THE red wave that propelled Donald Trump to the White House, flipped the Senate and sent many Republican elections down, prompted Democrats to form a circular firing squad.

Democrats were quick to point the finger at President Joe Biden. Some said he should have moved away earlier to allow a traditional primary to take place. Others said Biden should have stayed in the race instead of giving in to pressure from big donors like the actor George Clooney and others elites.

Others disassembled Vice President Kamala Harris’ truncated campaign. Some argued that she should have chosen a vice presidential candidate from a blue-wall state like Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan instead of progressive Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

Some said Harris should have distanced himself earlier from Biden because voters wanted change. Still others wondered why she campaigned with former conservative Rep. Liz Cheney instead of playing more to the progressive base.

THE blame game is easy. But Democrats need to figure out where to go from here.

Trump is not an aberration. He has dominated the political scene for almost a decade, even when not in power. Democrats lost to him twice and barely beat him a third time, thanks in large part to his deadly mismanagement of the pandemic.

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Trump, 78, won again on Tuesday despite a criminal convictionA sexual abuse find, one financial fraud judgment, three others criminal indictmentsand power a deadly insurrection at the United States Capitol.

Any one of these tasks would have ended the political careers of the others. But Trump managed to increase your electoral base of white men, to which are added mainly black and Latino men, despite a life of racism and a plan to expel immigrants.

Clearly, Democrats have work to do to understand why they continue to lose to such a despicable figure.

Ground zero for any rebuilding effort should begin in Philadelphia. The city is the key to winning Pennsylvania. And winning the Commonwealth is the key to winning the White House.

Yet voter turnout in Philadelphia continues to declinealthough Democrats have a 7-1 registration advantage. Harris had fewer voices in the city than Biden had in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Philadelphia is also ground zero for party infighting. Bob Brady, the city’s longtime Democratic boss, blame the Harris campaign, saying it showed no “respect” and failed to provide enough “public money” to pay committee members to get out the vote.

“I’ve never talked to this lady, and she’s the candidate,” Brady said in Archie Bunker fashion.

The Harris campaign responded by posting a photo of Brady standing next to Harris. Brendan McPhillips, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign in Pennsylvania, placed the blame on Brady.

The vice president’s team “knocked on more than two million doors during the weekend before Election Day, two million more doors than Bob Brady’s organization can claim to have knocked on during his entire tenure as party leader,” McPhillips said.

Both camps could share some responsibility. Indeed, turnout problems spread across Pennsylvania and the nation.

However, Philadelphia needs some new blood, and it can’t come soon enough. Brady, 79, has led the party since 1986. Turnout continues to decline while the party is calcified and deprived of innovative ideas to increase registration and participation.

Beyond field operations, Democrats must rethink how to win back voters, particularly working class white and Latino.

Democrats need to do more to address cooking and quality of life issues, which Republicans are doing effectively. exploited. The high cost of living – including taxes and housing – in many blue states forces people to move to red states like Florida and Texas. The displacement of the population is expected giving these states additional electoral votes and political power after the 2030 census.

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At the same time, the factionalism between progressives and moderates must be put aside for the common good. The same goes for the generational divide exposed by the war in Gaza.

While Democrats have long said they stand for fairness, justice and equality, some party loyalists and independents are put off by the focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and gender issues. genre, which the Republican Party has defended. effectively politicized calling it all “woke.”

Democrats must find a balance between inclusion efforts without alienating key stakeholders. And better explain to voters how issues like systemic racism undermine democracy.

Democrats must also take inspiration from Republican strategist Karl Rove and focus on the growth of state legislatures across the country. Republican control at the state level allowed the party to gerrymandered congressional districts And restrict access to voting.

Of course, independently drawn maps And open primaries are the best option, but until the rules are changed, Democrats need to be more competitive.

Many voters are understandably discouraged and upset by four more years of Trump. But the best way forward is to solve problems to attract and motivate more voters.

As the late Senator Ted Kennedy said during his moving speech concession speech after failing to secure the Democratic nomination for president in 1980, “the work continues, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die.”