“This is a political victory like our country has never seen before” [« It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before »]. For once, the expressions used by Donald Trump during his speech on the morning of Wednesday, November 6, are not hyperbole. The day after the election, while vote counting is still underway, the Republican has already obtained more than the 270 voters needed to win the presidency, while his side also obtains the majority in the Senate.
Above all, the new president-elect won the popular vote this time, with more voters than Kamala Harris. If the currently uncertain House of Representatives also gives the majority to the Republicans, Trump would then be in power. trifecta (the “trifecta”): the White House and the two Houses of Congress – to which we must add the Supreme Court, which since its first term has had a majority of six conservative judges out of nine.
What are the voting dynamics that explain the surprising victory of a far-right candidate hated by a considerable percentage of Americans, a repeat offender whom many suspect of being subordinate to Russian power? The first of them is undoubtedly due to the political talent, charisma and resistance of this extraordinary character.
Lack of new talents
But the Democratic Party cannot avoid a painful examination of its own responsibilities in the bitter failure that has just been imposed on it. Therefore, the main reasons for the defeat must undoubtedly be attributed to Trump’s rival, Kamala Harris. During a too-short campaign, from late July to early November, the Democratic candidate failed to convey an effective message to Americans.
Between his left-wing agenda during the 2020 Democratic primary campaign and his much more moderate proposals four years later, voters didn’t understand what his true views were. Above all, Harris has never managed to find the right tone to express his personal story, where his opponent, despite his repeated lies, is perceived as ” authentic “.
But beyond the insufficiencies of Kamala Harris, the blame must also be placed on the absence, for almost ten years, of a real selection of new political talent within the Democratic Party. Strongly encouraged in high places despite the holding of presidential primaries, the candidacies of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 hindered the rise of the next generation of Democrats. Caught off guard by Biden’s too-late withdrawal at the end of July, the party found itself without quality candidates.
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