Harris lost, according to readers

To the editor: I have faced the reality that Donald Trump will be president for the next four years. There are countless discussions on what went wrong and who is to blame.
With the economy rebounding well after COVID-19, I would like to offer another reason why Vice President Kamala Harris lost. Have we not thought of the possibility that her being a woman is why she did not beat Trump? I look back to 2016 when then-President Obama left us a good economy and Hilary Clinton still lost.
There is a common denominator. We apparently do not consider a woman of decency more capable than a man who demeans everyone for his own benefit and, this time, ran to stay out of prison.
Someday, I hope we can regain our moral compass as a country and vote for the person who is most worthy of the presidency.
Micki Wood, Fullerton
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To the editor: I’m a registered Republican. I’m not a huge Trump fan, but I want to tell you why I voted for him based on my priorities.
First, the economy. Democrats have been trying to tell the public that the economy is great when it is not. Rising prices of 20% on key items within a few years is absolutely ridiculous.
Second, the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is unacceptable. We have prices rising and Americans living on the streets, and the Biden administration oversaw the entrance of millions of people into this country illegally. This has caused more spending on areas not prioritized by voters.
Third, the media, especially the last few months. They need to start reporting facts without comment and let the people form their own opinions.
Fourth, the prosecution of Trump when he was running for president. I saw and heard from many of my Republican friends that this was major issue for them, and it backfired on the administration.
Michael Gannuscio, Wrightwood, Calif.
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To the editor: Having spent my career as a lawyer in Detroit representing working people, I have a pretty good idea what the lunch-pail guys think is important.
More than two weeks before the election, I wrote Harris’ campaign to say that she couldn’t win the election based on abortion rights, protecting democracy or arguing that Trump was unstable. I urged the campaign to run an ad in which Harris speaks directly into the camera to explain why inflation was low under Obama and the first Trump administration, why it spiked, and what specifically she would do to help. And to play that ad constantly.
Of course, I’m a nobody, and the somebodies thought that the outrageous remarks of a comedian would flip Latino voters in Pennsylvania.
Democrats remain guided by coastal elites. We will hear that Harris lost because of racism and misogyny in the blue-wall states. But many of those folks would tell you they voted for Obama; others will point to the mixed-race family member they dearly love.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) gets it. A party that stopped listening to the working class can’t expect to keep receiving its votes.
Alan B. Posner, Santa Barbara
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To the editor: When the vast majority of Americans prefer a convicted felon to Harris, it is more than obvious that she was a poor choice as a candidate and the Democrats ran one of the worst campaigns ever.
Who would have guessed that lying about President Biden’s mental capabilities, refusing to have an open convention to nominate a candidate, refusing to allow even one Palestinian to speak at the convention, supporting fracking, going after the Cheney vote and aiding the slaughter of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip wouldn’t be a winning campaign combination?
John Zavesky, Riverside