Swing state after swing state after swing state. Donald Trump’s shocking domination of the 2024 presidential election will lead him back to the office in January to serve as the 47th president. Reflecting on this past election cycle, you scroll through social media engulfed in political propaganda and echo chambers. All big platforms—Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube—have been bombarded with political matters, from Charli XCX endorsing Kamala Harris to the video of Charlie Kirk debating college students on popular Youtube account Jubilee. These videos reach your feed, amplify voices, and can polarize opinions quicker than ever. In one of the most severely polarizing elections in U.S. history, we must address how our identity affected our votes at the polling booths.
Regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on, it’s undeniable that Kamala Harris is a revolutionary figure in American politics, serving as the first Black and South Asian woman vice president undeterred by falling short of the presidency. According to the Pew Research Center, women make up about 28% of Congress, even less for women of color who account for just 10% of the overall Congress, displaying the current lack of representation of women in politics. Many voters felt justified to vote for Harris because of her cultural identity and gender in addition to her policies.
Figures like Harris make it very tempting to argue that representation matters. We see Harris climb the ranks in the political world, making many marginalized groups feel seen. Yet, voting solely based on a candidate’s race or religion makes the process more dilemmatic. Voting for a candidate because they share similar features in their identity with you is not problematic in itself; they can symbolize a desire for diversity and inclusivity and introduce programs or laws to benefit you and your community. Harris has thrived supporting marginalized communities during her four years on the hill, advocating for things like the Justice in Policing Act addressing systemic racism and police brutality: two things that are pressing concerns in marginalized communities.
However, voting isn’t just about identity or appearance; it’s about the impact that representation can have too, and underscoring one’s qualifications or potency needs to be the most significant factor. A candidate’s background should play a factor in your vote, but it should not be the only decider; rather, it plays a more minimal role with a more holistic view. In today’s radicalized political climate, we cannot let identity dictate our choices with such high stakes in the United States and abroad. While having diverse backgrounds is great, ensuring the candidates actually know what they’re doing and how to lead a country comes first.
Harris’s effort to become the first woman president was groundbreaking despite her defeat. In a shock to many Americans at home, Harris’ representation in black voters during the election was severely less than anticipated. An answer to the question could be Harris’ relative youth to politics despite serving as VP while Trump has established his credibility in the role and swayed voters in his route back to the nation’s capital.
There is more to affiliation than just the ethnicity of a candidate, though: party loyalty. On the surface, it makes sense. You’re more likely to vote for a candidate representing your party because they share your political beliefs. Nevertheless, it begs the question: how many people vote blindly for a candidate because of this affiliation? According to a Pew Research study in 2022, “about 76% of Republicans and 68% of Democrats say their own party’s policies being good for the country is a major reason they affiliate with their party.”
A lot of party blindness today is attributable to our mass social media regarding politics. Oftentimes, we see each party clashing in an attempt to make the other look naive and silly. We saw this even at the pinnacle of politics this summer when Trump capitalized in his one debate against Biden, throwing an abundance of policies and actions that Biden struggled to keep up with and left many with the belief that Trump made Biden look foolish.
Although clips pulled from the debate alongside other videos online amass many views and are entertaining to audiences, they only deepen the divide between both sides thriving on the flaws of the other candidate. That same study also said that “[78% of] Republicans and 68% of Democrats say that the harm of the other party’s policies to the country is a major reason they identify with their party.” This number speaks for more than just a voter’s affiliation with one party but the dislike of aspects of the other party.
Our job as voters for the country’s future is consequential: we need to actively seek out someone who not only reflects our identity but someone with clear intentions and an actionable agenda to lead the country with the people in mind. Most likely in four years, two new candidates will be on the ballot and it’ll be a fresh slate in politics after three consecutive elections featuring Trump.
Ultimately, I’m sure of two significant things: our identity will forever be connected to our morals and beliefs, and social media will continue to play an essential role in our everyday lives. It’s why, with the overwhelming amount of people/actions online and misinformation received, voters shouldn’t just be looking at the background of candidates but also what kind of policies they plan on implementing and if they have enough experience to see those plans be executed smoothly.