US presidential election final two months

THE US Presidential election 2024 will be held in two months in November. This election is getting to be very interesting and exciting, even though it is between the candidates of two main political parties in the USA, Democrats and Republicans, which is what happens every four years. 

This time it is between two different personalities, a white man former President with lots of racist views and never a politician and a mixed-race woman, Black and Indian, a politician who was elected as District Attorney (local Prosecutor), California State Attorney General, US Senator and US Vice President, 20 years younger. 

Even their Vice Presidential running mates are very different. Trump’s running mate is Senator J.D. Vance, a conservative rich investor in technology, elected first time as a Senator 18 months ago from the State of Ohio with an Indian (Telugu) wife. Kamala’s is Tim Walz, who started his career as a teacher, was a High School football team coach, US Army National Guard enlistee at the age of 17 and retired after 24 years, elected three terms as a member of the US House of Representatives, and in his second four-year term as Governor of Minnesota, who has no investments on stocks or shares. 
These differing personalities have started their final stretch of the campaign.

The election is two months away. The candidates have to travel to all 50 States in this large country, make campaign speeches, conduct fundraising events and participate in a couple of debates, usually 3 Presidential debates and one Vice Presidential debate. 

The American and foreign media will be covering them daily, what they spoke, what their policies are, how much support they may get and the public opinion. The US President is the most powerful position in the world because the US is the richest country, has the biggest military power, influences global trade substantially and holds the biggest balance of power. 

Now that both the Republican and Democratic National conventions are over and both candidates were introduced to the people, the campaigns have officially kicked off. 

Donald Trump is a well-known businessman billionaire for the last 40 years and that is one of the reasons why he was elected as US President without any previous political experience. He was mostly supporting Democratic candidates. 

Kamala Harris is not that week known except that she was the US Vice President for the past three plus years, California Senator for four years and California elected Attorney General for four years. In some States, Attorney General is elected and in some States appointed by the Governor. Kamala’s background is very unique - migrant’s daughter, mother Indian and father Jamaican Black, both Ph.D holders, parents divorced while she and her sister were children, and grew up in a mostly black neighborhood in a middle-class family. 

US has never elected a woman president. Trump defeated Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump is running for the third time. His last run in 2020 was defeated by Joe Biden, the current president.

Like in every democratic election process, the candidates go around and speak in election rallies, face questions from the media and talk to voters one one-on-one. There are debates scheduled between the candidates, who are watched by millions of Americans, some vote and some do not vote. 

There will be policy announcements by both candidates and the media shall conduct discussions with Democrats, Republicans and Independents. About 40 percent of voters are Republican, 40 percent Democrats and 20 percent Independents. 

In the last election, Biden got 51.3% with 306 electoral votes and Trump 45.9% or 232 Electoral Votes. In 2016 Hillary Clinton got 48.0% vote and Trump got only 45.9%, but still won the electoral votes and won the election with 304 electoral votes and Hillary only got 234 electoral votes. 

This is a phenomenon that can happen. There are total of 538 electoral votes, which represent the number of House of Representatives and two Senators from each State, a total of 435 House of Representatives and 100 Senators plus 3 electoral votes for Washington DC, which is not a State. To get elected as US President, the candidate needs to get 270 electoral votes. Therefore, even if the candidate gets majority votes, he/she may not get 270 electoral votes unless they do not win enough States to get the electoral votes.

The election campaign is based on how to get electoral votes. Some States are heavily Republican, and some are heavily Democratic. Therefore, the candidates spend more time on swing States, which can go either way. The election is between two personalities, how each presents oneself as a leader, knowledge of policies, foreign and domestic and how voters trust. 

As of today, Harris is leading in the national polls and many of the swing States are in play, Harris leads some and some are in play. It is going to be a tight election as it has been in most of the recent elections. 

The candidates also work with legislative groups to get the majority in the Senate, one-third of the Senators and all 435 House of Representatives are elected every two years. If the President’s party does not have a majority in the Senate or House of Representatives, it is difficult to pass the legislation the way they want to implement policies and budget.

The changing racial and ethnic composition of the US Electorate and their more active participation will have an impact in 2024, especially when a woman with a biracial background is in the fray. In all 50 States, the share of white voters declines and about 10 States are experiencing a double-digit drop in white eligible voters. Hispanic and Asian voters have come to make up increasingly larger shares of the electorate in every State. 

The rift between the right to life, who are against abortion rights, and pro-choice, who are pro-abortion, is another factor that will influence this year’s election. Democrats say that it is the right of a woman to decide what she should do with her body; the government cannot control their freedom to decide their choice. Black Americans are more involved, especially black women, in this year’s election like in 2008, when Obama was running.

World Malayalee Voice shall provide you with updated election news regularly.