Few people have a middle ground when it comes to Donald Trump. Most of the voters I spoke to during the course of this campaign said they wished he would “shut his potty mouth” – but they were able to look past it.
Instead, they focused on the question he asked at every rally. “Are you better off now than you were two years ago?”
So many people who voted for Trump told me that they felt the economy was much better when he was in office, and they were sick of trying to make ends meet. Although much of the cause of inflation was due to outside forces, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, they blamed the outgoing administration.
All over the country I heard people – on the left and right – complaining about billions of dollars being spent on supporting Ukraine when they thought that money would be much better spent at home. In the end, they just couldn’t vote for Harris, who served as Joe Biden’s vice-president for four years. They believed it would be more of the same, and they wanted change.
Ultimately, voters were presented with two versions of America. Trump told them that their country was a failing nation that only he could Make Great Again. Kamala Harris cautioned that if Trump was elected, American democracy itself would face an existential threat. That remains to be seen.
