Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Co-Managing Editor
In just a little over a week, two daring candidates will be competing in one single exciting night of sweepstakes. The prize?: Control over the fate of our nation for the entirety of the next four years.
On November 5th, 2024, Americans will be forced to put their lives in the hands of either one of two different candidates: Charismatic businessman and former president Donald Trump of the Republican party, and the lionhearted former Attorney General of California Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party.
In just one night, months upon months of preparation and campaigning will come to a head as millions of Americans exercise their right to vote in one of the most intriguing Presidential elections in quite some time.
In 2016, the world was astounded by the election of entrepreneur Donald Trump to office in a shocking victory over political powerhouse Hilary Clinton. After 4 years of what some would describe as a rather turbulent Presidency, Trump was then defeated by former Vice President Joe Biden in a two-week election process drawn out due to the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shortly after the results came out, a violent mob of rioters in support of former president Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol and attempted to overturn the results of the election on January 6th 2021. Several police officers were killed and many more injured with former president Trump impeached on charges of “incitement of incitement of insurrection” after giving a speech inviting rioters to storm the capitol with him on January 6th.
Trump was later acquitted on these charges shortly after the expiration of his term and the inauguration of Joe Biden. Now, four years after claiming the results of the election to be fraudulent, Trump is back in the spotlight again against Vice President Kamala Harris after current President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Harris was elected as District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003, attorney general of California in 2010 and 2014, then U.S. Senator between 2017 to 2021. As the highest ranking female officer in the U.S., Harris was then selected by Joe Biden to serve as Vice President of the United States from 2021 to the present.
While her recent candidacy came as a surprise to many due to Joe Biden dropping out of the race, many have become excited by the possibility of Harris becoming the first woman and first African American woman ever elected to take office in the White House.
Still, despite the unique cases and arguments posed by each side of the political spectrum, many American citizens have become upset and even hostile towards others who do not share their political views. American citizens have always had their differences when it comes to politics, but the affairs between both the candidates and supporters of the party alike have always been somewhat civil.
In recent news, supporters of both Trump and Harris have gotten into both verbal and physical confrontations regarding their opinions of the Presidency. Even close friends and family members have been irreversibly driven apart by differing political views.
The days of Americans behaving well-mannered and making compromises are long over as the deep divide between these two political ideologies grows wider and wider. Even the politicians meant to represent us have turned hostile, unable to even remotely agree with each other on a single point.
With that being said, as important as the future of our nation is to all citizens, many voters have forgotten that it is their fellow Americans that they need to work with not against in order to give this country its best chance at a successful future.
Nevertheless, people will continue to argue, relationships will continue to be broken, and America will continue to further divide herself to the point of no return. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself can not stand”. If Americans want any chance of reconciling with each other for the future of our country, we must first learn to put aside our pride and ego in order to build a future together as a single united nation.