look, no one ever claimed that the two major political parties are exceptionally skilled at learning from their mistakes or even admitting that they made mistakes in the first place. So it’s no surprise that several weeks after the November 5 presidential election, both Republicans and Democrats seem poised to learn all the wrong lessons, which will, of course, lead them down a path where they will make a whole new series of mistakes that they will deny making. Oh, good. Just what we need, more cases of political malpractice by party, people who like to pretend they’re serving the public when they’re really just benefiting themselves. But before the lessons comes the autopsy. As time passed, political observers reached a variety of conclusions about why Donald Trump won so decisively and why Kamala Harris lost so definitively. We’ve heard that Trump connected with voters, took risks, zeroed in on inflation and immigration as top concerns ventured outside. Mainstream media took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes, used his resources wisely, fully embraced the performative aspect of running for president and conveyed a simple vision of what he’d do if elected. We’ve heard that Trump didn’t write off a single voter because he really seemed to believe that every voting demographic was in play, and that he ignored the advice of strategists, aides and consultants, and just trusted his own instincts. He knew what voters wanted, and he served it up to them at a McDonald’s drive through in Pennsylvania. We’ve also heard that Harris did none of those things, no connecting, no communicating well, no risk taking, no venturing outside her perceived safe spaces, no exploiting Trump’s mistakes, no vision, simple enough to fit on a cocktail napkin. We’ve heard that Harris was a terrible candidate who ran a subpar campaign that tried to be about everything, so it wound up being about nothing. Harris made a terrible blunder in ducking tough interviews, for instance, and skipping events that could have been problematic or embarrassing, like appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, or attending a conference of Black Journalists or participating in a Univision Town Hall aimed at Latinos. Trump did all of that. Harris did none of that during the campaign, Democrats were lazy when they assumed that all they needed to do was point out how terrible Trump was and then shame everyone who was even thinking of voting for him, hoping they think again now that the election is over, Democrats are being lazy again when they refuse to be introspective and take responsibility for the loss, and instead shift the blame to black men, white women, rural voters, young people, Latinos and anyone else out there who didn’t turn out to vote for Harris, which is a lot of people. As for the lessons here are the proper ones to draw. Republicans should learn not to overreach. They should not conclude that just because 25% of black men and nearly half 46% of Latinos voted for Trump, that going forward, those same percentages will defect again in future presidential elections to vote for whatever bonehead candidate the Republican Party nominates. This was lightning in a bottle, and the bottle had a very distinct name on it, Trump. Meanwhile, Democrats should learn to accept that the American people have agency. They’re free to make their own choices about who to vote for, and it’s up to the parties to give those people quality picks from which to choose. Also, if you want to win over voters in the next election, maybe you should ratchet down the arrogance and not criticize them for how they voted in this one. Personally, as a centrist who despises both political parties equally, I usually can’t tell them apart. Often they say they believe in different things, but when it comes down to getting and keeping power, they behave the exact same way that is always and forever in their own self interest.