The year 2024 will forever be ingrained in our memory as a year of numerous political shocks and unprecedented surprises. Such a year we’ve had! No one could’ve predicted an ousted sitting president or bore witness to an astonishing political revival, a spectacle indeed. As we step into 2025, let’s reflect on the individuals who caused seismic shifts in the political world in the previous year.
Placing fifth, we have Tim Walz. Hardly a celebrated figure throughout the year, he nevertheless managed to catch the public’s attention with his unanticipated bold statements. Seizing the spotlight, he labeled Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as ‘weird’, expressing an unorthodoxy that caught everyone by surprise and made waves across liberal media platforms.
His unexpected comment, coupled with his youthful appearance, launched him to the forefront of Vice Presidential hopefuls for Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee. This decision came as a surprise given the existing, feasible alternatives like the vibrant and younger governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Harris chose Walz over Shapiro seemingly out of a misguided necessity to appease a fraction of the Democratic Party.
The GOP was left astounded by this decision, it was an obvious blunder on Harris’ part, the political overtones of selecting a popular governor from a typically blue state rather than a dynamic leader from a swing state were not lost on us. One can’t help but question the basis of such a decision, clearly reflecting the lack of strategic thinking by the Harris campaign.
The heavy tarnish of Walz’s decorated past, filled with alleged fabrications and misrepresented facts, was soon revealed for public scrutiny, making us question the competence of the local GOP. As the media tried their best to save their chosen knight, one couldn’t help but question, can low-profile local negligence of this magnitude be really circumstantial?
In the aftermath of this debacle, it’s safe to say Harris’s choice of VP was soon forgotten. Walz became a political pariah, a walking statement of poor decision-making by the Harris campaign, added only by Harris’s own inadequacies as a candidate.
Moving to our number four spot, we have Kamala Harris herself. Her unsuccessful campaign was a glaring reminder of the ill-fated ‘New Coke’ fiasco, a testament to the fact that mass marketing can’t always override consumers’ sensibilities.
Despite a war chest of endless funding, Harris’s campaign fell flat on delivering a coherent message. Paradoxically promising continuity and change, ‘the promise of steak for a dessert of cookies,’ was greeted with disdain by voters who seemed to yearn for real change, not mere slogans.
Harris, originally pitched by Joe Biden as a ‘ready on Day One’ candidate, proved clearly unprepared to helm her own campaign, let alone be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. The public rejected her campaign’s empty rhetoric, incoherent strategy, and untenable claims about her middle-class upbringing.
Our number three spot goes to Nancy Pelosi. The former Speaker of the House showcased her incredible strategic prowess by nudging Joe Biden out of power. Pelosi masterfully showcased her political brinkmanship, outshining Biden at every turn, in a performance rarely seen within the Democratic inner circles.
Next, our number two slot is occupied by Elon Musk. It wasn’t really about the $200 million he allegedly spent aiding the Republicans. The real contribution came in the form of his very presence, turning the tide with a magnanimous in-kind donation of significance.
His X project made Republicans’ voice resonate more clearly, and Democrats’ move to their ‘safe spaces’ exposed their inability to engage with differing viewpoints. This democratization of discourse ignited a realization in the broader public, who understood the perils of dwelling within preconceived echo-chambers.
As we tally up, the number one spot is inevitably filled by Donald Trump. The embodiment of resilience, Trump withstood an onslaught of blows from all fronts, brushing off criticism, baseless accusations, and scathing comments with surprising nonchalance.
Trump’s unyielding grit and determination led to a sweeping victory in the year 2024. Not only did he steer clear from the chaos of relentless attacks, he stepped into the eye of the storm and emerged victorious, truly marking the year 2024 as the year of Trump.
His astounding victory could not merely be attributed to the Harris campaign’s inadequacies. Despite facing intense competition, he significantly increased his majority compared to his 2020 and 2016 results, hinting at a strong political re-ascendency.
Trump succeeded in vanquishing the Democratic establishment in an unprecedented manner, a clear sign of a shifting battleground. The Democratic party’s refusal to learn from their past dooms them to repeat it, an inevitability which might be the lasting gift of the 2024 election cycle.