Transforming the party: Democrats have failed us — it's time to rebuild from the ground up

Julian Zelizer : If you couldn't see a way to win it, why not bring in someone who could? That's the problem in a nutshell, not just for the Kamala Harris campaign, but for the past two generations, the neoliberal world order and liberal democracy as a whole.

He says the problem is not a single electoral defeat, or even a party facing a string of them, it's how to fundamentally transform our politics.

Zelizer says we must refocus our politics around solving major policy questions through public deliberation.

Democrats need a 50 -state strategy that builds power through the state parties, says John Avlon .

Avlon: The party's failure to invest in rural red states is only one side of this story, since it lost ground in blue states and major cities as well.

He says the party has to break out of D.C.-centric thinking and model that concentrates messaging into talking points, concentrates funding into a handful of states.

Sally Kohn : GOP ground game paid off in Pennsylvania this year .

She says it's not just get-out-the-vote power that Democrats should be worried about, but it's a deeper and more fundamental worry: the shaping of meaning that is enforced by the lack of a strong social safety net.

The absence of solidarity has left many people feeling not only isolated but adrift, identity-wise, she says.

Kohn says health care should be a top priority for Democrats .