November 10—The postmortems on Kamala Harris's resounding defeat in last week's balloting are coming in by the dozens. Multiple factors are being advanced for the loss, all of which are certainly partly responsible. Structurally, the Vice President represented an administration that had become deeply unpopular and was associated with a punishing inflation (20 percent on groceries, 35 percent on rents and a whopping 50% on home purchases in 4 years) which, though the rate of increase has returned to historically average levels, has saddled working people with higher prices and markedly reduced buying power. After inflation and Biden's unpopularity, the factor most cited is immigration: and here, TSD must agree that Democrats seriously misread the public's unease with millions of foreign nationals coming into the country illegally during each year of the Biden administration. As Fareed Zakaria wrote in the Washington Post: "An asylum system that was meant for a small number of persecuted individuals was being used by millions to gain legal entry. Instead of shutting it down, liberals branded anyone protesting as heartless and racist."

A plethora of other factors are being evoked, from the disaffection of young males, the distaste many voters feel with "woke" messaging, a failure to more robustly address the kitchen-table concerns of working people, a campaign that was too center-left, a campaign that was too far-left, a campaign too focused on Trump's "threat to democracy," a pervasive sense amoung many working-class Americans that Democrats are snobby elitists who look down upon them, to good-old racism and misogyny. About this last, TSD would ask the reader to consider that four deeply red states have women Republican governors (Arkansas, Alabama, South Dakota and Iowa) and  MAGA voters heartily support such figures as Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert, while deep-red South Carolina sent Tim Scott, racialized as "Black" to the U.S. Senate in 2013, where he still serves. While there are certainly racists and misogynists in the MAGA coalition, TSD would caution against grasping for that too-easy explanation.

One thing, in any case, is certain, Trump significantly expanded his base from 2020, making inroads into identity-based constituencies Democrats have long taken for granted, gaining 45 percent of the Hispanic vote and 20 percent of males racialized as "Black." Unless researchers can talk to every Trump voter and determine which of the many possible factors being advanced most influenced their decisions, we will never know exactly why Harris lost. But it will be the job of the Democratic Party, in coming months, to get to the bottom of the debacle. A question preying on TSD: is the Democrat brand fatally damaged? Will a new, boldly social democratic party, shorn of the worst excesses of "wokism" and identity polictics arise in the United States and take the relay? Or will Democrats be able to reinvent themselves as a party for all Americans regardless of education level or racialization, committed to ensuring that every child is given the resources they need to thrive and that all adults willing to work have as equal a chance as possible to participate in the economic, social, cultural and political life of community, state and nation, with the guarantee of either a job at a living wage or upskilling also at a living wage?

To her credit, Harris advanced a few solid social-democratic proposals during her brief campaign: a $15 federal minimum wage, $20,000 in tax credits for first-time home buyers under an income ceiling, Medicare coverage (an undefined amount) for long-term care, an expanded child tax credit for working families. Unfortunately, these dribbled out almost as an afterthought in a campaign focused on a sort of happy vibe that may have been out of step with the unhappiness felt by many voters. The focus on Trump's threat to democracy, while justified, was probably just too academic for many working-class voters who just wanted prices to go back down, illegal immigration brought under control and more respect from the educated liberal class.

Finally, the election results might equally plausibly be chalked up to what happens in a mass democracy populated with low-information voters when one candidate promises anything and lies shamelessly about the other side. But the American Left cannot just throw up its hands and declare the situation hopeless; instead it must get back to the drawing board and devise a messaging directed at the average American that is so thoughtful, concrete and comprehensible that it is bullet-proofed against right-wing lying in future election cycles.

November 5—A landmark report by former European Central Bank president (2011-2019) and Italian prime minister (2020-2021) Mario Draghi calls for 800 billion (Euros) in new investment, with an "emphasis on productivity through knowledge and skills . . . bringing back into view the notion of social policy as a productive factor." In this article, European scholars Anton Hemerijck and David Bokhorst make the case for a fully engaged, social democratic government using social investment to fully harness the productive capacity of the European Union's human capital.

November 2—The British Labour Party, chosen to steer the UK's government in July for the first time since 2010, has submitted its first budget plan. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves' budgetary roadmap raises additional revenue to invest in education and the beleaguered National Health Service, starved by years of under-funding by Conservative governments. Guardian columnist Angela Rayner writes that the "real story" of the Labour budget is "investment over decline," while Observer columnist Will Hutton reminds readers that "investment drives growth" and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee writes that "all these sad stories of the stricken rich" prove that "Labour's budget is on the money."

November 7—The governing coalition leading Europe's biggest economy, the third largest in the world, has collapsed, after Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats his walking papers. Linder, operating in open defiance of the Chancellor, proposed large tax breaks for high earners and cuts to retirement pensions for workers. Scholz, who succeeded Angela Merkel as Chancellor in 2021, said that offering tax breaks to the wealthy while simultaneously cutting retirement pensions for workers "is not decent." TSD agrees. Scholz has said he will seek a vote of confidence on January 15, meanwhile intending to govern without Free Democrat support.

