GUEST OPINION: GUCD reacts to 2024 Election

College Democrats' Chief of Staff answers GU Review questions

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Cecilie Nilsen drafted the preface to this Q&A.

Although polls have been calling the presidential election a tied race since Kamala Harris entered the competition in July, Democrats across the country were stunned by Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 5.

As the first Republican to win the popular vote since 2004, the former president claimed a comfortable victory with 312 electoral college votes. 

When President Biden left the race, Democrats rallied behind Harris, because of her relative youth, political and professional experience and promises of a post-Trump future.

Her candidacy appealed to a significantly wider voter base than Biden, whose popularity decreased significantly due to concerns about his age following several public gaffes and a disastrous debate performance. 

Harris won with college-educated voters, non-White voters and women, but lost a crucial portion of these demographic groups, which have traditionally leaned Democrat. Trump’s narrow gains in areas that should have formed the core of Harris’s coalition gave him an important boost. 

While Democrats are reeling from the loss, grappling with possible next steps as well as how to handle the next four years of a Trump presidency, the shadow of authoritarianism and restrictive reproductive rights laws are looming.

The staff of the Trump administration will play a pivotal role in determining the policy outcomes of the coming years, raising questions about cabinet positions, the types of policies to be implemented and the future of Biden-era policies. 

Democrats are concerned about threats to visa distribution, slashes in government spending and hiring and potential restrictions on reproductive rights. Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation policy initiative which outlines these concerning proposals, may play a role in the Trump administration’s policy agenda. 

Trump has claimed to have no knowledge of the plan despite several links between the plan’s architects and his inner circle. There remains much ambiguity about the true extent of the policy to be adopted by the second Trump administration, but there is no doubt that the results of this election will lead to great changes in Washington. 

We asked Maya Smith, Chief of Staff of Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD) for her take on the election and its implications for the Democratic party. 

1. Why should a Trump supporter care about your thoughts in this article?

A Trump supporter should care about my thoughts because I’m an American and they’re an American as well. We should care for our fellow Americans and try to empathize with their concerns, even if we don’t fully understand them. 

2. Why did you support Kamala Harris for president?

I supported Kamala because she saw a future where everyone, no matter who they were, could get a fair shot at achieving their goals. She ran a campaign that emphasized bringing the country together and charting a new path forward.

3. How would you characterize Democrats’ (especially young Democrats’) reactions to this loss?

I would say everyone is devastated, me personally I’m at a loss for words trying to navigate the way forward.

4. What do you see as mistakes made by the Harris campaign? Where can you see a future Democratic campaign improving on her performance? 

I think she ran a good campaign, but she didn’t have a lot of time. But I think it’s less about what she could’ve done and more so what voters saw in Trump even after a disastrous four years that made them vote for him again.