Across the United States, leading Democrats are looking at how and why they lost significant ground in the presidential election.

Some are blaming President Joe Biden for the defeat of Kamala Harris, who only had four months to run her campaign.

The list of critiques is long – from not dropping out of the race sooner, to a perceived disconnection with working-class and male voters.

At the polls, the economy, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and a surge in irregular immigration all played a role.

So what does this mean for the Democratic Party?

And will this decisive defeat force it to reassess some of its policies?

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Stephen Zunes – Professor of politics and founding chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco

Andrew Rudalevitch – Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College

Scott Lucas – Professor of international politics at the Clinton Institute, University College Dublin