As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the political landscape in the United States is charged with anticipation and fervor. With a close election, this promises to be a pivotal moment in shaping the future of America. The article goes into the competitors, contentious issues, and broader implications of this crucial electoral battle for the Presidency.
Kamala Harris
Ms. Harris is the first South Asian and African American Vice President, who was a Senator for California after serving as a district attorney in prior years. Her achievements include capping the cost of insulin and improving our nation’s economy by reducing inflation to 2.44% and adding around 14 million jobs to the market. Many of these victories though have been either overlooked or associated with President Biden’s administration, generally; consequently, for most of President Biden’s tenure, she was in the shadows, unsure of when her time would arise.
After a not-so-exceptional debate performance by President Joe Biden, Harris entered the race for the presidency in the summer. Thus far, the margin of the likelihood of winning remains pretty close between her and Trump, making this election a close call.
However, Ms. Harris has been working hard to try and change the perception that she is Biden’s #2. She’s had meetings with many high-powered officials, like Zelensky and Netanyahu, to establish her authority on foreign matters. Then she picked Tim Walz, who served as the the Governor of Minnesota since 2019 and before that was a high school teacher and football coach as well army man. His values for family and home life are one of the biggest reasons she chose him to be her right hand.
Harris has also been seen using modern-day mediums of communication to engage younger eligible voters. She was a part of multiple SNL skits and TikTok videos, a lot of the time incorporating Charli XCX’s album BRAT. Others have commented on her performances, dis duets on her videos, or made their own remixes of her videos, putting their own twist on the theme. This effectively amplifies Harris’ message to her younger audiences.
Currently, Harris is campaigning in swing states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and Michigan. If she gains the electoral votes in some of the seven swing states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin), the election would swing in her favor, and same is true for Donald Trump.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, who entered the real estate development field. He won the Presidency In 2016, and effectively cut taxes and put several people on federal positions. Now, he is opting to pull a Grover Cleveland and run for another term like he did in 2020, unsuccessfully.
At the beginning of 2024, Trump began to encounter many legal problems including counts of fraud, sexual assault, hush money, and election subversion. But, all his hopes of clearing the charges lay in him winning this crucial election, thus reinvigorating his MAGA rhetoric. At first, things seemed easy: he was leading past contender Joe Biden by a much larger margin than that with Harris. But, with the entry of Harris into the presidential competition, Trump has found himself stuck and tied with the VP.
Trump has still been, however, rallying around the country, especially fortifying support among his followers in safe and swing states. Moreover, he has participated in multiple interviews with far-right media, with the same hope as Harris of gaining the votes of younger voters. He has been seen talking to Adin Ross, who gifted him a Tesla Truck, and Joe Rogan. From these talks, Trump illustrates his positions on key issues like abortion, the border crisis, and the economy.
Summary of Trump and Harris’ Views on Key Issues
Abortion
Trump has had varying views on when abortion should be legal or not. He had taken credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, mainly by appointing three conservative judges to the Supreme Court which effectively made the court lean towards the right. But, he has otherwise claimed that it is up to the states to decide the legality of abortions, which is “what everybody wanted, Democrats, Republicans and everybody else wanted.” He has also been obscure about whether he wanted a national ban or not, not taking into consideration the matters of rape, incest, or abuse.
Harris on the other hand made it very clear that she will establish a federal protection on abortion, which would negate the restrictions in 20 states. She has made women’s reproductive freedom a focal point in her campaign, appealing to women of all ages.
Border Crisis
Both candidates want to limit the border crisis right now, which currently entails the thousands of migrants seeking asylum in America. However, they have differing approaches to the issue.
Harris wants to tighten control on the border, limiting the amount of people who could enter. Trump promises to go a step further and wants mass deportations of the millions of illegal immigrants living in the US.
Both candidates are running their campaigns on the matter of experience and the views of their respective parties.
Trump wants to cut income and estate taxes and limit state and local tax deductions. With the support of multi-billionaires like Elon Musk, Trump hasn’t had to worry as much when it comes to funding elections. In hopes of gaining more votes from those in the middle class, he promises to lessen credit card interests and wants to boost credit for family caregivers. Moreover, he wants to greatly increase tariffs on imports, particularly China. This is in hopes of fortifying American manufacturing.
Harris still contends on keeping tax cuts for those making under 400K a year, while wanting to lessen tax cuts for the wealthy, allocating the money to the government’s uses. She is mainly focusing on the middle class, as she wants to provide tax relief to millions of Americans. She plans on keeping the same tariffs of the Biden administration while condemning the “Trump Tax” (Trump’s plan of across-border tariffs). Moreover, she plans on making housing more accessible with her three-step plan: supporting first-time buyers financially; the creation of many housing units; and lowering rent. In more general economic terms, she promises to support small businesses and follow Obama’s principle of making healthcare more accessible.
