SO WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE DEMOCRATS?

Saro Thiruppathy takes a look at the US election to uncover the factors that contributed to Vice President Kamala Harris’ electoral defeat

The 45th President of the United States Donald Trump won a second term on 5 November with a landslide victory that saw him secure 50.5 percent of the popular vote and 312 electoral votes.

Eventually, the Republican Party gained control of the senate and a majority in the house. His inauguration as the 47th Presi­dent of the US will take place in Washington D.C. on 20 January.

Because Trump won all seven swing states – viz. Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin – he was able to comfortably achieve the 270 electoral votes that were needed.

TRUMP’S PLATFORM By focussing on the main issues that were causing grief to the American people – such as the porous southern border, uncontrolled illegal migration, inflation, the high cost of living and the state of the economy – he managed to gain the support of a majority of voters.

Trump was more controlled in his victory speech this time around, and his choice of JD Vance as his running mate helped further his message, which was not diluted with superficial matters. He promised to resolve issues such as illegal immigration and the economy, and also resume fracking, upon returning to the Oval Office.

HARRIS’ DEFEAT Those who watched the many surveys conducted by mainstream media were taken aback by Trump’s victory. The prediction was that the race was tight, and the two contenders were neck and neck – and Vice President Kamala Harris was at least one percentage point ahead of Trump in the states that were surveyed.

But ultimately, she managed to win only 226 electoral votes.

So while foreign heads of state were busy congratulating Trump, political analysts were deep diving to find out why the Democratic Party failed to retain the presidency.

Of the many factors that led to Harris’ defeat, left leaning legacy media was one of the main causes.

Though it was determined to win her the presidency, it ultimately turned out to be mostly untruthful and unreliable – and its bias created a false sense of security for the vice president and her team.

Harris’ below par response to hurricanes Helene and Milton, which devastated large swathes of Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, didn’t help her case particularly since North Carolina is a swing state.

Though the Democrats maintained that it is the party of the working class, there’s been a shift towards the richer corporates and elites over the past few decades. This eventually resulted in some influential trade unions, which normally support the Democratic Party candidate, to refrain from endorsing anyone this time around.

And the late endorsements of former president Barack Obama and his wife, which were followed by enthusiastic speeches at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August, lost steam over a short period of two months.

Meanwhile, Harris used much of her campaign time to promote her intention to codify the protections under Roe v Wade so that women would be free (i.e. sans state interference) to decide whether or not to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

This promise did resonate with a large population of women but it wasn’t enough to move the needle far enough in her favour.

Inflation and employment were looking better in the last quarter but the pinch that Americans feel at the fuel pumps and grocery stores did not reflect this improved economic environment.

Though Harris pledged to create an opportunity economy that would uplift the middle class, she did not focus on the key issues that confront the American people – such as the open southern border, the continuous funding of wars, uncontrolled illegal immigration, inflation and the high cost of living.

She was also criticised for backpedalling on her resolve to ban fracking, which was her campaign pledge in 2019.

In the end, various events and decisions conspired to rob her of the opportunity to sit behind the Resolute desk. The US government’s funding of the war being waged by Israel against the Palestinians, the cost of funding Ukraine in its never-ending battle with Russia and other financial mistakes have taken a toll on the country’s economy.

Harris’ consistent position that President Joe Biden isn’t experiencing cognitive decline, and maintaining that she wouldn’t change any of his policies (even though she did say that she’d turn a new page), led many undecided voters to take a step back and revisit her campaign pledges.

Furthermore, her decision to choose Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz as her running mate did not bring any obvious value to Harris’ election campaign.

Indeed, the jury will continue to be out for some time before deciding whether Trump can deliver the goods – or whether voters made a terrible mistake at the polls.

Only time will tell whether his administration will actually make America great again – or not…