Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

The American election question the pollsters couldn’t answer

Donald Trump (Getty Images)

In retrospect, it’s easy to justify any election outcome. This election won’t be any different. In fact, it will be easier than ever to explain the result. 

He hadn’t won an election since 2016. He ran a campaign of fear and division. Between elections, he was convicted of 34 felonies. He picked a Vice Presidential candidate with narrow appeal. He struggles with rambling. He isn’t popular. He never has been. Of course Kamala Harris won the election.

On the flip side: she couldn’t break through into double digits in her own party’s primary polling. She’s held both sides of almost every public policy position – and refused during the 2024 campaign to clarify what she thinks now. She picked a Vice Presidential candidate who couldn’t even beat the less popular Republican VP candidate in a debate. She struggles with rambling. She isn’t popular. She never has been. Of course Donald Trump won the election.

That’s the oddity of this campaign: the narratives are clean and simple, yet no one seems able to call it for either candidate.

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