The 2024 United States presidential election marked a dramatic shift in American politics. It for starters was the first time Donald Trump won the popular vote, allowing him to secure much needed legitimacy for future actions. The election also saw reduced turnout from the 2020 election, with Donald Trump receiving four million less votes than his rival Joe Biden. Nonetheless Trump still secured three million more votes in 2024 than he did in 2020.
Although polling inferred the election would be a tie, the race resulted in a sweeping victory for Donald Trump. Once again pollsters underestimated Trump, albeit to a lesser extent than in 2020 or 2016. Voters largely shifted towards the Republican Party when compared to the election of 2020.
Trump’s astounding victory raises questions such as “What did Democrats do wrong?” or “What did Republicans do right?” Many believed Trump’s political career to be over following the events of the 2020 presidential election; therefore the fact that Trump was able to not only win but secure the popular vote as well for the first time marks an unprecedented turn in American history.
In hindsight it can be argued Democrats were playing at a disadvantage due to the inflation and economic unrest that the American working class experienced during Biden’s four years in office. Ultimately when asked if their economic standing has changed for the better or for the worse since 2020, most Americans will answer the latter. Such economic downturn led Americans to want change, and ultimately the Republican Party pandered to such desire of change. The Democrat Party wrongfully communicated its message as being the status quo and establishment party. In other words what Republicans did right was branding themselves as the party of change in a time the American people desired so, while Kamala Harris feared straying from Biden’s policy to too great an extent.
It should also be said that Kamala Harris would have had a greater chance of victory as a man than a woman, but her loss should not be attributed to only being a woman. A man could have taken her place and still lost. Unfortunately for the Democrat Party a primary was unable to be held after it was determined Joe Biden was too old for reelection.
Overall, Joe Biden was an unpopular president with the American voter base. Of course, his term saw high inflation, but also two new wars in Israel and Ukraine and mixed reactions regarding how he handled them. Most Americans associated Kamala Harris with the Biden administration and treated her as an extension of Biden, opposed to seeing her as a new face. It also does not help the Democrats’ cause that many Americans bought into the idea that Biden was either used as a puppet or propped up by Kamala during his term.
Democrats are slow to adjust to the political realignment of the Trump era. Many democratic party members still see Trump and MAGA as an external, alien force, and want to run the democratic party in a pre-2016 manner. In reality MAGA has fully taken over the GOP and old party leaders such as Mitt Romney are now outcasts. The American voter base sees the dramatic shift that has occurred within the past decade as completely normal and will treat Donald Trump as an ordinary political figurehead. The Democrat Party must change according to the new standards of the Trump era if it is to remain relevant.
Despite being a controversial politician with an abysmal record of crime and corruption, Donald Trump was arguably his most popular in 2024. He provided a stark contrast with the elitist Democrats and promised a new way forward for the American voter base. Specifically, the Democrat Party symbolized the old elite, with figures such as Dick Cheney showing support for the party, while the new GOP branded itself as a breath of fresh air, free from the old elite that grasped both parties pre-2016.
The Democrats’ loss must serve as a wake up call for change. Americans are fed up with the old political order and chose a convicted felon over the former vice president purely out of desire for change. The path the election of 2024 set the Democrats on should hopefully result in a new era for the Democrat Party.
