There are hundreds of factors that go into winning or losing an election. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were neck-and-neck for months (though the polls that undercounted the Republicans had something to do with that), but Trump wound up winning by a relatively comfortable margin, even winning the popular vote rather easily — something that a Republican hasn’t done for quite some time.
These are just some of the factors that made the difference.
- Biden’s low approval rating
This was the crux of the election. The public’s belief that we were on the wrong track was remarkably high. The policies of the Biden administration gave us high inflation, and higher interest rates. It also gave us record levels of illegal immigration. People wanted change and Harris was not able to convince the public that she was the agent of change.
- The “they/them” ad
Trump’s “they/them” ad may go down in history as one of the most effective ever. It starts out discussing how crazy it would be for anyone to suggest taxpayers should pay for sex change operations for prisoners and illegal aliens. Then they cut to Harris’ actual words being spoken on camera claiming just that. It confirmed how woke and out of touch Harris herself had become.
- Memories of better days
It’s hard to convince average Americans that Trump is a fascist or a Nazi and will end democracy when they’ve already witnessed his actions in previous years. His political enemies were not prosecuted or sent to jail. Quite ironic, because his political enemies tried to prosecute and put him in jail and keep him off the ballot. It was an irony and a contradiction that most people saw through.
Most importantly, people were able to compare the low inflation, low interest rates, peace around the world, energy independence and sealed borders that we had during Trump’s four years compared to the chaos under Biden-Harris. Even if they were concerned about Trump personally, their pockets were fuller during his years.
- Trump’s visit to McDonald’s
The McDonald’s stunt was classic. Trump made a visit to the fast food chain to highlight what he believed was Harris’ false story about having worked in her younger days at the restaurant. Trump came across as an authentic McDonald’s lover because he is. Average folk were identifying more with him, despite his billionaire status, than the woke crowd in Washington.
- Tariffs
Trump instituted selective tariffs in his first term against China, and also threatened them to extract action by foreign governments, such as Mexico, to help in the border fight. But in this election cycle, he went all in, stating that he was going to retaliate against other countries that treat us unfairly. This didn’t go over well with the elites in academia or the business world, but was music to the ears of dislocated blue-collar workers in the Rust Belt. It was a contributing factor to Trump’s sweep of the big blue wall encompassing Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
- Harris kept ducking the issues
It’s hard to claim to be an agent of change when you fail to lay out a realistic agenda to prove your point.
- Harris’ word salads
When Harris wasn’t employing Joe Biden’s basement strategy and actually came out to say something, it was often a ridiculous word salad once off the Teleprompter. Her incomprehensible answers to simple questions made her appear shallow and not very quick on her feet. How is she going to face down notorious enemies around the world without even these basic skills? Trump also rambles a great deal when answering questions, but he does eventually get to a specific point. Voters didn’t feel the same with Harris, who never could enunciate a specific position on important matters.
- Harris’ radical past and flip-flops
Harris really doesn’t have a deep down political core. She has always adopted what was politically convenient for her. In her quickly aborted race in 2019, she tried to outdo Bernie Sanders on the left and came up with ridiculous policy stances that came back to haunt her this year.
- The early vote push
The GOP learned its lesson from the 2020 debacle when they discouraged their voters from voting early. This time, they came out en masse early on, allowing their operatives to pull out their more hesitant voters on Election Day.
- Realignment
Trump’s stance on the economy and immigration has created a realignment in American politics, whereby the working and middle-class blue-collar workers are now solidly entrenched in the Republican Party. Trump won an astonishing 45% of the Hispanic population in large part because of their revulsion of the woke policies of the cultural liberals. He appealed to men who were vilified by the Democratic Party. Young people who were unable to buy a home or even rent an apartment are feeling that their lives will be harder than that of their parents. They’re looking for greater opportunity, and Harris just didn’t provide it.
- Trump’s resilience after the shooting
Even if you dislike the Trump style, you have to admire his tenacity. Threats of prosecution and bankruptcy and numerous investigations could not get him to surrender. Even after being shot in the ear, he stood up defiantly with his fist in the air. For many fence-sitters, it was the type of fight they wanted to see in their leader.
- Lawfare backfired
The Democrats’ lawfare campaign backfired. They actually rallied the Republican base around Trump. The cases brought against him were dismissed by a majority of Americans as being political retribution. He’s pursued for collecting classified documents, but Biden is not. He is pursued by leftist DA Alvin Bragg over a hush money payment that was not illegal and where the statute of limitations had run out.
He was convicted by a court that claimed that he overvalued his Mar-a-Lago asset which the judge ridiculously valued at $18 million, when it’s more likely valued close to $1 billion. The American public would not let any candidate guilty of rape, murder, or kidnapping into the Oval Office. But they didn’t take these charges seriously because they knew it was political warfare.
- The “garbage” comment
Biden labeling Trump supporters as garbage was impactful for two reasons. First, it sucked attention away from the horrific joke told by an insult comic about Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally. Secondly, it also underscored the disdain that elites have for the working class who simply disagree with them philosophically. I saw more garbage Halloween costumes than any other this past Halloween.
- Moderation on abortion
Abortion continues to be a major divisive factor in U.S. politics. Trump’s announcement that he would not sign a national abortion ban didn’t sway the ardent pro-abortion supporters, but did allay concerns of many who were on the fence.