Donald Trump returns to the presidency
By the time of this writing, Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, beating Kamala Harris by 68 electoral votes, taking the popular vote, and securing a GOP Senate majority.On November 5th, 2024, former President Donald Trump was reelected president of the United States. He surpassed Vice President Kamala Harris by 68 electoral college votes and won the popular vote by over 3,000,000. Additionally, Republicans flipped the Senate and won the majority by winning races in Montana, West Virginia, and Ohio.
According to the BBC, Donald Trump won the votes of men by 54%, white individuals by 55%, those 45-64 years old by 53%, and those without a college degree by 54%. Based on CNN reports, the former President made significant gains in his electorate since 2020 among Latino Men, those in rural areas, those without a college degree, and young white men. Donald Trump’s gains among these populations allowed him to win Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin, which President Joseph Biden took in the 2020 election. Trump’s success does not show up exclusively within the electoral college. The Associated Press news reported that Trump’s mobilization occurred throughout the nation, leading him to victory in the popular vote. Some may wonder how this happened. How did the United States of America choose to elect a convicted felon who has been accused of sexual assault on numerous occasions and assisted in the attempted coup that occurred on January 6th of 2021? To explain how this happened, we must examine the question: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Ronald Regans’ team used this question to win the 1980 election, and it has been used since then to alter the electorate’s view. How does this connect to the 2024 election? Well, NBC News exit polling data reported that 43% of voters said they are financially worse off now than they were four years ago. Gallup News found that 52% of voters rated the economy as having an “extremely important” influence on their vote for president. This is the highest the economy has ranked among voters since the 2008 recession. Despite twenty-three Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in a joint letter and the decline in inflation within the last year, voters wanted change. They do not think they are better off than they were four years ago, so they elected Donald Trump to be the President. Then again, Donald Trump’s electorate may not be those who would typically show interest in Nobel prize winners or pay attention to economic data. This elections outcome shows that Trumps electorate may not be concerned, impacted by or aware of the former President’s constant flow of hateful comments and actions. Thus, a new strategy may be needed for Democrats. Regardless of your view on the election results, it is important to remain peaceful, engage in productive political conversation, continue grappling with news, and do what you can to best serve your community. |