Introduction:
It is that time again when our country decides who runs the nation for the next four years, and while it is no different a process as prior years, the 2024 US Presidential election presents a new challenge that we have never experienced in our nation’s history. This article explores the biggest storylines relating to the candidates in this cycle. This article is not meant to encourage voting for a specific candidate, but to inform of who the candidates are and where they stand to give information so you may make an educated decision on who you would vote for.
The Candidates:
This year’s candidates have a similar storyline to the 2016 race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in that we have Trump representing the Republican party, and a woman with previous cabinet experience, Kamala Harris, who at the time of writing the article serves as the 49th Vice President. Incumbent Joe Biden dropped out of the race after a debate with former president Trump that felt like a major defeat to many.
The decision of the Republican party to nominate Trump as their candidate to many comes as a shock in light of the 34 counts of falsification of business records in the first degree, and his involvement with the January 6th riots in 2021 that left at least 174 people injured and 9 dead. Many would think that Trump would be the last person the GOP would nominate, but the move makes a lot of sense. Trump is by far the most popular candidate in the party, many of the other candidates were not considered to be competitive enough to beat Biden, Trump has a so-called “Cult” following of people who are bitter about the failure of the 2020 election and want to see him back in office, and many other supporters who just like the gist of what he is saying. Meanwhile, the decision of the Democratic Party to nominate Kamala Harris is seen by many as a frantic and desperate attempt to plug the hole that Joe Biden left when he dropped out. The Democratic Party has a similar problem to the Republicans in that there is no other candidate who could realistically compete with Donald Trump, especially in light of the assassination attempt that led many to blame them for the near end of the Trump campaign. Kamala Harris the Vice President helped her case obviously because the Vice President is looked at as the 2nd most important person in the government. But the main driving force behind the Harris campaign will likely be the want of those who dislike Trump and the GOP. To many, a majority of Democrats are seemingly voting more against Trump rather than for Kamala.
Views and Standings:
Many issues can be considered as important this year but for the sake of this article, there will only be three issues presented in this article.
Abortion: Arguably the biggest issue this year is abortion, Roe V. Wade was a court case overturned in 2022 that handed abortion laws over the the states instead of being a federal right. Harris supports abortion and intends to make the issue central in her campaign, and that isn’t just a party-line standing, Harris since 2017 has maintained a 100% advocacy rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL which has allowed her to become a key player in Abortion activism. Trump typically describes himself as “Pro-Life with exceptions” and seemingly takes a logical role with Rape, Incest, and Mother Health Endangerment being the main reasons he would support it. He has also voiced his support for state issues, but he does not take a clear stance on a federal ban or federal restrictions.
Project 2025: Another important issue is The Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025 which as described on the website “will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.” In other words, Project 2025 is a way for conservatives to swiftly institute conservative values into the government should a Republican win the office in 2024. Some of the policies that are considered questionable include, infusing the government and society with conservative Christian values, and reclassifying many federal service workers as political appointees, allowing for loyalists to replace experts if a President feels like it should happen. Donald Trump has claimed that he is not in any way affiliated, however, 31 contributors to the project served in Trump’s administration at various levels, including but not limited to Director Paul Dans, and Editor Steven Groves. Which while not that big of a deal, is still a bit of a Red Flag. Kamala Harris has vocally opposed Project 2025 for obvious reasons but has also falsely claimed that it will cut Social Security and end the Affordable Care Act. Both of these issues as claimed by the Project are addressed to “Curb the Abuses” So also take what she is saying about the Project with a Grain of Salt because she has spread misinformation about it multiple times.
Immigration: The last of the three issues covered in this section is the current US immigration crisis, which will be likely brought up as a potentially deciding factor for voters. Between the terms of Trump and Biden, we saw a 237% increase in border encounters.
To be fair, immigration is not 100% a president-controlled thing. But the numbers tell a story that something happened between the two terms that allowed those numbers to jump so much. One of Trump’s most infamous policies is building a wall between the US and Mexico. The problem is, that the wall project never went anywhere and in reality was mostly treated as maintenance on parts of the wall. He plans to crack down on immigration in what he has described as, “The Largest mass deportation in the history of this country.” Harris meanwhile takes a root cause stance on Immigration, if she wins the election, she has pledged to help countries in Central America to stop immigration. She has also been a vocal opponent of the Trump Administration’s treatment of detained immigrants.
Conclusion:
Many issues were not covered in this article specifically, LGBT Rights, Taxes, and Inflation just to name a few. For those and many more, I say do the research, and see where the politicians you want to vote for stand on them, as for this election, it is going to be a struggle for all of the sides, and no matter who wins it, there will be an evident fight till the bitter end. So if you can vote in this year’s election, it is encouraged, because this election is about to be like no other we’ve seen and could be the first election, where voting plays a real factor in the future existence of our country.
