Trump wins the long chess game for the keys of The White House, but is it the democrats own fault?

Trump is a controversial candidate, whose victory is the only thing not controversial about him. He won the popular vote, as well as the electoral college bringing to an end a long awaited heated up election between him and Kamala Harris. But how is it he got there in the first place?

Photo of president-elect Donald Trump taking stage on election night, West Palm Beach, Florida, November 2024 (photo taken by Reuters).

Firstly and to start off with, his method of delivering the message where strategically better than the democrats. The campaign Trump’s team took to give him the spotlight needed to reach the general public was better developed and more concise than the democrats, his appearances in podcasts, interviews and ads gave him the public view needed to reach his following base and to expand it. On the other hand democrats were loose on the subject, the ads where not seen in many key battleground states, televised interviews where not seen by the general public and the online presence being in podcasts or social media to reach a heavily needed younger audience made the democratic campaign fall in shambles in that area.

Although it could be argued that Trump’s oratorial techniques to deliver the message are simply good or bad, it has to be admitted that the narrative control he had over media was complete. His online presence, personality, and news making decisions or reactions gave him a 24 hour spotlight in most outlets. Nevertheless, if he had not taken such a huge stance he would have most probably lost huge spotlights for his campaign. On the other hand, the democratic party had a hard time keeping the narrative, every time there was something that could affect Trump’s image they left it out of the equation and went to another message, as if they where biting more than what they can chew.

The democrats narrative idea is obsolete alongside the idea of politically theoretical speeches for the general public. In today’s day and age the speeches by Kamala Harris where reflected as useless in the election, no identity politics was widely used (the main driving force behind this election's outcome) and the obsession of treating each sector of the population as different led to a confused yet general message to the population.

The message of a united hegemonic American society delivered by Trump tackled that exact problem the democrats had. Although Trump’s actions were massive for his following base and the turnout of the election, it has to be said that Kamala’s speed to adapt to the massively different circumstances and taking the reins of a campaign halfway into the elections is remarkable. Ideas can be discussed that more campaign time could have made a different turnout seem valid, but if the key points of message deleverage, media presence and balance of policy ideas, the chances of a different electoral turnout are grim.

Written by Federico De La Lama Aguirre.