The 2024 election was one of the most prominent conversations throughout American society in recent times, and understandably so: this momentous proceeding pit the controversial figure Donald Trump, the Republican (GOP) candidate seeking a nonconsecutive re-election, against former VP Kamala Harris, the Democratic (DEM) candidate who replaced former president Joe Biden in a highly anticipated turn of events. Despite the fact that it was a close race, the Associated Press reported that Trump won with 312 electoral votes, with Harris taking only 224.
While the candidates themselves were the subjects of intense media coverage, the issues driving people’s voting decisions were far more important. The relative importance of issues varied among voters: according to the Pew Research Center, immigration and violent crime were very important to 82% and 76% of Trump supporters respectively, while healthcare, Supreme Court appointments, and abortion were very important to 76%, 73%, and 67% of Harris supporters respectively. These discrepancies were reflected in the stances of both the parties during the election. The Republican party’s platform emphasized issues such as reducing inflation, maximizing domestic manufacturing, increasing border security, ramping up fossil fuel extraction and usage, and opposing late term abortion. Conversely, the Democratic party’s platform advocated for limiting corporate greed, investing in public education, combating climate change, regulating guns, pushing abortion freedoms, and increasing racial and gender equity.
Senior Vishal Surya does not consider himself a “single-issue voter;” according to him, a plethora of issues influenced his decision, including healthcare, foreign de-escalation, and civil rights.
“I was very hopeful that the candidates would speak about increasing humanitarian aid to places across the world that are in desperate need of it, whether due to displacement or conflict in the regions,” Surya said. “If America wants to be the greatest democracy in the world, then a logical extension of that would be to protect the rights of everyone. Additionally, I believed that access to equal and basic healthcare rights were paramount in the election. No one should be denied basic healthcare services that are considered medically safe and are available throughout the world. …Additionally, issues regarding civil rights for LGBTQIA+ (especially children) and racial minorities stood out to me in this election–I believed that candidates should be protecting the rights of everyone in the United States, whether or not that aligns with cultural traditions of the past or not.”
Senior Rounak Rai, who did not vote in the election, was informed on the topics of immigration and civil rights, but the issue of Palestine was particularly important to him.
“I believe the supposed issue of illegal immigration … was a foremost issue during this election, along with the plans outlined in Project 2025 to ruin the lives of LGBTQ+ minorities and destroy the Department of Education,” Rai said. “For me though, if I could vote in this election, the issue of Palestine would be the most important. According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Israel has carried out a genocide in Gaza since Oct. 7, and the International Court of Justice has ruled Israel to be an apartheid state. This is a heartbreaking situation, and is by far the most important issue to me for the past election.”
However, the economy was the top issue in the 2024 election with about 81% of registered voters citing it as a very important issue–a common denominator among voters.
“I definitely would also count the already starting trade war with our 3 biggest trading partners to be a big topic of contention for a lot of people, which is just going to raise the prices for the common consumer even more,” Rai said.
On media platforms, the election was not treated in a similarly sophisticated manner. According to associate professor David Jurgens of Michigan State University, the “degree of eloquence in making campaign arguments has dropped,” something many netizens pointed out during the presidential debate. This trend can affect how people vote: rather than doing extensive research on candidates, many voters simply vote along party lines. For example, the Pew Research Center says that 78% of voters conduct “straight-ticket” voting for the House of Representatives, while this number is 80% for the Senate. Many do not consider that candidates often have complex views on issues that do not necessarily align with party perceptions.
“It seems people were focusing too much on candidates and parties instead of actually considering their own position on the issues during the election,” Rai said. “Many Democrats ran with Harris even with her sometimes explicitly anti-immigrant and anti-Palestinian rhetoric, despite their own positions being contradicted by their candidate. Republicans on the other hand are faced with billionaire interests like [those of] Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos taking the reins of the party.”
Polarization is increasingly an issue in American politics, especially because of the country’s strong two-party system. There is an increasing gap between the ideologies of Democrats and Republicans; the Pew Research Center saw a significant drop in Americans seeing bipartisan common ground from 2023 to 2024. Some see this issue, among others, as a threat to the country’s democracy.
“I feel the two-party system is not good because it creates only a binary choice that becomes polarizing,” a senior said. “It also limits the parties from changing and adopting new ideas and policies.”
The election was a highly divisive event and often led to hate and distrust on social media. However, it is also true that this division was inevitable in certain cases; many people found that the issues of the election personally affected their situations.
“For some, including many of my friends and family, what was on the ballot could fundamentally alter their lives, so as someone who had comparatively less stakes in the election, I don’t think I should be one to judge the heavy emotions displayed by many,” Surya said. “I think this speaks to how deeply personal many of the election issues were, and it highlighted the need for more spaces to discuss policies with empathy rather than division. I also felt as if there was a lot of character attacking rather than actually focusing on specific policies. In some regards this is true, not all instances–some is probably warranted.”
Indeed, many members of the community have expressed the increasing need for empathy and acceptance; while the election was obviously a pivotal event, it is not the only avenue by which individuals can effect change. Surya believes that voting is not the only civic duty that Americans have.
“Our duties aren’t limited to once every four years, but on a continuous basis, whether it’s something as small as helping people out in our community or campaigning for policy reform that I’ve seen many seven lakes students and other peers in the past do,” Surya said. “Also, I heard a lot during election time about things that were considered the de-facto ‘American values,’ which was confusing to me because America is not a monolith–it is a melting pot of a plethora of ideas and cultures. We should embrace those differences, not exclude those who are different or who are somehow ‘less American’ than an arbitrary goal post and just be kind to one another despite our differences in belief.”
