Philipe Reines laments drastic leftward shift of Democratic Party as election defeat sets in

Given the resounding nature of Kamala Harris' Tuesday loss to Donald Trump, it stands to reason that at least some key figures in the Democratic Party would engage in a bit of soul searching to determine where things went wrong.

Indeed, one liberal voice who is in the midst of reflection is none other than longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philipe Reines, who publicly lamented the strong leftward shift his party has undertaken in recent years, as The Blaze reports.

Reines lets loose

The prominent Democratic Party operative engaged in an electoral post-mortem during an appearance on CNN Friday, and that is when he came clean about what likely led to Harris' crushing defeat.

Reines expressed his belief that rank-and-file Democrats have allowed themselves to be effectively held hostage to the most radical, far-left faction of their party, allowing focus to be taken from the issues about which most Americans are concerned.

“I think Democrats believe in commonsense stuff more than you realize. I mean, it's not like we sit at home and don't talk to anyone,” Reines began.

He continued, “Most Democrats I know think there is a huge problem at the border. Most Democrats I know think, frankly, that males at birth should not play women's sports and vice versa.”

“Either way, here's the problem: I am not concerned about what the right thinks about the Democratic Party. I am concerned about what I think about the Democratic Party,” Reines said, adding, “I don't like the fact that a small portion of our party is pretty much dictating where we are. Pretty much, we are being branded as the most extreme of us.”

Reckoning begins?

It is not just Reines who has been taking a closer look at what may have driven so many voters to Trump and away from the Democratic Party ticket, with Sen. Bernie Sanders stating last week, as Politico noted, that “it should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”

Liberal House stalwart Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) admitted the same, saying, “The Democratic Party needs to be rebuilt. We have become a party of elites, whether we abandoned working-class people, whether they abandoned us, whether it's some combination of all of the above.”

Adding to the chorus of self-reflection was Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who said on Tuesday that his party's obsession with identity politics has become its undoing and that a serious course correction is needed, as The Hill noted.

“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges man Americans face. I have two little girls, I don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I'm supposed to be afraid to say that,” Moulton observed.

While to the lion's share of Americans, Moulton's take is simply one borne out of common sense, but considering that his statement prompted the swift resignation of one of his top aides, it appears that there are still those on the left that have yet to learn the lessons of Trump's landslide win.