Kamala Harris started her presidential bid for the 2024 United States Presidential Election on a high note. She was late in the game after Joe Bidden dropped out of the race on July 21 but succeeded in building an initial wave of momentum in the first weeks of her 100-day campaign. Her campaign team sustained this in the weeks leading up to the November polls.
Most observers noted that Harris campaigned on vibes. Content related to her went viral on social media. The campaign team even banked on memes and anchored her to pop culture trends. Her rallies were packed to the brim. High-profile personalities ranging from pop stars like Lady Gaga to athletes like Lebron James lent their star power to endorse Harris.
However, after 5 November 2024, the results were clear. It was a bloodbath for Democrats across the electoral map. The Republican ticket of former president Donald Trump and Ohio senator James David Vance defeated the Democratic ticket of incumbent vice president Kamala Harris and Minnesota governor Tim Walz. What went wrong? Why did Kamala Harris lose the election?
Why Kamala Harris Lost and How Donald Trump Won the Election
Pressing Inflation and Immigration Issues
Two issues that have become relevant in the American political landscape in recent years are inflation and immigration. The Biden administration suffered from persistent price hikes due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and the escalation of tension between Ukraine and Russia in 2021 that caused the 2021-2022 Global Supply Chain Crisis.
Inflation was up 20.1 percent over the initial 45 months of Joe Biden. It was only 7.1 percent during the first 45 months of Donald Trump. This is equivalent to annualized inflation rates of 5.4 percent under the Biden administration and 1.9 percent under his predecessor. The rate peaked at about 9.1 percent in June 2022 but fell to 2.1 percent in September 2024.
Another notable issue was immigration. A poll published by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in February 2024 revealed that 68 percent of Americans think that immigration is a good thing for the U.S. These included 84 percent of Democrats. 42 percent felt the country runs the risk of losing its identity due to its openness. These included 72 percent Republicans.
Jerusalem Demsas of The Atlantic reminded that the attitudes toward immigration are complicated because it is contingent on the method of entrance and the perceived scarcity of employment and housing. The issue escalated during the historic influx of migrants and the initial relaxed border policies concerning immigration under the Biden administration.
The persistence of high inflation rates and the influx of immigrants armed critics with talking points against the Biden administration. These issues were rehashed and hurled toward Harris. Americans struggled due to inflation and have grown worried about migrants taking over their jobs. Trump ran his campaign alleging that Biden and Harris destroyed the American economy.
Contagion From The Biden Administration
Harris was chucked late in the game after Biden dropped out of the race following a tragic debate performance against Trump. The incumbent vice president circumvented the rigorous process of a primary election. A lot of people welcomed this development. However, during the course of her campaign, Harris proved unable to divorce herself and her brand from Biden.
The Biden administration has grappled with various political issues. The approval rating of Biden has consistently hovered below the 40 percent mark throughout his four-year term. An NBC News poll held on September 2024 showed that two in three registered voters or 65 percent of registered voters think that the U.S. was on the wrong track in its socioeconomic direction.
Furthermore, apart from inflation and immigration, there has been a growing dissatisfaction with the foreign policy and positions of the Biden administration. These included a failure to meddle with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the continuous use of government funds to aid allies amidst perceived domestic economic hardship.
Harris threaded a fine line. She was neither vocal in promoting Biden policies nor was she direct at addressing the issues. Her presidential bid later spent the last stretch of its ca trail underscoring that her administration would not be a continuation of the Biden administration. However, when asked how she would do this, her responses lacked the assurance the voters needed.
Television appearances on The View and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert showcased how she struggled to answer the basic question of what she would do differently than the incumbent president. Her response during her appearance on The View was that not a single thing came to her mind and that she was part of most of the decisions that have had impact.
Nevertheless, according to observers, one of the reasons Kamala Harris lost the election was her attempt at fence-sitting between her loyalty to Joe Biden and presenting herself as the change that the Americans wanted. She also made her campaign run about Trump. This was disappointing for some. Harris failed to separate herself from an unpopular president.
Shifting and Evolving Political Inclinations
Harris ran a center-right campaign. This is based on the late shift to restrictive immigration policies and an indifference toward headline geopolitical issues like the crisis in Gaza and the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The Democrats also courted anti-Trump Republicans. Harris brought Republican ultraconservative Liz Cheney into her campaign.
The shift to a more right-oriented leaning might sound logical given what others perceive as the growing clamor for values that lean toward the right wing of the spectrum. However, based on the 2024 results, while Trump won the popular vote for the first time in his third run, his 74.233 million votes in the 2020 presidential election only slightly went up to 77.269 million votes.
It is hard to confirm if the right-wing movement in the U.S. is growing. What is clear is that the Democratic Party lost its base. Biden had a record-breaking 81.283 million popular votes during the 2020 election. Even Hilary Clinton won the popular vote during the 2016 election despite losing to Trump in the Electoral College. Harris only had about 74.983 million votes.
Vermont senator and former Democrat Bernie Sanders, who won his fourth term in the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election, condemned the Democratic Party in a statement shared on the social media platform X. He explained that the party abandoned the working class with its attempt at following and maintaining the status quo that has left many Americans at a disadvantage.
There is weight in the aforementioned statement. Note that the working class represents more than 50 percent of voters. Harris had talking points aimed at the working class but Trump seemed to be more convincing. Exit polls showed that only 44 percent of the working class voted for Harris. Trump also made strides among Latin Americans and some Black Americans.
How Donald Trump Won and Why Kamala Harris Lost the Election
Pinpointing what Donald Trump did right to win the election and what Kamala Harris did to lose would take some time. Trump won the popular vote for the first time in his third run but his actual numbers showed that his base did not substantially improve when it should have increased given the trends in the growth of the American voting population.
It is worth noting that Harris and the Democratic Party had lost a lot of voters in the 2024 election. Her numbers were a far cry from the record-breaking number of votes Joe Biden got during the 2020 election. The Biden numbers could be attributed to the increase in mail-in votes and the issues surrounding the coronavirus pandemic response of Trump.
Trump won because Harris failed to convince Democrats to vote and attract more voters to her side. Her association with Biden was particularly damning. There were no serious attempts to separate herself from the unfavorable image of Joe Biden. She ran a campaign tainted by the lingering frustrations from the incumbent administration.
Furthermore, despite her attempt at being the change the Americans want, Harris ran her campaign on vibes. The same can be said for Trump. She still had clearer positions than Trump. However, based on her numbers, and the turnout of Democrat voters, it seemed that her campaign promises and messages were also overshadowed by the rhetorics of Trump.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Bowman, B. 2024. “Two-Thirds of Voters Say the Country is on the Wrong Track Ahead of the 2024 Election.” NBC News. Available online
- Demsas, J. 2024. “What Americans Really Think About Immigration.” The Atlantic. Available online
- Marist Institute for Public Opinion. 2024. “The Road to the General Election.” Marist Poll. Available online