What do you call it when you fail, get a better result by doing something different, then repeat the thing that failed the first time?

Frida Ghitis: The Democratic Party had two real-world tests for what works in an election against Donald Trump .

She says the Democratic establishment, it seems, not only cannot reliably deliver on the election wins it promises to voters — it can’t even save itself.

The real explanation is that voters were fed up with the economy as the most important issue in the election, Ghitis says.

Julian Zelizer says the Democratic Party failed to understand the impact of its VP nominee Kamala Harris .

He says the party chose a candidate who proved a weak candidate rather than a democratic process to test her and others.

Zelizer: The Democratic Party could have looked at recent victories in France and Mexico , where left-of-center movements won and halted what seemed like the almost certain advance of a far-right candidate.

Julian Zelizer : Hillary Clinton ran a campaign that was one part the Democrats ’ 2022 midterm approach, one part Hillary Clinton ’s losing 2016 strategy of exchanging progressives and working-class voters for suburban Republicans .

He says the campaign combined a sharp rightward lurch on foreign policy and immigration with a handful of laudable populist proposals to ban price gouging and help out first -time homebuyers.

As a result, Harris 's run was a major downgrade from the 2020 Democratic effort.