Now what?

It’s a question pervading many Democrats across the country in response to Donald Trump’s historic victory in last night’s presidential election. Come January 21, 2025, Donald Trump will assume the office of the presidency for the second time. TODAY called Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss a “stunning defeat for Democrats,” significantly after Harris underperformed in crucial swing states, such as Pennsylvania.

Harris also failed to gain enough votes from critical minority groups, with 54% of Latino men favoring Trump, compared to 59% backing Biden four years ago, according to NBC. An NBC News Exit poll concerning issues that mattered most to voters revealed that a whopping 79% of Republicans considered the economy to be a critical issue as of November 2024, compared to just 20% of Democrats.

The current reality is leaving Democrats with a difficult battle ahead of them as they try to figure out where to go from here. Some are wondering whether it would have been better if current president Joe Biden had stepped down back in 2022 during the midterm elections, as opposed to stepping down just 100 days prior to the 2024 election after promising to serve as a “transitional president.”

There is speculation that Harris did not have enough time to develop a strong enough campaign to appeal to the states needed to defeat Trump and that she may have had a better chance at winning had she been afforded more time.

Molly Ball of The Wall Street Journal described the issue simply as “people are unhappy with the direction of the country and…wanted a change.” The economy and immigration were the two main issues that Trump honed in on during his campaign.

The Wall Street Journal observed that Trump effectively delivered his message on those two issues to voters by encouraging them to “fear migrants.” Aside from addressing core issues, it is also believed that Trump’s campaign was overall more “professionalized and strategic” than that of Harris.