In my article published here on Aug. 29, I wrote that Vice President and Democrat candidate for presidency Kamala Harris built her campaign heavily on the abortion issue, that she believes abortion will never lose if it is put on the ballot, and that if Harris won, it would mean that abortion will be the number one choice for a great country like the U.S. I continued by stating that if former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump wins, Harris, who has previously run unsuccessful campaigns, will be accused of saying too much about abortion and not giving enough weight to other arguments, and that she has built her own defeat.
Although Harris emphasized other issues in the following months, such as her coming from the middle class, abortion always remained the most prominent topic for her and her propagandists. This was used to convey the fear that women's rights would be taken away and the country would go backward. In the days immediately before the election, famous actresses Natalie Portman and Jessica Alba, who support Harris, were still promoting abortion on social media. MSNBC, one of Harris' most prominent supporters in the media, had no qualms about mentioning that Black people would have difficulty having abortions, even when it was explaining that the situation would be bad for them in its latest broadcasts. It continued its analysis broadcasts titled "Abortion."
On the other hand, Trump emphasized the bad course of inflation and the high prices that the public complained about and pumped up the fear that if these continued for another four years, the economy would be so bad that it would not recover. The other problem he highlighted, along with the economy, was the issue of illegal immigration. He made propaganda that if this continued on its current course, Americans would not have a country left. He worked on these fears in almost every event he appeared before people. In fact, the first promise he emphasized in his first speech after his election victory was about immigrants. Also, J.D. Vance, whom he invited to the stage and who would become vice president, said, "Just as they made the biggest political comeback in American history, they will also make the biggest comeback in the economy.” They mentioned the issues of immigration and the economy, which they had put in the top two slots before the election and immediately after the victory.
There were also differences between the parties’ responses to the imposed fears. Trump insistently stated that the states would decide on the issue of abortion, that he supported this for victims of rape and incest, and that he would not impose a ban by force. The fact that he did not do such a thing during his previous presidency also supported his statements. However, immediately after his words, the Harrisist media claimed he should not be believed. On the other hand, Harris' side could not counter the fear cannons fired by Trump. Whenever asked about the economy, she started to say she was born into a middle-class family with a laugh and could not come up with any convincing plan, which only led to ridicule for Harris. Being the number one responsible for the flow of illegal immigration was another minus for Harris.
In addition, the aforementioned failures of President Joe Biden's era, which Democrats had difficulty in responding to, and the fact that it did not really bring peace and prosperity compared to the Trump era partially damaged the validity of the Trump fear perpetrated by the Democratic media. The public could evaluate the experience of Trump and his opponent by living through their administrations. They concluded that Trump was being denigrated unnecessarily, and the other was being exaggerated. One of these, most notably, was Black Lives Matter activist Mark Fisher, who, despite being a lifelong Democrat, announced that he regretted supporting Biden in 2020 and called for support for Trump just before the election. In other words, ruptures could be seen even in places that were most opposed to Trump.
Another issue was undoubtedly Trump’s strong stance and the image of him dedicating his life to America after being subjected to repeated assassination attempts. On the other hand, there was the miserable image of Biden, who constantly went on vacation and provided material for Trump to say, “Do we have a president?” or “Nobody wants to see you in your swimsuit,” and who actually fell to the ground at various times and places.
As for the image of Harris, she could not even appear in front of a journalist for an interview for a long time, made serious mistakes when she finally did and also avoided press conferences. Although Harris corrected this weak image in the only debate she had with Trump, it was only one evening. Indeed, in this debate, while Trump answered almost every issue, though sometimes incorrectly, it was seen that Harris could not answer many of Trump’s accusations and counter-arguments. For this reason, in my article published in Daily Sabah on Sept. 21, I revealed Harris' overlooked shortcomings in the debate, arguing that the debate alone would not help Harris win.
In this strong and honorable stance, the problem that Harris was most incapable of responding to and Trump most lashed out at was the Afghanistan withdrawal incident. According to Trump, this was the most shameful incident in American history, and wherever Trump brought up Afghanistan, he always emphasized it with this observation. Democrats have not found any significant shield against this incident, which is one of the biggest reasons for Biden’s falling public approval rating over the years.
As if that were not enough, they resorted to trivializing the assassination attempt against Trump with very inappropriate expressions and even questioning it in a way that would push many people away. On Nov. 4, MSNBC commentators were still talking about the “alleged” assassination attempt, even using quotation marks to describe Trump’s victimhood, but even so, they were trying to downgrade the issue by stating that he was the one who really provoked the violence. It was clear that these actions would serve no purpose other than to justify the rhetoric of Trump’s side, which described the media as “enemies of the people” and that he was in a serious struggle with them. In other words, while trying to weaken him, they made the mistake of implicitly supporting his image as “strong” and a “fighter” for America.
Apart from these, Harris made many gaffes and contradictory remarks. While she had previously stated that she would ban fracking, which is one of the important issues for Pennsylvania voters, she backtracked and said she would not ban it when she saw the situation as critical in the election. Trump held many Pennsylvania rallies during the election process and frequently emphasized that she backpedaled on this issue and was unreliable. On the one hand, Harris talked about the gun ban; on the other hand, she argued that saying this was compatible with the right to bear arms. On the other hand, in her interview with Oprah on Sept. 20, she laughed and claimed that a person would be shot if he entered her house. Even Oprah, one of her biggest supporters, listened to this with a surprised face. A video of Americans complaining about their financial difficulties was also broadcast on the same Oprah program as if the current president was Trump. The question of why they did not fix this during their term did not find any convincing answers. It was obvious that Oprah shouting “Joooy!” at the Democratic Convention would not close all these gaps.
Even in the last few days, Harris’s mistakes continued. At the Arizona rally on Oct. 31, she said, “I have fought for many who have harmed other people,” and without realizing what she said, she continued her words and was mocked again on Fox News one evening. In the meantime, Biden made things worse by insulting Trump supporters. We can summarize these mistakes, which are too many to fit in this article, as follows: Harris and her supporters tried to drive the car by bumping it all the way down the road and eventually hit a wall.
Considering all of this, we can conclude that the Democrats’ most fundamental mistake was not nominating a candidate who was not in Biden’s administration. In this way, they could have put forward someone with a relatively solid record on issues such as the economy, immigration and Afghanistan, which Trump has been most concerned with and Democrats have been most helpless on. Against Trump, whose name has been worn down by both his own mistakes and an effective smear campaign, running candidates who are even more worn down and who have worn themselves out is a goal for the Democrats. This goal made the match 1-0. Meanwhile, Trump scored 2-0 with his stance and more convincing rhetoric.
In 2017, hate crimes increased by 18% in major U.S. cities. Images of Trump supporters taking their children with them and attacking mosques spread online. The increase in violence continued until the incident on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, we have Trump, who faced assassination attempts repeatedly during his candidacy. Another attempt could happen during his presidency. The increase in violence and hateful acts can continue dangerously.
Trump has claimed that he will bring the golden age of American history to life, see unprecedented successes and achieve the greatest things in history. Of course, there is a big difference between speaking at a rally when you are in opposition and fulfilling promises when you are in office. His failure to properly handle the coronavirus, the first serious crisis he faced last time, led to his defeat. Now, he is taking office with the promise of bringing peace to a world in even greater crisis and making everything beautiful. Time will tell whether his experience will help him be more successful.
