Mourning in America: Reflections on Another Disastrous U.S. Election
Donald Trump celebrates his 2024 presidential election win in Florida. Getty Images
As the dust settles after the historic 2024 Presidential Election, many political pundits and analysts are attempting to explain what in the hell just happened. How did a man with 34 felony convictions, two impeachments, and a presidential legacy marred with constant chaos and the gross mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic ascend to the presidency for a second time? How did a campaign fueled by personal grievance and revenge win the Electoral College and the popular vote by a margin of millions?
Admittedly, I am not qualified to analyze voter data. I will not be crunching the numbers or studying demographic shifts. I cannot tell you how Donald Trump expanded his support among Latino voters while campaigning for mass deportations. I cannot explain why nearly half of women voters opted for the Republican candidate who killed Roe. I cannot comprehend why the white working class idolizes a narcissistic billionaire like Trump. The more I learn about elections in America, the less I truly know.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
That said, the mainstream liberal media insists that Kamala Harris ran a “flawless campaign,” which cannot possibly be true. In fairness to the Harris campaign, Kamala Harris was given 107 days to craft a coherent campaign message and present herself to the nation while her opponent had been campaigning ever since he refused to concede the last election. Post-pandemic inflation has been a major detriment to incumbent administrations across the globe. Harris is also linked with an incredibly unpopular president, Joe Biden, who was not-so-subtly removed as the Democratic Party’s nominee last July after it was clear that he could not beat Trump. Not to mention that a Black female candidate for President will always face additional hurdles in a country that is so deeply entrenched in misogyny and white supremacy. The circumstances surrounding Harris’ presidential run were daunting from the start, and it’s possible that this outcome was inevitable.
Donald J. Trump is the projected winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election according to multiple news sources. For the most up-to-date information about the U.S. Election, please visit news sources like The Associated Press and Reuters, or check with your state or local election authority.
I think back to the weeks after President Biden’s horrific debate performance against Donald Trump. Democrats were scrambling to resuscitate a campaign that had flatlined on live television. The President was defiant in his refusal to drop out. Then, on July 13, 2024, Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, and the entire country collectively thought to themselves, “Oh, Trump is winning this election.” When all hope seemed lost, the clouds of despair parted when ol’ Joe finally threw in the towel–with a little encouragement from Democratic power brokers like Nancy Pelosi. In a last-ditch effort to maintain some resemblance of control over the situation, Biden quickly endorsed his Vice President to pick up the torch that had been so unceremoniously ripped from his hands.
To my surprise, Kamala Harris’ approval rating improved drastically after she was anointed as the Democratic nominee. A sixty-year-old Harris brought a youthfulness and joyfulness to a dreary and depressing election cycle. Even her choice in running mate, the progressive Governor of Minnesota who astutely branded the Trump/Vance ticket as “weird,” was an early indicator that Harris would be responsive to her party’s base. Unfortunately, Harris would not build on the impressive momentum she garnered in the early weeks of the campaign.
Kamala Harris is introduced during the Democratic national convention in Chicago. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where it all went wrong. I was in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention in August, where Harris emphasized her tough-on-crime bona fides as a former prosecutor. My stomach dropped when Harris shouted the line “I am speaking now” at pro-Palestinian protestors at a rally in Michigan. Perhaps it all went south when the Harris campaign propped up billionaire Mark Cuban and anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney–daughter of the notorious war criminal Dick Cheney who also endorsed Harris in September–as two of their most prominent surrogates. The strategy to appeal to moderate Republicans by adopting the right-wing framing about the Southern border and dangerous illegal immigration was an unmitigated failure. Then again, maybe none of this meaningfully changed the trajectory of the election. I will repeat that I know next to nothing about what motivates the average American voter.
What lessons will the Democratic Party take away from this resounding defeat? Some elected Democrats claim that their party has been too woke, too pro-trans rights, too soft on undocumented immigrants. That’s a cowardly, immoral, and lazy analysis of the political climate. Instead of embracing economic populism and adopting hugely popular policies like Medicare-For-All, Democrats would sooner throw marginalized communities under the bus to earn cheap political points. We must reckon with the bleak political realities ahead of us as our country slides toward right-wing extremism and authoritarianism. The recurring American nightmare is back with a vengeance, and we must meet the moment with unflinching solidarity.