The run-up to the United States 2024 Presidential Election has been in full swing for a few months. Last month, former President Donald Trump announced was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, surviving the assassination attempt and turning the incident into a bold image of his campaign. A few days after, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin formally nominated and declared Trump the GOP’s presidential nominee. Not only that, but after a disastrous presidential debate in late June, incumbent President Joe Biden’s campaign took a nosedive which led to him dropping his campaign for reelection. In his place, Vice President Kamala Harris is now the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, after being endorsed by numerous Democratic officials and others. If elected, Harris will become not only the first black female VP, but also the first black female president.
The Democratic National Convention will be held from August 19–22 in Chicago, Illinois. At the convention, the Democratic Party will formally nominate and declare their candidate for President of the United States, presumed to be Harris. As it currently stands, the fight between Trump and Harris is brewing intensely as Harris’s campaign is catapulted to the forefront of national attention. Last week, the Vice President announced her choice for running mate: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. But what are the goals of the Harris-Walz campaign? According to Kamala Harris’s campaign website, the current Vice President is running to “continue protecting our freedoms, delivering justice, and expanding opportunity so that every American can not just get by, but get ahead.” The campaign is basing itself around three key American principles: freedom, justice, and opportunity.
In an effort to gather more information on public opinion, Rampage reached out to Avery Skipper, sophomore, for an interview. When asked “How do you feel about the goals of the Harris campaign?” Skipper said, “They are goals that align with the Democratic Party’s values and I think that they are achievable.” In response to a question on Harris’s potential selection at the DNC as the party’s candidate, Skipper stated that Harris and Walz brought the party together and how it was fragmented prior; she also stated her belief that the DNC will declare Harris as “the official nominee, especially after how many endorsements she’s gotten. I’d be really taken aback if another candidate came in.” When Skipper was asked whether she thought Kamala Harris or Donald Trump had a better chance at winning the 2024 election, she replied, “I personally don’t see [Trump] winning,” Lastly, Rampage asked the interviewee what she would like to see in a possible Harris Administration, to which she responded, “I’d like to see a continuation of some of the climate legislation that Biden put in; I hope that Kamala is able to address the abortion issue and able to have it protected.” Skipper also stated that she hoped to see a steady administration that brings the country back up on its feet, stating “The past couple years, we’ve kind of been not steady whatsoever.” As the DNC rapidly approaches, all eyes will be focused on Illinois this upcoming week.
In another interview, a member of the local community who chose to remain anonymous, was asked the same questions. When asked about the goals of the Harris campaign, the interviewee stated “If it’s similar to the Biden campaign, I’m cautious at best, because I know that the Biden Administration had goals that they did not manage to meet.” When asked “Do you think the DNC will formally declare Vice President Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate, or will there be an open floor nomination?”, the interviewee replied saying, “I believe that they will choose Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the next election, just because they need some kind of central figure that has experience that everybody knows.” When Anonymous was asked a question about speculation on whether Trump would be able to win the 2024 election, they said, “I believe he has a very, very strong chance of winning just because he was president before… he kept the country relatively stable,” and “given the track record of the current presidency…inflation has gone up, gas prices have gone up, groceries have gone up.” With the political landscape of the U.S. taking shape around this year’s election, the race between the two candidates grows tighter. All in all, only time will decide the fate of America’s highest office and the future of our country.
