But Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election was far from guaranteed, either. For most of Harris' relatively brief candidacy, she and Trump appeared to be locked in a very tight race. So Harris' incredibly dismal showing was also somewhat unexpected. She came up short in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, lost all seven swing states, and lost ground with most demographic groups. Even in reliably Democratic strongholds such as New Jersey and New York, Harris underperformed.
Some people are chalking Harris' loss up to sexism, misogyny, and racism. And no doubt some small segment of voters were motivated by such things, as some people always are. But one needn't imagine a mass hate wave to explain Trump's victory.
In the weeks leading up to the election, candidate Harris struggled to define herself as polls repeatedly showed little daylight between her and Trump. Often, Trump's flaws seemed to be Harris' main selling point: She was not Trump. But who was she? Even Harris herself seemed scared to say.
Esta historia es de la edición January 2025 de Reason magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición January 2025 de Reason magazine.
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