November 7—Voters in two Trump-leaning states, Alaska and Missouri, voted to raise their state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027, with inflation-adjusted hikes in subsequent years. Both states, along with another red state, Nebraska, also voted to require employers to provide paid sick leave. The outcome of a California measure to raise that state's minimum wage to $18 per hour is still undetermined.

October 31—The lower house of France's parliament, the National Assembly, has approved a measure taxing wealth over $1billion at two percent. The measure, coming at a time of rapidly deteriorating finances for the French government, must gain approval from France's Senate before it can become law. TSD applauds the sentiment expressed by French delegate Aurelien Le Coq: "In this budget, we are asking for efforts from almost everyone on almost everything, but there is one thing that we aren’t touching . . . There is not a single measure in this budget that decides to tap into the wealth of the richest people.”

October 31—Reuters has been a favored link for TSD, being one of the few paywall-free sites that offer reliable, straightforward news on a site relatively free of ads and other clutter. Reuters has now installed a paywall of $52 per year. TSD will continue to link to the site but will try to find paywall-free alternatives when possible. Reuters is an excellent, wide-ranging source of basically unbiased news, and TSD encourages those who can afford the very reasonable $52 per year to obtain a subscription.

October 30—Voters are telling pollsters that the number-one driver of their choice next Tuesday will be the economy. While Trump tells gullible supporters that the Biden years have been a disaster and that the nation is on the verge of economic ruin, the Economist, the world's most respected weekly news magazine, tells us that "The American Economy Has Left Other Rich Countries in the Dust."

Yes, the American economy is humming along better than ever. But that doesn't mean that working-class voters have nothing to worry about. The inflated prices since the pandemic (over 20 percent for food and other consumer items, 35 percent on rents and 50 percent on housing costs) have seriously eroded both the buying power and the chances for economic security of all but the most well-off Americans. Democrats, if they are to be the party of American workers, must offer vigorous programs and polices, like TSD's guaranteed living wage for work or training, that will ensure that all Americans willing to make a contribution will be offered full participation in all aspects of American life: economic, social, cultural and political.

October 29—Finally addressing one of voters' major concerns, the Democratic Party is changing its messaging on immigration, with Vice President Harris recently stating that, "The United States is a sovereign nation, and I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border and to enforce them." TSD asks, what took so long, with 2 million illegal border crossings a year throughout Biden's tenure? And provides an answer: the Democratic Party is too much in the thrall of various identity groups (in this case, Latino groups like Unidos who argue for, essentially, an open border). TSD believes that the country needs immigrants but believes also that the process must be orderly and that foreign nationals, like American citizens, must obey our laws. This is an issue that was handed to Republicans on a silver platter, and should not have been.

The U.S. is not alone in its immigration blues, for Europeans are struggling with the same issues, with arguments from all sides generally being advanced along the same lines. The southern EU nations, much like America's border states, are seeking tougher restrictions as their resources are being strained by migrants, driven by war and economic deprivation, moving toward Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

October 31—The sad spectacle of Elon Musk, the world's richest human being, attempting to buy Pennsylvanians' votes goes on: a poster-child case for limiting private spending in political campaigns. TSD advocates for fully public funded campaigns.

October 29—Amid all the angst of the coming election, the Biden administration is carrying on with four interwoven policy innovations: using the heft of government to maintain infrastructure, to mold the economic development of the nation, to protect national security and to further the transition to a green economy. On Tuesday the Administration announced $3 billion in grants to upgrade the nation's ports, vital for the shipment of goods both in and out of America. On Thursday the Administration announced an $825 million investment in a new R&D facility for semiconductors, a product considered vital both for America's future prosperity and national security. Meanwhile an article in the New York Times looks at how investments in biotechnology, computer chips and EVs are giving new life to former manufacturing communites ravaged by globalization.

October 21—Vice President Kamala Harris has voiced support for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Harris labeled the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, or $15,000 per year, as "poverty wages." TSD agrees and advocates a guaranteed living wage for work or training.

October 21—A 74-year-old man, rallying for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, punched in the head; an 81-year-old man in Michigan run down by an ATV while installing a Biden sign; an Arizona DNC office sprayed with automatic weapon fire: with a heavily armed, angry right wing spurred on by Donald Trump's grievance-filled and hateful discourse, political violence is higher than at any time since the 1970s.

October 19—Latest figures confirm what everyone not living in the Trump alternate non-fact universe now knows: the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve Board have done an expert job of shepherding the U.S. economy from pandemic crisis to renewed strength, with retail sales up, jobless claims down and growth at a very healthy annualized rate of 3.4 percent.

October 19—Have you ever frustratingly struggled to cancel a subscription or membership that was a picture of ease to sign up for? The Biden administration Federal Trade Commission, in a clear win for consumers, has finalized a rule that will require businesses to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them. The TSD take: this is the kind of intelligent regulation of business for the common good that social democracy stands for.