American politics has been on an interesting journey; with Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign, Donald Trump’s presidency, and the gut-wrenching race between Trump and Joe Biden in 2020, we are witnessing another wild election… or are we?

Before Biden dropped out of the presidential race, people were worried about American democracy following the first disastrous debate where Trump and Biden were more concerned about golfing than the state of the country.

There was this feeling of impending doom. Many Americans were worried that Trump has already won the election before it had happened. You could feel the doom in the air with so many people giving up on trying to advocate for a frequently faltering Biden.

Biden was promised as a ‘one-term president’ and seeing him run for a second term led to the people feeling betrayed. The slogan ‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ didn’t call to people the same way it did in the lead up to the previous election back in 2020.

Now with more at stake politically, socially, and economically, a lot of people are not sure who to vote for, with many feeling as if they are not heard and represented in government.

The appointment of J.D Vance as Trump’s Vice President nominee was an interesting choice. Vance, a U.S Senator from Ohio, was chosen because of his media presence, and the two share the same political beliefs. Trump’s campaign is largely centered around appealing to rural farmers and evangelical Christians. By appointing Vance, Trump hoped that he would garner the support from rural farmers in the Midwestern states, with his ‘rust-belt’ appeal having been brought up in abject poverty in the area himself.

Harris choosing Tim Walz as her running mate brought an interesting shift in the political atmosphere. Voters are slowly but surely becoming more enthusiastic about this pairing.

But just because the support for Harris and Walz has been on the up, does not mean the election is over. What failed with Hillary Clinton’s campaign was that it was centered around her and not the people. The real selling point of Clinton was that she was a woman and running to be the first female president, her main slogan being, ‘I’m With Her.’

Harris and Walz chose to not go with the ‘first woman president’ approach for their campaign having learnt what failed with that approach. Appointing Walz was arguably the best decision Harris could have made. As mentioned, Clinton failed to center the voices of the people who were going to be voting for her. But with Harris, appointing Walz meant she’s choosing to listen to young, progressive voters.

To summarise his career history, Walz previously served in the military for over twenty years, and became a high school teacher and American football coach in rural Minnesota. Walz helped form the first gay straight alliance (GSA) group at the high school, understanding that he had to set a great example as an American football coach. Becoming governor, he signed a law in 2023 that would provide free breakfast and lunch for all kids in Minnesota, regardless of family income, resulting in better performance in classrooms.

As of right now, the Harris-Walz campaign doesn’t have a detailed agenda and time is ticking.

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