Summary
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, winning both the popular and electoral votes, challenges expectations about democracy’s resilience in America.
Kamala Harris’s campaign, centered on “joy and hope,” struggled against strong headwinds. Approximately 65% of voters felt the country was on the “wrong track,” while two-thirds said the economy was in bad shape, a sentiment that heavily favored Trump.
Nearly half of voters reported they were personally worse off than four years ago, and 75% cited inflation as causing their family “moderate or severe hardship.” Trump overwhelmingly won among these voters.
Analysts argue Trump’s win isn’t a rejection of democracy but reflects public desire for “strong leadership” amid national dissatisfaction.
“Republican dysfunction” only matters if the Republican in question fears they might lose re-election. If the GOP thinks they’ll never have to worry about that again, they’re going to be much more brazen than ever before about their power grabs.
Unless they change the rules, Trump cannot have another term. I’d honestly be surprised if he survives all the way until 2028 anyway, he’s already ancient and pretty unhealthy. Add to that that people might try and take matters into their own hands and you get a pretty dangerous mix. I’m not sure if JD stepping in would be better though, he seems even crazier and definitely more insidious than the orange man.
I was talking specifically about Congress. Too many Republicans had seats in contested districts to go along with the worst of the GOP platform or else they’d get voted out, while the ones from the safe districts got to be the batshit craziest.
If you see a GOP congress start to actually get shit done, you know that they’re not worried about re-election anymore, and that should be a terrifying thought.