The election is complete, its machinery rinsed of the dirty doings that President-elect Donald Trump harped on for four years after his 2020 loss and throughout this campaign. Satisfied with last Tuesday’s election results, he no longer works to poison confidence in our voting systems. Nary a word. While I did not foresee the extent and dynamic of Trump’s victory and Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss, I did write in July 2022, that the election need not have turned out the way it did. This puts me among those who feel strongly that assigning responsibility is necessary, not unseemly. I begin with President Biden. Rather than make a timely and wise decision not to run for reelection, he persisted in thinking himself fit for four more years in the White House. He convinced himself that he, alone, could defeat Trump. (He said 50 others could defeat Trump before he took that back). He did not heed his own dictum that his was to be a transitional, one-term presidency. The June debate between Biden and Trump was a shambles and a shock. Eventually, pressure from previously silent Democratic congressional leadership, reflecting anxiety among down ticket candidates, overcame Biden’s claim on the party’s loyalty. Closely following Biden on any fault finding list must come the aiders and abettors: family, staff, senior colleagues and party supporters, who never faced the reality of the president’s condition. They drew a curtain, ignoring the toll it would take for a second term. First ladies have been protective of presidential fragility in the last years of their husband’s term — Edith Wilson to an extreme degree, Nancy Reagan alertly vigilant and Lady Bird Johnson even counselling against seeking another term. It seems Jill Biden was an intimate part of staying the course toward a second term. Biden’s clinging to running stained his legacy, dampened praise he deserved, and squandered public approval to which he had a rightful claim. The most important result of Biden’s self indulgence is what did not happen. There was no timely decision allowing for a full primary, which we needed to see and test many candidates, and which candidates needed to hone their message and limn their character and appeal, even if that meant exposing tensions within the party. What happened, in the lateness of the hour when Biden decided not to run and then endorsed Harris? No one with any hopes of a future run for the White House was going to jeopardize their chances by contesting at that stage against the first Black vice president whose core supporters are a vital and deeply loyal Democrat cornerstone. The party was put in a corner. Harris seized the day, skillfully. Yet she had been robbed of proving herself the most compelling candidate. Meanwhile, the public soured on Biden’s performance. The feeling grew that the country was going in the wrong direction. Harris’ endorser became an anchor. Of course, the candidate, herself, will be judged. She scrambled into the race with energy, the joy vibe, tacking down the nomination, exuding confidence and determination. The contrast with Biden was immediate, the younger prosecutor was on her feet. Agile in debate, which has a courtroom quality, Harris was stale in interviews, anticipated questions were answered in vapors. She couldn’t find a persuasive way to credit the administration’s economic achievements, while acknowledging how many felt left behind. Her idea attacking price gouging felt like a squeak. On immigration, all she said was Trump tried to kill a deal. She didn’t flex a muscle to show resolve. Harris was excellent on abortion and women’s autonomy, and equally passionate on presidential bearing and moral leadership. Fearless going after Trump, she was tireless on the trail. She, like the administration, was sympatico with Blacks, yet less connecting with the Hispanic/Latino communities. The selection of Tim Walz, did her no good. He mentioned Minnesota in the VP debate 20 times; Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania never. And the coach persona didn’t add a whit to their rural appeal. In the end, however good Harris was, she fell short, bearing the personal brunt of losing with grace notes and dignity. Knowing the stain of misogyny and racism, she did not offer them to explain her defeat. The vice president has shown, far more than the president, an understanding that the “fault lies not in the stars, but in ourselves…,” which is even harder to do in the face of Trump’s hard to swallow good fortune. Isenberg is a former publisher of New York Newsday and was chief of staff to Mayor John Lindsay.