Kamala Harris aspired to become the first woman elected president of the United States. It’s a failure (and even more than a failure). The results of the American presidential election are a cold shower for the Democratic Party candidate. Just look at the map of the country to see how the red tidal wave swept away everything.
Facing Donald Trump, the Democratic candidate lost in the electoral college, she lost the popular vote and her party, under her banner, also lost the majority in the Senate. What are the reasons for this bitter failure? Marie-Christine Bonzome, political scientist and journalist specializing in the United States, gives us four, detailed in the video at the top of this article or transcribed just below.
Everything about the 2024 American presidential election
Kamala Harris had a bad campaign
“Kamala Harris is a bad candidate, unpopular. She had already proven it in 2020, she has difficulty campaigning, shaking hands, answering questions from journalists… Kamala Harris's schedule itself was very light, except in the last weeks. She did almost no media until the end of August. And during her meetings, she did not give many details about her program. »
She carries the record of Joe Biden
“There is a fundamental ambiguity in his candidacy. She presents herself as a candidate for change even though she is part of the government team in place and therefore she bears the record of the Biden-Harris administration. However, this assessment has been rejected, for more than two years now, by two-thirds of Americans on the major concerns of economic policy, inflation, the migration crisis, crime and foreign policy. »
Donald Trump was better
“Donald Trump is not only more popular than he was in 2016 and 2020, but he also had a much better presidential campaign than his rival. He was on the field a lot. Her running mate, JD Vance has done many more campaign events than Tim Walz, Kamala Harris's running mate. It also seems, even if we have to wait for confirmation in the coming days, that the field campaign, such as door-to-door campaigning, carried out by Republican Party volunteers has clearly improved. »
The weak mobilization of the traditionally democratic electorate
“Kamala Harris underperformed across the board, with regard to the pillar demographic categories of the traditional Democratic electorate: blacks, Hispanics, and even women. Kamala Harris recorded a loss of votes compared to Biden among Hispanic and black voters and in certain swing states, she missed the vote of educated women. »
