For us Gen-Z, it seems as though every election has been the one of our lives. Starting in 2016, we’ve been in this perpetual cycle of fear every four years as the threat of a Trump presidency looms. The 2024 election was coveted as the most consequential election of our lifetime, where our rights and democracy were on the line. An election whose result was theorized to not be determined for a few weeks or months was revealed early Wednesday morning, showing that Donald Trump won every single swing state, the electoral college, and the popular vote — a first for him. Trump’s total sweep was a shocker to many, who believed Harris had to and would win. However, Trump won in a clear and deafening way, meaning there had to be signs of his win prior. This leads me to ask the question, could Kamala Harris have won, or was she always destined to lose?
the debate
Let’s turn back the clock to June 27, 2024, the night of the first presidential debate in this election cycle. Trump and Biden made their way to Atlanta, Georgia to battle it out in front of the nation for office of the presidency; a debate the Biden campaign had actually asked to happen before Labor Day when people get more serious about the election. Biden had previously dog-walked Trump in the 2020 debate, providing Americans with a serious figure after living through a terribly handled pandemic by Trump. However, roles would be reversed as Trump seemed to, in the beginning, provide coherent answers and overpower the aging Biden, who couldn’t find his words or answer questions at all. This gave the nation the chance to really question if Biden should keep running for reelection or step down and allow someone younger to take his place. The first person we would see addressing Biden’s debate failure was Kamala Harris, who spoke to Anderson Cooper and other journalists, reiterating that it was one bad night and that we should remain loyal to the president. I think this was the first nail in the coffin for Harris.
As Harris addressed the nation about Biden’s performance and staying loyal to the president, calls around the nation and in the Democratic Party grew, calling for him to step out of the race. Harris was the face of this loyalty movement behind the president. She also vouched for his mental acuity, stating he was sharp in daily meetings. Harris may have viewed this as a part of her job, being loyal to the president. However, to some Americans who’ve been questioning Biden’s capabilities since he stepped into office, she was part of a larger conspiracy where people believed the president was losing it as he got older and just lied to the public about it.
the choice
In July, Biden finally stepped out of the race and threw his support behind his Vice President. Many Democrats asked to have a mini-primary or a brokered convention, meaning candidates would have the opportunity to fight for the nomination, before or during the Democratic National Convention. However, in Biden’s continued theme of ignoring the wishes of the people, he came out in support of Harris, who in any instance would be the main contender. But Biden denied her the opportunity to fight for it and made it seem as though it was just handed to her, something that she didn’t work for.
Actually fighting for the nomination would have given the American people the opportunity to see her in action. A critique she faced during the campaign was that she’s the VP and no one has seen her in four years. I think she needed to prove herself to the people in some type of way to really get their approval.
the messaging
Harris has been praised for the way she’s advertised herself to the electorate, particularly through her social media. Though she’s succeeded at TikTok, the election results revealed that people had an issue with her messaging. During her campaign, Harris focused a lot on how dangerous Trump was for the US and for democracy. However, she tended to ignore the issues people actually cared about, like the economy. Prior to the election, many shared their fears about inflation and grocery prices. Inflation isn’t on the rise, but some think it is. They hold inflation responsible for how expensive everyday items like food have become. Biden has bragged about how amazing his economy is, while people can’t afford food or rent. Harris didn’t really care to address these concerns during her campaign. Rather, she’d roll out her economic plans like bans on price gouging then move on to another subject, after discovering how unpopular these policies were with wealthier individuals.
Harris also tried to move right to appease Republicans. She celebrated her endorsement from former VP Dick Cheney and even campaigned in Michigan, a battleground state, with Liz Cheney. She came down hard on immigration and the border. She also tried to ignore all of the progressive stances she supported in 2020, like allowing transgender inmates to have gender-affirming surgeries. She’d make claims like it was a law at the time, or became defensive.
what went wrong
To be honest, as someone who studies political science and keeps up with politics for fun, I think Harris was destined to lose. I think that there were so many controversies surrounding the Biden Administration that anyone a part of that would have lost. I also think any Democrat, even one other than Harris, would have lost this election. I don’t think her loss is completely her fault, I think the blame should be laid on Biden. Biden stated during his 2020 campaign that he was going to be a transitional president. However, he remained in the race, despite knowing he would lose months prior. I think he screwed with her chances of winning by dropping out only a few months before election day. I think there were also issues with her actual campaign as well.
I think the first mistake was choosing Tim Walz, a Democrat from a solid blue state. All of Harris’s intended policies were catered to the right, so why would she choose a running mate even more progressive than her? Also, I think she focused too hard on trying to get the Never Trumpers. This worked in 2020 when the threat of another Trump presidency was crystal clear in everyone’s mind. However, it’s been almost four years since he was last in office, and people have forgotten what life was like then. They just remember things being less expensive.
As someone who was saddened by Trump’s win, I felt that it was somewhat necessary. I think the Democratic Party has to reassess some of their strategies and stop focusing on how evil Trump is. They need to learn how to actually appeal to people, particularly the working class. This is something they’ve been struggling with for a long time, and this is the second time they’ve lost on the strategy of Trump = bad. I hope that in 2028 a stronger Democratic campaign could emerge and actually take back the government. I think Trump being in office will also mobilize people and remind them why someone like him shouldn’t be in office.
concluding thoughts
I’m someone who’s pretty afraid of the next four years. At the time that I’m writing this, Trump has already announced some of his administration appointments such as a Fox News host as Secretary of Defense and Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. He’s only choosing people who support him, not anyone with much experience. We’ve gotten to the point where his Secretary of State pick, Marco Rubio, is his most competent choice. I think the Democrats need to take a serious look at their party.