Kamala Harris's short campaign period and lack of policy proposals led to limited voter support and her eventual loss to Donald Trump.
Harris entered the presidential race in August after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal. Her campaign, spanning just over 100 days, was the shortest in modern U.S. political history, despite endorsements from former presidents and influential celebrities.
However, post-election results from the November 5 vote revealed that the race was not as close as earlier polls indicated. Trump secured 277 electoral votes with victories in four out of seven battleground states, while Harris garnered 224 votes. The remaining three states leaned Republican. Experts described Harris’s campaign as one of the weakest in history, citing her brief campaign, vague proposals, and voter dissatisfaction with the current administration as major factors.
"The proposals Harris offered were insubstantial, amounting to 'anyone but Trump,'" remarked Camilla Tominey of the Telegraph. Harris avoided the media and, when she did engage, focused heavily on attacking Trump instead of presenting her own plans. Harris had previously run for president in January 2019 but withdrew due to insufficient resources. Biden selected her as his running mate in 2020, and together they defeated the Trump-Pence ticket.
Harris’s chance at making history was closely tied to Biden's presidency and the administration’s perceived effectiveness over the past four years. Biden faced consistently low approval ratings, with two-thirds of voters believing the U.S. was on the wrong track. Despite initial confidence in Biden’s re-election chances due to legislative achievements, his declining popularity impacted Harris’s campaign.
Upon inheriting Biden’s campaign, Harris worked to unify Democratic support and raised significant funds. However, she struggled to distance herself from Biden’s shadow, failing to convince voters of a fresh direction for the nation. While her campaign attempted to portray her as willing to collaborate with Republicans, it did not gain enough traction.
Harris's campaign characterized the election as a referendum on Trump, highlighting her prosecutorial background to contrast with Trump’s legal troubles. In the final weeks, she intensified attacks on Trump, labeling him "unstable" and framing the election as a fight for democracy. Yet, she did not clearly articulate her own stance on major conflicts or domestic issues, focusing instead on women's rights, such as abortion—a contrast to Trump’s state-based approach.
Veteran pollster Frank Luntz commented that Harris’s emphasis on attacking Trump backfired, as voters already knew Trump well and sought detailed plans from her. "The campaign spotlighted Trump instead of Harris’s policies, which was a major misstep," Luntz told USA Today.
Harris’s defeat marks the second time in three elections that a female Democratic candidate, positioned to make history, lost to Trump. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign advisor, noted a turning point in Harris’s campaign during an October 8 interview on The View, where she failed to articulate how her presidency would differ from Biden’s. Her response, "Nothing comes to mind," became a focal point for Trump’s attacks and contributed to her loss.
(According to Politico, USA Today)
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