The US election results explained
- BB
- Mar 17
- 3 min read
How Harris fumbled the 2024 presidential elections
By: BB, Emily, Year 11
Donald Trump’s comeback has been described as historic, as the Republican Party (GOP) were able to secure the majority in not only the electoral college, but also the House of Representatives, and senate, giving what president-elect Trump himself referred to as “an unprecedented and powerful mandate” by America, and perhaps the first time a president has been projected to hold near complete power over all branches of the US government.
This election was considered the most important of our lifetimes with issues from the future of woman’s reproductive rights to the Supreme Court expunging major crimes from republican figures, Trump included. Yet after months of endorsements, rallying, and campaigning for support, Kamala Harris has lost, not only to Trump, but also to third-party candidates amongst some communities including those in major swing states, leaving Americans awaiting 4 more years under Trump’s America, and questioning what went wrong with Harris’s run.
Leading up the the final day of Voting, President Biden had been embroiled in a variety of controversies questioning his ability to lead. His approval ratings amongst US voters had reached an all time low at 36%, with only 22% of voters believing he kept his promises while in office leaving Biden, and by extent Harris who served as his VP, with a reputation marred by ‘blank check’ policy on Ukraine and Israel, a severe lack of action to aid US natural disaster victims, crackdowns on political and environmental activism, and a peak year of mass deportation surpassing Trump’s first presidency.
Since Harris’s official nomination for presidency, her policies have only become more unpopular and viewed as out touch with most voters. Her first speech after receiving the democratic party’s backing was promising to ensure “America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.” Many voters, especially leftists and moderates were surprised by what was seen as a rightward shift in political rhetoric compared to past runs by Democrats, and in stark contrasts to Trump’s campaign calling for unity and an end to the US’s foreign involvement, and promises (true or not) of addressing issues such as the economy and immigration which have consistently been the top issue amongst US voters of both parties.
Hasan Piker, a left-leaning political commentator, summarized his views on Harris’s loss in a tweet: “I hate to say I told you so, but this run to moderates looks like a spectacular failure. ‘Lethal military,’ muscular border policy, and parading Liz Cheney didn’t swing votes in dems favor and only worked to normalize Republican positions.”
Perhaps the most surprising (or unsurprising) outcome of the elections was the ability for many other progressive Democratic candidates, such as Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Summer Lee, to keep their seats in the US House of Representatives despite, just like Harris, being woman of color in republican-turned swing states through consistent support for progressive policies such as Medicare for all, the ‘Green new deal’ pushing for better environmental policy, and questioning US involvement in arming conflicts in the Middle East.
Regardless of the failure of Harris’s run, Americans can expect another 4 years of Trump’s America with threats such as the instatement of Project 2025: a political initiative pushing for right-wing christian-nationalist policies, which could mean women loosing rights to abortions: risking death in childbirth, the complete elimination of the Department of Education, and bans on gay marriage and gender-affirming care. Only time will tell what the future holds for the United States, until then we can only wonder what could’ve been done differently.
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