What do the Democrats need to reverse their fortunes? More bread-and-butter issues, less Oprah, say some

More bread and butter and less Oprah.

That's what some strategists suggest is needed to fix a demoralized Democratic Party recovering from its electoral thumping on Tuesday night.

The finger pointing, recriminations and soul searching has begun in earnest in the wake of the U.S. election, which saw former Republican president Donald Trump soundly defeat current Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris. Some Democrats are now calling for a reckoning within the party to determine what went wrong and what needs to change if they want to win future elections.

"This was wholescale repudiation of the Democratic Party at every level," said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis in a phone interview with CBC News, noting the party saw a drop in support in every city, county and state. "We lost Democratic support across the board.

"We act like our product is great, why didn't everybody buy it?" he said. "That product sucks — and that's why people didn't buy it."

With votes still being counted, Trump was on track to capture between 301 and 314 electoral college votes  and become the first Republican candidate in two decades to win the popular vote. 

He also made significant inroads with Black and Hispanic voters as exit polls suggested many voters were dissatisfied with both the country's direction and its economy.

The Democrats also lost control of the Senate, but the House, which is currently controlled by the Republicans, is still up for grabs as ballots continue to be counted.

Some blame for Democrat losses has fallen on Harris, who was criticized that she was unable to define herself. Some Democratic strategists have suggested she spent too much time, especially in the final weeks of the campaign, emphasizing the potential dangers Trump might pose, which overshadowed her policies relating to everyday issues.

There's also blame being placed on U.S. President Joe Biden for not stepping down earlier, leaving Harris with a compressed timetable to campaign. 

But some pundits and party officials say the most significant problems lay within the party itself.

According to Kofinis and other political strategists and observers, the Democratic Party has either dismissed, minimized or stopped listening to issues that are most important to the average voter.

"The only issues that matter to voters are the economic bread-and-butter issues. That's on top of the pyramid. And then you go down," Kofinis said.

Kofinis says the party spent way too much time talking about issues like democracy and gender identity and was too obsessed with Trump's legal woes and investigations into his actions.